Well i was very upset earlier this month when i realized i had a service charge that seemed unreasonable punitive to me from CIBC on July 30 2012. I spent several weeks debating what to do and had decided to close my account and setup direct deposit with Scotiabank again.
Earlier tonight i printed out a filled form with my account details inputted to a direct deposit form for the Ministry of Income Assistance so that i could deliver it in the morning to the office in Newton so my cheque would not be delayed. I received my payments by direct deposit on the 29th of August so getting it done fast was imperative if wanted my cheque deposited in the right account.
Well after hemming and hawing for a few hours I decided to phone CIBC customer service and discuss my issues with their service charges. I was quite upset when i began the call. I told them i planned to close my account and had no intentions of paying the service charge.
I feared that because i owed them money i would be unable to close the chequing account until i paid my fees. Thus ensuring i accrued account fees until the balance was paid. I find this practice despicable but many companies continue to charge fees for delinquent account refusing to freeze or close them until they are paid up. Thus punishing those unable or unwilling to pay said fees.
Sorry to digress from the topic of my customer service experience but I wanted to express my concerns regarding major corporations and my personal feelings about some companies business practices. I have no previous exprience with CIBC or their policies regarding this situation. I am only stating my concerns and do not have a reasonable expectation that there policies reflect my imaginings regarding my chequeing account. I state this as i did because i had a very good response from CIBC and do not know what there policies are. I have a generally negative attitude towards big business with regards to there policies but feel when they do get things right someone should speak up.
A little background. I have a horrible credit rating and in the past have had great difficulty paying my debts. Most if not all were things like utilities, ie., BC Hydro (still not paid), Telus ( still not paid), Shaw cable (still not paid). Of all those companies listed i tried to disconnect account to prevent further billing but i was informed that until I paid the balance i would continue to accrue charges until i paid it off. I should mention that most of these delinquint accounts continued to bill me after cutting off service for late payments. So when i realized i was being billed for service when i was disconnected because of failure to make payment i gave up and with the mounting charges as my bills piled up i just started chucking them in the trash.
Well i got off topic again but just wanted some understanding of my expectations with regards to how i expected things to go. What the CIBC representitive actual response was to ask me to hold while he looked at my account. About 1 minute later he came back on and offered to reverse the service charge for $40 and said it was there policy with regards to Disability savings plan to not charge any fees with regards to those accounts. To say i was relieved was and understatement. I was very pleased with the outcome and discussed suspending payments for a few months to figure out what to do. He agreed and set that up right away. I do not remember the represenatives name but have found the customer service with that bank to very good overall.
Some more background for those who find what i said to be a little bit rambling, it is after all 10 to 5 in the morning. I had a scheduled transfer from my chequeing account on the 28th of each month for $25.00 to my Retirement Savings Plan and when i had insufficient funds to transfer they charged me a $40.00 NSF fee for the transfer.
I was very miffed as it seemed unfair i was paying myself and to be penalized for failure to pay myself made me feel helpless as the account was setup to help me save money for some distant time in the future and the first time i tried to arrange payment, due to my error i was penalized i felt unjustly for following the advice of personal banking rep that suggested i save for the future. I fully realize i should have saved the money or put a stop payment on the account before this all happened but i am on disability and have mental health issues and adding this type of stress to my life does not help make things easier.
I stressed out about this for 3 weeks until i finally decided to do something about it. I went through a bunch of scenarios in my head and finally decided to phone CIBC and try to close my account. The end result was I kept my account and am very pleased with CIBC response to what i said. The representative was very responsive to my needs and had a solution at hand almost instantly.
I just wish to stress that CIBC made my day and i wish i had phoned earlier this month and dealt with this issue before i got so upset. Thanks CIBC for your excellent customer service and i wish to extend my deep appreciation to that unknown agent that assisted me.
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