Want to complain to Bank

[DangerMouse]

Have to agree the pushing of additional products is typical at all the banks these days. I remember once going to BOA to make a deposit for work. The teller shook my hand and asked my name and tried to establish a personal rapport with me. All I could think was STFU and leave me alone, however I figured she was doing her job and for the 2 minutes I was in front of her I could ignore her behaviour.

Personally I hate any customer service where they ask how are you today? I mean, do you really care? I just let it go knowing they are doing their jobs.

However, have to agree, if you are not happy just leave. Life is too short to spend it frustrated at something that really is not important and should not be causing you stress.

 

[haha]

Personally I hate any customer service where they ask how are you today? I mean, do you really care? I just let it go knowing they are doing their jobs.

I think they often do. I think that a connection of some sort is easy to establish with some service workers. I admit that I really don't notice the upsell or cross-sell attempts. I figure they have to do it, I am in no hurry, why not just go with the flow? Also, I am aware how easy my life is compared to hers.

Ha

 

[ziggy29]

Have to agree the pushing of additional products is typical at all the banks these days. I remember once going to BOA to make a deposit for work. The teller shook my hand and asked my name and tried to establish a personal rapport with me. All I could think was STFU and leave me alone, however I figured she was doing her job and for the 2 minutes I was in front of her I could ignore her behaviour.

Upselling is unfortunately all the rage in sales. I understand it to a point but it can get out of hand sometimes when you have a simple question or transaction and they try to get you to buy more stuff. It's like the cashiers who are trained to ask you if you want to open a credit card account with the merchant. No, just ring me out, please.

Personally I hate any customer service where they ask how are you today? I mean, do you really care? I just let it go knowing they are doing their jobs.

If the contact is brief and impersonal, I can understand that. I did software tech support for a few years and we had a few "regulars" that called us often because they were responsible for contacting us about software issues and questions in their corporation's data center. The calls were often 30-60 minutes, sometimes several calls per incident. A few customers were gruff, no-nonsense and "all business" but others were quite friendly and personable (it became very easy to tell the difference with experience), and when we worked with them enough it almost felt like we knew them personally almost as a friend. It's been six years since I've done that but I still think about a few of my favorite customers from time to time and hope they are still doing well -- surviving the recession if still employed, happily retired if not...

 

[Texas Proud]

....

My issue is that this particular teller will never give up on trying to sell me other products. I find it annoying - part of the problem customer syndrome I have, I suppose. I would love to go to another teller, but when I go she is the only teller there, and I seem to be the only customer.

The Bank Manager told me she is doing her job and he will not tell her to stop harassing me. If I do not like it, I can find another bank. The Bank is Wells Fargo.

Oddly enough - this has given me a sense of peace about leaving. I guess I felt that if you know what your options are - you have said you are not interested repeatedly, you have asked her to stop, and she hasn't, then she was being disrespectful and annoying. I didn't want a Wells Fargo credit card - perhaps, I should have been flattered. Yes, I see now the problem is with me.

First... she is doing what she is told.... sell, sell, sell... they get money for selling stuff... and they are supposed to sell a certain amount... does it bother you when you go to a fast food if they ask 'super size?' or 'would you like fries with that?' (to me it does... if I wanted it I would order it... but for some it does not).... that is what the teller is doing..

As for her apology... well, you are the only one who can determine if it is mocking you... but from what I read, I do not see it... she said she was sorry...

I am surprised that the bank manager said what he said... but as you say, now you can go in peace... I would suggest you try and find a small bank... all the big box banks will probably do similar things...

 

[Texas Proud]

Just for some other things about banks that has happened...

The bank I worked for had a big lobby downtown... people would get in line and wait... and the 'sales' people who wanted to get a lead would go up to someone in line and say 'I can help you with that deposit'.... and take them into their cube and look up what they had at the bank... AND THEN TRY AND SELL THEM OTHER STUFF.... they did not have any way to deposit the check... NONE... they had to go behind the tellers and get one of them to deposit it for them and they would take the deposit slip back to the customer... really pissed off a lot of customers... since I was let go, I don't know if they still do it.....

 

[bizlady]

Next time you go in, Just say "Hi (name)" Please no sales pitches today, I am not intersted and just want to deposit my money.

And when she says "I'm sorry" and she might be sincere- smile, and say "I'm sorry too that you have to do this".

Thank her and move on. She will remember next time

 

[M Paquette]

M. Paquette, I couldn't document every transaction - this has been going on for years. And obviously she is doing this per instruction.

Sure. It's the sales pushiness that's bugging you. The documentation I was referring to was related to financial problems, fun and games with your account.

The whole sales thing really bugs me as well. I tried to deposit a couple of large checks into an old high interest account (pays around 2%, allows 4 withdrawals per month. Useful for cash flow management). Something prompted the teller to tell me I needed to see someone, and I was led to a desk.

I told the nice person at the desk that I wanted to deposit a couple of checks. The nice person said that I had a large balance (true) and I'd be much better off putting that money into a deferred variable annuity which would guarantee a better interest rate over the several year term. (Oh really?)

I asked the nice person for their NASD Rule 1031 associate registration. The nice person gave me a blank stare. I explained that any person offering investment or variable contracts products had to pass an examination and be registered with NASD (now FINRA), and that failure of an employer to register an employee doing such work was a reportable offense. I then asked to talk to the branch manager.

I told the branch manager that in the process of trying to deposit two checks I had been offered a variable contract product by an unregistered representative, and that failure of a supervisor to register such a person was a violation of NASD Rule 1000. The branch manager apologized and walked me over to a teller, who deposited my checks.

Oddly, I have never been bothered since then. It's almost as though the bank had flagged my account, but I am sure they would never do such a thing.

Sometimes being an obsessive-compulsive with a good memory can be handy.

 

[DangerMouse]

You can't blame these employees because it is likely they have targets that they have to meet to get X amount of accounts opened every month. My sister used to work at a credit union and every month as a team and as an individual they had targets to meet.

We have our checking account with Wells Fargo. We used to have a large balance and every time I went to the bank they would ask if I thought about opening a savings account. Soon solved that problem by spending all the money, now there isn't much money left when they look at our account they must figure we are not worth bothering with.

 

[caninelover]

It sounds to me like the teller is doing their job. If its the policy you dislike, than you're free to close your account and go elsewhere, but most of the major banks will try and cross-sell you somehow. So you may need to find a local bank or CU.

Frankly, if it bothers you that much, why not just use the ATM for your deposits? I think in 10 years of banking at Citi, I've been inside 3 times. And the first time was to open my account. I make deposits/withdrawals at the ATM, all transfers online, and if I need to speak to customer service I use the secure online chat thingee on my online acct. Its fast, no holding on the phone, and they don't try and cross-sell you anything.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think sell sell sell is the name of the game these days. We were just in a Borders bookstore this afternoon. I overheard one of the clerks answer a random incoming call thusly:

Ring ring.
"Good afternoon, this is Border's Book Store, George speaking. The new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, will be available for purchase on September 8. May I order a copy for you?"

If I had been on the other end of the line I would have hung up.

 

[ziggy29]

If I had been on the other end of the line I would have hung up.

If I had been in the store I would have told the manager I was leaving the store without buying anything for that reason.

 

[TopDown]

I joined a Credit Union back in about 74 in my home town. Moved away in 76 and have never been back. But kept the savings account open. $50 per month direct deposit into the account. I like having an account I don't have easy access to. When balance got to $500 I needed a clutch job that cost $479. It went like that for several years.

Account is over $5000 now. Meaning it's been about 8 years since I've taken money out of it. Early this year I called for some money and got a run around and I would have to write for a withdrawal. I said I'd close the account but had to write a letter and never did. About 2 months later I really wanted some money and tried again. Run around again and I was going to be charged a fee for them to send me a check. I asked for a supervisor. Sorry, policy, if I didn't agree and wanted to close my account, please send letter to and gave me addr.

So I did write a letter to the CU manager. I detailed both my calls, individual's I spoke to, understood my account wasn't big business for them and asked to close my account. The manager called me, apologized for the service I'd received, asked me to keep the account open, gave me her direct line to use in the future, and sent me a check. No fee charged.

I was polite in my calls and in my letter, they were polite, but I received poor customer service. The credit union manager who called me was wonderful. I explained I understood a policy for charging a fee if I was requesting money sent to me frequently, afterall it isn't a checking account. But the CU's service reps and the supervisor I spoke to never even offered to see if the fee could be waived but were more than happy to have me close my account. Manager stated she was going to use my letter and our conversation in a training session.

It's nice when complaining, or constructive criticism , gets good results. I didn't get anyone fired and the manager was able to keep an account. I did try calling the regular 800 number to ask a couple questions about my account about 2 months later and I got good service.