A tale of two banks - 1
It was kind of a contest between Mom and Son. And it was with respect to the banks they deal with and how quick and easy it is to use.
Mom used a public sector bank for pension purposes whilst son depended on all the facilities that new age private sector banks provide.
It was the son who said this to his mom first, “Amma, vena onnu try pannuvom. Naan en bank la balance parthuttu paisa edukaren. Nee poi un aadhi gaala bank oda passbook entry potundu va. Yaar modalla varaa paapom?”
Mom was up to the challenge. “Seri paapom. Aana oru condition. Summa account operate panna selavu panna koodadhu? ” This was mom asking in her old fashioned, conservative way.
The son nodded. It was mutually decided to try it out on a bank business time. Both left home at the same time on a Monday morning at 10 AM. Son thought it was a no contest.
Mom, after all had to walk 500m before she even reached the bank while he would just hop on to the next ATM within 300 metres from home and be done with it in 10 minutes flat. He started from home by walk, only when he reached the nearby ATM did he realize that there can be a Q not only for train reservation but also for ATMs. There were a good 20 people standing in the Q. He figured out he would lose at least 30 minutes there. So he returned to his apartment, and started his bike. He had already lost 10 minutes. His next target was another ATM nearby. In 5 more minutes he would be in his spot. It was not his bank ATM but nevertheless he could withdraw money because of the VISA logo displayed there. Fortunately the ATM was relatively free. There were only 2 guys standing in front of him. Only then did he realize that while withdrawing cash was free in this ATM, he would be charged 50 Rs as transaction fee for finding out the balance. That was against the rule that mom had cleverly introduced about the ‘selavu’ factor.
While waiting for the guys in front a thought struck him, what if he calls the Phone Banking and find out his balance? That way, he will still have the cash and also the balance without losing much money!
He dialed the phone banking number from his mobile.
“Welcome to XXXXXX Bank Phone Banking. To continue in English, Press 1, Thamizhil ariya Enn 5 a dial seyyavum”
He dialed 1.
“ For banking related queries, press 1, for credit card queries press 5, for loans and …
He clearly was not interested in all this crap, he dialled 1 straightaway since finding the balance was a banking related query. But no, his bank’s IVR simply ignored him and went on about some other esoteric options in the phone banking system.
“BEEP”
“ other financial products press 33, for hot listing of your debit/credit cards press 8, for deposits, and other investments press 6. To talk to our phone banking executive please press 9”
Abba, he thought, let me talk to a sweet sounding female phone banking executive!
He dialed 9. But then by that time, he was the next to go inside the ATM. He put the phone in his pocket, and entered the ATM cabin to do the transaction. When he got hold of his money and double checked it to be the correct amount, he came out of the ATM, placed the mobile in his ear, and found the line dead!
February 16th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Hello….part II vaiyum padichittu commentidaren