Depending on your perspective, this story is about greedy banks, user error, the power of social media or the power of celebrity. Maybe it’s about all of those things.
I use online bill paying with Citizens Bank. This morning, I discovered that a bill I set to clear on November 30 cleared on November 29th, triggering overdraft fees. Kind of takes the fun out of payday.
Outraged, I called the Citizens toll-free line. I explained my problem to someone, who verified that I set the bill to be paid on November 30th. She transferred me to someone who handles online bill paying. That person read me fine print of the online bill paying agreement that said bills may be paid before they are scheduled to make sure they arrive on time. She would not refund my fees. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was promptly disconnected. The entire phone call took about a half hour.
I vented on Twitter and Facebook. I was overwhelmed with people sharing similar stories of erroneous or gratuitous banking fees at numerous financial institutions. Many people said I would have gotten more satisfaction by going to my branch in person. I discovered that people really like credit unions and local banks. Others suggested I switch banks, which would be very tedious and time consuming.
I heard from Citizens Bank via Twitter within an hour of posting my frustration. The bank had someone call me a half hour later. The person on the line said she was a regional manager. She was wonderful and apologetic. She sounded genuinely embarrassed about what I had experienced. She refunded the fees and gave me her number should I ever have another problem.
I was super-satisfied with the result. Then I thought about the dozens and dozens of people who shared my pain. Did I get such a swift response because I have a lot of Twitter and Facebook followers? I had a similar experience a few months ago when I tweeted my displeasure with AT&T’s service. Before you know it, the company allowed me to get the upgrade I wanted.
There are many stories of non-celebrities who have found Twitter to be a faster track to customer service. I heard from people today who said Wegmans, Time Warner, UPS and Microsoft respond quickly on social media. Whether or not you have a lot of followers, a story can quickly go viral.
Today I learned a quirk of automatic bill pay. I learned that Twitter can lead to super-fast responses. I also learned that people are very, very frustrated.
Rachel Barnhart
