Another Rant about Banks and what I saw this Morning. (#$%#$@)

[BlueJazz]

This isn't about me but what I was a witness to.....

Anyway, I'm in the line at the bank this morning...
...about 4 people in front of me is an old lady (80-85?) and
she's trying to cash a 23 dollar check. She apparently got turned down and she says
"Well..I've cashed these checks every 2 weeks for a long time"

The cashier (who was waiting on her) walks over to the other cashier and asks her something
related to the check.

So....this other cashier hollers out (with a Smirk):
"YOU ONLY HAVE $2.13 IN YOUR ACCOUNT" ...loud enough for someone outside to have heard...

Christ..the poor old lady glanced around and saw everybody in the Fucking Bank
was looking at her and I thought she was gonna' cry.

God-Damn...just writing this post has got me wanting to go down to the bank
and slap the inconsiderate Bitch cashier's face. (NO..I wouldn't really do that..only in my mind)

I mean, she could have walked over and whispered softly to the old lady
But NOOOOOOOOO....

Fucking People can be SO Cruel...

[Lerkfish]

1. what's sadder is that teller barely makes above minimum wage

my wife has been a teller before.

[1932]

6. This is how working people are divided. That teller and that old woman

have a great deal in common (if you work a minimum wage job now, the chances that you'll have about $2 in the bank as a senior citizen are pretty high).

However, the shame of being poor in a world where some have a great deal of wealth makes people at the bottom want to separate themselves from people who have less. So the minimum wage teller doesn't think twice about embarassing the senior citizen.

[Sinti]

19. This is how they control us

The middle class sneer at the working poor with loathing as if they're going to take what little they've earned. The scraping by view those in extreme poverty as an underclass to be ridiculed, assuming it's their fault they're not well paid.

No ever looks up at the few who have way too much and say, hey you greedy bastid, your excess causes people to starve - it's disgusting. We look up to them as "role models" instead - like we're supposed to want to be like that.

[Bozita]

8. ... but she's got more than $2.13 and she's letting the old lady know it

Disgusting!

[OzarkDem]

13. It doesn't excuse rude behavior

Any of us who have worked with the public knows this type of behavior with a customer would be out of line.

A couple of years ago, I worked retail for a few months to help a friend. The last time I'd worked retail was probably 30 years ago, when waits were longer, record keeping was terrible and delays and shipping longer. I was surprised at how friendly customers were, much more so than they used to be. Due to technology, better design and training, customer service is much better than it used to be. On average, that is.

[Lerkfish]

16. nor was I excusing bad behavior

just saying its sad, a minimum wage earner dumping on someone with money problems.
Its bad enough when the limousine set dumps on them, but the teller should have been in a position to be more compassionate.

[Scout]

32. is that an excuse for the teller to treat people poorly?

what is your point about the teller's wage?

[Lerkfish]

34. see post #16, I think, right about this one

no, I was not excusing it, I was (apparently) not so clearly pointing out the sad irony that they are close to the same economic state.

[yellerpup]

2. That is disgusting!

If she's down to $2.13 SHE REALLY NEEDS THAT CHECK CASHED! Outrageous behavior. What bank is it? They deserve a boycott.

[Virginia Dare]

3. That's crappy...

I've also witnessed customers bullying and abusing the tellers, and that pisses me off too. Some people just don't know the meaning of courtesy and respect.

[BlueJazz]

5. Yep...That's also true... nt

[Broken_Hero]

4. This has happened to me

My bank is really, dumb sometimes. About a year ago, I got a check for my wife and I's wedding anniversary, for 200 bucks, and when I went to the back to go cash it, they refused to cash it, because I didn't have 200 bucks in my account, to cover it, if it bounced. I was like WTF??!?!?!?!?!!? My wife has banked here for over 10 yrs, and I have been here for three years, and the bank doesn't trust us for 200 bucks? When both our incomes are direct deposit, so at the latest, if the check bounced, they would have to wait two weeks to get their money back, and charge us out our ears on fee's and what not.

When I left the bank in disgust, I was like...what if I won the lottery for millions of dollars, would a bank ever cash my check, cause I don't have million(s) in my bank account? I think its crap, and the bank ladies did me wrong, same with the lady in question in your OP thread. And to make it worse, my wife and I were broke, that made it worse! Man, was I pissed, I even called the bank manager, its policy, its policy. Policy my rear end dammit! When you work with a bank for such a long time, pay out interest for various loans, and other services, and never once, ever, burn them, there should be a certain degree of trust, but apparently there isn't...

[Horse with no Name]

29. The advantages of living in a small town

I can cash just about any check at the Piggly Wiggly.
Third party or otherwise, simply because they know me.

[MazeRat7]

7. Saw something very similar a while back.... Here's what I did.

While the teller wasn't such an ass... she was an ass. After listening to the lady beg for them to cash the check for groceries, I ask her when she passed how much the check was for. It was just under $120. So I told her to endorse the check to me, and I took the money from the ATM and gave it to her. She gave me the check.

The look on the tellers face was priceless when I deposited the check into my account.


MZr7

[Buzz Clik]

12. Nicely done.

[lectrobyte]

30. You rock!

[Scout]

33. well done, good on you! n/t

[Buzz Clik]

9. Maybe you could have given her the $23.

Just a thought...

[magellan]

10. Your story makes me cry

If I'd overheard that I would have demanded to see the bank manager and suggested that teller be fired. You simply don't treat customers that way, it's unprofessional, never mind crass and mean-spirited.

[havocmom]

11. When something like that happens, every customer in ear shot

should proceed, en masse, to the manager/president's office and inquire what they intend to do about an employee who so callously disregards their fiduciary responsibility to customer confidentiality.

I would also ask the offending employee what he/she has in checking, and keep asking until that amount got shouted across the lobby too. But, that's just me. Been known to publicly take down brown-shirt wanna-bees who humiliate little old ladies. There's a guy at the AZ MVD who probably STILL remembers me ;)

[FooFootheSnoo]

14. I used to work with an older man

Who was not rich, but very frugal and saved lots of money. Anyway, he had about $60,000 in savings in the early 80's. He went into his bank, that he had banked at for several years, and asked to see someone about a loan. The teller rudely told him that he needed to fill out all kind of paperwork, etc. then she would see if she could find someone to talk to him. So, he told her that he'd rather just close his account immediately. She went to close his account, saw the balance, called over the bank manager. Of course, at that point, they were falling all over themselves to help him, but his attitude was basically "screw you and your shitty service, just give me my money." I sometimes fantasize about being able to do something like that, I just don't think I'll ever have a savings account that large.

[niallmac]

15. A letter to the branch manager is in order.

Bureaucrats have been singled out at least as far back as Shakespeare for the
way they lord their little slice of authority over the public. It would be nice if
the person who yelled out this ladies balance was reminded in a little sit down
with someone who has authority over him/her what it must feel like to
be publicly demeaned.

By the way. I am not anti bureaucratic. I am just talking about those who abuse authority.
Some of my best friends are bureaucrats. :D

[tanyev]

17. They cannot stop building new bank branches in my town.

I don't understand what business is supporting all these new banks. The closest I ever get to a bank anymore is the drive-thru ATM.

[Lochloosa]

18. I have not had an account at a bank in 20 years.

I bank a very small Credit Union. I walk in and am greeted BY NAME.

Banks and Insurance companies...don't even get me started.

[WePurrsevere]

21. Agreed... break the bank, switch to credit unions. You get better and more

personalized service and usually better interest rates as well. B-)

[mcscajun]

20. This is part and parcel of overall bank consolidations.

The old mantra "know your customer" has been tossed out, especially in larger chain banks where personnel get reshuffled frequently. Policy and computer programmed rules are in charge, not human judgment.

I worked for a mega-bank for 32 years, and I've always told people, if you don't own your own business, you should be banking at a commercial bank. They don't really want you or your business (Unless you are Wealthy) and they will treat you like shit every time.

Your local savings bank or credit union is where you want to put your money. They have more interest in keeping individuals as customers, and their staff doesn't rollover so much. They'll get to know you, and policy won't always rule the day.

Like others have suggested, I'd have given that poor woman the $23. Even if the check bounced, I'd still be ahead of that rude teller.

[Warpy]

22. It's mid month and that $23 is probably either a pension

or an annuity and what that poor lady needs to live on for the next two weeks. That's what is so incredibly cruel about this.

They should at least have offered the option of depositing the check into the account.

I wish I'd been there. I'd have given her a damn $20 to deposit so she'd have enough money sitting around to cash her survival checks.

The way this country treats anyone who isn't young, healthy, white, male, and well off is criminal.

[WePurrsevere]

26. That was something I wondered. If so...

most banks I'm familiar with would have cashed it since: it's not drawn on a personal account but rather on a business/Gov one; it's not a large amount; she didn't have a negative balance and she obviously has had an account there for a while.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. I've all but lost hope for the future of mankind

Whatever it is we're becoming it's not something that I can associate with any longer.

I see this cruel and insensitive mentality not just in banks but all over the place every single day. Last week I was heading into the post office and a lady in her 80's (ish) was trying to get a large package out to her car. She was dragging it because she couldn't pick it up. She walked past 4 different people, all appeared to be able to lift the package, not one offered to help her. I called out to her to wait until I got there and I'd help her with the box. I glared at the other people and they didn't even have the decency to look ashamed.

However, I agree that banks are a hotbed of this behavior. I know at my bank they've fired every person who used to be somewhat human and replaced them with shrews. I was complaining to a friend and they said their bank has gotten just as bad.

And here's another thing...in my small town of under 5k people we now have 6 banks and they're building another one. You'd think that would be a sign to people that banks are huge profit business. They're out to get your money and could care less about you.

[WePurrsevere]

24. Call the bank manager, climb the ladder if necessary & if you still don't

get satisfactory results write a LTTE and spread the word about what you over heard and saw and that X bank obviously doesn't care about the privacy of their clients.

This goes beyond horrible customer service and (unless the Fed. rules have changed drastically over the years) breaking bank rules against sharing personal and confidential banking information like a balance... this was just plain mean spirited.

[Catherine Vincent]

25. That was rude and unprofessional.

I would have complained to the bank manager. Absolutely uncalled for. Even if the woman had 203,000 in her account, she shouldn't be yelling out what her balance was.

[Javaman]

27. I don't know, but I would have scolded that little twerp then complained

to her manager.

Not only what she did completely degrading, but totally unprofessional.

I belong to a credit union, I got so tired of how poorly I was treated at banks, that I left them for good.

My credit union is the best and they treat me with a measure of respect.

I'm not here to condemn you for not saying anything at all back to the teller, but this situation you presented is becoming common place in our society, where we the people no longer speak up for "the mythical little guy" (to quote that prick tony snow) and as a result the scumbag people in society take advantage of that. (fill in your favorite repuke here).

I'm not so young enough to remember a time when everyone, regardless of who you are, was treated with some measure of respect. Damn it to hell.

I just have this streak that runs through me, that gets pissed every time I see someone get taken advantage of, treated poorly or made the butt of someones joke.

These types of stories make my blood boil.

[Darkhawk32]

28. I would've had her sign the check over to me and I would've cashed it ...

myself and given her a ride home if she needed it.

[Bigmack]

31. While we are bitching....

Bank of America... with no announcement... started charging a "foreign transfer fee" on purchases outside the US. We used to use our debit card while traveling in Europe.

We were on the Alaska Highway this summer, and used the shit out of our debit card.

When we got back, our bank statement showed over 35 bucks worth of fees.

I'd move to another bank, but my whole bill-payer setup is with BofA. Besides, they're all tightening up on service to make the bottom line bigger.