Sovereign Bank ATM

I try and limit my rants about businesses and places of work to a minimum. After all, we're all human and we all make mistakes. I didn't blog about the D-Team Starbucks on School Street right away - many screw-ups before I stated my boycott. I didn't say anything about Boston Sports Club until the very last penny. And that's why, I haven't said anything about Sovereign Bank... until today.

I've accepted the past fuck-ups from the bank customer service in the past. To err is human, right? And, all the problems were rectified - once I caught them. But it begs the question, why did the mistakes happen in the first place? This isn't coffee we're talking about - this is MONEY. So today, I've finally had enough, hence the Sovereign Bank Blog Post.

I went to the ATM to withdraw $200, which I was promptly going to turn into British pounds for this weekend's flight to London. I withdrew the money, took the receipt and grabbed my card, and walked over to Citizen's Bank to exchange my money. When I arrived at Citizen's Bank, I handed over my cash - all $160. Wait... what?

Deep sigh.

OK, maybe I misplaced the money. Maybe I didn't take all the money. But really, I'm not that scattered, especially when it comes to money. I chalked it up to a simple technology error. Shit happens. I believe in karma, so my hope is that if it wasn't technology and I'm really stupid enough to leave $40 sitting on a ledge, someone needy picked up the money and was able to do something useful with the cash.

My friend at Citizen's suggested I call Sovereign, if nothing else because there might be a problem with the ATM. So I called... and I waited... and waited... and waited... and after 8 minutes and 16 seconds I hung up. I'm really quite busy today.

So instead I sent a note to customer service via email.

"Hello,

I am hoping someone can call me as soon as possible. After I waited on hold over the phone for more than 8 minutes, I decided to try an email and hope for a better response.

I withdrew $200 from a Boston Sovereign ATM, but I only received $160 from the ATM. I'm sure it sounds crazy, but I took the money, put it in my wallet and went to purchase currency for $200. When I went to pull the money from my wallet, I had only $160. There must be something Sovereign Bank can do! I have the ATM number, time, date, etc. and would happy to explain the situation to anyone."

Here is the response I received:

"Thank you for your recent email. If you withdrew funds with your Sovereign ATM card from a Sovereign ATM please contact a Personal Banking Representative at the number listed below.

Sincerely,
JV (initials used to protect the name)
Sovereign Direct, Email Team"

OK, so... clearly a live person read my email. Or didn't read my email. The first thing I said in my email is that I had waited on hold for more than 8 minutes when I tried to call a personal banking representative, so WHY would you suggest I do that again? Why?

Now I realize this sounds silly, but again, keep in mind that I've refrained from making bad claims about businesses in the past until the really irk me. I'm worn out. I'm tired of holding for periods of time to reclaim money that 1) is rightfully mine and 2) I put in the account in the first place!

Next step: Changing banks.

The Market is Down; My Workout is Up

I started my morning at 6:30. I found my way to the gym in a haze of uncaffeinatation, got on the treadmill and starting running. And running... and running. Before I knew it, I was 5.5 miles into "Good Morning, America".

News of the morning: The market is down, mortgages are folding, people are losing their jobs and their homes, the weather looks nice this weekend, a man was arrested after an attempted kidnap of a 6-year-old boy, and 'that one' is being accused of befriending terrorists while the 'other one' is trying to find his way out of the camera's shot.

The country is literally falling apart, I thought, as I upped the speed on the treadmill.

Finally, 7:30 a.m. and it's time to meet my trainer. We hit the benches. I was bench pressing the weight of my stress, and it felt great. An hour later I hit the showers, put on my face and walked up to the front desk to turn in my locker key and get my gym pass back. To my surprise and elation, the front desk attendant had a large cup of coffee waiting for me.

"There was enough [coffee] left for one large cup," he said as he handed me the cup.

Amazing how the world can seem a little calmer with a large cup of coffee, a good workout, and a friendly gesture.

Waiting... and Waiting... for My Money

It's 9:33 p.m. 

I've been on hold with my investment bank for 43 minutes. Mike came on the line and asked how he could help me.

"Hi Mike. I'd like to move my money into a cash reserves fund for the short-term."

"Sure. My role is an account maintenance professional and I can help answer questions about your account, but I will have to transfer you to a fund trader to manage your transaction."

"Ok, Mike. Thanks. Any chance you have a friend who is a fund trader who might owe you a favor so I don't have to wait another 45 minutes?" 

Mike said he does not. I don't believe Mike, but I'm cutting him some slack as I'm quite sure that he's been very busy tonight. 

It is now 9:38 p.m. and I am still waiting for the trader. Kudos to the investment bank, though, for having nice, calming background music. It's not distracting me from "Grey's Anatomy."

******

10:03 p.m. and Carl has just come on the phone to help me. Nice guy, this Carl - he and went so far as to say, "Let's do this together online so you know how to do this in the future if you want to make any changes, and then you won't have to wait on hold."

Carl and I walked through my account online, he showed me where my money is and what's left of what I had, and then showed me how to move it to cash. Thank you, Carl, for being so helpful and explaining this to me. 

It might shock you all to know that I have a bachelor's of science in finance, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to navigate an online trading site.