When a Complaint Letter May Not Be Worth It
Feels like many, many, many years ago when I could compose a complaint letter at a drop of a hat. Having worked in the service industry, I believe I have mastered the art of writing complaint letters and most importantly, to whom it should be sent.
I cannot remember the number of times I have complained and have filed formal complaints to establishments regarding poor service because I’m big on service. Professional na ito.
I experienced a bout of bad service from a Banco de Oro (BDO) branch this afternoon. They denied our transactions. They refused to accept our cheque deposits because my husband, Raymond’s name wasn’t spelled right, eventhough it was Raymond himself doing the transaction and he could’ve easily given them his IDs, his NBIs, his passport, pati birth certificate at marriage contract sabihin lang nila.
To add insult to injury, the teller said, “Ma-approve naman yan kung andito si manager kaso wala siya.”
I was denied a withdrawal over the counter by a certain Joyce G. because I have a passbook and an ATM and the system won’t accept it and I should just withdraw from the ATM instead. When I told her that it was offline, “Marami naman po kaming ibang branches.” Ok, so what she wanted me to do was to go on a quest for another bank which should’ve been unnecessary in the first place.
What is even more irksome is that she asked for my ATM. Then she made me wait for more than 15 minutes while she attended to 2 customers who made humongous withdrawals, and then she told me she couldn’t process my transaction. What if I told her I don’t have my ATM with me?
I realized that the tellers were scurrying around like blind mice because their superiors were not around. No manager, no assistant manager, no leader. No cats, therefore… I’m not sure whether their lack of diskarte is because they’re clueless kittens or partying mice.
And then I realized this is not the first time they have sent us away because they have no idea what to do. Last month, Raymond submitted his application for internet and phone banking. The teller who accepted it perused the form, and said, “Sir, walang SSS at TIN number, balik nyo na lang po pag kumpleto na.”
Now my husband has his life’s numbers handy (organized si mister) so he whipped out his notebook, and voila! the numbers. The teller was obviously flustered, so she told my husband that it will have to be processed, can we come back after a week?
Now this silly teller doesn’t know that 1 - my husband is an ex-employee in one of the banks that BDO has bought, and 2 - this is the second time he has applied for that service. He knows the process, and it will definitely not take a week. Fortunately, a more knowledgeable teller was beside her, who handled transaction for my husband, and it was over in less than 5 minutes. But what if he didn’t know about it - then he would have to come back after a freaking week?!
And then I just remembered, last February, I asked about their time deposit. How much is the interest rate? The teller whom I asked, asked a fellow teller in a voice loud enough for all the clients to hear (and the branch was jampacked at the time) ” (Name of teller)! Magkano ang interes sa time deposit? Ha? Ha? (Turned to me) Magkano ho ba ang ide-deposit nyo? Magkano ho?” *Edited - This teller is the same teller who rejected my withdrawal.
I knew it was futile to lose my temper. These tellers are clearly ignorant people and creating a scene won’t make them smarter. The best way to get back at them is to submit a complaint letter addressed to their missing manager AND to the head office’s customer service AND/OR hr department.
Google has offered the necessary email addresses and fax numbers,… and what’s this, what’s this….
I’m not in the mood to complain anymore.
Like I said, I have done at least a hundred complaints. It’s getting tiring nursing all that negative energy so I can pour it on paper (or an email).
I have complained to SM a number of times and I was responded to only once. SM is BDO right? How sure am I that all that effort will result to something, and a complaint letter requires effort, believe me.
And even if they do send a letter of apology, are the tellers going to change the way they work?
The same afternoon I was in a BPI branch, depositing money for someone’s account. The line was oh so long, but it moved fast. When I got to the teller (whose name is Richard), I was greeted with a cheery Good Afternoon, even though it was late in the afternoon and the energy must be going down, but no, there was no trace of that.
I asked him if there is a minimum deposit required to do internet banking. That’s all I asked. His answer, wala naman po- and he rattled off its pros and its cons, but highlighted the pros, and the procedures and… you get the drift.
The employee knew his company like the back of his hand.
The transaction was over swiftly and he let me go, again, with a bright “Thank you, ingat po.”
Now I understand why despite BDO branches’ mushrooming around like Jollibee stores, people still flock to the old banks, BPI and Metrobank. Because the employees are knowledgeable. The transactions are done swiftly, and professionally. No dilly-dallying, no buying time to think, no sending away clients “kasi wala po si manager.”
The inefficiency in BDO, or at least in that particular branch (which I later learned was headed by a Judith Valerio), is in all its 4 corners. Oh there are 3 particular tellers I like doing business with, but the rest are totally inept.
Anyway, and so I realized I’m too tired to write a letter of complaint. It’s requires huge effort to block out negativity when writing complaint letters when I have become more comfortable pouring out my woes on my beloved blog, to make sure that my grammar is flawless, to make sure that the right recipients get it.
I realized that in a way, we are wrong for sticking it out with BDO. I have been mistreated one time too many, why are we still there? Maybe we should just stop making deposits and open an account in BPI. Or close our BDO accounts and open an account in BPI.
Maybe I should just tell the world to be wary of BDO. The company is on continous hiring and their new employees are, as of now, unable to meet BDO’s slogan, that is - “We Find Ways.”
Maybe I should send this blog entry to BDO.
Bambi:
yup, i’d do that, close the account and bank somewhere else. sakit ng ulo lang yan if the employees are clueless.
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13 May 2008, 11:57 pmKongkong622:
Palpak talaga yang BDO. Just last Sunday we were paying for our credit card bill for Amex (di ba BDO na yan) dyan sa SM Fairview, aba ayaw tanggapin ng teller kasi, “Amex ho ang binabayaran nyo eh bakit BDO ang payee sa cheke?”…haller..ang bobo naman!! My husband said that we had already made 2 payments in the same manner but she was insistent!! Ang kulit! Buti na lang dumating yun isang teller and handled our transaction.
You should definitely complain…and give the name of that incompetent teller. Tapos, lumipat na kayo ng Metrobank…Chinabank pwede din..taas ang interes sa time depo
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14 May 2008, 8:38 amtikey:
Buti nlang diko pa naranasan yan…sa pila lang actually ako mareklamo… laging mahaba ang pila sa mga bank jan no? heheh!
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14 May 2008, 10:27 amToni:
Yes! Send it to BDO. If they care enough about their image, their current customer base and their potential customers, they should do some damage control.
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14 May 2008, 1:55 pmzherwin:
I have bank accounts at BPI and UCPB, and I am yet to encounter problem transacting with them (it really helps to know the bank process), Internet banking with BPI is good and the processing is always fast, I cannot say the same with UCPB because their server is on the slow side so there.
I think the lousy service/s you’re getting is the result of their very aggressive recruitment but not very good training and customer service orientatino. A lot of old BDO employees are leaving the company because of the preferential treatments given to new recruits. kaya yun, kawawa rin ang mga old clients.
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14 May 2008, 4:28 pmsasha:
Cess, call their product services sa HO nila tapos tell them about this and that you have a written complaint done through a post. It will make them act faster than you expect them to. That happened to me sa Unionbank and their CEO even called me up. Hehehe
Takot yang mga yan sa bloggers kasi alam nila we can spread the word about their poor service.
Happy blogoversary!
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14 May 2008, 9:35 pmsunshine:
Cess - HAAAAY NAKU!!!!!! Ako naman, I hate metrobank. Isang oras ka maghihintay para makaabot sa teller. AAARGGGH!!! Kaya I closed my Metrobankcards kasi nahihirapan akong magbayad. Para ngang Jollibee na ang Metrobank eh. Parating may tao kahit anong oras, kahit anong araw. Haha!
Kongkong62 - Nakakapikon yung BDO Amex na yan ha. Sana pinakita mo yung statement mo. Nakasulat naman doon na payee should be BDO already. Idiin mo sa mukha nung teller.
Sorry, I really hate poor customer service lalo na sa branches.
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14 May 2008, 10:39 pmjho:
Ay alam mo, ganyan talaga ang banko na iyan. Hindi lang ikaw ang naka experince niyan. Marami kakainis din ako na expriences na diyan. Meron nga dun gusto ko dukutin yung contact lens. Feeling maganda.
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15 May 2008, 5:49 amjulie:
Magcomplain ka. Send this entry to them as your way of complaining so that they can read the replies.
I go to a different bank, been there for 10 years although I transferred to different branches when my branches relocated. Though it is quite low tech compared to others, still I am ok with it.
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15 May 2008, 10:09 amRach (Heart of Rachel):
I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience with BDO. I think it would be best if they learn about the terrible service you received at that branch. This blog entry says it all. It’s disconcerting to receive the remark ““kasi wala po si manager”. They should have someone next in line who can make decisions in behalf of the manager.
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15 May 2008, 6:20 pmnoemi:
Oh my god, BDO is so stupid. One time I had to encash a google adsense check. Their SOP is approval from the bank manager. Their bank manager asks “Who is Google?”. Thinking she was more familiar with Yahoo, I told her
“like yahoo?”
She gave me that stupid confused look. She had to have it approved by their regional manger just because
she didn’t know who Google was.
Oh yes, I am so reklamador but it gets the work done. But in the first place, why should we complain. It’s their
duty to give the best services possible.
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15 May 2008, 7:54 pmchateau a.k.a. imom:
Oh yes, you should definitely send this blog post to BDO. There is no need, I think, for you to write a complaint letter. I feel your frustration and dissatisfaction by just reading this.
And send it along with the comments too! Nang makita nila hindi sila nakakatuwa.
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15 May 2008, 10:23 pmMommyBa:
I would send this blog entry to the BDO head office in its entirety. This should jolt them in a way.
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16 May 2008, 4:47 amsoloops:
Hi Cess,
Indeed, incompetent people are so annoying, esp. when they pose as know-it-alls.
You’ve been tagged!
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16 May 2008, 3:08 pmMitch:
Nakuuuu! Imbyerna din ako sa BDO! I was there last month to open an account sana, kaso I don’t have my new SSS ready yet kasi nga bugged yung system nila. What I had in hand was the old one na hindi digitized saka amended passport ko. I brought my marriage certi also along with the registration done in Bahrain, authenticated pa yun ng Bahrain Ministry of FA ha at stamped sa Embassy natin!. Mantakin mo i-deny ako! I would understand naman sana kasi baka nga they are complying with the standard rules lang kaso nagbitiw pa ng salita yung “Manager” daw nila na si “Sir Alvin” eh malay natin kung fake yan kasi Arabic ang stamp. Duh! Bakit naman ako magfafabricate ng doc na ganyan ano ako Desperada! Hmp!
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16 May 2008, 4:56 pmmari:
Yes, like what the others said, send this whole blog to the main office, then tell them you are closing your account due to their inept employees.
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17 May 2008, 6:49 amsoloops:
FYI, if you can, pls. avoid withdrawing from BDO atms muna. A lot of my officemates have experienced being debited without getting any cash from their atms.
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17 May 2008, 11:17 amSexy Mom:
so far, i have not had similar instances with BdO and BDO, they have been accommodating.
but you are right–you have to complain. the sad thing is that the complaint might fall on dead ears.
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17 May 2008, 9:04 pmRowena:
Hi Cess, sorry to hear that, I just emailed my college classmate, BDO’s AVP about this. Just found time now to read your post. To think I even posted Gabbie’s 1st banking experience at BDO. Here sa branch near our home, ok naman sila. Di pako naka-encounter ng mga inefficient staff. Good thing na rin, eh kung nagkataon, kawawa sila saken….
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18 May 2008, 10:07 pmcielo:
just like you i am fond of writing letter of complaints before but got tires eventually, para kasing bale wala naman e.
Off line parati ang BDO, yan pa naman ang payroll bank namin,
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19 May 2008, 1:25 amraqgold:
cess, why not complain one more time and if there’s no answer or no satisfying answer - change banks. kakainis yang you waste time simply coz people are incompetent on their jobs.
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19 May 2008, 4:18 amRowena:
Hi friend, I forwarded this post to my college friend who works at BDO as AVP for Marketing. She called up asking for your name. They’re taking appropriate action na. Am sure they’re gonna call you soon.
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19 May 2008, 5:50 pmannamanila:
I am glad Rowena took action. Aba, iba pala talaga ang bloggers network ha. But the BDO people really needs training on customer orientation and simple common sense.
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19 May 2008, 10:36 pmrHo:
sana makarating ito sa kinauukulan. tama lang din yan… para matuto sila.
— kamusta ka na te?! i hope lagi lang kayong okay!! ingat lagi and God bless!
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20 May 2008, 3:36 amayen:
the branch manager should be accountable and responsible for her subordinates. hindi pwede ung parang laging wala silang alam.
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20 May 2008, 12:11 pmMalaya:
Naku, kalilipat lang namin sa BDO.
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21 May 2008, 6:33 pmBDO Responds | occupation: SAHM:
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