Back in January, I was dealing with an online subscription service, and asked them to cancel my service — I knew my account didn't have sufficient funds to cover the subscription charge. Well, something slipped through the cracks and the charge was made against my bank account anyway, causing an NSF.
I contacted the subscription service again and requested that they credit my bank account, which they did, with appropriate apologies. However, the matter of the NSF charge completely slipped my mind soon afterwards, and I didn't even think about it again until a recent spat of legitimate NSFs hit my account last week.
As soon as I found out I'd overdrawn my account, I went in to speak with the customer service manager at the Whitesburg Drive branch of Compass Bank, the one at which I'd opened my account. She was, to put things politely, condescending, unsympathetic, and more than a little rude.
She asked me whether I keep a check register. Well, no, I don't keep a check register (because I don't use checks), but I do keep a running balance of my expenditures and deposits. The source of these latest NSFs was a monthly billing that came through about a week before I expected it to.
Then she inquired about my employment status — something that, honestly, is none of her business unless a loan of some sort is involved. Even so, I let her know that I wasn't currently employed and wasn't sure when I might have money to cover the NSF fees.
Note carefully: I never stated to her I had any intention of NOT paying the fees. I asked her what further charges I might expect relating to the NSFs, and after telling me what those were, she went on to tell me that the account would be written off in 90 days and that, if such a thing happened, any other bank accounts I had at the time would be frozen, and that I wouldn't be able to open any new ones.
Well, now... That was a threat, really, disguised as a friendly warning. The tone of her voice didn't suggest any friendliness, though, and so I ended the conversation by requesting my transaction history for the month and taking my leave, once I'd received that.
In the process of dealing with these newer NSFs and looking over transaction history at Compass's website, I ran across the January one again. The next day, I went back, talking to a different customer-service person, and inquired as to whether it could be credited, since the item that had caused it was credited due to having been made in error.
The rep refused to bring up my January transaction history on her terminal, saying that it would require a special request of some sort. So, naturally, I had no chance of getting anything reversed - she wouldn't even look at it for me. More than a little peeved, I asked to talk to the branch manager.
Who I got, instead, was the same person to whom I'd spoken the previous day. After waiting a bit for a customer with an appointment to speak with her, I went on in and greeted her with, "Hello, I think we need to get this matter with my checking account resolved." Her answer was, "Oh, I thought we had it resolved just fine yesterday"... in a VERY snippy, rude tone of voice.
Even though I knew I was probably wasting my time by this point, I pressed on, asking about the January NSF.
I don't think I've ever gotten such a rude response from a customer-service manager anywhere... in a very arch tone of voice, she curtly informed me that they don't have to refund NSF charges for credited items. Saying, in other words, that she could, but wasn't going to do it for ME.
That was when I took my leave again, with a parting comment to the effect that she'd just guaranteed her company some bad publicity.
The next day — after receiving enough funds from various sources to cover the NSFs — I went back to the branch and paid up, almost $140 worth (some of the NSF fees had been covered by a deposit made after the fees occurred). I knew the most recent fees were my fault, and had no problem paying them.
I was preparing to leave, when an idea struck me. I went to talk with the customer-service rep (not the manager, who I never want to speak with again!) I'd seen the previous day, greeted her politely, and asked again for transaction history from January. This time, I had it within 3 minutes, in the form of a printed statement. Funny... It had required a "special request" when there was an issue I was wanting to discuss, but when that particular issue wasn't on the table, there was no problem getting it.
Needless to say, I'm going to be closing this checking account at my earliest possible convenience and trying out one of the many other banks in town — after doing a good bit of research to find the least obnoxious one.
So, there you go: Dishonesty (about the availability of transaction records) and the rudeness of a customer-service manager have driven this customer away from Compass forever. Hopefully, my story will help some of you avoid the sort of shabby treatment I got at the hands of this bank.
Steven
Huntsville, Alabama
U.S.A.
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