When Good Brands go Bad

So, a few months back, we left Chase Manhattan to become customers of Commerce Bank, America's most convenient bank. We do love that they're open 7 days/week. It's really nice to have the phones answered by a real person, rather then the usual voicemail hell. We've enjoyed them a great deal, as banks go!

So, today, I went in to make a deposit and, as usual, I didn't have my account number with me. So, I kinda' filled out the deposit slip and took it up to the teller, a very nice woman named Cindy. I gave her my bank card and told her that I didn't know my account number. I figured they would just punch in the number on my card to find my account number like they always do. No such luck. Thanks to a new system that they have, since I opened the account in another zone, they could no longer look up my account info.

No, I had to go wait in line to have a CSR (customer service rep, I'm guessing) look up my account info. Since it seemed to be a pretty long wait, I decided to call my wife and see if she had my account number. She's really good at this sort of thing! She didn't, but she went online and was able to get the account info. So, I was able to call my wife, have her go online and get the account info, but the teller couldn't do that for me?

Wasn't a very convenient experience, if you ask me!

Comments

[Jeff]

That would frustrate me to no end. I have been a big fan of Commerce bank because they seem to "get it" in terms of customer conveniences without ticky-tack fees. In addition to great branch hours they have free coin counting machines (as opposed to the ones at the super market that charge 8%+ fees!) and no ATM fees for using other banks' ATM machines (the other bank can charge you however).

Your experience seems atypical in the context of their other consumer friendly/customer service processes, and it does surprise me somewhat. I am sure these "zones" are set up for cost center tracking or divisional management or because of the incomplete integration of multiple information systems. It is a classic case of internal information system design and decision making based on internal efficiencies, ignoring impact on customer experience. Just shows how everyone in an organization must be on the same page when it comes to customer-facing philosophy and culture. It requires real vigilance and it doesn't happen by accident.