I have to wonder what is wrong with customer service these days. While it may be easier to call a number in the hopes of getting something taken care of, it's not easy to actually get past being on hold, and a ton of red tape. There always seems to be something that lengthens the amount of time it takes to have your problem solved so that you can go on about your day. Sometimes it's not much better in person:
Yesterday I went to a branch of my bank that is located in a grocery store and has extended hours - perfect for me, a guy who works nights and deposits cash a few times a week. After I deposited my cash, I went about some grocery shopping. At the far end of the store, I noticed the bank teller who handled my transaction not five minutes earlier - now handing out fliers for a joint bank/grocery store offer. She even made eye contact with me. Stay with me, the importance of this will show itself shortly.
As I'm at the checkout and I reach into my wallet to get my check card to pay for my groceries, there's no card. Either I left it at the bank counter, or I dropped it somewhere in the store. I excuse myself from the cashier telling her that I think I left my check card at the bank and I'll just run over and get it. What happened next was a little bit odd:
Me: Did I just leave my check card here a few minutes ago?
Teller: Probably...Christopher......?
Me - thinking: probably?...what do you mean, probably? probably is what I thought when I ran to the counter half panicked because I thought that either I dropped it somewhere in the store or the bank would be closed...probably is not for YOU to say - I either did or I didn't!
Teller: do you have any form of identification?
Me - thinking again: yeah - I have indentification, the same I.D. that I used at your fucking counter like ten minutes ago. Not only that, but I was probably your last customer and you made eye contact with me at the back of the store - so if I probably left my damn check card at your counter, you probably should have said something like, oh I don't know...."excuse me sir - I think you left your check card at the bank counter" - which is what I probably would've done/said if our roles were reversed.
Me, actually talking to the teller: Sure.
At this point the teller takes my driver's license, looks at the name on it, writes down the license number and my name - I guess because she probably needs to check and make sure that it is probably my card. I know she was probably just doing her job and following procedure - but the fact that she seemed to remember my name would seem to suggest that she probably knew it was my card.
I leave with my card, though the teller has a look that says she thinks something is probably not quite right. I wonder if I realized that I left the card as I got three steps from the counter after I made my deposit and turned around to get my card if she probably would've asked for my I.D. then...
