It's been a hot minute since I've blogged... I know, I know, I'm disappointed in myself too. I was doing so well! Truthfully, I haven't had too much to write about. Actually, scratch that. I haven't had too much to write about that hasn't involved people around me that probably wouldn't want to read about their shenanigans and exactly how I really feel about said shenanigans all over my blog.
Thanksgiving was great, until the day after. I have to work Black Friday every year. It's not so bad, in my line of work, it's actually the slowest day of the year for us. But the 5 or so customers I did help that day were in a crappy mood. I was actually in a great mood myself that day, I shopped online, put up our rather pitiful display of a Christmas tree for the bank and on top of it all, it was a Friday. I'm always great on Fridays. Would have been nice if it was the same for everyone else. What is it about the holidays that make people grow horns and tails? Come on people... it's not even about the presents for me, I don't like spending the money. I just enjoy putting up my decorations and cooking and spending time with family. That's what it's about, isn't it? I guess not like that for everyone.
Which brings me to an incident today that made me quit my job for all of 5 minutes. This guy wanted fee refunds. Oh joy oh joy. Now here's my deal about fees- very rarely are they in bank error. I can honestly say that in my 5+ years in this industry I have seen one, maaaybe two instances where fees just popped up without reason. This, my friends, is truly bank error. But it NEVER happens. Don't get me wrong, I hate my job and can't wait to get out of this blood sucking industry. I'm one of the good guys, but even I can't deny that true bank error chances are slim to none. And this job has ruined me to the point where when someone sits down at my desk and starts with, "It's really a funny story, actually..." I know it will be anything but funny. It's probably going to be quite the opposite.
So anyway, this guy. We offer these handy-dandy online alerts that send you emails when your balance falls below a certain level, if a direct deposit posts, and so on and so forth. These are TOOLS, people! Not a "solve-everything-in-the-world" excuse for not balancing your checkbook. This guy swore he didn't get his alert email so the fees were in bank error. ?!?!?! Right. And I know there are plenty of well educated, reasonable people reading this that would probably agree with me that his point is balderdash. If his Internet was down and couldn't get to his email, he wouldn't get that one either. Would that be bank error? Umm... no. Let me be clear, I love technology, but it doesn't solve all problems. How many times have we sent emails that just never went? Be honest- it happens. But even then- these alerts won't go until after all the transactions have posted. Banking isn't real-time. I wish it was, that would be nice. My first questions for him as a banker? Do you keep a register? No. Do you check your account online? No. Do you ever call to check your balance over the phone? No. So this guy was using this tool and ONLY this tool to keep track of his accounts. I may be over-paranoid because of my job but this is not enough. Why do people so clearly ignore what's going on with their money? It's beyond me. This guy ultimately gets pissy with me and walks off. Riiiight. People just don't get it- fee refunds are like band aids. I have PLENTY of stuff I can give you to prevent this from happening again. Think long term! But noooo... people don't want prevention, they want band aids. Would you just run around like a damn fool and skin your knee 24/7 and keep slapping band aids on it? Nope, you'd stop running around like a damn fool. Same concept, and not a difficult one at that. Oh, and said guy insisted on telling me I know nothing before storming out of my office like a 2 year old. Um... ok?
Which brings me to another point- why do people annoy the individuals who handle their money? Let me be clear, I am not one of those employees who would actually mess with people's money out of retaliation. It's like spitting in people's food if you work in food service. I could never bring myself to do that, no matter how badly I wanted to. But still, it should be pretty basic common sense to treat these types of customer service representatives nicely. I guess it's not. Maybe this should be a class that's covered in schools. That, and basic banking. Maybe sex ed should wait a year or so and be replaced with these.
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