Common Sense Blog #4: Will banks ever get it?

By Bill Clarke

This blog deals with things that we routinely experience in our dealings with businesses, governments and institutions that make absolutely no sense as seen through the eyes of consumers. I will focus on the consumer’s point of view and although I will be reasonable with the instigators, I won’t hesitate to tell it the way it is. All of the events are factual. It would do well for these organizations to correct the problem and not dwell on policies or practices that make no sense to consumers. 

On the Friday morning before a recent national holiday, I went to my bank to handle a time-sensitive transaction. When I arrived at the bank there was a note on the front door that stated, “The bank is closed today and will reopen next Tuesday so that our employees may enjoy a long Holiday weekend.”

I was shocked because I had a transaction that had to be handled inside the bank. There I stood with no option other than to wait until the following Tuesday. Now I don’t have a problem with a company thinking about the welfare of their employees, but I really become alarmed when an  organization puts the welfare of their employees ahead of their responsibilities to customers!!!

I could hardly wait until the bank opened on Tuesday morning so I could vent my frustration at the manager. I stood in line with several other customers who were also inconvenienced by the arbitrary bank closing. When it was my turn, I asked if she had enjoyed her long weekend. She was ebullient in describing her many activities. I then asked why the bank had decided to close on the preceding Friday. She simply parroted back that the bank was closed so that the employees could enjoy a longer weekend. I then asked her if she thought her employees were more important than the needs of her customers. She looked at me rather perplexed and said she didn’t understand what I was getting at. The issue is that many banks don’t get it. They don’t understand the implications of their misguided customer service practices.

What other retail business closes for the benefit of their employees? What other retail business has the audacity to increase fees for every imaginable customer transaction as the banks have done with monthly debit card usage fees and the elimination of “free” checking for all but their most profitable customers? What other retailer would jack up interest rates to usurious levels and treat their customers as high risk deadbeats when a monthly credit card payment is a day late?  Apparently banks must think that we need them more than they need us. In reality, banks are nothing more than a retail money store and they should have the same desire to serve customers as any other retailer, whether department store, supermarket, restaurant or specialty store.  

The response from the banks is that new regulations are cutting into their profit margins and they have to make up the difference.  The irony is that they don’t mention anything about the mistakes that got them into their predicament when they offered credit cards, loans and mortgages to practically anyone who walked in the door. Now that the economy is in the tank, they are attempting to recoup their losses by turning their backs on the same customers who they previously lusted after with their low rates and easy credit (think about the recent foreclosure nightmares). One bank indicated that they expected to lose customers as a result of the new fees but they were not concerned if they lost some of their “unprofitable” customers.

When consumers or small businesses are in dire need of a bank, the bank will have nothing to do with them; but when consumers and businesses don’t need a bank, it is then that they lavish us with offers and enticements. For example, we receive no less than five unsolicited credit card invitations a week at our home but we don’t want or need another credit card.

The solution is for all consumers to vote with our money and allegiance and remind the banks that we are the reason why they are in business.  Their business is not making additional profit; it is earning a fair profit by serving customers well.

The point is that many banks have never had a true customer service mentality.  They tend to view their role as a necessary provider of services, much like utility companies, and not as a retail store that has to compete and win customers based on the quality of their product and service.

Let me hasten to say that there are some enlightened banks, notably some of the smaller community banks that understand their role as a money retailer and are competing with extended hours and customer friendly terms and conditions. Eventually the winners will be those banks that offer the best combination of services in a customer friendly environment.  

If a bank wants to do more business and satisfy more customers, it only makes sense, common sense that they should place the interests of their customers ahead of their own.