Dear CBA Retail Complaints Specialist,
I thank you kindly for responding to my complaints about my poor experiences at my local branch of the Commonwealth Bank.
Relegating my issues down the line to the lower levels of authority (i.e. to branch staff) is an interesting approach to complaint resolution. It certainly serves to insulate senior management from trivia such as customer service. They of course have much bigger fish to fry with the fine tuning of interest rates and bonuses. I can appreciate that we low-level, small account customers with our trivial issues and needs must be a pain in the butt for Mr Comyn - one that he’d be very happy to be without!
You advise that you have finished your investigation into my complaint(s). You haven’t provided me the courtesy of any information regarding the outcomes of your investigation so I guess I have your assurances:
- That any issues of poor staff morale at the branch will be resolved.
- That customers will no longer be expected to stand in lengthy queues during their lunch breaks and at other busy times waiting an age to speak to a teller, because teller lunch breaks will in future be better arranged and sufficient tellers will be on duty to cope with periods of high demand.
- That the large framed photo of the grinning branch manager with the slogan, “How can we help?” which stares at us weary and frustrated customers will be removed because the lady manager is otherwise nowhere to be seen.
- That someone will be put in place to attend to customers who have non-teller related business and who shouldn’t be in the queue in the first place.
A suggestion in the meantime regarding no.2 above. The Commonwealth Bank has a lot in common with doctors in their shared low regard for peoples’ personal time. But the doctors do at least provide a waiting room with chairs. Perhaps the grinning branch manager could duck down the road to Bunnings at Heatherbrae (only 4km) and buy a few cheap plastic chairs for the mothers with babies and the aged and disabled to sit on whilst stuck in the infernal queues. With wheels perhaps so they can shuffle up every 10 minutes?
One final request. On the very rare occasions we do get to see an account advisor, we are always asked, “Why have you got money in that account? You should be using this account which has a much better rate of interest.” Why can’t the Commonwealth Bank be honest with us as customers and alert us immediately when rates have changed so we can manage our own monetary affairs more effectively?
The reason for my failure of a visit to the Raymond Terrace branch was to get term deposit advice. It will be of relief for you to know that we are considering taking out our next TD with another bank. This will take some pressure off Mr Comyn’s overworked staff. The new bank has more competitive interest rates, so it’s what I think they call a win-win!
Yours sincerely,
TH (43 year customer)
cc.
