Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

When I officially changed the name of my company to Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter, LLC, little did I realize this meant spending hours changing one seemingly simple thing – my bank account, that I’ve had for years at Compass Bank. The bank was adamant I couldn’t simply change the name on the business account – to protect me (but they couldn’t tell me just exactly what they were protecting me from). So, I went through all new paperwork, setting up my online banking, changing automatic payments and so on. My personal account stayed the same (and I also opened a business savings account.)

Earlier this week – lots to do, in a hurry – needed to whip through the bank drive-thru with a large deposit and go. Uh, no go.

The teller called for branch manager approval (?!) and was told I had to come in the bank, since it was flagged as a “new account.” It’s monsoon season here so I show up in the manager’s office mad (and as wet) as the proverbial hen. Well, gee, don’t I know that there is a huge problem with bank fraud? Large deposits on a new account must always be approved or placed on hold. And, “I can’t see anything about your old account or your personal one here.” (as he stares into the magical mystical database.) Which is funny, because I can go online and see all my accounts, including the closed one. Finally, the manager approved the deposit and said he’d try to see if there was a way they could ‘link the old account to the new one.” Lastly, sorry, but I’ll have to deal with this “inconvenience” for about another 60 days.

Automated systems shouldn’t mean taking the person out of the equation. One transaction can (as in this case) erase years of customer good will. People aren’t account numbers.

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, Compass Bank, customer service