Bank of America Is The Suck
I always read about how Bank of America sucks this, and Bank of America sucks that, but never had experience the suck that is Bank of America first hand. I opened an account with them a year ago with my then-fiancée because they had a branch within walking distance of my house and because they have ATMs essentially everywhere. I looked past the Bank of America horror stories because, honestly, every company has its bad moments. Well, today I met a bad enough moment to make me can Bank of America and go with M&T Bank. (I opened up a personal and business account with them because a good friend of mine works in their new business development side)
No, they didn’t screw me out of $23049823049 in fees or otherwise hosed me by being unreasonable - they did something far worse because it wasn’t some technical glitch or some procedural hangup. They’re going to lose me as a customer because they were rude. When there are as many choices as there are in the world, you can’t even mess up like that. Sorry!
Today, I went to a Bank of America branch to make some check deposits. When I walked up to the counter with my checks, the first thing the teller asks me is if I had counted the amount. I responded “No” because I wanted them to double check my math, as they always do. The responded with a bit of a roll of her eye and then asked me if I filled out a deposit slip. Again I said no, deposit slips are useless anyway. When she counts them up, she’ll print out a slip that goes with the checks and the deposit slip is just a wasted branch on a tree we’d otherwise like to keep around. This is what has happened the other half dozen times I’ve gone in to deposit a bunch of checks (and didn’t want to you the mechanized paper-cut maker of an ATM they have), the teller simply adds them up for you and you’re on your way.
So she pulled out a deposit slip and told me to fill out my name and address on the slip (useless!). Then she put a calculator in my face and told me to add up the checks. All of this was pretty terse and borderline rude but I was content to let it go. As I added up the checks and showed her the calculator, she proceeds to read out the numbers really loudly over and over again. Is there no sense of privacy? I can understand her reading them back softly, but she was speaking more than normal indoor voice.
Okay fine, whatever, at this point the interaction hadn’t gone great but it was hardly worth closing an account over. Then she looks at my balance and tried to sell me on a certificate of deposit. I politely declined. She persisted by saying I was losing money by putting my money in a regular checking account. She’s right, but I still politely declined. Then she proceeded to start talking to the customer waiting behind me! No good bye, no thank you have a nice day, nothing.
That, Bank of America, was the proverbial straw. Keep that lousy $6 you got for giving me an interest rate of 1.0%, which is essentially paying an annual fee anyway, and keep your other worthless products. We’re outta here.
It’s amazing they didn’t make it out of the first round of the Consumerist 2007 Worst Company in America contest (Verizon was a formidable opponent), but you guys should lock up the first round in 2008 against a cupcake like Toys R Us.
Update: Some people have said that I’m being a baby, that I over-reacted, (one guy said he’d punch me) and I respect all of your opinions (maybe I am a baby, but there are plenty of banking options that are more polite) and thank you for sharing them. I actually wanted to touch on the topic of over-reaction. What’s “worse” of a reaction, closing my account or calling out that teller to their manager? If anything, asking to speak to the bank manager and telling them the teller was rude seems to be like a greater over-reaction than closing an account. Thoughts on that?
Print Article
Email Article
Subscribe
Bookmark
reddit.com
Tags: Bank of America, M&T Bank
Related Posts
- Understanding the No Fee ATM “Perk”
- Can You Enter Any Bank After Hours With Credit Cards?
- Bank of America Giving Away $10 Home Depot Cards For Debit Use
- Bank of America Offering Free Trades
- ING Earns Interest When You Send Checks
Did you like this article? If so, you can get all the latest articles delivered to your email inbox for free each morning by entering your email address in the box below. Your email will only be used to deliver this once-daily subscription and you can unsubscribe at any time.
There are 59 comments, add your thoughts now!
Terrible experience, and it would tick me off as well. FWIW, I absolutely love my local BofA branch. Several of the tellers recognize me by sight, and are ALWAYS friendly, smiling, and talking to me. They go out of their way to help me if I need something… It’s like a small-town local bank, but with the convenience of being, well, a huge bank. If that makes any sense.
Maybe talk to the branch manager before closing the account? One bad employee sure can mess things up… no reason for you to have to change banks if you’re otherwise happy with BofA.
Here’s just a thought: maybe this particular teller is quitting soon.
I very recently witnessed a rude salesperson at a computer store. A minute before that this salesgirl was saying to a co-worker that she’d be out of there in 10 days. She seemed pretty happy about that, too.
So could be a case of your teller not caring for personal reasons. Again, just a thought.
My sympathies in either case, pretty traumatic experience, would sour anyone’s mood and opinions of the place.
You don’t fill out a deposit slip? Talk about rude! You know that they take the deposit slip, run it through the reader (much better than hand entering your account #) and keep that with the checks you deposit for double checking should there be a problem?
You told her that you didn’t add up the amount? Talk about rude x2! You could have just said “yes, but I want you to double check my work.”
Seems like she wasn’t the only one with an attitude problem. I chalk this up to the correct point that the customer is NOT always right. Sure, she could have handled it better, same goes for you.
Well, BofA’s fees and customer service may such, but they have an unrivaled physical presence here in SoCal. They are everywhere and so are their ATMs. Avoiding ATM fees and is a pretty big reason why people stick with BofA here.
@Darin: So it’s rude not to fill out a deposit slip and not to provide the amount? That’s strange, I thought tellers were supposed to take deposits and count them. If I gave cash, she would’ve counted it regardless of whether or not I had already counted it.
That’s okay though, Bank of America won’t have to deal with my rudeness any longer.
the question is, do you really get back at that teller by leaving bank of america?
At least you have your smugness to accompany you on the way to M&T!
Yes, not filling out a deposit slip is rude. It’s part of the banking transaction that is just about universally accepted. BTW, I bank with BofA (and have had a few problems with them, but then again that happens at every bank, they employ people and people aren’t perfect) and when I make a deposit, they don’t print out anything to go with my deposit - they print it on the back of my deposit slip (they do print out a receipt for me though).
I bet she would have counted up the checks whether you said you did or not, just like cash. Do you agree or not with my statement “Yes, but I want you to double check my work” would have been a polite response instead of lying about counting the amount? That’s what really makes you a jerk in this instance. Like I said, she could have handled it better, but so could you.
What I look for in a land bank is easy access, the local banking products I might need & reasonable fees. Particularly with the new ATMs, there is no reason not to make routine deposits and withdrawals at the machines, and leave the tellers to deal with those things which really require another human’s brain. Complex banking products are typically not even handled by tellers.
I have found BoA to have a very easy online interface, ATMs everywhere, easily accessible phone services, knowledgable staff, and yes, being a megabank is really handy if you travel at all.
That’s all I expect.
BTW, I recently witnessed a teller being harassed and terrorized by a wonky customer, and I can tell you that is not a job I would want!
Hey Jim,
I don’t count my checks or fill out a deposit slip either. I actually EXPECT the teller to do it for me. That’s their job and that’s what they’re getting paid to do, not me.
So although I would have given a piece of my mind to the branch manager right then and there if it were me, I’m glad you just got yourself out of there. Like you said, there are so many choices that you can go anywhere.
@dave L: Nope, but Bank of America gets fewer deposits.
@Darin: I agree, I could’ve said I counted and wanted her to double check. In actuality, I counted all but three checks because I picked those up downstairs and hadn’t added it up. I had a ballpark figure, because the other checks were less than $250 in total (lots of cents in there), so once she tallied it up I would be able to figure out if a check was missed or something.
Darin, I’m sure you’re a model customer and one every business would love. I am not a model customer, that’s why I pay for things. Ultimately, it’s the teller’s job to deal with me and she’s paid to do so. I don’t feel entitled to anything special because I’m on this side of the counter but I do feel that courteousness isn’t out of the question.
I would understand if I had done something abnormal, but I didn’t. I can also understand if I did things in a rude manner, I didn’t. I had no problem filling out the form, the problem came when she pushed the calculator in my face and then dismissed me after the transaction was over. If you read a little closer, you’d notice I was upset with that and not the fact that I had to add up some checks and put down some information.
I understand that sometimes customers demand too much, I don’t think that was the case here.
Grow up! You should have filled out the deposit slip. It is sorta what you do when you go to the bank. If you are worried about the trees, consider that it is already preprinted and supplied to you when you open the account so those trees are long gone.
I guess I didn’t get that sense from you reading it the first time. I agree that she should have handled it better (I promise to stop saying that, really
) she might have just been having a bad day, unfortunately when you deal with people all day, everyday, there comes times where you just don’t put your best foot forward even though you should - reminds me of my bartending days… I’m certainly not a model customer, but I recognize that I’m not.
Wow! I had no idea that people didn’t fill out deposit slips. So you can just grab a bunch of checks and/or cash, put it in a paper bag and drop it in front of the teller and say, “Here, wench, count and deposit.”? I had no clue.
I normally go through a drive-in window for deposits and have never even thought about not filling out everything and having it ready to go. I usually use a teller to satisfy my irrational craving to know it got in before the 2:00pm cut off. Other than that ATMs work great for me.
I’m also kinda surprised you would need a bank teller to double check you. They would anyway, of course, at the time of the deposit and then again when the close out at the end of the day. I once had a teller add $1,000 to my deposit by mistake. I didn’t really notice until later when I looked at the receipt. However, the bank sure noticed at the end of the day because when I checked online, the correct amount was posted.
Bu that was a regional bank (BB&T) not the gargantuan B of A.
So maybe this is unfair, but I left BOA because they charged me $30.00 to put a stop payment on a $20.00 check. When I asked them why their web site didn’t inform me of the charge, they said it was listed in the T&Cs they had provided me on paper). (You know — technology can’t provide that up-to-the-minute information for customers).
I politely asked for my $30.00 back and told them they could “un-stop” the payment if necessary. They wouldn’t. So I close ALL my accounts with them.
BOA lost big - I had just moved money out of my MM to pay for a house down payment (that’s why that fee was incurred - I failed to meet a minimum to get free stop payment orders). Since then, I’ve kept my emergency fund in a money market at another bank (well over $10K), and I dropped BOA’s VISA card that I regularly charged most of my expenses on. (And that card was CRAP in terms of benefits). With my experience analyzing banks in my MBA prog., I figure this move has cost BOA thousands.
I wouldn’t ever think to not fill out a deposit slip. That’s what kinda helps them figure out who I am, and I count on the bank to post this so I can verify later if there is a problem with the deposit. How lazy have we gotten? Why would you try to make someones’s job more difficult? I don’t get it.
It’s interesting that everyone is focusing on the fact that I didn’t fill out a deposit slip. Ultimately, the bank needs to verify the amount I deposit right? And they cannot trust the amount that I put on the deposit slip anyway because if they did, anyone could lie and put anything they wanted on the slip. So, if the value of the deposit slip is zero, what’s the point of making someone go through with filling out a slip.
I also think that you are all missing the point, I had no problem with filling out the slip. It was the indignation with which she put the calculator in my face and told me to calculate it (which wasn’t that bad, if that’s all that happened) and then dismissed me after I didn’t want to open up a CD.
It’s okay if you look down on me for not filling out a deposit slip, I’m sure that gave the teller full right to be indignant. (let’s ignore the fact that every other teller had no problem with me not having a deposit slip)
@Darin: I understand that people have bad days and I didn’t demand a branch manager or anything like that; I’m content bringing my business elsewhere and letting BoA suffer the minor consequences. There’s no need for me to make her life more difficult because it’s honestly not that important to me, her, or anyone else.
I do find it funny that everyone is focusing on deposit slips. I wanna harp on it too.
My credit union doesn’t have deposit slips. 0, none.
You walk up to the teller.
You tell them your account number.
You hand over signed checks.
They ask which particular account it goes into (checking, savings, bribes and payouts, etc…) and whether I’d like any cash back. It’s seriously easy.
Granted, it’s even easier to deposit the checks into the ATM, but I go in to have some kind of human contact with the tellers.
I’d probably get annoyed for the up sell.
On the other hand, having worked customer service for far too long, everyone and every company has it’s bad experiences.
I noticed after awhile that I became very harsh with bad customer service experiences. I would overreact to really small things and blow one experience completely out of proportion.
Jim, I hate to break it to you, but you overreacted. This was a minor incident. If it made you angry a talk with her supervisor was in order. Then you would’ve had the opportunity to see how the branch manager handled the situation.
If the same bad service keeps happening then you walk away.
Perhaps this wasn’t the first time you’ve had bad service. If that’s the case, I apologize. The post sounds like it’s your first time walking into the bank and learning their rules and policies for doing things.
Not to bring up the deposit slip issue again, but yeah Jim not filling one out is not that big of a deal. There are many times where I forgot to fill one out at BoA. Sometimes the teller fills one out for me, sometimes they politely ask me to fill one out. BoA does need the deposits as they’re a requirement in processing.. when the checks go into the proof departments, they run a debit/credit check against the stated deposited amount and the amounts on checks deposited.
My credit union, as w/ Adam, never required me to use any deposit slip, but that’s most likely because they don’t process enough volume to warrant sending batches to off-branch departments.
I suppose this teller was having bad enough of a day that she automatically categorized Jim as a bad customer from the onset. Reading the checks amount aloud and dismissing him at the end of the required sales pitch was just plain rude.
I’m not sure if I would have closed my account over this, but then I’m not sure if I’d approach the branch manager/supervisor over this too. I agree that giving her grief thru supervisor isn’t worth it.
Although… most likely, I’d have confronted her there and then if it had rubbed me bad enough.
I would have typed on the calculator for a few minutes and said something like “Yep. $384783274382.89 exactly.”
I have Regions Bank. No need for a slip either. They always count the money and give a seperate receipt then the deposit slip also.
Sometimes if I have a large check and want to keep some of it I just say “Give me $40 and deposit the rest.” Never a problem.
The “lack of privacy” would have gotten me. I would have asked for her boss.
saladdin
If you would never judge a family by one member, why would you judge a company by one employee?
You even mentioned it yourself that you’ve been many other times, and they will do all the work for you - as you find it difficult to do things as they’ve asked.
Guess the law never applies to some people, and when someone calls you on it, you run off crying.
I think if I was the teller, and you kept coming in with your checks not counted, no deposit slip, etc - I’d have punched you in the face - then laughed.
I have to agree with Bill. You’re kind of being a cry baby about the whole deal. I would never have even thought that they’d cater to somebody being lazy enough to not even bother filling out a slip.
Stop being lazy and a cry baby.
I usually always get good service at the branch near my old work and old home (not a real big fan of the one near my new work because it’s always super crowded), but I also ran into a teller last weekend at my old home branch that I found to be subpar of their standards. I had to go inside the bank to make a withdrawal because I needed it in very certain denominations to fund some cash boxes at a charity event we were running so I took out several 10’s, 5’s, and 1’s. She rang up the withdrawal and then pulled out the cash. As required, she started counting it as she handed it over to me. She counted the 10’s, then the 5’s, and then said the 1’s were new but there were X there and then handed me everything and acted like our transaction was over and she was waiting for the next customer (there was no next customer that early on Saturday morning however). I did a double take. I don’t care if the bills are brand new or that they’re just $1, you’re supposed to count them - for your sake as much as mine! Not to mention if they are new they are more likely to stick together (the reason she didn’t want to waste the 5 seconds of her life counting them) and cause errors. I couldn’t believe it. I did count them myself on my way out the door to make sure there were no errors. There weren’t any so unlike Jim, I’ll still be sticking with them… for now.
Leave BoA all you want….but for M&T Bank? What do they have that’s better? Or is it just the teller problem you just had?
I am sure they will have a few goof ball tellers at M&T that will ruin your day in a few months and then where? This would never end…
If you jumped ship every time you had a bad experience at a bank, restaurant, etc. etc. etc., there wouldn’t be anywhere to eat or have your money deposited…
Personally, I wouldn’t let a stupid a** teller ruin your years(?) of experience with BoA. I would have gone straight to the manager and expressed my woes. I would have also sent a letter to the regional manager and to corporate as well…
I can say one thing… I do banking with BoA and have no idea what deposit slip is.
For the past 4 or 5 years i never had to step into the branch for anything. For all deposits and withdrawals i use their ATM. I just don’t have time to go there during their business hours. And all other transactions are done online.
As for the service… Well this was just one particular rude employee. There is at least one in every single company.
But I understand why you went to another bank. your friend is working there and he will be a back up for anything bad happened there.
I think I would do the same. Because it does makes you feel better if you know someone in the bank who could presumably to much more to rectify any issue.
Jim when you come in without even a completed deposit slip, YOU are setting the tone of the transaction, and it aint a good one. You need to grow up.
Jim, why did you walk up to a teller? I usually just deposit at the ATM and get a slip of the OCR. It works really well and I’m not dealing with anyone except a slow a$$ ATM machine. But no rudeness there.
I’ve had a BoA account for over ten years now and always filled out a deposit slip… until recently. A month ago I had to get a new checking account due to the fact that I thought a check book was stolen (it wasn’t). They offered me FREE replacement checks after just purchasing for the old account to include my wife who had been recently added to the account. I asked to order an extra box of deposit slips and the person working w/ us told us not to and just put our debit card in with the signed checks and cash and they’d take care of it. So that’s how I do it now and haven’t had a problem yet.
Jim - not to turn the knife, but I think you have a sense of being owed that is a little upsetting.
Yes, it is the teller’s job to count your money, and yes, it is her job to enter all your account info in the computer. But if you have ever worked in customer service, you know that you come face to face with interesting (to say the least) characters all day long. You might have just been the last straw for her on that day. And that’s why she just shoved the calculator in your face. My husband works for a certain copying place and comes home every night with a story about a customer (usually more than one, actually) who made some kind of outrageous demand and because they are the customer, he (my husband) should bend over backward for them, no matter what.
Not to say that you’re demand was outrageous, but in all bank branches, the deposit slips are usually easily accessible, and I think there’s a reason for it. They are intended to make the tellers’ job faster and more efficient so you can be served in fast and efficient manner. If you didn’t have to do it, they would just remove them. All I’m saying is that, just because it is the teller’s job to do a lot of things, making their job a little easier would not kill you.
Anyway, I do not want to start a big argument with you. I’ve enjoyed your blog for a long time now, and I still do! You should just relax a little :o) Make the teller’s job easier… and you never know, one of these when you need a favor, she would have been more than happy to help out.
Jim - I can’t see how your smugness is really resonating with your readers either. I agree with the above comments that you set the tone with not having a slip or counting the money. Not to mention one of the biggest factors that you are now holding up the line for EVERYONE ELSE. One of my all time pet peeves when I cannot make the transaction I want at the ATM is when people dont have their stuff together and have to fill stuff out at the window. I understand it is going to take up another 5 seconds but have some common courtesy here. Also your comment about its “their job to deal with me and I pay them to do it” is pretty ridiculous. I think that is a pretty poor outlook on life and I’m sure you carry that over to a lot of other situations in life. I normally really enjoy your blog (never posted until now) and I have followed a lot of your great advice to help my financial situations. Remember, it’s all about karma.
@Lau, @Chris: I think that I was writing most of that post in the heat of the moment and probably got more worked up than I should have, since you both have read for a while you probably recognize that I’m not normally smug or have a sense of entitlement in anything else I’ve written. Then again, I also normally don’t have guys like Bill saying they’d punch me in the face, so perhaps it was an over-reaction in that respect.
I just find it interesting that everyone puts the blame on me because I didn’t fill out a deposit slip, despite numerous comments to the fact that others don’t fill out deposit slips. Also, not filling out a deposit slips then makes it acceptable for the teller to treat me less than politely and then dismiss me after the transaction is over?
I believe a lot of the meaning in a message is lost over the internet, this may be one of them.
No worries Jim. You certainly haven’t lost a devoted reader in myself. I think everyone agrees that the teller could have handled the situation better, but like I said above, you set the tone (likely unknowingly). I guess looking through all of the smoke here, I don’t see how 1 grumpy employee could cause you to transfer all of your accounts and the hassle that you went through. You could just as easily run into another unhappy employee at your new bank and I would be curious how you would handle that situation as far thinking about switching to another bank again. ATM’s are my favories tellers since you do not need to fill out a deposit form and it is a much quicker process. BoA is good for me since they have ATM’s everywhere and thats what I do 99.9% of my banking transactions in.
Again, love reading your blog and keep up the good work!
My financial institution of choice for the past, oh, 10, 12 years has been a Credit Union. I do not need to fill out a deposit slip when making an in-person deposit. I do not need a deposit slip when making an ATM deposit. I make ATM deposits at a bank, who has an agreement with my credit union. All the deposit envelops at the banks ATM indicate ‘no deposit slip required’. So, all you folks who are stuck on the deposit slip - have you never made an ATM deposit? Does it indicate on the envelope that you do not need a deposit slip?
The deal here is with the rudeness when the transaction was over. I get the same treatment many times at the drugstore, or the grocery store or whatever. I finish my transaction, I’m putting my money or receipt away, and the employee has already moved on to the next customer - mind you, I’m still there at the counter gathering my items. This is hugely rude. I’ve never said anything & have just learned to live with it. This type of rudeness doesn’t just occur at the bank. It’s occuring in many, many places. In this situation, I think it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I can let the deposit slip situtaion go, but I agree with Jim when handed a calculator to count the money - what is the bank paying this person to do? If the customer has to do everything, why even hire tellers? Get rid of the position and have ATMs inside & outside.
Another reason to snub big banks & go with the little Credit Union guy. Funny how these big banks really don’t care much for the customer. They have the highest fees for everything. For as long as I can, I’ll continue with my Credit Union.
I left BofA about 3 years ago, after they pissed me off several different ways, for a smaller regional bank and I have been extremely happy. BofA is an impersonal fee charging machine that is steamrolling through the industry. Nobody should have to put up with their lousy service. There are much better banks in your area.
However, it is a well establish banking procedure to count your money and fill out a deposit slip before going to the teller. How hard is it to write down a few numbers? What if the teller makes a mistake? It’s your money, protect it. It’s also rude to the people behind you in line. Be prepared so the teller can process your transaction quickly. In a few years they’ll be gone and we’ll all be talking to a robot anyway.
Not worth the hassle to stay in my opinion. I say you close the account and speak to the manager and save others of the rude teller. It´s a customer service job, not a very skilled one and I´m sure there are plenty of others who can have her job and be polite.
I agree with everything you said Jim. She made you feel like a chump and no one likes that. At my credit union they have the same deposit slips, I’ve never filled one out and never been hassled. They are always talking with me and joking around, making my banking experience enjoyable. Your teller sounds just the opposite making you do her job and barking out the amounts!
I would pull your money out, cancel the account and explain why to the manager.
I’ve never had a problem with Bank of America. I opened a Sovereign account in college (they had an ATM on my campus) and hands down THEY SUCKED. Bank America has always been problem free for me- plus you can’t beat their Museums on Us! Free museum admissions program
I signed up with BOA in order to get $100 check opening bonus. The problem was that they never gave me an account routing number, they just sent me my account number. This was an issue for me, because I had to initiate a direct deposit into the BOA checking account. Even worse they never sent me any checks. They only sent me a debit card (although a DC is convenient, I still have to pay certain items like rent with a check).
So I had to call them, and ask whether I will be getting checks or not. The rep was very polite and they informed me that checks were $30 to order. I never ordered checks and just asked for the routing number in order to initiate direct deposits from my company and avoid being charged a $6 monthly fee.
Overall I would have never opened a checking account with BOa, provided that there are so many banks that give free checking and a higer interest rate. HAd there not been the $100 opening bonus, i owuld not have gone to BOA.!
Overreaction, he**! I’ve walked for a heckuva lot lesser offenses than that. BoA richly deserves to lose your business!
Not only that, but in the course of closing your accounts, you should write a letter–yes, on paper!–to the manager explaining why you’re leaving, send it by snail-mail, and send a copy to the customer relations department at the bank’s headquarters. Actually, you get more attention when you send it to stockholder relations–they’re the only ones who care about how a corporation is treating its customers.
As for whether not filling out a deposit slip places some intolerable burden on the teller…say what? Handwritten deposit slip or not, she has to type the numbers into a computer and print out a receipt, add up the total, and print out a receipt. Reading the figures off the checks is no more of a strain on the poor darlin’ than reading them off a deposit slip.
If you can’t deal with the public politely behaving like a witch with a capital B when faced with a minor inconvenience or eccentricity, then you should not be in a job that asks you to deal with the public.
If the tellers’ manager is not standing within earshot or is too stupid to understand this factoid and its implications for her bank’s profits, then she needs to be told what happened and why you’re leaving his precincts.
I don’t put my carts back in the cart corral at grocery stores either. They have cart pushers to do that. That is their job.
I had a gentleman refuse to fill out a form to get a better price on his purchase, just because he had to fill out the form! No cost, no fee, no extra “marketing” information, nothing. He went on a rant how he know the CEO of the company and how he is going to call him and let him know he has lost confidence in the company.
I think some people just like to complain.
P.S. I thought the teller was rude too.
it sounds more like you were picking the fight from the start and were the cause of the situation. the situation was completely avoidable, but you chose to act frankly like an ass. it doesn’t matter if i’m a bank or someone else accepting your money. you should be the one who commits into writing what transaction you intend to make. as with any other transaction, having something written is golden as it prevents any misunderstandings. the deposit slip is you saying that you want to deposit x amount of money into your account. the bank verifies the amt that you intended to deposit is what you presented. they then print out a verification of that transaction. not giving them a deposit slip is the same thing as them not giving you a receipt. seriously, if the bank teller said that she wasn’t giving you a receipt of your deposit because you know how much you deposited, that would undoubtedly piss you off. so what reaction should the bank teller have when the tables are turned and the person (you) are being confrontational from the start?
now, don’t get me wrong, i dislike bank of america, because they wouldn’t give my my $250 promo even though I met all the requirements. i have one more cd with them, and when it matures i will transfer to my other bank. i’ve already moved everything from them to my other bank. instead of seeing what they could do to retain my $50k in deposits, they simply let me go without a single word. I even told them that I was withdrawing all my deposits to include liquidating my bank of america stocks. This didn’t phase the manager one bit, and was obviously not worth enough for them to make some sort of amends to retain my business.
your situation was all your doing. you should actually apologize to the teller for being an ass, because that is what you were. sorry, had to be said.
I love BofA. I opened a 4-month CD in November and right around the time it matured, I found a Co-op in NYC that I wanted to buy. None of the competitive online mortgage companies (Ditect, e-Loan, etc) deal with Co-ops, so I called BofA (have been a customer since ‘97 - my account has traveled with me from St. Louis to Atlanta and now NYC). The application process was fast, easy and the counselors have been amazing. Then, when I forgot to transfer my CD funds to my checking account for the down payment, the CD rep found an elegant, no-fee solution. (And she handled my panic/over-reaction with the ultimate professionalism.)
You are acting pretty infantile… why not use an ATM? Their ATM deposit process is excellent. I have interacted with a teller maybe 4 times in two years to get cashier’s checks. Also, speaking with the teller’s supervisor privately and quietly would have been more effective.
There are many reasons why a teller requests you fill out a deposit ticket yourself:
- If there is a line, this reduces the time it takes to complete a transaction because the ticket is filled out in line instead of at the beginning of each transaction.
- It helps reduce the chance of error if your name, account number, dollar amounts, and signature are on the check. If you write it, the teller reviews it, then processes it…there are two people that actively reviewed the transaction before sending off to be processed. Had the teller written everything in themself, there could likely be an error since they most likely know you less than you know yourself.
- Reduces the chance that they can be blamed for screwing up a transaction. If you write that you want $100 back and $200 in the account, but actually wanted the reverse…you can only blame yourself for the mistake because the teller followed your orders.
- Reduces the chance to allow a dishonest teller from ripping you off. If you deposit a check and want no cash back but do not completely fill out the ticket nor line out the line for cash back, you run the risk of a person filling in the blanks and taking money from your account. If you fill all this in, you reduce your risk from having this happen to you.
- Not that you are a criminal in any way, but another reason banks want you to fill out the slip is to get fingerprints and handwriting on something in case you decide to rob them.
With all that in mind, I don’t think it is THAT big of a deal for a teller to fill out some of their customers’ tickets some of the time. If that is the reason a customer keeps their account with a bank, it is a very cheap benefit to accommodate to keep the customer.
In regards to the update on this article, I believe the most appropriate action would be to fill out the customer survey cards in the branch, or to call their 800 number and share your experience. It is just as effective, gets more notice (the branch manager, the district manager, and the regional manager will see this interaction on a monthly report), and is less confrontational.
If I have to say so myself, it’s a part bad customer and a part bad employee thing. Jim, even from your own statements, you’re not exactly exonerated or off the hook!
Let’s start with you. First, it looks like you did not follow the standard bank procedures and expected things to be done automatically on a teller line.
Environmental concerns are not exactly a legit excuse if the service revolves entirely around the paper in concern. And furthermore, you sound like you’re expecting a level of service given by a good private bank or otherwise a completely full service bank. Bank of America, isn’t one of them.
Now, I’m not sure what you’re saying when you say “double check my math” even though you didn’t check the initial amount of the checks yourself. So… double check what math? One that’s in your imagination? Come on! Even to me, that’s pushing it!
I’m sure the teller would’ve been more than happy to verify the sum after you filled out an initial deposit slip.
On the other hand, the bank teller was not a complete professional either. She could’ve discreetly handed over a deposit slip and a calculator, ask you quietly to fill it out and come back as soon as you’re done.
And reading out the numbers out loud for all to hear? Sound the buzzer!
At least you found an excuse to leave Bank of America…
“…just a wasted branch on a tree we’d otherwise like to keep around…”
Are you so naive as to think that there is a shortage of trees? Trees for paper-making are not endangered species — they are grown as crops. By using a piece of paper, you are in effect placing an order for a tree to be planted.
If you love trees, and want more of them, use more paper. Trees for paper-making are grown by the billions as industrial crops, just like corn, wheat, beans and any other commodity. We are in no danger of running out of trees. The more paper you use, the more trees get planted. We have more acres of growing forest under management today than at any time in our nation’s history, dating back to pre-settlement days, thanks to our demand for wood and paper products.
So, they lost your business, huh?
Too bad.
*Your* smug i-am-entitled-to-everything attitude is going to lose you a lot of readers.
Due to a 4.00 unexpected charge, thus far BOA has collected 600.00..400.00 less than my inheritance after her death. When I called, even though it was the only charge ever bounced, they had no other soolution. They will be losing my business as soon as the mess is straightened out
“Justaguy responds:
Posted: April 20th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
So, they lost your business, huh?
Too bad.
*Your* smug i-am-entitled-to-everything attitude is going to lose you a lot of readers.”
Entitled to everything? When was he claiming to be entitled to everything? The only thing he should be entitled to is the same common courtesy and respect as everyone else that is a customer at that bank. If anyone is being smug here, it is you. You don’t seem to have much empathy for how others are treated. How would you feel if you were treated like that? I guess you’re probably one of those types of employees that the blogger is talking about.
I think you were being ridicule-worthy about the deposit slip, but not the sales pitch. If I want that crap, I’d go shop in Best Buy. I’ve done all of my banking with a small local outfit for 10 years, and couldn’t be happier - and have never had a deposit transaction without a slip.
@Mary: I had no problem with the sales pitch, I recognize that they have to do that as a part of their job.
What’s “worse” of a reaction, closing my account or calling out that teller to their manager? If anything, asking to speak to the bank manager and telling them the teller was rude seems to be like a greater over-reaction than closing an account. Thoughts on that?
Well, if you had talked to the manager, they might have poked holes in your “uselessness of deposit slips” theory, and then what would you have to blog about?
Deposit slips ARE useless. The bank already makes money off of my money. They charge fees every chance they get. It is funny then that you can’t simply give them the money to deposit that is going to make them more money. Nope, not only do you have to deposit your money you have to fill out silly paperwork that the teller’s don’t really even need. The only thing thats ever come from deposit slips is the bank(a bad one) punching in the numbers straight from your slip without checking the actual amounts and then using that to blame you when your account is screwed up.
Were you just looking for an excuse to bail out on BofA? It’s not wrong for you to quit them if they aren’t performing up to your expectations, but this sounds more like a bad teller. If this teller’s manager knew how you were treated, it would give the manager a chance to address the problem directly. Your pulling out means there were no repercussions for her actions. She got away with being rude to you and BofA is out a customer (and continues to employ someone irresponsible and a poor representative of the company). You lose, BofA loses, and the teller wins because she got to treat you like a 5-year old and get away with it.
It’s not a sense of being owed, or filling out a deposit slip, etc. It comes down to value. If Jim values going somewhere else than putting up with somebody’s crap, good for Jim. People (and it seems many on this post) have come to expect poor service. I wonder how this reflects upon attitudes of people expecting that life owes them a job or a good relationship or whatever.
Look, when I go to Wal-Mart, I’ve learned to consciously NOT expect customer service. If I get it, that’s a bonus. I suppose the same is true for the Wal-Mart’s of banks, too (now if Sam Walton was alive and walking thru his stores, you better believe the OWNER cared about customer service).
Kudos to you, Jim, for recognizing what you value for yourself and taking action based on your own preferences.
–Dave Charbonneau
If anything, asking to speak to the bank manager and telling them the teller was rude seems to be like a greater over-reaction than closing an account. Thoughts on that?
You should have followed up with the bank manager and closed your account. Close your account, because you don’t need it, follow up with the bank manager because banking is supposed to be a customer service business and you received poor customer service. The teller deserves to be fired for her poor customer service. However, because you haven’t detailed why the bank is losing your business, she will never even be corrected.
“It’s interesting that everyone is focusing on the fact that I didn’t fill out a deposit slip. Ultimately, the bank needs to verify the amount I deposit right? And they cannot trust the amount that I put on the deposit slip anyway because if they did, anyone could lie and put anything they wanted on the slip. So, if the value of the deposit slip is zero, what’s the point of making someone go through with filling out a slip.”
True, the bank does need to verify it but that doesn’t make filling out a deposit slip pointless. You see, if a teller were to fill out everyone’s slips and made a mistake, guess who is liable? The teller. You may say, “Well that’s what she gets paid for.” Wrong. She gets paid for PROCESSING your transactions not for preparing your slips. Shouldn’t you know how much you’re depositing into the bank before anything else? Besides, there are customers who make it a point to have a slip ready by the time they get to the window so the teller can verify it along with theirs. Accuracy is what we’re going for here, so what makes you think you get the special privilege? If no other teller had said anything to you was because they probably wanted to avoid confrontation or did it as a courtesy which many customers take for granted.
However, she shouldn’t have shoved that calculator in your face or read the numbers aloud.
p.s. To the person who said deposit slips are useless, the bank gets enough money by charging me fees, blah, blah, you’re wrong. Not only is that irrelevant but slips serve as a paper-trail in case there is ever a dispute or discrepancy…
I’ve worked as a teller for many years. There is a reason that the customer is supposed to count their money and add the checks up first. The bank is only supposed to be responsible for verifying what you have written for totals.
Here’s why…If I add up your checks for you and put through the deposit, and then, the next day, you call and say I missed a check and the deposit should’ve been more, then it’s your word against mine, and it can be a nightmare to resolve the problem.
If, however, I’m using what you initially wrote as a basis for comparison, then you’ve got no one to blame but yourself if you later decide that the total was wrong. (Instead of blaming the teller)
Wow, how lazy have Americans gotten that they expect other people to fill out a paper!?!? First of all, Aaron is correct. There is a reason you are asked to fill this out yourself. To clear the bank and teller of responsibility of screwing it up,adding incorrectly, or putting it into the wrong account. Not to mention you being responsible for your OWN finances. A teller processes your transaction. They do not serve as your personal assistant or secretary.
I believe that filling out a deposit slip is normal practice. However not allot of people can. My grandmother can’t read or write so for someone like her, that teller would have been really traumatic to my grandma. Worst of all your teller didn’t even say thank you, come again. She just looked over your shoulder and said, “NEXT!” Now that was really rude and would I have called the manager out for that one. Can’t let rude people keep their job if they aren’t respectful enough to their customers. I use to have a Bank of America account in the past. When I started being charged $3 for every time I saw the teller I quickly moved onto Washington Mutual and have been happy ever since.
Previous Article: « Laddering Your Emergency Fund
Next Article: The 15- vs. 30-Year Mortgage Savings Myth »