My new credit union in NY added to my despair over modern, corporate customer service. To be efficient with my banking, moving funds to NY from North Carolina made sense. But the Credit Union (CU) selected in NY is proving to be…inefficient. And that’s being kind. It’s a strange world where a 73-year-old with no criminal record, a lifetime of credit usage, and Credit Scores over 800 has trouble borrowing money. Side Bar: Transunion suggested my score could be nearly “perfect”, if my records contained a “Closed End Installment Account” like a car loan, personal loan, mortgage, something with an end date, since all my credit accounts are “revolving”, or open lines of credit.* So I applied on-line for a small, personal installment loan from the new CU in New York to flesh out the credit resume.  A quick, electronic declination followed. A quick call to a human revealed the lines of credit, unused but open, made me a “credit risk”.  An inquiry about what a credit score of 800 means got this reply: “It proves you’ve paid off loans in the past, but we are unsure about your ability.” *

Savings and checking accounts had been opened with the NY CU and small sums were deposited as trial amounts. After the loan debacle, it was decided moving money to NY would not be efficient. In the meantime, I’d used small amounts** from the checking account. One morning I withdrew the “last” $20 ** and the ATM let it happen.

When I checked my NY CU account later that day, the checking account was overdrawn and been charged a $28 fee. No problem, most CUs and Banks give you a free mistake a year so I’ll talk to customer service at the CU and see if they could help. The NY CU website said customer service was available “Mon-Fri from 7:30AM to 9PM EST”. At 8:45AM I called and sat on the phone tree over 25 minutes. *** “You are caller Number 3, 2, 1.” Finally, a male answered and explained “We open at 9”. (If I’d called at 7, would the phone tree have looped me for two hours, if I was dumb enough to wait?) The live male “looked into” my problem and went to talk with his “manager”. The live male returned and offered a refund of $14. I asked why cash could be withdrawn that was not in the account and here is his response: “We automatically sign you up for overdraft protection when you open your accounts. It automatically gives you what you ask for.” And why an Overdraft Fee of $28? Answer: “Policy.” I asked to have the automatic, free “benefit” removed from my accounts.

Important fact for the reader: I was livid after the overdraft phone call, but now the $14 loss and wasted time feel insignificant. As an old girlfriend used to say, “Why are you making such a big $%^&ing deal about it?”  Thanks for listening and if you’re not okay with simply letting me vent, send a bill for YOUR wasted time and my Ai policies will handle it.

As for modern American Companies’ customer service and “Policies”…a mix of Ai and humans is worse than Ai, or humans, alone. Sadly, the future will be just Ai. Caveat emptor, everyone, all the time.

God help us all.

*I don’t know why, for all.

** Money for gambling at Turning Stone Resort and Casino. Sometimes I lose…

*** While doing other things like clipping nails, etc.