Here’s an example of how frustrating banking can be’¦even for us financial professionals. The bank where I conduct my business banking (let’s call them Bank W) started enforcing one of their policies. Here’s how their minor change played out from a customers perspective.

A couple weeks ago I took a deposit to the ATM at Bank W. The deposit was larger than usual because it included a check from our HELOC at Bank X. I was taking a short-term loan from our home equity line of credit to get my business situated in a new office.

A few days later, I balanced my business account by accessing Bank Ws on-line information. I was shocked to learn that the HELOC check I’d deposited was reversed out. What? I called Bank Ws 800 number for more information. The customer service rep informed me the check was not endorsed and she didn’t have more information. Her only suggestion was for me to go to the branch to resolve the issue. I felt a frustrating situation getting worse.

I envisioned a nightmare time-wasting trip ahead of me. So I thought I’d call the branch to make sure they actually had the check before trekking there. Again the customer service rep was unable to help me. She couldn’t even provide the branch phone number. She put me on hold to try locating the number a second time. I found it online in seconds while listing to their Muzak.

Keep in mind, Bank W is a large international bank. They’ve got sophisticated online banking modules, offer many varied services, and yet their 800 customer service is poor. On various occasions, Bank W employees themselves have confirmed information from the 800 number service reps is unreliable.

With my detective hat on, I called the branch. The branch rep was knowledgeable and friendly. She informed me the checks are sent to an ATM processing center daily. The check I deposited was already hundreds of miles away in another city. She said coming into the branch wouldn’t help the situation and that the ATM processing center would return the unendorsed check to me via snail mail.

In the meantime, I simply wrote another check from our HELOC and hand delivered it to the branch. Three days later, as expected, the original check arrived back in my mailbox. It included a letter that said this check was being returned for missing endorsement. Well I signed the signature line on the front of the HELOC check. And I endorsed the back of the check. What was the problem?

I called the local branch, which had been so helpful thus far, to find the answer. When you make a business deposit into an ATM at Bank W, they require all checks to be endorsed with the following text:

BUSINESS NAME
Account Number
For deposit only

I’d only signed the back of the check’”as I’ve done on the majority of my deposits since the accounts inception. I’m the only authorized signature on the account. No one else has access to it. My business name and account number are on the preprinted deposit slips I use. But now they need all three lines of information on each check? They claim it has always been their policy. They’re just now enforcing it because of bank wide fraudulent activities.

Bank W is forever wasting paper on shiny flyers with their bank statements. Why didn’t they notify all their business banking customers of this change? Better yet, they’ve got my e-mail address on file’”an e-mail would have sufficed.

Have you encountered irritating situations like this with your bank? What are your thoughts on less than satisfactory customer service? How would you have handled the situation? At what point should customers stop accepting mediocre service?