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This continues the saga of my lost ATM card. Turns out, mah Bebe kept the card last Sunday and only handed me money. After everything was said and done, I had my card and it has already been cancelled. I tried calling the useless “hotline” of Robinson’s Bank again but this time no one was answering. Since I had to go to the area where my bank was to accompany Anayami, I took the chance in inserting the card at my bank’s ATM machine. To nobody’s surprise, my card got captured. I had to go to the bank on Monday to get a replacement card.

The transaction was straightforward and I was done within 20-30 minutes. We chanced upon the bank’s slow hour. I had to wait 3 days for the card to be processed.

I’m currently on the night shift so I had to wait 3 hours after my shift just so I could complete my transaction. I was the first client inside the bank and the bank officer found my card immediately. I was naive to think that this would be a quick bank visit. When she was looking over the records, she asked me if I filed my affidavit of loss already. I told her the story of how I thought it was lost, yadda-yadda. She told me to wait while she conferred with the manager.

I had to wait what seemed like an eternity since I was sleepy and cranky (story later… maybe). I couldn’t even carry any kind of conversation with a colleague who came in after me. The manager was upbeat and perky when she approached me. She had me go over the whole story again. She said that I had to get an affidavit of my statement. I told her that their branch’s machine was the one that captured my card. She told me that they didn’t have my card. The only card they found on Monday was a different bank with a different name. She started to hint that I might be mistaken and that I used another ATM or that I used another card to do the transaction. HELLO! Did she think that I was so dumb as to confuse one bank from the other? That I spent Sunday afternoons in a drugged stupor not knowing where I was?!? To give her credit, she immediately acknowledged the idiocy of that last statement saying that of course the card wasn’t mine because it had another name on it. (So she has common sense din pala. )

By this time, I was already so pissed and trying to control my temper. I was answering in curt, clipped tones cutting down each of her statements as soon as she said them. While she insisted I lost my card and that it wasn’t captured, I just turned away and dug into my bag to get my wallet. Good thing I remembered that I kept the ATM transaction receipt and showed it to her. When she saw that it was indeed from their machine, she asked for my permission to attach the receipt to my form. That irked me again so I answered her, “I don’t know. It’s your bank. What’s your policy?” She answered me that the receipt will do. She went on to explain that I may be keeping the receipt for something else. (DUH! What’s more important than getting access to my hard-earned money?!?) When I gave her my assent, she had me sign a receiving copy. Since she had to get the PIN sheet, she was gone for a few more minutes and when she came back, she was talking to me in a calm voice laced with contempt.

I know I was wrong in how I dealt with them. I know for a fact that the customer is NOT always right but s/he is still the customer. But this is just one of the many dealings that I have had with that bank that truly displeased me. The lack of the hotline for me to call; no one competent to face the customer; the fact that they treat their customers in a patronizing manner that makes a person feel like an imbecile; the slow, inefficient lines at the teller; the endless wait with no one headlining why; ATM system constantly going off line… these are all the things that aggravate me when I do business with their bank. Heck, the only person that truly pleases me at their bank is a particular guard that greets me at the door! Others have already complained about their servicefor a long time that I once thought our company would move to another bank for the payroll. I may not have the choice as to the payroll accounts but believe me, I’m going to start moving my money somewhere else.