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A short conversation with a bank

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Re: A short conversation with a bank

#51

Post by lazide »

datavirtue wrote: post #39
dstroot wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OMG I've had that experience! It was ... weird.

Same here. It's not weird, it's abuse. The only time you get any service is when you are looking to saddle yourself with debt or they have to comply due to regulations.

Yup. I was so fed up with Bank of America’s crappy service I tried to close my account with them. It took 4 months to do so, and at least 8 hrs of back and forth between phone reps, online reps, and in person reps.

First I was told to withdraw the remaining funds to get the balance to zero. Before I did that, I asked them if doing so would automatically close the account without incurring some kinds of fees? crickets

Then I was promised when I got ahold of their specific account closing department that I would be sent a small cashiers check for the small balance I kept in there to avoid incurring fees. Never arrived.

Then I kept getting calls for someone with a different name from the bank. I eventually figured out they were trying to call about this issue, but literally has a completely different name that made no sense.

When I called them back anojt it to close the account again, I was told I needed to go to a branch. Well, all branches are closed due to Covid. Then I have to call again, well, there is a specific branch that is open - great! Too bad I couldn’t find it via the branch locator the first time.

Go to that specific branch - closing an account requires an appointment.

Me: Ok, when is the next appointment?

Them: since you’re closing an account, you need a specific kind of rep. The soonest appointment is a week from now.

Them: but you can close the account by withdrawing funds to zero

Me: will that actually close the account without incurring some kind of negative balance due to fees?

Them: looks nervous uh no

Me: I see, it’s almost like you all are trying to get me to not actually close my account due to some incentive structure and tack on fees. I’m about this close from suing you in small claims court for not actually letting me close my account.

Them: look at each other super nervously ehem, I can book that appointment for you.

Me: ok

And somehow, when I get home after this, I get a text that my account has actually been closed and the cashiers check gets in my hand through the mail before the actual appointment they scheduled me.

It’s just adding bullshit process to provide friction to keep some metric up near as I can tell.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#52

Post by 4pkjai »

blibble wrote: post #24

the existence of a terrible bank doesn't mean they're all awful like any market, there are competently run companies and there are terrible ones (e.g. HSBC)

I run a website that converts PDF bank statements into CSV files. HSBC customers are a big source of revenue. They only provide PDFs.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#53

Post by Anon1096 »

coffeefirst wrote: post #48
blibble wrote: post #24

the existence of a terrible bank doesn't mean they're all awful like any market, there are competently run companies and there are terrible ones (e.g. HSBC)

Yep. And the good ones tend to be smaller or regional chains. At a certain size you just become too big to be competent, and the incentives get FUBAR. After that they don't really care about customer satisfaction because they're really focused on investors or the next 1mm corporate customers.

If you're looking for good technical support and features you're not going to get it with your local credit union, they're even worse than the major banks.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#54

Post by _fnqu »

cuu508 wrote: post #31

I've recently been going through my password manager and closing inactive accounts. 9 out of 10 websites don't have a "close account" function, you have to talk to the support. Unfortunately these conversations are often similar to the ones in the article. You get to talk to 5 different agents, you receive a confirmation your account is closed but your login credentials still work, eventually your login credentials b…

If it’s a service that is not blocked in the EU you can often send a GDPR request to have your data deleted. https://www.datarequests.org/generator/

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#56

Post by fingerlocks »

dylan604 wrote: post #36
RhysU wrote: post #18

Fidelity is great. I don't work for Fidelity. For example, this week I needed some cost basis information on a transfer between accounts with unlike registration. Couldn't get it online. I emailed them. They responded via secure message with exactly what I wanted in 2 business days.

I can't tell if this is a joke, or a serious attempt at telling us how good a company is by someone that drank the kool-aid. 2 days to receive answer to a simple question? Responded via secure message? What does that entail?

Probably means the internal messaging system on Fidelity’s page.

FWIW, I also think Fidelity has fantastic customer service, especially in-person. It’s their differentiator and competitive advantage. Wouldn’t be surprised if OPs question was not simple at all.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#57

Post by willcipriano »

ethbr0 wrote: post #29
chrisdave wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true, they maintain them as a backup in case you corner a customer service representative on the phone and they are about to have to do what you asked. That's when they tell you you need to visit a branch.

Branches are equally powerless. See: Bank of America's policy on two-party "and" checks. I walk in, having had a checking account with them for decades: "Hi, I need to deposit a two-party check into my account here. This is the other party with me, and we're happy to show ID." Door greeter / agent: "Sure, I can do that for you." {Proceeds to verify my information and set up deposit on her tablet} "Hmm." {Walks over t…

Me and my wife have an account for IRS checks exclusively due to this, otherwise we have our own accounts.

Funny thing is she was able to open the account without input from me so I'm not sure what this policy is actually doing.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#58

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

datavirtue wrote: post #40
jacobkg wrote: post #37

“customer service agent: would you be able to participate in a customer satisfaction survey to provide feedback on how we did after this call? you: if I don’t give you a good rating in this survey will you get fired? customer service agent: yes” This particular aspect of modern society really bothers me

If I do those I just give glaring reviews so as to possibly relieve some small bit of human suffering.

If you agree to the survey, do you get bumped higher in the queue? I’ve always wondered.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#59

Post by vageli »

mring33621 wrote: post #38
ethbr0 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Branches are equally powerless. See: Bank of America's policy on two-party "and" checks. I walk in, having had a checking account with them for decades: "Hi, I need to deposit a two-party check into my account here. This is the other party with me, and we're happy to show ID." Door greeter / agent: "Sure, I can do that for you." {Proceeds to verify my information and set up deposit on her tablet} "Hmm." {Walks over t…

I have found that, as long as your name is on the check, they will allow you to deposit a two-party check via the BofA app.

I've deposited checks that were not even signed and made out to another (and the person who gave me the check didn't sign it over either!) on mobile banking apps. I never sign the check for mobile or check the box on the check if there is one.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#60

Post by Nextgrid »

_fnqu wrote: post #54
cuu508 wrote: post #31

I've recently been going through my password manager and closing inactive accounts. 9 out of 10 websites don't have a "close account" function, you have to talk to the support. Unfortunately these conversations are often similar to the ones in the article. You get to talk to 5 different agents, you receive a confirmation your account is closed but your login credentials still work, eventually your login credentials b…

If it’s a service that is not blocked in the EU you can often send a GDPR request to have your data deleted. https://www.datarequests.org/generator/

In practice, a lot of companies lie and may not actually have functionality to delete accounts. A UK fintech claimed they closed my account, while in reality they changed the email to VOID@ and presumably suspended future logins, but guess what, all the data is internally still there including the foreign key relationships which by themselves are unique enough and can be used to reidentify me and/or correlate my activity across other services.
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