Funny, exasperating banking experience

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 , 4 Comments


I love money, but last Saturday I came to a conclusion that I hate banks.

A privately held bank... what the heck...! Its my blog and I am giving the name Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) which had my money and made me stand in the queue for 2 long hours to get my money.

Since I have few other accounts, which has the convenience of online banking, I go to this bank very rare.  My dad and mom who are ardent devotees of this bank, opened my first account in KVB and till today, they ensure that whatever savings of mine goes to this account.  Technically speaking, they know that I hate to go there and they help me in depositing money and that way they can have an eagle eye on the transactions made... :) no offense... If not for my parents, I would hardly save money and they know its safe with KVB, as I hardly go there.

It so happened, last Saturday, it was dire emergency situation and my parents were not home and I had to go and withdraw some cash.  Didn't have the ATM or cheque leaf as it was with my dad.  Went to the bank around 10.30 AM and being a Saturday, they work only till 11.30 which they stretch max to 12 Noon.  I took a loose cheque leaf, filled it and they gave me a token which read 32.  There were two queues in the bank and with the token, I went and sat on a chair and opened a book to read.

After 15 minutes, it suddenly dawned, that they were not reading out any token no.  When I went and checked with them, they looked at me strange and asked me to stand in the queue.  My wail "then why did you give me this token?" went unanswered.

After one hour only 4 people got their cash and we were left to wonder, why the queue was very slow.  Before me there were 17 people now and next to me, in the depositors section 14 people. "Wow! I wondered, how clever they are.

There was a commotion, the guy who was standing first was frustrated and started to shout.  The teller said, "If you want cash, you have to wait or you leave your phone number and we will call you when we get enough cash and if you don't hear from us today then check with us again on Monday".  The guy was furious but had no other choice than to wait.

The queue moved very slow, some people were made to wait and others were paid cash.  I couldn't understand why and I stopped a gentleman, who got the cash and was leaving.  I asked him, when others were made to wait, how he got the cash.  He said that the counter don't have the cash and they are collecting the cash from depositors and giving it to people who withdraws the money.  If the amount is more, then they make them wait.  I didn't know then if 20K is a small amount or great for this Bank.  Just hoped its a small amount for them.

It was then, I got curious about the depositors and started to watch their hands and their appearances, if they wear jewels, if they are rich or not... to my relief the guy who stood first had stacks of note which can definitely not be a lac (those people who were waiting, needed a lac or more) but close to 30,000 rupees and as I judged right, I was given my money finally.

I called my parents and told them that now I believe them, when they say my money is safe in KVB's hands.  

Viji

Some say he’s half man half fish, others say he’s more of a seventy/thirty split. Either way he’s a fishy bastard. Google

4 Candles:

Unknown said...

Welcome to the world of private banking. This why I prefer mnc banking where customer service still has some punch left in it.

Viji said...

True...why private bank guys make such simple things complicated, I don't understand... :|
I really enjoy mnc banking services except for making us wait for ages for any enquiry... "press 1, press 2" tats the only thing that unnerves me and I prefer talking to a human than a cold recorded voice.
In private banks atleast i can fight at a man/woman :)

KVB is one of the finest private bank in India. Sejal is forcing to have an account in that bank. Borivali branch is so efficient and i never have an idea of standing inside the branch more than 3-5 mins neither does she have. MNC are mostly crap, One of the world biggest bank, deduct some amount from my SB account for my credit card payment even though i don't have a credit card and they call its their system, ultimately i have to threaten them that i'm going to consumer court to get my money bank after 18 months. one of the biggest Indian bank with ultimate technology, you register your phone number for online banking. They register it and you started receiving the message regarding the transaction, but when you want to add any payee for online transaction - the pain starts their you have to go and register your number again. We went for the same, they told that we have to do through call center. its ok lets try, after pressing all the numbers in the phone specifically selecting the language as english. the other end of the line start" Namaskar, ....bank ka swagataghe..." what the heck u decide the language i don't know. They ask all the questions, then they do the ultimate one, Sir, this department is for account information for taking request you have to contact other department, will connect you to that. Then the lovely music starts and inbetween a beauty voice(assuming it will be babe - i have freedom to dream)you are in the que...please wait and your call is important to us....after waiting and baiting the nails...the voice comes alive on the other side...what can i do for you? The same old story starts - The very considerate person says "sorry for the inconvenience caused atleast dozen time.( i think the maximum they say this sentence they get good rating in appraisal). We need to verify you are the account holder They ask lots of question(thank god they didn't ask are you still living with your wife and kids, etc.,)then after all this sir, please enter your telepin number for confirmation of your account (then what the hell they asked all the stories for)Without Telepin number we can't register your phone number. Its very confidential. I will log your request and you can go to the nearest icici bank and apply for telepin number personally. OK thats it. i ask Sejal and fire her you can't keep one simple telepin number safe. The reply comes yes it is. I call again the bank and same old nonsense i follow and the climax is ultimate...when i say i have telepin number the answer from the other end, literally drowned me...sorry sir, we have placed the request for new number, so the telepin won't be valid.
Then i decided lemme complete this, went to the bank take the token number waited in the bank staring the monitor for which counter number to go - biggest smile i gave when i saw my token number and counter number went their poured my frustation and then reply cam, "sorry for the inconvenience caused:...Damn i hate those words.....she gave me one form and asked me to fill up. i did religiously their asking few details which she religious searched my database and read to me from monitor(where is the security now)...then when i submitted...Sir we need your identity proof without that we can't pass it......At that time i thought how good where those times in 80s( to be precise 85-92) where i used to go to KVB...those were the banking days...and you are blaming that bank....

Viji said...

At last you wrote a post, sad though not in your blog :)
But a crap is a crap wherever happens. Be it MNC or private. You are lucky if borivali branch is agile, but that is definitely not going to make me happy coz I was made to wait like crazy at Triplicane branch... Hope you read my comment on what puts me off in MNC banking services, the cold recorded voice, which looks like you enjoy, a babe as you say. You had your fun, I didn't have my fun either ways. They made me wait in private bank, and no sexy hunk of a guy's voice on the phone to tell me "you're on queue".. I've got all the rights to complain than you...

Take a deep breath bro :) relax...

wisdom comes with experience

At one, I learnt crawling was fun. At forty one, I still feel crawling is fun #blamemykneesnotme