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A short conversation with a bank

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Re: A short conversation with a bank

#131

Post by PascLeRasc »

bityard wrote: post #106

One thing that really needs to start taking hold in the public consciousness is that credit unions are far superior to banks in almost every way. They usually offer 100% of the same services but with lower (or no) fees, and with far less bullshit. I've been a member of multiple CUs and every time I've had a problem, I just walked in, described the situation, and they just fixed it. If I call, I don't get bounced arou…

Every time I hear this I try a different credit union around me. Sometimes they have arcane rules like "oh you don't actually have dollars in this account. You have 500 shares. At this time you may sell shares back to the credit union at a rate of $1/share". Or recently a credit union in my area emailed me my password after I signed up, and then they kept sending me it in the mail as a reminder that I hadn't activated my account yet. There's a credit union at my local health foods store run by a professor who self-hosts their website out of there and customer service is just his office hours, so I think that'll be fun to try next.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#132

Post by Jabbles »

bombcar wrote: post #127
Jabbles wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cannot reproduce - my emails from Amazon have the subject "Your order of X" and contain a link to X.

My order receipts have what I ordered but the shipment and delivery notifications no longer do.

I have:

- Your order of X (confirmation)

- Your order of X has been dispatched

- Arriving today: X

- Delivered: Order number N

Only the last does not contain the product name X.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#133

Post by leetcrew »

bityard wrote: post #106

One thing that really needs to start taking hold in the public consciousness is that credit unions are far superior to banks in almost every way. They usually offer 100% of the same services but with lower (or no) fees, and with far less bullshit. I've been a member of multiple CUs and every time I've had a problem, I just walked in, described the situation, and they just fixed it. If I call, I don't get bounced arou…

what kinds of services do you get from a bank/CU that cost money? I've been using schwab for a few years, and the only thing I've ever had to pay them for was the privilege of throwing away my money on a couple stock options. I've only ever had to contact their support for help with problems caused by a different financial institution, and I was speaking with a human within one or two minutes.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#134

Post by salawat »

monktastic1 wrote: post #90
salawat wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow. Blue Cross hosed that? Max Out of Pocket: This is the yearly maximum accumulation that an insured individual must pay before the insurer takes on full financial responsibility for subsequent claims. This comes in generally one of two flavors: a family or individual. The individual is straightforward. If you have a MOOP of $1000, and you've paid out $1000 in copays or coinsurance after meeting your deductible…

https://imgur.com/a/t7M2RGv When I called, I was told that it's there to show that the OOP max for in-network and out-of-network providers isn't summed to get my total OOP max; instead it's just equal to my OON OOP max. (Of course, this plan makes it hard to go bankrupt, unlike all ACA plans. That was a bit of literary liberty.)

Ah... So they're differentiating MOOP levels they'll honor based on the provider in question.

I'm guessing they probably have some funneling arrangement that recoups the extra spend they'd incur from the potentially more frequent MOOP attainment in network.

Cute, but it really kinda sidesteps the concept of "Max out of pocket". I sense an MBA at work.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#135

Post by professoretc »

monktastic1 wrote: post #22

A short conversation with Blue Shield of California last month: BS: Have a question? Ask us via this very useful secure messaging form! Me: Great! Can you explain the difference between these two arcane out-of-pocket limits that you display that are un-Googleable and nowhere in your documentation that I can never find anyway? BS: Sure! We will wait two days and then send you an email suggestively titled "a response t…

> get treated by the wrong doctor at the right hospital!

In California, this shouldn't happen. If you go to an in-network hospital, all care providers you see are required to bill you at the in-network rate.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#136

Post by pinko »

bityard wrote: post #106

One thing that really needs to start taking hold in the public consciousness is that credit unions are far superior to banks in almost every way. They usually offer 100% of the same services but with lower (or no) fees, and with far less bullshit. I've been a member of multiple CUs and every time I've had a problem, I just walked in, described the situation, and they just fixed it. If I call, I don't get bounced arou…

This is still true of small credit unions, but over the last 30 years has become less true of giant credit unions in my experience. Large credit unions have have morphed into institutions that are nearly indistinguishable from banks, are run by the same executives (who move laterally back and forth between them), with the same culture, norms, and attitude towards customers^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hmembers.

And, unfortunately, small credit unions are finding it harder and harder to compete given the necessary investments to keep current technologically and meet new regulations.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#137

Post by salawat »

pinko wrote: post #129
salawat wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow. Blue Cross hosed that? Max Out of Pocket: This is the yearly maximum accumulation that an insured individual must pay before the insurer takes on full financial responsibility for subsequent claims. This comes in generally one of two flavors: a family or individual. The individual is straightforward. If you have a MOOP of $1000, and you've paid out $1000 in copays or coinsurance after meeting your deductible…

This is almost true: you will, in fact, be forever on the hook for any medical expenses charged which exceed the "reasonable" limits your insurer has set for each given service, even after you've exceeded your MOOP. So if your physical therapist charges $150/hour and your insurer reimburses $120/hour, you'll still owe $60 OOP for two hours of therapy even if you've exceeded your MOOP. Ask me how I know.

Ah, but I bet if you look carefully, it's probably hidden in the EOB or benefit booklet somewhere, if not, somebody has dome writing to do. Even then, that is not a byproduct of the insurance, but of the "Consent to be treated and statement of patient financial responsibility" form that you almost certainly signed when you went to the doctor. That 120 dollars was still paid without coinsurance or copay from you after MOOP was attained, your physician is just falling back on what you signed to make up the difference.

I hate medical billing to the point I dove in to try to figure out how it all works.

Can you tell?

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#138

Post by bombcar »

dmje wrote: post #45
civilized wrote: post #6

This is very, very much the vibe of my entire experience living on this planet as an adult, dealing with financial services and tech: "No we won't do the one thing you need us to do, even though it is extremely simple and easy" "Hey would you like to try this thing we spent a billion dollars on, you definitely don't need it but it's very trendy"

It's beyond tech and fin stuff IMO. The drive for profit has just driven customer service through the floor across pretty much every industry. If I think about all the services I use - banks, energy, SAAS, trains, internet... I don't think any one of them would provide me with a customer service email or phone number that would end me up in a conversation with a real, intelligent, English speaking, non-cribsheet foll…

My experiences with Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, and Vanguard have all had that level of service, including talking to a human immediately the few times I’ve needed to.

Note that they’re all primarily investment brokers that sometimes offer banking like services.

Re: A short conversation with a bank

#139

Post by pinko »

cafemachiavelli wrote: post #7

I know this is the kind of flattering in-group humor aimed at people like me, but I still found it hilarious. Also, considering that I'm listening to a talk about the computational complexity of economic planning on the side, the "we should recreate the entire financial system from first principles" part felt like a rude yet completely deserved callout.

> I'm listening to a talk about the computational complexity of economic planning

Ooo, sounds interesting! Link?

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