Social media is the new customer service
This post started of as a scathing post about banks in general, and more specifically Wells Fargo, but due to social networking (and more specifically Twitter and the fact that Wells Fargo get’s the power behind their online persona) it is now a more positive post. So I am going to take the original post that was mostly written before I got a reply from Wells Fargo and then had my issue resolved, just keep in mind that they stepped up to the plate, resolved my issue completely, and now have a customer that will more than likely stick with them for a LONG time into the future as well as recommend to other’s that they give Wells Fargo a chance when they need banking.
Do you have a business? Are you actively watching for what people post (good or bad) about your company? Do you have someone that then responds to those posts in some form and works towards resolving the issue, or at the very least acknowledging that you are aware of it and that the person’s concerns will be brought to the attention of the appropriate people? If not, why not? Read the below posting, then re-read the opening paragraph and explain to me WHY you still don’t have that person in place?
There have been a couple ideas through my head for new posts on this site, but it seems to me that the best ones are when I am most passionate about the subject, and there isn’t much more that makes me passionate then losing over $100 for (what I consider anyway) to be ridiculous causes.
It all started about a week ago when my webhosting service charged my account for my monthly server fees. There weren’t enough funds in my account (I know, shocker right?) at the moment but the bank allowed the transaction anyway, causing my balance to go negative. While I appreciate they paid so my server would stay active and I am OK with paying that overdraft fee despite the fact that I am still not completely clear why they authorize a transaction when sufficient funds weren’t present, it was the tipping point for a series of events that would end up costing me over $100.
On the same day that transaction was processed I had done 2 different transactions, a couple small items at the grocery store that we needs ($4.39) and I returned movies to one of those movie kiosks that I had kept for a couple days longer than I had planned due to my wonderful memory not allowing me to realize the time to return them had already lapsed and then the 2nd day because I couldn’t get to the kiosk in time. I had thought about the fact that it was going to cost me $2 for each movie, and while funds are VERY critical at the moment, decided there wasn’t much I could do about it. So all together I had spent $8.73 at a time when I knew I had about a $12 balance. Should have been fine, except for the fact that I wasn’t aware that my webhost had processed their transaction that same day, and my bank had allowed it.
Fade to today, when I received a check for some work I had done in, and proceeded to deposit it into my Wells Fargo account. As the machine spit out a receipt I glanced at the balance (expecting a positive amount to greet me) only to see that little ‘-‘ in front of the number. Why was my available balance still negative? I know they only release a small amount of my deposit, but that should have been more than enough to bring me back to a positive state. Driving home my mind went through all the possible scenarios, I have my webhosting setup to process using my PayPal account, and that is setup for a $200 transaction amount from my main bank account. Maybe it had pulled the $200, paid the amount, and the rest of the funds were sitting in my PayPal account. Nope. OK, that was the only scenario I had in my head, maybe because I’m ever the optimist?
Getting back in front of my computer I pull up my bank account online and take a look at the transactions. That’s when I realized that while the charge that brought my account negative, and the 3 transactions I did in person all occurred on the same day, Wells Fargo (and most other banks for that matter) processed them on different days. With the large transaction happening first, it then caused ALL THREE of the other transactions to happen against a negative balance account, and they proceeded to charge me $35 for EACH of those transactions. So my 2 movies rentals, and purchase of milk and noodle for dinners ended up costing me $113.73, the movies weren’t that good (and I don’t even OWN them now) and the dinner/breakfast made with the grocery store items wasn’t THAT good (I’m a good cook, but let’s be reasonable).
I thought surely I would get someone at Wells Fargo who could see the ridiculousness of these fees and be able to recoup my losses. Nope. While she was pleasant enough, and did a good job of making a personal connection by letting me know she’s had to deal with these same issues in the past, she wasn’t very creative in coming up with a solution. She explained to me that the system has some guidelines for them and can’t be reversed if they don’t meet the guidelines. All I could think was that if the transactions met those guidelines then the system wouldn’t have automatically charged them in the first place!
Why do banks find it so easy to charge their customers $35 for non-sufficient funds? I didn’t have enough money to cover the transaction, what makes you think I can afford ANOTHER $35 on TOP of that? And why is it a per transaction fee. If I didn’t have enough funds for ONE transaction today, what makes you think that status will change on future transactions today? Get with it banks, I realize you make a LOT of money charging the people who can afford it least for things like this, but at some point I have to assume there will be a revolt. You banks got your bailout money from the government… oh, I’m sorry, from your customers, us TAXPAYERS but you still find the need to get more from us at every opportunity possible?
Start thinking customer SERVICE and not customer DIS-SERVICE. And if you aren’t already doing so, start paying attention to Twitter and other online places where people are likely to talk about your business/branding. You never know when you might have a Kevin Smith as a customer, and the general public has a MUCH louder and far reaching voice then ever before. If you don’t take a proactive stance and get at the front of possible problems before they escalate to the point that companies like Southwest Air have and are unable to apologize enough for not properly handling an issue that could have been minimized had you been made aware of it BEFORE it went viral.
Every company should be aware of who is talking about their business and what is being said and taking the steps to make sure their users feel taken care of. There are a LOT of other places your customers can go to, and while you can’t always make them all happy, at least be aware of the times you can make a small concession that could reap huge benefits in the long run. With the simple act of acknowledging that while technically things were handled properly, they may not have been the most ethical of practices. Will Wells Fargo miss the $105 they just refunded me? Not even a little. Will they reap benefits by maintaining a now satisfied customer who will sing their praises to everyone he encounters when banking conversations come up? Yes, how large those benefits might be no one will ever be able to truly pin down, but had this been handled another way, the possible waves caused by my ability to be vocal through online services most likely would have been felt.
Thanks for being on top of things Wells Fargo, I gotta get back to work so I don’t keep having a balance so low Overdraft Fees are something I won’t have to concern myself with much in the future. One quick sidenote, it was my posting to @Ask_WellsFargo on Twitter that caused the turn-around in this whole matter. My hats off to them, now if you own a business, start watching your online presence and what is being said about it.
Gerg