The Funeral Parlour ...

For as long as I can remember, I've been paying my bills and handling all my banking transactions online. I don't even remember actually walking into a bank to do a manual transaction in ages. The only time I'm at a bank is when I have an appointment or a presentation with my banking client or when I need to withdraw some money and even then it's at the ATM machine.

I prefer the online method and have been using it for years now cos the bank where I have my personal account is located at Taipan, USJ, one of the busiest commercial areas near my place and even finding parking on weekends is hell, let alone on workdays. Besides it's so much more convenient banking online these days. But unfortunately, yesterday I had to actually go personally to the bank to sort out some matters.

I was already dreading having to look for a parking space and after about a couple dozen circles around the place, I finally find a parking space and it's like a few million kilometres from the bank. Now comes the long walk under the sun to the bank. By the time I reached the bank I'm already drenched in sweat. Never mind I say, at least the air conditioning in there will cool me down.

So, I take my queue number and and get myself comfortably seated cos I'm like number 35 in the queue. God, this is probably going to take ages. And that's when I noticed a few things why I'd rather do my banking online. First of, all the tellers look like they just came from a funeral. All of them and I mean all of them have this sullen, unfriendly frown on their faces. What is this? A funeral parlour or a bank? For front desk staff, can't they at least smile?

Ok, never mind, maybe they all got up on the wrong side of the bed today. Then I see how they handle some customers. There was this elderly lady and it was her turn so she walks over to one of these sulky tellers and does whatever it is she needs done. Next thing I know, I hear the teller screaming, well, not really screaming, I exaggerate too much, more like raising her voice at this elderly lady saying she did something wrong with the forms or something like that and would have to go fill it out again and wait in line again!

The elderly lady says she's not that good at understanding the details in the form and ask if she could help her fill it up but she flatly tell the elderly lady to go fill it up herself cos it's not her job and she's busy now. WTF? What kind of service is that? Not her job? It wouldn't take her more than a minute to help her fill out her form and get her transaction done. Good thing a kind hearted customer went up and helped the lady fill the form.

And that wasn't all. The whole time I was there, which was about an hour or so, I noticed that all these tellers were such a rude and lazy bunch of people who kept pushing customers from counter to counter when things went wrong. Not all the customers were as patient. Some wouldn't tolerate their nonsense and told them what they thought of them to their faces. I was secretly clapping for them ... hehehe ...

Well, when my turn came, I was ready to face at least some crap from them and would have given them a piece of my mind if that happened but fortunately for me (or for them?), my transaction went without a hitch. Phewwwww! But it just cements my reason why I hate going to the bank. I rather face my monitor than these rude emotionless people. They have this attitude that we should be grateful to them for keeping our money.

It's not like they're not already charging all kinds of unfathomable and ridiculous service charges to use our own money. Certain banks I know charge its customers for withdrawing their OWN money from the ATM for more than three transactions a month. Thank god my bank doesn't have such ridiculous charges. It's not like they're not already making tons of money as it is. I really have no issues with the bank I use except for the funeral parlour like atmosphere they exude.

That's why when it comes online savings accounts, I'd rather deal with banks like Wamu. That way I don't have to deal with moody and rude customer service people. Not forgetting the host of additional features and benefits they have such as free online banking, access to free electronic statements and if you maintain a balance of $300, your account is free. You can also link it to a checking account to avoid overdraft charges. And the best thing is you will always be able to access your money through ATM's anywhere.

Anyways, for me, after the experience I witnessed at the bank yesterday, online banking is the way to go, so check out WaMu cos regardless of the type of account you want, they'll have you covered. No more waiting in line for tellers, no more have to schedule your life around the bank's hours cos they're available 24/7 and they're just at the click of a button in the comforts of your own home. Now if that isn't the way to go, I don't know what is ...
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