One of the reasons to use Godzilla's name in vain

This is the post I was talking about Green Duckies. This is an example of the type of behavior that can make me want to smush someone!

Occasionally I get an escalated call that I'm really glad that the customer finally asked for a supervisor. This is because they have a legitimate problem but unfortunately, the people they have spoken to have no clue how to resolve the situation and, instead, make it worse.

For example, I present the tale of Ms. Justifiably Pissed Off (JPO).

My phone rings. I blithely go to answer the phone, unaware of the horror I am to be presented with. It is my least favorite banker at NABABNA. It's not that he's not a nice guy but he has worked at NABABNA for at least two years and he has absolutely no clue how to do anything. Anything! And, worst of all, he keeps calling me ma'am. I hate that. We're co-workers, damn it. I see you all the time. I just told you my name ten seconds ago. Stop calling me ma'am (Okay, calming down now)! I'm sure he means it as a sign of respect but it just makes me feel as though he really has no clue as to who I am.

Anyway, I answer the phone. Sorry, got distracted on vant about being called ma'am. Do I really have to explain about the italics?

Reckless Ma'am (RM): Hello, ma'am, this is Reckless Ma'am. I have an escalated call. The customer is very upset over some items that have debited her account. I have already filed the research. I have really no idea what this woman wants. She has spent a good 15 minutes explaining everything to me but I wasn't paying attention. And, even though I filed research, I did it wrong. And I am going to apply for a lot of different positions but I'll be turned down each time because I haven't taken the time to figure out how to do my own job.
DM: Okay, RM, I'll be happy to talk to her (Banker introduces me to customer). Hello, Ms. JPO, my name is Dana and I'd be happy to help you today. RM has explained that you're upset over the items that posted to your account. Is that correct?
JPO: Well, yes, but there's a lot more (Keep in mind that I have only been told one thing. The customer has explained this to RM already but he decided to give me the least amount of information. So when I start talking to her, I sound like an idiot. Thanks, RM).

The customer then informs me that she had gone to the branch a month ago because she was concerned about getting fees in her savings account and thought she should close it. While there, the personal banker talked her into opening up a new checking account, getting a check card and, this is the thing that just kills me, using her savings account for overdraft protection. Overdraft protection from the savings account is something that many banks offer, with a fee. A fee. So, here the customer has gone in and said "Hey, I don't want to get any fees. How do I stop that?" And the personal banker says "Hey, I hear what you said but I didn't care. How about I set you up with something that's going to cause you even more fees? But I won't tell you that there are fees. So you'll call the call center and be really ticked off with them. How does that sound?" About midway through the customer's justifiable rant about how NABABNA has screwed her over, I interrupt her. And, no, I normally don't do this. But she was getting very angry about how she had been treated and I've had customers go over everything they were upset about and then hang up, before I can help them. Once you hang up, I can't do anything with your account. So I interrupted.

DM: Wait, wait a second. You told the personal banker you wanted to avoid fees?
JPO: Yes.
DM: And she set you up for overdraft protection?
JPO: Yes.
DM: Well, that makes absolutely no sense. Did she tell you about the fee for that?
JPO: There's a fee?
DM: Well, that answers my question.

Now, all of these fees were disclosed to her when she first opened up her account in a pamplet that is provided to all customers. However, in my mind, if you go to someone and say "Hey, I don't want to pay fees," then it is their job to make sure you are aware of any charges that might be applied to the account. We were able to determine that between her savings and checking account, she had over $300 in charges. All that could have been avoided if people would have listened to her. This customer was planning on paying her negative balance and closing her account. I was able to help her. I was able to give her information and advice about managing a checkbook, advice she really needed because she'd never had a checking account before.

I love working for NABABNA, especially when I get calls like this, where I can really help someone understand what banking is all about, when I can correct wrongs, when I can make a difference. The memory of this call keeps me going when I have someone screaming at me because they wrote a $500 check off an account with a $200 balance and they don't get why we charged them a fee for it.