HOW TO SHAFT AN AMERICAN CONSUMER 101:

A) BYPASS THE SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT, RE-CREATE A LIVING MONOPOLY
B) BAIT AND SWITCH
C) OFFER INFERIOR PRODUCT/SERVICE
D) PROVIDE IMBECILIC CUSTOMER SERVICE

Maybe this is a byproduct of the war in Iraq, so that some “minor anomalies” have shown face, but the American consumer is getting screwed, no matter what the reason. Look at these three real life examples I collected today March 3rd, 2005:

a) A small limousine business owner goes to his bank (BankAtlantic, of Florida) he deposits a few hundred dollars cash from the prior weekend (this poor slob never heard of NOT depositing cash), he asks for balance as he hands in the deposit slip and gets told he needs to produce his driver’s license in order to get the transaction completed. He gets a screaming fit, after he deposits his own money at his own bank he also needs to produce an ID to prove who he is? As if there was a chance that some strange person would dump a few hundred dollars in your or my account? What are the odds of that? Additionally he gets some patronizing 25 year old client service shift leader to give him a well rehearsed snow job: “Sir this is being done for your protection” – OK who is it you’re protecting me against? Myself?


What’s the secret here? You see these tellers are fresh out of high-school and get their brains washed by the clever banking industry HR policy makers. They are told of fiscal responsibility and basically brainwashed into thinking they are special if they get hired since they have to undergo a series of drug tests and background checks – What background could an 18 year old have? Yelling in class doesn’t count as a criminal offense. So on account of inflating their own role the employer gets to exploit these kids and get them to work for minimum wages “as trainees” or “customer service managers in training”. Not all kids are that dumb. Some of them quit after a few months when they realize that only the bank door closes at 3PM but their work goes on even after 6PM – so what happens. A policy of re-hiring and under-training those kids who invariably provide inferior service asking for an ID when you make a deposit into your own account. End result: Customer lost, bank won. Long term prognosis: The bank was sold to Bank of America for xxxx million dollars with a nice portfolio of clients so the managers walk off into the sunset with the proceeds and the last people standing in line are again the consumers and these high school kids.
b) Singular telephone = multiple tortures (or how to get your own monopoly in today’s economy) in tomorrow’s edition