How Wachovia Saves Money on Training
I had a savings account at Wachovia Bank here in Roanoke. Wachovia is one of the larger banks and it’s close to my office, and I needed a place to keep my money until my wife and I could both go in to open a joint checking account.
The Wachovia people were incredibly friendly and helpful — at least when I was opening my account.
But then I decided to close it. Wachovia charges $20 a month if you go below the minimum balance in a savings account, and I needed access to the money. (Most of our money is still in another bank at this point.)
So it seemed the only reasonable thing to do was close the account and then reopen it later when my wife was in town and we could move all our money there.
And then Gary White, a Wachovia “financial specialist,” told me there was a $25 fee for closing an account. “You’re kidding,” I said. “I’m going to reopen it in a few weeks.”
“There’s nothing I can do,” he said, “It’s not my policy.” And then he said those words only spoken by the incompetent: “That’s what the computer says.”
Ah. I asked about the manager; he gave me her card. “But there’s nothing she can do, either,” he said.
See, at Wachovia, the computer tells them what to do and they can’t override it. (Yes, Gary White told me that Wachovia doesn’t even allow its branch manager to override the computer.)
So that made me wonder: Beyond the basic skills of reading and writing, what does it take to be a Wachovia manager? Apparently not much if the computer tells you what to do.
And then I thought about McDonald’s, and how the fry vats beep when the fries are done. Same idea.
Sure, I think charging people $25 to close an account is nonsense. (Gary White said, “We’re no different than anyone else,” although I don’t know many other places that fine you for not doing business with them.)
But what’s really annoying is realizing I was doing business with a bank that has so little trust in its employees that it instructs them “Do what the computer says. Do not think.”
That doesn’t speak well of Wachovia’s HR department, or its corporate policies. (Or maybe it’s simply interested in corporate customers, not individuals.)
Or, perhaps, Wachovia is training people for a career manning the fry vats at McDonald’s.
Beep.
Glenn says:
Ok, let’s see where to begin. First of all the $25.00 fee is for closing the account within the first six months. If you read the disclosures or just the short quick reference guide that was given to you, it would be apparent that the fee exists. As far as $20.00/month maintainence fee, that would only be applied if you did not meet the balance requirement after 3 months. If it were a Savings account, it would only be $4.00, with a minimum balance of $300.00 (depending on area). Unless you have a Money Market account, then it would be $10.00/month for not meeting the balance requirement of 2500.00. Once again this is clearly stated in the disclosures which we given to you.
If you did not recieve the disclosures (which I doubt), then you have an arguement and I guarentee that management would gladly make an accomadation for you. So please do some research before your create a site which people may read and make decisions off of. We do not come to your job, whatever that may be and critize you for doing your best. At Wachovia, there is a culture of making the customer happy and to maintain a relationship.