National City branch visit complaint

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to express my frustration with the new National City branch building at 5550 Ridge avenue in Pleasant Ridge in Cincinnati. It looks very nice from the outside but the method of entry leaves much to be desired.

I don't know why the decision was to limit entry to 1 person at a time. I can only assume that it is some sort of security measure, though upon first glance it seems of dubious merit. Not to mention that I don't really feel like Pleasant Ridge is a particularly dangerous part of town, where a bank might need enhanced security measures.

If it was just me entering, I'd have no problem. But this past week I came with my whole family. I had been needing to get something notarized with my wife and I both signing it, and it can prove challenging to get both of us (which necessitates bringing our 5 young children as well) at the same place at the same time during a bank's normal operating hours. But I was off work last Wednesday (August 12th) and so on our way down to the museum, we stopped by the Ridge branch.

While my wife was getting the baby out of the car, I attempted to go in with the other 4 kids. I saw the signs to enter only 1 at a time, but I went ahead anyways because I had all my kids with me and couldn't just leave them there. I don't know if you have kids, or how old they might be, but the odds of successfully explaining the correct procedures for entering the bank to an autistic 9 year old, as well as 7, 4 and 2 year olds is approximately 0%.

Obviously we were unable to enter the bank. After awhile, a woman came over the intercom and asked how many people were in the vestibule. I replied "1 adult and 4 children". She said "Normally I would make you go out and come in 1 at a time but I will let you in this time." So we finally made it in! Then my wife came in, pushing our baby in the stroller. And unbelievably she had it even worse! Obviously we could not leave an 8 month old to try and enter by himself, so they both went in to the vestibule area. She also appeared to speak to someone over the intercom (I couldn't hear what was being said) but eventually she got the door unlocked, but because the vestibule was so narrow, it was nearly impossible for her to push the door open since the stroller was in front of her. And there was no room to get around the stroller or turn it around. It took 3 tries before she was able to get in.

After that, the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. The wait was longer than I wished it was, but we were able to get our documents notarized and head out. I can't really fault the customer service of the teller. And the manager-type man who notarized our documents was very nice.

But I would like to ask that this method of entry to bank branches be stopped. Or at the very least limit it to branches that really ARE in bad neighborhoods, where I wouldn't want to take my kids anyways.

Thank you

In which National City does not read my email

Following up to the last post this is what I get back from National City

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Dear ,

We appreciate you taking the time to contact us by e-mail on September 4, 2008, concerning your account.

I understand your concerns and apologize for any inconvenience. If the item pending is a check we cannot verify at that time who the check was made out to. This amount could also include one or more checks in one total. They will then be separated when they actually post to your account that night.

We do appreciate your business.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, we will be happy to assist you. Online Banking Specialists are available Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to midnight EST, and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST. You may contact us directly at 1-888-622-4932.


-Online Banking Support

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to which I responded

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Thank you for your very timely response. I understand that policy and have no problem with that. The reason I emailed is because I was extremely frustrated that the lady SAID she could help me when, according to the policy you just quoted me, she could not.

Rather than listen to me when I explained my problem, she just read from her "script" telling me "Sure I would be happy to help you with that"

That was and is the source of my frustration

I can help you with that I mean no I can't (National City)

Me and National City are foes. Foes so much to the point that I should probably just ditch them.

Now this particular instance was not as bad as how they routinely job me with overdraft charges that take me days to get reversed, but it was still annoying

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Hi,

I recently had a poor experience with a customer call center support technician and would like to pass it on to you, in the hopes that you will use it to improve your call center and keep my (and other customers') business.

I was viewing my accounts online (I like to periodically monitor them since even though I am supposedly signed up for balance threshold email alerts, I never seem to get them until my balance drops below zero and I get charged $34 overdraft charges). As I was viewing them, I noticed a pending check for $600. Since I don't remember writing a check for $600 (and neither did my wife), I called up National City to see if they could shed some light on what exactly this check was.

After going through the various options and getting to an agent, the conversation went a little something like this:

Me: Hi, I have a pending check for $600 and was wondering if you would be able to tell me what this check was for.
Her: Sure, I'd be happy to help you with that

She then verified my identity and the account and such.

Her: Yes, there is a check or checks that is pending for $600.
Me: Okay, can you tell me who they were written to or anything about them?
Her: No, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about them until midnight tonight.
Me: (Confused since she earlier said she could) Okay, thanks

Now I understand if you have technical system limitations that prevent her or anyone from knowing this information yet, and I understand that she is probably just reading from a script when she said she could help me but I had already explained my problem - if she couldn't help me WHY DO YOU HAVE HER SAY THAT SHE CAN!?!?!?

It was very frustrating

Thank you for reading my report.