Local Bank branch.... What's the point?

[ironchop]

So my last two credit cards I applied for and was approved online. My wife applied for a Kohl's card during a promo at the cash register in the store, entering all her info on the card swiper keypad. She was approved but the lady said that to get the 35% off for opening the account, she had to pay off the bill first and would get 35% off at that time. We said "ok" and then the cashier said "you can pay the credit card bill here and now and we will apply the discount at the register today"...... We literally applied, received, used and then paid the credit card bill all right there at the register in under five minutes..... Before we even physically recieved the card which came four days later in the mail.

My last two car loans were applied for at the dealership through their financing department. There are mortgage brokers all over town with physical offices and live employees. Coinstar machine turns my loose change into greenbacks. My last two credit cards were applied for online as was a personal loan.

After a miserable disaster with a business account at Fifth/Third (a ridiculous name) where 20K in checks got bounced because they failed to tell me when I opened the account that my 40K deposit needed ten business days to clear my account despite having the account for over a year prior to that. Three business days, I can understand. Ten is unacceptable in a digital world. That's some analog bull****. They know that I used my debit card thirty minutes ago to buy $1000 worth of materials but they need ten business days to count out a check for forty thousand dollars to themselves. Whatever.

So some 12 years ago, I got a PayPal account. They also offer a "prepaid MasterCard" which you can either add cash at any store location that supports NetSpend products for a $3.95 per transaction AND/OR you can link your PayPal MasterCard to your PayPal account and it's effectively a debit card for your PayPal account. It works anywhere MasterCard is accepted and all the ATMs I've ever tried, however they charge you a fee for ATMs usually $2-$3 per transaction which can get pricey if you're pulling out small amounts often. Direct deposit is free so I put my paychecks in there weekly. The fee schedule IS excessive but I've learned to keep my total fees for the account at around $180 total for the whole year counting ATM and cash deposit fees. Debit use is free.

My PayPal account even has an account number like any checking account and it has a routing number so I can do e-checks, autopay, or other types of transfers through regular PayPal. Nobody is any wiser and I've been able to apply and be approved for things that require a bank account (like credit cards) using my PayPal account numbers.

So, to the point, my boss was late getting our checks done before the 4th so they ended up cutting everyone a paper check on the 3rd instead of direct deposit. Most of my bills are auto pay, so I had to find a store that reloads NetSpend stuff and take my cashed paycheck and load it into my PayPal debit card/account in order to cover some of my autopay commitments.

I decided to try to give small local Bank branches a chance again, so I leave work Wednesday the 3rd. I get to the bank at 2:30pm and had to wait about fifteen minutes while the account person helped another customer.... No big deal... So she comes out to help me, I tell her what I need (open a checking and savings account) (did I mention PayPal offers savings accounts too? Because they do).... After telling her what I need, she tells me to "Come back Friday. We close at 4pm today"....I looked at my watch and it was 2:54pm. I assumed it must take over an hour to open a checking account since she wasn't willing to help me an hour before the place closed...... Anyway, I'm trying to stop being such a dick lately, so I calmly told her I would come back Friday which she agreed was better "after lunch".... Now I left work at two and quitting time is four so I just drove on home because there was no sense going back to work. They don't like Machinist running equipment alone for safety reasons. Two hours lost.

I go today and get there at 12:10. I see her leave for lunch as I'm pulling in, so I wait in the parking lot until she gets back from lunch, about 12:40pm. At 12:45pm I go inside to wait for her and the receptionist tells me that "she just went to lunch and is going to be at least another half hour"... I'm already 15 minutes past my own lunch break and thirty minutes away from work... We'll call that an hour before she even STARTS on my account paperwork and another hour to finish as she alluded to on Wednesday... So there goes two hours lost if I hadn't walked out after hearing that. It had already cost me $75 in lost wages with a guarantee of costing me at least $100 in lost wages if I would have stayed any longer..... All of this so I could save $180 a year in fees and have a living person to do banking business with....I was out $75 and still didn't get a new account. Why is this rocket science? What is wrong with these people? Do they not realize how easily they can/will be replaced with a machine? I can get my money from a machine, my credit from a Kohl's cashier or my Credit Karma phone app, a car loan from my dealership, a mortgage online or at a mortgage brokers office.....somebody PLEASE tell me what the point is in doing business with a physical bank branch as opposed to online banking. I do all my money moving online or with my card and I do not write paper checks. I see no reason to submit to that crap just to get a paltry interest rate and apathy from the staff

I just don't understand what's so difficult about entering information in a computer and opening an account for me. Why does it take over an hour? In the old days, it took twice as long to write all this stuff out in ink on paper as it does doing data entry and yet my 20 minute visit in 1988 is now over an hour in 2019 to do the same thing. Is this what you call 'service'?

How long do these employees think their jobs will last when the big guys figure out that a robot teller is cheaper and that brick and mortar banks are obsolete? I would think that if you want people to prefer your breathing a** over some electronic gadget that doesn't need a day off, you'd get your act together.

This same bank has twice given my wife exactly $100 too much when she cashed a large check. The first time they called us to ask for it back, the second time we drive back to the drive thru window when she caught it and gave the teller back the envelope to recount and she still didn't see the extra $100 bill. Two more times. Another employee counted it a third time and caught the extra bill.

So I got a $75 lesson in why online banking is probably the best way to go although I'll be looking for alternatives other than PayPal because of the fees and their political views (I can't buy firearm stuff using PayPal but I can do it using their debit card no problem... Big oversight on their part)

It's a shame that the first hometown bank I tried to give my business to in almost 15yrs BLEW IT right out of the gate. Their demise will be of their own hand.

If you're a local bank branch employee, you might want to take note before Amazon opens an online bank and destroys anything you have left to lose including your job. The whole point of 'service' is service.

This thread doesn't have to be about bank complaints. If you got a beef with today's so called 'service' then post it up

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[Shep1970]

Being self employed I solely depend on banks and their crappy hours that they’re actually open but i’d rather talk w/a person than the machine (most days). Always count the cash at the teller I’ve been shorted more than a few times too. I have been paid for jobs through paypal a few times over the yrs and that has worked out ok. I/we do our personal banking through a local credit union they’ve been great, good hours 6:30am - 6 most days.
My issue is I’ll get paid by the customer (random banks) I generally cash them at there bank which at that point there bank charges me $7-8 dollars per check to do this so on my end I’ve got to add $10 dollars to my customers bill for that inconvenience, someone’s gotta pay and it’s not gonna be me. Just passin’ The buck like everyone else. (It splits up the money trail) by not depositing everything in my acc. I’ll just stop there.

I guess another complaint is if I don’t get to my bank before 10am on saturdays all the jelly doughnut munchkins are gone....

Shep

[El Camexican]

The bank I run my business out of, a US Citibank affiliate took THREE MONTHS to get me a debit card and constantly threatens to close my account due to emergency situations of their own making. They also request every piece of I.D. I own to do anything and treat me like sheet in general.

The bank across the street where I went in anger one day is out of Spain and treats me like a King. They got me new plastic in minutes, showed me how to bank on my phone and recently started waiving all my transaction fees as well as giving me a card that gets me into VIP rooms at airports all over the globe... no fees at all. My point being you need to try another bank, as do I.

[Arky-X]

We use 3 local banks (mine, wife, joint) so we get "better" rates on our money. It is only 1.5% - 2% but it's better than nothing. Wife still writes checks so we keep the joint account that gives us free checks as a perk. I know that will go bye-bye someday (along with writing checks) but until then, she's staying the old-fashioned course.

They are not much help for anything else. Tried to get a loan for a used car and the loan officer handed me an app and wasn't interested in speeding up the process because I had my eye on a few vehicles I was ready to buy (individuals owned them so I was on my own for financing.) Filled out the app and 2 days later I was approved! Already bought a damn car though so that was no help.

My bank and my wife's bank has these "better" rates on checking and savings up to a certain amount and as long as you use your debit card at least x times per month, you get the higher rate. It ain't much but it's enough to pay for a tank of gas each month. I haven't had to use my bank for much outside of some deposits from time to time and the tellers are very personable. One of them has a nice rack so I need an excuse to venture inside their doors. You think she would grow suspicious if I stopped by each day depositing $5 or $10?

I remember complaining brick & mortar banks changing names all the time but if it all went electronic, would it be even more? Amazon banking today and then whatever the next craze is tomorrow. They all come & go. The problem I see with it is the personal aspect. My parents used to go to banks and get credit lines for whatever (business, build a house, buy a car) in case they needed it. Rate wasn't good but it was all on just a promise of paying it back. They had good credit but just to have an open line for whatever you wanted tied just to your name is probably no more.

If it goes that way, will there be an uproar of people with bad credit being denied and possibly calling discrimination? We're all just a number and if you meet the criteria....approved......if not....denied. I'm sure the algorithms will be set up to take on a certain amount of federally mandated risk and other "factors" when you fill out your app.

Nah, I like my local brick & mortar bank......but I will be switching banks if the "rack" moves

[ironchop]

..... The problem I see with it is the personal aspect.....

That's it, in a nutshell.

I fondly remember those days too. My mom was a bookkeeper at a small town independent bank when I was a young kid. They knew everyone in that corner of the county by name and who they were related to. They would help people with questionable credit because they knew your whole family and typically where I grew up, the community would step up when someone was in trouble and that loan would get paid one way or another without ruining the debtors reputation.

To update, the lady at the bank called and left a message at 6pm Friday night that she had everything ready I just needed to sign something. She was upset to learn that the receptionist didn't come and get her when I came in because she was expecting me.

My wife had banked there for years (We prefer seperate accounts) and convinced me to try again this morning. I went back up at about 9:15 and got everything taken care of in a half hour and she apologized twice for my wasted trip Friday.

This place is a well-established independent bank with several branches here and in the surrounding counties, headquartered in the county south of mine. They have solid five star ratings on social media. I picked them for these reasons and I'm hoping for a better experience in the future.

When Banks are the only game in town for storing money conveniently, I guess they can do what they want.

And is it really just the banks, or aren't we all getting crappy service in a growing number of places? The latter, has been my experience.

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[El Camexican]

Bottom line is that the banks DON’T want us in their fancy buildings.

Every time I come up to Canada and need to convert a few greenbacks into Monopoly money I stand in line with a bunch of senior citizens that are using canes and walkers to stand up in the 20 person line that is being attended to by 2 or 3 clerks. WTF is that? In Mexico the banks give you a number at the door and have at least 20 upholstered chairs for you to wait your turn in while the A/C blasts cool air at your face and pretty pictures of Mexican wildlife plays on TV screens between propaganda clips. If your number is way off you can step out for a smoke, or a Coke and not worry about looking your turn.

Every time I walk into the Royal Bank and see all those old coots waiting their turn in discomfort I want to reenact the Al Pacino flamethrower speech from Scent of a Woman.

[Arky-X]

And is it really just the banks, or aren't we all getting crappy service in a growing number of places? The latter, has been my experience.

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Don't know about the rest of the U.S. but Chik-Fil-A around here is tops on service and everyone in that type of business needs to take note. Good food (at least good as far as fast food goes) and their workers are what separates them...."Welcome to Chik-Fil-A. How may I serve you?"............"Thank you. It was my pleasure serving you." Where else do you get that at?

Latest article I read for size of fast food chains;
#1 McDs
#2 Starbucks (don't really consider that fast food but was in the article I read)
#3 Chik-Fil-A

Starbucks gives very good service too but $7 coffee isn't really my thing. There's a reason #2 & #3 are where they are and Burger King, Wendy's, and others got passed up.

With the outsourcing of making widgets to 3rd world countries, the service industry is where the $ seems to be. To go along with a good product, you have to put SERVICE first.


Unfortunately, I have more bad service stories (or no service because it is all self-serve now) than good ones lately.

[ironchop]

Here, the McDonald's all suck. When you order a breakfast sandwich and a hash brown, they can only remember to get one item of every two items ordered actually into the bag without being prompted. The one by Western University the worst because today's college kids don't care much. Ask for a drink and you can expect to be angry when you take a draw off that straw. Add that double drive thru line and they are all upside down by 7am.

Chick-fil-A is THE busiest fast food joint in Bowling Green. They have to hire people just to direct traffic in the parking lot/drive thru because of the customer traffic....FOUR of them... Inside, there are always six cashier's minimum at the counter and there is almost never an empty table in the dining room for you to sit at....SLAMMED.... And they still pull it off without a hitch. They are building a SECOND location just three blocks from the original location because the place literally holds up traffic on a five lane street because they are so busy. The employees are always polite, well-groomed, and intelligent. They are always stacked elbow to elbow behind the counter. I agree with you that they are the example to be followed

On a related note, my oldest daughter is gay and politically active as are most of her friends. When that 'scandal' came out about the owners religious beliefs regarding gay marriage, my kid and her friends kept frequenting the place and refused to participate in the gay boycott. They jokingly refer to Chick-fil-A as "Hate Chikin" (as that's what the Progressive minions began calling it)while they chow down on chicken sliders and waffle fries. She said that she wasn't about to boycott the "best service and fast food on the planet" just because they don't agree with her lifestyle and they still eat there at least twice a week.

When that place is SO good at what they do that people forget about their political feelings and wait in long lines anyway, they've nailed it

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[El Camexican]

You've got Rotten Ronnie's pegged. The days of "When there's nothing to do, sweep the floor and if you finish sweeping it and there's nothing to do sweep it again" are long over. They fug up stuff left right and center. Wife insists on parking at the window and tearing the bag apart and she usually finds a mix-up. In Texas when my order comes to $5.25 and I hand the girl a $10 and a quarter she about pisses down her leg. The one near us in Monterrey has a buzzer that sounds when a drive through order is late. It literally buzzes all day long because they never get caught up and not because it's busy.

Meanwhile our Pollo Loco runs like the Chik-Fil-A you mentioned in Bowling Green. Totally slammed all weekend yet you never wait long and always get what you ordered.

[keister]

.....somebody PLEASE tell me what the point is in doing business with a physical bank branch as opposed to online banking.

Let's say crated 1987 250R comes up for sale and the guy is real hard up for cash, so he'll take $8,000 cash...... but it's gotta be today.
Without a brick and mortar bank, how am I going to get those 8 stacks of high society to score the R?

What are some other options (that don't include keeping my savings account buried in Mason jars in the Wooley Swamp)?

[ironchop]

Let's say crated 1987 250R comes up for sale and the guy is real hard up for cash, so he'll take $8,000 cash...... but it's gotta be today.
Without a brick and mortar bank, how am I going to get those 8 stacks of high society to score the R?

What are some other options (that don't include keeping my savings account buried in Mason jars in the Wooley Swamp)?

Oh man......you pulled the 87 250R card!

I know where to get cash stacks when I need them ... where bankers hours are irrelevant.

On the other hand, home storage is neither convenient nor safe practice. Also, I'm pretty sure that floor safes in some guys basement are not covered by FDIC insurance should the unthinkable occur

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