Forbes lists the Top Ten “This Company Sucks” Sites. Fun. I am, however, the Number Two unique Google site for “US Bank Sucks.”…
Forbes lists the Top Ten “This Company Sucks” Sites. Fun.
I am, however, the Number Two unique Google site for “US Bank Sucks.”
I did a bad, bad thing. After the June ’02 brouhaha with US Bank, I never carried through with the final steps of closing out the accounts, including paying off…
I did a bad, bad thing.
After the June ’02 brouhaha with US Bank, I never carried through with the final steps of closing out the accounts, including paying off the checking line of credit. We were working off of our new Safeway Select Bank account, and at first I wanted to let any checks clear, then I sort of, well, forgot. Call it hysterical amnesia, if you will.
So in December, Margie gets a call from Her Favorite People, US Bank. We’re overdrawn on the checking, and the line of credit is maxed out. She is understandably dubious, and then even more understandably, well, torqued when she finds out that, no, I hadn’t actually closed this stuff.
So that night, I stopped at a US Bank on the way home, marched up to the teller, and said, “I want to close this checking account, and pay off this line of credit.”
Everything is going well, and she runs the current numbers, and I write her a check (’cause we’ve got the money still from the re-fi payout), and then she says, “Well, I can’t actually close this until the check clears.”
Ooookay.
“But once it clears, the account will be closed.”
Keen. I walk out the door, free and clear to navigate, and run over to buy some Christmas cards from the nearby Hallmark store, because ours haven’t arrived yet and we’re about to run off to Orlando.
Fast forward to last week. I’m catching up on post-holiday bills that have come in, and notice a US Bank statement, and open it up, expecting to see the notification that everything’s closed and all’s right with the world.
Instead, I discover that … hey, there’s still a balance on the credit line, and still money in the checking account. WTF?
Okay, this one was my goof, because two things happened.
First, at the airport, on our way down to Orlando, I hit the ATM and took out some money. And, looking at the statement, it appears I used the wrong ATM card (problem now solved, but I’d never taken the US Bank one out, and, well, frell, that’s the one that I apparently used).
That transaction hit the same day (Monday) as the checks cleared. The account and the credit line went to zero, then money got sucked from the credit line into the account to pay for the withdrawal. If the helpful bank lady had actually followed through on closing the account, she would have seen more activity on it and been unable to.
(Of course, the bank might have called, or dropped us a note, observing that an account that had been flagged for closure was suddenly being withdrawn from, and had there been a mistake or misunderstanding? But, of course, it wouldn’t be in their interests to have done so. It would have required a customer service mentality. Ahem.)
Secondly, I’d forgotten that there were some automatic withdrawals taking place against that account, for our cable and for the alarm monitoring. That’s why the account had been sucked dry between June and December.
Now, if I had closed the account, and those debits had hit, I’m sure I would have heard from those two firms, and maybe even been hit with a service fee (and righteously so); instead, since the account was still open, they were able to feed off it.
So. Yesterday I contacted both vendors to change what they are drawing out of. I removed the US Bank ATM card from my wallet. And today, post-lunch, I took cash down to the US Bank sorta near my office, walked in, was told by the teller to go see someone at a desk, saw that someone, had the account closed, was told by the someone at a desk to go back to the teller to pay off the credit line (and get back the balance in the checking account), did so, and …
… am, at last, done with them.
It’s moderately annoying that my final encounter here is actually primarily my own fault, though that doesn’t affect the basic suckiness of the earlier experiences. But, as I said, I’m done with them, and glad to be. And, to that end, I’ve moved the various US Bank posts into their own category, for easy consolidated access. Which, except as folks access those posts to make comments, should make this …
… THE END.
Honesty goes a long way. (Thanks, Jenn) [For more in this thread, visit here.]…
As the clock ticked toward our new loan being signed (which will pay off the old one, thus probably wiping out any trace of the botch they’ve made with our…
As the clock ticked toward our new loan being signed (which will pay off the old one, thus probably wiping out any trace of the botch they’ve made with our old loan), Margie’s on the phone once more.
“After we’d closed it out, incompletely, an additional amount was deposited the next week, but that didn’t close it, either, and I’m afraid there’s been fraud.”
You would think this would raise some attention. That would imply silly Earth logic, however.
The response? Our systems are down right now. We can’t help you. Call back some other time when the system is up. Tomorrow, perhaps. Or maybe not.
As to her allegation that this got sent off to Research on 8 May? Her file (on a different system, obviously) shows it went off to Research two weeks later, on the 20th.
“How about this — I called a supervisor yesterday and was told someone would call me back today, and nobody did — is that in my file?”
Evidently not. Well, the system is still down …
“I’ve been dealing with this for a month. If it depends on the system being up, I’d think it would be solved by now.”
Well, how about we send it to Research …
Margie is adamant. That is not an acceptible course of action (again).
In a huff, the CS rep says (I kid you not), “Let me get my manager, so she can tell you the exact same thing I told you.” Click-onto-Hold.
So Margie is getting fairly frustrated. The assistant CS manager on duty (“Alison”) comes on — and needs, of course, the whole story told to her, again, from scratch.
Well, perhaps we can send this to Research …
Margie, going on the frustrated scale from fairly to utterly, gives voice to same, noting that she’s been dealing with people telling her it’s going to Research for a month now. It sounds rather upset to me, but clearly I don’t have the keen ears of a CS manager.
“Ma’am, there’s no need to get hostile with me. You haven’t dealt with me before. Please hold.” Click-onto-Hold.
Margie says something very sarcastic to the muzak.
“Tired mommy,” quoth Katherine.
Amazingly enough, things go upwards from there. “Alison” asks her for the names of folks that she’s been dealing with. Margie has no names for some of them, only first names of the rest. “Nobody gives me last names.”
The CS manager provides her last name. Add another point in the positive column.
Margie provides names. This has been problematic in the past. When she called back, for example, asking for “Christie” (one of the CS managers who had said she would call back the next day), nobody in Customer Service knew of a manager named Christie.
Margie has to get off the phone, so we can go sign our new, non-U.S. Bank mortgage. The CS manager says she will research it herself, and call back tomorrow.
Amazingly enough …
… when we get home from dinner (Pasquini’s Pizza Kitchen on 17th. Very fine.), there’s a message from her. She’s managed to dig up the old loan information (obviously she can run the Old Loan System) and reads it back to us, to verify that it’s correct before she “opens a can of worms.”
It matches the fax we were sent (which is, as such print-outs from decades-old finanicial systems tend to be, nearly impossible to understand), and Margie calls back and leaves a message to go can-opening.
So we’ll see. The U.S. Bank loan will be actually paid off by the mortgage company on Wednesday. Actually, it will be more than paid off, which will probably churn the bottom mud enough that we’ll be stuck trying to track “Christie” down again.
We drank some champagne. Margie’s great.
[For more in this thread, visit here.]
And I have the Google to prove it. Doing a Google search on “u.s. bank sucks”” turns up four entries. The third one down is this blog (ahem). The first…
And I have the Google to prove it. Doing a Google search on “u.s. bank sucks”” turns up four entries. The third one down is this blog (ahem). The first one is Jake’s reference to this blog.
Huzzah.
Meanwhile, no new news on that front. Nobody has called us back (of course). We pay everything off this month, including the $250 (which actually gets rolled up into the new loan). Which probably spells the end of it, since once the damned thing has vanished from their records, and we finish closing all our accounts with them, it’s even more doubtful we’ll see that money back.
But it’s been … well, not fun, but an interesting new use of this blog to bitch and wail and moan and gnash my teeth about it.
And I still think I’ll put together a page that groups all these posts on it, with a little tag on this cover page. Lest we forget …
(Oh, and Margie is still wonderful. No ever forgetting that.)
[For more in this thread, visit here.]
Still more U.S. Bank stuff … Here’s a chronology of the shenanigans that happened today, prompting my diatribe from earlier: A letter, dated 29 May (a month after we started…
Still more U.S. Bank stuff …
Here’s a chronology of the shenanigans that happened today, prompting my diatribe from earlier:
… they couldn’t really do anything because, as far as their system showed, the loan was still open, so what they are currently reporting to the credit agencies is correct. And, of course, they couldn’t do anything further, but perhaps someone in Customer Service could help, maybe it’s been taken care of and is just in a stack of papers somewhere, here’s their generic number …
Margie called that number. They said, So sorry, can’t do anything for you, you really need to work through the branch on this one.
Margie insisted on talking to a supervisor. There was none available to talk to. The CS rep did forward the problem to a supervisor who’s “pretty good” about returning calls. Yeah. Right.
Margie called Credit Dispute again to let them know that it was not yet processed. The person she’d talked to was not available, so she left a message. Miracle of miracles, he actually called back.
They still couldn’t do anything. Margie asked if they knew anyone in Customer Service who could actually resolve the problem. No, of course not, since that department’s all the way in Wisconsin. And things are confused right now, because of a recent merger between U.S. Bank and Firstar …
Margie pressed. Okay, since there was evidently no Customer Service person who could respond, who’s the President of U.S. Bancorp, and what’s his number?
“Um … let me get a supervisor.”
She reported again that it looked like someone had only partially paid off the final amount. She hadn’t been able to see all the details though because …
… well, they changed loan computer systems last year, and none of the old information got rolled up into the new system. So if someone there wants to see details on an “old” loan (e.g., one “closed” in 2000), they have to find an “old-timer” to access the old system.
(Evidently nobody stays in Customer Service for more than a year or two. Quel surprise.)
“Andrea” had actually shown enough initiative to find someone to look up this info for her (the most initiative anyone has shown so far, though it did take her the extra day and she didn’t call in the meantime). And she dug up something very, very strange.
When the old line of credit was paid off, it was paid off with a payment of about $44K. That should have been the close, finis, end of story.
But it wasn’t completely paid off, as we now know.
But a week later, someone — certainly not us — paid in another $180. Leaving $250 or so unpaid.
Who paid in that additional partial amount? Why? Why only partial? Why at all?
This made Margie more than a bit suspicious, and she actually raised the issue of someone playing fast and loose with accounts. Yes, she actually use the word “embezzlement.”
Andrea faxed us the printout from the old system, showing this oddity. Interestingly enough, it was on Firstar paper.
So Margie called this regional person. Said person is at training today, and should be back tomorrow. She left a message …
“I’d get a manager and find out how we could close the account and what local G/L number the branch could use to absorb the cost.”
That’s customer service. Too bad it’s been so lacking at U.S. Bank.
[For more in this thread, visit here.]
My wife is a wonderful person. She is highly responsible. She is professional. She displays in her work a powerful commitment to customer service. She goes the extra mile….
My wife is a wonderful person.
She is highly responsible. She is professional. She displays in her work a powerful commitment to customer service. She goes the extra mile. She is honest. She honors her commitments. She is interested in how people feel around her, both in her work life and in her home life. She is compassionate. She is competent. She is reasonable and rational and logical.
And though it may seem to belie that last sentence, she also expects others, especially in a professional, business relationship to be the same.
Which is a big reason why this whole U.S. Bank thing (see here and here) has so seriously upset her. And angered her.
Because the faceless drones at U.S. Bank have been utterly lacking in taking any responsibility. They have behaved unprofessionally. They have shown no commitment to customer service. They’ve not only not gone the extra mile, they’ve wandered off when her back’s been turned. They’ve been dishonest. They’ve not honored her commitments. They’ve shown little interest in how their customers feel. They’ve had only lip service to compassion. They’ve been incompetent. They (and their systems) have been unreasonable and irrational and illogical.
In other words, every aspect of Margie’s dealings with them over the past month and a half, in trying to figure out and resolve this stupid little $250 amount still showing up on an old, supposedly-paid-off-by-them second mortgage, has flown in the face of everything that Margie is, holds dear, and expects from others.
Rat bastards.
U.S. Bank’s motto is “Five Star Service Guaranteed.” Which sounds impressive until you realize that that’s on a scale of 1-20 stars.
At U.S. Bank, our Five Star Service Guarantee means that every teller, every loan officer, every manager and every employee is committed to responsive, respectful, prompt and helpful service. The Five Star Service Guarantee means putting your needs first and foremost. It means focusing on what you need to maximize your business or personal financial management. It’s our promise – to change forever what you expect from a financial institution. And it’s a promise WE GUARANTEE!
Each of us at U.S. Bancorp takes responsibility for providing outstanding service to our customers, understanding our individual jobs, and performing our jobs at the highest level. In the end, it’s our individual personal commitment that helps deliver real results to our customers, company, shareholders and community.
Margie has talked, repeatedly, to folks in Customer Service. In Loan Dispute. At the local branch. Each time she has been unable to get anyone to resolve the problem. Each time the problem will be looked into first thing in the morning, or referred to the Research Department. Each time she has gotten a firm commitment to be called back — tomorrow, within 48 hours, within 3-5 business days.
Nobody has called her back. Nobody.
Nobody has helped her. Nobody.
Of course, it doesn’t help that U.S. Bank’s corporate functions are spread across the US like dandelion seeds. “I can transfer you there, but they’ve all gone home by now.” “You’ll have to call them back, it’s too early there for any of the managers to be in.” “I don’t know anyone in that department. They’re in Wisconsin and we’re in Florida.”
She’s gotten apologies — from Level 1 phone folks who prefix everything with, “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you with this, but …” She’s had supervisors refuse to get on the phone with her. She’s been transferred to the “department you need to talk to,” only to discover, after half an hour on hold, that it wasn’t. She’s had people tell her that it has to be handled at the branch, only to be told at the branch that it has to be handled by the folks in corporate.
She’s been jerked around to the point of tearful frustration and fury such that she doesn’t trust her voice on the phone. And for those of you who have met Margie, who know what a warm and calm and cheerful person she is, you cannot imagine what it takes to get her to that point.
Or how it makes me feel.
The one mercy in this debacle is that it will not interfere with our closing our new loan. The title company, at least, was able to get through the layers of customer disservice and arrange for a payment of the $200-odd (the number keeps changing).
But that’s no longer the point. Hell, if it were just that much, I told Margie, it’s not worth another minute of this.
Except that it is. Because now it’s the principle of the thing. It’s a matter of getting those rat bastards to back down, to admit their mistake, to fix it, and to apologize. For real.
In the meantime, let me take the opportunity to let the customer service maxim prevail that says that someone who get crappy service will let seven, or thirteen, or twenty people know about it. I get about 300-odd hits per day. That’s at least 250 people who will read this. Plus those who have read the other posts I’ve done on this problem. Plus those who come here in the future and see (I’m about this far from doing this) the permanent “U.S. Bank sucks” category. Plus the people who will see this page, and the others, via Google searches long into the future..
That’s hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who will hear what a crappy job U.S. Bank has done in settling this piss-ant dispute. Thousands who will hear how, once your problem gets sucked into the bowels of U.S. Bank, you’d best be prepared to spend hours on the phone, and months of time waiting for the problem to be resolved. If it ever is. If you don’t give up, first.
I would have given up. I freely admit it. I’d have sacrificed the money and run, a long time ago.
Margie won’t do that. Because she’s all those things I listed in the second paragraph, and she expects that others will be, too. And it’s right that she does, and that she hold them to it.
God, I love her.
So tell your friends. Tell your family. Avoid U.S. Bank. There are plenty of alternatives. They might suck, too, but at least you have one firm datapoint here that U.S. Bank sucks big time.
Or, as Margie just told me (going back to the Mary Poppins lesson about banking), “If you can’t trust a bank to return your phone call, how can you trust them with your money?”
It’s all about trust. That’s what banking and finance and accounting is founded on. That’s why the Andersen scandal has been so big.
U.S. Bank has blown our trust in them. They’ve frittered it away over a silly $250 charge. They’ve frittered it away by nobody taking responsibility, nobody acting in a professional, helpful, compassionate, or responsive manner. They’ve frittered it away by not returning phone calls when they said they would. They’ve frittered it away one bad service experience after another.
They don’t have our trust any more. Should they have yours?
[For more in this thread, visit here.]
So yesterday, at the suggestion of the loan underwriter, I contacted the title company to see if they had had any progress in getting US Bank off their collective butts…
So yesterday, at the suggestion of the loan underwriter, I contacted the title company to see if they had had any progress in getting US Bank off their collective butts about this old second.
Turns out, miracle of miracles, they had. They had statements of payment for the old $295, which would get rolled into the new loan. Huzzah. All is well.
Margie was pleased by that, but she noted that we should not have to pay that money, if it was for the early closure of the first line of credit, since it was all an internal US Bank transaction to open up a new second mortgage. So she called US Bank, for the fifth time.
And, miracle of miracles, she got someone who could figure it out. Turns out it wasn’t an early closure fee. When US Bank paid off the old second mortage (which they owned) from the proceeds of the new one (which they owned), they only paid off the principle payment for that month; the interest had not been calculated yet, and rang in at the end of the month at $100. Which then sat there and accrued interest itself for a few years.
And, according to the fellow Margie talked to, the reason they didn’t tell us about it? It was an installment loan, so they don’t send out mailings on it …
“So you can fix this?”
Well, no, the Mighty Central Computers of US Bank couldn’t fix it. It could only be fixed at the branch where we did the new second. Huh?
So we trundled down there this morning, which wasn’t too bad a thing, since they were very nice last time we were in. And they were nice this time, too.
Except they couldn’t close it down, either. Not today at least. The local loan manager is going to follow up on it and get it taken care of Monday. And, since we know her, I actually believe it.
She was able to shed even a bit more dim light on the “Why were we never told?” question. Seems the system didn’t register the payoff of the old line of credit as a payoff, but as an early repayment. By its thinking, we were all paid up on it until 2008, so, happy as a clam, it never thought about sending us a reminder statement …
[For more in this thread, visit here.]
Once upon a time, we took a second mortage from Colorado National Bank. It came with a line of credit. All well and good. A few years later, with interest…
Once upon a time, we took a second mortage from Colorado National Bank. It came with a line of credit. All well and good.
A few years later, with interest rates way down, we went back to US Bank (the new corporate owners of CNB) and got a new second to replace the first, closing out the original second. All well and good.
Here we are in 2002. We’re doing a complete re-fi of our first, which will pay off our second.
“Hmmmmm, what’s this?” the underwriters say. “You have two more liens against the property than you listed. What’s with that?”
“Huh?”
The CSB second, which was convered over to US Bank, still shows a balance of $200, which means that it, and the line of credit, still exist. US Bank, of course, never told us that.
Margie, the Queen of Phone-Related Stuff, called US Bank up in late April. After several reroutings, she was told, “Hmmm. We can’t see it on our computer. We’ll figure it out and get back to you in 3-7 days.”
Three weeks later, last Monday, she called again. She was routed to some other Shadow Dept. in the US Bank phone tree. “Hmmm. We can’t see what the status is of the first inquiry. We’ll set another group on that and get back to you in 48 hours.”
This afternoon, still no word back from the gnomes at US Bank, she called again.
After being routed hither and thither, and waiting on hold for quite some time, she discovered (a) she was rerouted to a department that couldn’t help her, (b) that person couldn’t route her to anyone who could help her, and (c) that person’s supervisor was unwilling, even after several long, long minutes of (tearful) browbeating, to get her to a manager to complain about the experience as a whole, or to even talk to her. All she got was the direct number of the group that she needed to talk two about second loans.
(If I live to be 100, I owe Margie for being Phone Point Person of the Family.)
At this point, Katherine was waking up, so I went for a long walk with her.
When I got back, Margie was feeling better. She had actually talked to someone (a) who was willing to help, (b) actually could help, and (c) helped her. It looks like progress actually has been made in getting everything closed and reversed and put to bed. Not that anyone had called to let us know this, but at least it looked like progress had been made.
And someone will call tomorrow. They promise.
[For more in this thread, visit here.]
