An Explosive Banker

For the past one week, I had been trying to wire some fund into my account in Bhutan from New York. I had patiently waited for several days to pass as I understand it takes a good amount of time in our country to get anything done. Finally I called up my bank here in New York to inquire about the stagnant wire transfer. The bank confirmed that they had submitted my fund and that it was on the other end to accept it into my account. I desperately tried to call the Bank for over half an hour and after several attempts, I managed to get through the busy line. It was a bad day, well, a bad night on my side of the world. I had waited till 1 a.m to make this call, as banks are closed in Bhutan due to the time difference. What I got in reply was the shock of my life. She was extremely rude and literally yelled at me over the phone. She told me she was busy; no doubt, she must be the busiest banker in the entire world! She was literally discriminating and plain arrogant. She asked me the amount I transferred and when I answered $100, she cackled up and said; ‘Just hundred?”. I had opened my New York bank account with 25 Cents. In all the rush, I managed to ask her name and get her email id. 

For a moment after the call, I was mad resolute that I should call up the head office and complain but on a second thought, I decided against it and finally wrote her an email. I am going to post here a copy of the email. I will denote the vital information with asterisks for security reasons. 

Dear ••••••••••••,

This is in follow up of the conversation we had over the telephone. Thank you for your time and consideration in solving my concerns. 

My account details are as follows:

Account Holder's Name : Lobzang

Account Type  : Savings Account

Account Number  : 5005••••••••

Citizenship I/D No.        : •••••••••

I believe my account details above would mettle to prove my association with Bhutan National Bank Ltd. over the past four or five years.

However, I would like to let you know that I am very dissatisfied with how you handled my call. It was a shockingly bitter, insulting and humiliating experience today. The tone of voice you used was arrogant and unreasonably rude. You literally cut me off, told me that you were busy and hurried me through the whole process not considering my repeated effort to explain the situation. I felt discriminated and very unwelcome at your bank. I clearly heard you discussing my case with another individual around  you and having fun out of it. Let me quote your exact same words in Dzongkha; "Kho gi nengku zoni mindu si". Now, I fail to understand what I did to deserve such treatment from your side. I completely understand if you were busy and I would have been glad if you had just transfered me to another agent or asked me to call in at a preferable time. Let me bring to your understanding that I had been trying to call your bank for half an hour, and when I

finally made it through the busy line, an agent answered my call. She was helpful and very professional. However, she did not have the answers for my questions and transfered my call to you. I believe you will understand that I did not call to ask for a favor from any individual but for information over my own money with my consumer rights. 

As a potential customer, I had always been happy with the service your esteemed bank provided so far, but this experience has now made me doubt it and develop a bitter taste. I regret the unfortunate purpose of this letter but I fear I will receive the same ill treatment and disappointment for any future calls I may have to make unless you would acknowledge. 

Thank you,

Lobzang                              

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I do not know how she will respond to this. The same individual had been very helpful in the past and infact,  helped me solve a number of issues that I had. Now  I am afraid my relation with the bank is officially closed. It’s really frustrating  for me. There is no online facilities for me to manage my account from here. It costs a fortune to call the bank. Even if I call, it will be transfered from agent to agent and the phones are never answered. I wish it was different. I wish the agents were a little different. I wish every body was different. I wish everybody was professional. I wish we could treat each other as individuals. It makes me sad that no amount of money or technology can change the attitude of individuals. Stringent systems can; I wish we had that in our country. It is sad that I had the opportunity to bank with several international banks world wide and that my own bank at home sucks.