Can you Bank on this ?
I had an annoying thing happen recently. I was out of town and realized that I had left home with practically no money on me. Of course I had my credit card but I needed to park in a large lot where I had my business to attend to and I wasn’t sure they would accept plastic. Oh, well, I thought, I’ll just stop in to this friendly looking bank and ask if they will cash a check for $10.
I entered the bank and was impressed by the posh setting but surprised to see that they had only one young teller and not a single customer. I approached and told him about my dilemma. He was very sympathetic but “could do nothing since I did not have an account there”. I asked to speak to the manager and finally an elderly man, dressed to the “T’s”, ushered me into his office and patiently explained that my request couldn’t possibly be addressed since it would be against company policy. “It’s just $10”, I argued in a voice that was none too pleasant but this fell on deaf ears as he led me to the front door.
I eventually found a SECU, which is a credit union where I do all my banking, so I resolved the situation. However, it got me to thinking.
My County is glutted with banks. We have the usual ones, such as Bank of America, Fidelity, First Bank, etc. but we also have those that seem to have sprouted up on every available corner. Here are the names of the six that I passed today: Four Oaks, Community One, Crescent State, First Capital, Sun Trust and Woodforest. The thing that caught my attention was that there were virtually no cars in their lots and I’ve never seen any there…i.e., no customers.
How do these banks exist? Are they a front for something? Any other business would go bankrupt if they had no customers. I guess that whatever they do must be legal but it certainly seems to “smell wrong” to me. I get the feeling that this is just another example of big money running the show. I realize that I am a novice when it comes to banking and would love to hear if you have had any misgivings about the same thing and do you have any answers for me?
posted by Ginnie at 4:32 PM
6 Comments:
They expect you to use the ATM. Banks don't function like they once did.Dianne
It seems on line banking has really taken hold in the US. I always enjoy going to the Caisse Populaire where I do my banking. I know several of the cashiers personally and enjoy chatting them up and I have even been know to flirt with one of them. For me who lives along going to the Caisse is a social outing, I can hear life going on in two languages.
If the manager has half a notion about marketing and customer relations he would have said, "It is against the banks policy but I will personally honour your cheque. Make it out to me and I will give you the $10."
Oh MY!
I would have been in bad shape. I do not own a debit card, have never used an ATM, and am spoiled rotten at my local bank where everybody knows me by name. This local bank always has a busy parking lot - for those of us who don't want to waste the gas sitting in line at the window. But next door is a PNC - huge bank, always empty, across the street is a BBT, seldom more than 1 or 3 cars in their lot, no wait at their window, but I just don't like to bank there anymore. Don't live across the street from me and demand to see my driver's license to let me in my safe deposit box. C'mon. Took all my marbles out of that bank that same day.
Does make ya wonder how some of them stay in business.
You are right in saying there are a lot of odd sounding bank names. In this small area, we only have a handful of bigger named ones, but when we travel, I have seen many odd ones.
Sadly, the days are long gone when banks thought of customers first. Mostly, banks seem to be in business for themselves first, and MAYBE for ordinary customers like us, second or third or fourth.
I never use the bank anymore or very, very seldom anyway. I just need my PIN and a friendly ATM.
Post a Comment
<< Home