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The slippery slope

90percentofeverything.com

131–137 of 137 posts

Re: The slippery slope

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Banks seem to be doing ok.

For now. It's only a matter of time before a startup or two breaks that industry down just like they have for many others.

Would you trust your savings to a startup? Maybe if there was FDIC insurance. Would you expect the federal government to trust everyone's money to startups?

No way.

While banks may be horrible to their retail customers, the regulations that protect them exist for a reason. The current state of affairs is far, far better than having hundreds of thousands of banks which could fail and drop off the map with all of their customers' assets at any time.

FDIC insurance has changed that, but a prudent insurance company would not insure a startup bank, or if it did, it would need to collect so much for that risk that the startup bank couldn't offer anything competitive. The FDIC is almost certainly not going to do this.

Simple is a UI on top of a traditional bank.

Re: The slippery slope

#132
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a happy customer of both Simple.com and USAA. Both are very customer focused banks. The industry is being broken down, just really really slowly.

Just curious, what benefits do you get from simple.com that USAA does not provide? I looked at it in the beginning but it didn't seem to add anything, perhaps that's changed.

Serving customers who aren't military or from military families?

Re: The slippery slope

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, what benefits do you get from simple.com that USAA does not provide? I looked at it in the beginning but it didn't seem to add anything, perhaps that's changed.

Serving customers who aren't military or from military families?

You can open a bank account with USAA if you're non-military. However, some of their other services are not available to you.

Re: The slippery slope

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serving customers who aren't military or from military families?

You can open a bank account with USAA if you're non-military. However, some of their other services are not available to you.

Like mobile check deposit, which is a big deal if you don't live near a branch.

Re: The slippery slope

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.... actual premium services are usually under contract. Even when they're not they still want you to call into a real live human being to cancel because finding out about your concerns that lead you to cancel a $10,000+ contract is certainly worth the minor possibility that you'll be offended that cancellation is not a push button process.

...finding out about your concerns... That's the benefit to the service provider. What's the benefit to the service consumer? The point at which a user cancels a service is the last chance a service provider has to end the relationship on a positive note. The provider might earn a little more goodwill, and the consumer has a frustration-free experience. Match.com wanted a whole herd of information when I cancelled. T…

I was countering the notion that premium services don't do this.

Also, Match.com isn't a premium service. Real personalized match-making and concierge service (they'll take care of everything involving the first few dates) is a premium service and the pricing starts at $10,000 and only goes up from there. If you want to join up with a premium matchmaker, you need to have a phone call and at least an hour consult. If you want to quit, you need to call in---there's no automation at all.

For another example....

When you hire a corporate lawyer, it takes a phone call to engage their services, or cancel their services. Their goal isn't to make the threshold to complete an action easy, their goal is to be the best representation your money can buy.

If you go to LegalZoom.com for your incorporation services, it ought to be expected that you can cancel with a click of a button.

Re: The slippery slope

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...finding out about your concerns... That's the benefit to the service provider. What's the benefit to the service consumer? The point at which a user cancels a service is the last chance a service provider has to end the relationship on a positive note. The provider might earn a little more goodwill, and the consumer has a frustration-free experience. Match.com wanted a whole herd of information when I cancelled. T…

I was countering the notion that premium services don't do this. Also, Match.com isn't a premium service. Real personalized match-making and concierge service (they'll take care of everything involving the first few dates) is a premium service and the pricing starts at $10,000 and only goes up from there. If you want to join up with a premium matchmaker, you need to have a phone call and at least an hour consult. If…

I understand what you're saying, but disagree (up-voted your clarification anyway).

If I'm paying $10k for a service, I'd especially expect a one-click opt-out or cancellation (assuming that's possible contractually). So the point here is that more I pay the more I expect to interact with a provider on my terms. Think about it. Rich people don't have time to fuck about. If they've an assistant who does this for them then that assistant shouldn't have to divulge personal reasons on his or her employer's behalf.

Re: The slippery slope

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was countering the notion that premium services don't do this. Also, Match.com isn't a premium service. Real personalized match-making and concierge service (they'll take care of everything involving the first few dates) is a premium service and the pricing starts at $10,000 and only goes up from there. If you want to join up with a premium matchmaker, you need to have a phone call and at least an hour consult. If…

I understand what you're saying, but disagree (up-voted your clarification anyway). If I'm paying $10k for a service, I'd especially expect a one-click opt-out or cancellation (assuming that's possible contractually). So the point here is that more I pay the more I expect to interact with a provider on my terms. Think about it. Rich people don't have time to fuck about. If they've an assistant who does this for them…

> If they've an assistant who does this for them then that assistant shouldn't have to divulge personal reasons on his or her employer's behalf.

Well in my experience, you're not forced to divulge anything. You're just asked a couple of questions, and they do try to change their service (within reason) so that you won't leave. But if your heart is set on leaving, and you don't really want to interact... you can just say so, and they'll let you go albeit with a sad sound to their voice.

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