Stupid Banking Rules Lead Fun Motivational Speaker to Flee Bank

now

The Stupid Company of the Month Award

goes to........

Bank of America

Congratulations Bank of America; you have just received my Stupid Company of the Month Award.

Yep, this morning I closed out a small personal checking account. My business account and my main checking account are next.

This small account, which I maintain for a disabled relative, does not meet your direct deposit or minimum balance requirement and therefore is no longer free. It was free until recently. Now while I do not consider $5.95 to be a hefty fee and I would even be willing to pay it, I am insulted when I am told I can have the exact same type of account for free if I close this account and open up the exact same type of account - because that is the current "promotion." But I would need to close and open; no type of flagging or converting of my current account can be done; this is what I was told by the Customer Service Supervisor last week. When I asked this person if he sees the stupidity in what he is asking me to do, he remained silent for a few moments and then shared how the online banking business is completely separate from the branch level banking business and that different promotions are offered by each and that he totally sees the logic. Leadership at BOA should be happy to know that one of their supervisors tows the company line; no matter how stupid the policy.

So Bank of America, I did what I was told to do......I closed the account and opened up three new free accounts within walking distance of my home at a competitor bank where size doesn't matter. When I replied to the question why I was leaving BOA, your customer service representative replied in disbelief "another one" and did nothing to try and retain my business.

Your award, should you choose to collect it, is a $5.95 credit towards a keynote or training program of your choice. I would suggest a communications program; whereby staff are encouraged to bring their real issues and concerns to management when they think policies lead to loss of a customer.