Why are banks having so many problems these days? Lack of personal service is far from their biggest issue, but their increasingly impersonal nature sure can be frustrating. Does anyone like talking to a phone tree?
A few years back, a Washington State man did a little something about his bank's deteriorating level of personal service. His name was John Barrier, and since part of his line of work was refurbishing rundown old buildings, he went to his bank one day in dirty work clothes.
Barrier parked outside the Old National Bank in Spokane and went in to cash a check for a hundred dollars. He then asked the cashier to validate his parking ticket, but was told that the bank only validated parking for people making transactions. Cashing a check wasn't considered a transaction.
"She said you have to make a deposit," Barrier told a local newspaper. "I told her I’m considered a substantial depositor and she looked at me like… well." The bank manager was called, but also refused to validate Barrier's parking ticket.
The bank personnel may have treated Barrier a little better if they'd realized he was a millionaire. "The next day I went over and the first amount I took out was $1 million," Barrier said. There was another bank in Spokane that was more than happy to have his seven-figure deposit - and to treat him like a valued human being.
"If you have $100 or $1 million," Barrier said, "I think they owe you the courtesy of stamping a ticket."
No comments:
Post a Comment