Tag(line), You're It!

Companies should be more careful about the catch phrases they use and how they should live up to it. Needless to say, it is the first thing that customers will remember about them and any gaps between their actions and the promise that they declare in their tagline makes customers think twice about their credibility.

You gotta hand it then to our friendly neighborhood DSL provider and its copywriter for using the perfect slogan that they can never be faulted for. "You need it!", it says. Which between the lines, might as well read as, "You need it so bad that you have no choice but to put up with our lousy customer service."

There are some companies, though, who find themselves doing the very opposite of what they are trying to project themselves to be. Take the example of Equitable PCI Bank, a bank I had to use for my payroll account since I chanced jobs in December. Prior to the takeover, Equitable had branded its services with a prefix denoting its supposed unique selling proposition of speed. However, many a time I lined up to get cash in their ATM machines, I had the strong urge to deface their signages into the more befitting SlowTeller or to be kinder, maybe just Teller. Their SlowPhone was no different, with its unecessarily complicated menu structure that makes a transaction that could've taken just seconds (in a competitor's phone banking facility) take longer or even requiring at least a second call attempt. I very well sent an email to their Customer Service to point this out, even suggesting they change their names if only to be true to themselves. This effort proved futile, though, as it was in the midst of their conversion to BDO, and were not taking on their brand names anyway.

I was optimistic about this takeover. Perhaps a change of management would also mean a better service taking over the inferior one. While there have been a few kinks over the migration process resulting in minor inconveniences, maybe these were unavoidable and I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. When BPI acquired Far East Bank a decade ago, they might've had the same experiences but since this was before the advent of phone and internet banking, only those who regularly went to the branches could've been affected. I do appreciate BDOs' extended banking hours as this would really help them accommodate the volume of complaints arising from the conversion of Equitable clients. Eventually, after a number of undesirable trips to the branch, my banking transactions went back to normal. Maybe even more smoothly than prior to the merging.

Then last Friday, my ATM's debit card conked out during the second transaction at the gas station. I thought it was perhaps just an isolated case that would be corrected the next day. However, on Saturday, I was at the cashier of a store that reserved a merchandise for me, made an effort to call me about it, and that I made an effort to travel the opposite end of the MRT line to, when I realized that it was still not working. How nice, just when it was a payday weekend and I have a lot of shopping errands to do. I tried calling the hotline to ask if it was just my card or my branch that was having problems but there was no answer. To cap it all off, the mall I was in did not have a single BDO branch in it and I refuse to withdraw from another bank and be charged for it. So after apologizing to the salesperson, I left the store, thinking that I may not be meant to buy those pair of sandals today and that may be a good thing because it was kind of pricey.

The next stop on my itinerary, however, had an BDO branch open. Before going over to the ATM machine, I made a detour inside to inquire about my debit card again. I was then informed that there was no point going to the ATMs because both debit cards and ATMs were offline everywhere. Normally, that would mean, buy the stuff my cash was enough for, go home, and say goodbye to my other shopping errands. But the bank was open, what good was it for? So despite my knowledge that BDO has a policy against interbranch over-the-counter withdrawals, I thought that this was an occasion to test whether they could indeed "find ways". True to form, the teller said no to doing an OTC withdrawal as my account was not at their branch. Yes, I said, but does your tagline mean anything? This is a bit of an exceptional case. All electronic channels offline and yet a bank with people who can do manual transactions on a payday weekend with millions of clients (maybe some with no credit card like me) with a need for cash? The teller thought for a moment and checked with her manager.

Manager then got back to me and happily announced, all electronic channels are now working. Hmmm, saved by the bell.

RELATED POSTS:
Me As An Agent of Change
Alas
Misery Loves Miserable Company
The Customer Is King?