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Dumbest banker ever on phone shop

July 31, 2019 11:50PM
Today was a doozy. I did one of the new shops where you have to call a major bank call center and tell them you were misled about the interest rate on a savings account you have open. I state my scenario and the banker responds "I don't understand when you say interest rate." I clarified what APY meant and how it was so low. The banker responded that interest rates are only associated with credit cards, not savings accounts. I was confused. I asked "what are savings accounts for if they don't pay interest?" The banker said, "savings accounts are accounts where you put your money into to save, just a separate account." WTF After more discussion, he said he'd never heard of savings accounts paying interest. After being placed on hold, he then admitted he was wrong and that the interest rate was 0.01%, and offered to transfer me to a sales rep that might be able to negotiate a higher rate. Wow. How is this guy qualified to work for them? This bank usually has bright, sharp people. This was pretty basic info he should know.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2019 11:52PM by quovatis.
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More About Phone Shops
August 01, 2019 12:15AM
This does not surprise me one bit. I once asked the "financial advisor" at my work in the dept that handled the 403B accounts (like a 401K) what the fees involved were for the accounts I held and she told me it doesn't matter. About 2 years later they started putting those same fees on the statements due to a new federal law requiring them to tell us. Of course it matters!!!
Another time when I handled my mom's estate and she had left a small account written as a trust account for her four grandchildren the banker told me he would just cut a check for each of my 2 children and then they could give half of their checks to their cousins if they wanted to. He was the estate banker at the bank.
So many other stories like this.
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August 01, 2019 08:22AM
That banker had to be related to someone pretty high on the food chain.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
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August 01, 2019 02:06PM
Banking jobs are a lot like fast food anymore. They often don't pay as much as people think. I imagine the biggest benefit is just that it's not actual food service. The training seems to be minimal. The difference is that some people are motivated by a personal interest in finance or they have been at it since the job did involve real training.
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August 01, 2019 02:36PM
That was not a banker. Think Area 51 or Men in Black.
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August 01, 2019 02:48PM
He may just deserve a break. I've screwed up shops by doing them at the wrong time or missing some 'minor' guideline.
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August 01, 2019 03:44PM
quovatis, you were dealing with a call center, not a banker. I don't know how the rules read now, but a few years ago call centers were not to discuss rates, though they could read them off the daily rate sheet. Anything more complex and they needed to transfer you to a banker. If you were assigned the question by the MSP they may have been checking whether the call center was appropriately transferring the call. Call centers are a step above burger flippers in their employment requirements because they can access customer accounts as part of their job, but do not handle cash so they have fewer employment requirements than tellers.
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