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Topics relating to managing people and relationships

Roli

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CUSTOMER DISSERVICE: The act of feigning customer service for the sake of saying you have customer service. In execution, the "customer service" does not exist to solve problems or to be helpful, but to affront as a poor lead generator, hence not delivering helpful customer service, but delivering customer frustration and lost sales; customer disservice.

In this example, the lost sale was over $50,000 -- all because BELL LEXUS wanted to be cheap and outsource their service operations, probably overseas.

As the customer put it...

"And this is why I just can't buy any cars from dealerships... how do you outsource your dealership chat overseas? Isn't the lead worth well more than a few bucks?"

The customer also inquired about an NSX ... to which the operator had no clue.

Oh well, nowadays cash buyers are just raining from the sky.

View attachment 14581

Take note of the difference between ....

Customer service that SUCKS. (Above)

or

Customer service that SUCS. (Superior Unexpected Customer Service, exceeding expectations)

Special thanks to @biophase for the replay.

This is straight from the "I'll go right ahead and do that for you", whilst not going right ahead and doing it playbook.
 

SquatchMan

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Most businesses I deal with have crappy customer service and it turns me off.

Companies view customer service as a cost center, when it should be considered a revenue generator.

Years ago I called a local mechanic. The guy that picks up the phone has an Indian accent and I can hear lots of chattering in the background... Probably a call center.

*click*

The next guy I call has his cellphone number listed. He has amazing customer service, a good price, and is honest. He even has his assistant give customers a ride to their home/office after they drop their car off.

I've recommended him to lots of friends because he is amazing. Naturally, his shop is super busy.
 

Generic_Username

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Is it just me or do major banks do this as well by charging a fee for anything and everything? These banks have insane net profit margins: they're above 30% (just look up their stocks then go to the company financials). Their interest rates are just pathetic on checking or even savings accounts (if the interest rate's less than .1% for a savings account, that is just ridiculous). This is why I prefer brokerages who offer basic banking services (Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, etc.). It's not like you need a gazillion loans (credit cards or mortgages maybe).
 
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Timmy C

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I was chatting to family over christmas lunch yesterday and every single one of them said regardless of the business they find customer service to be an absolute joke these days.

Great opportunity for us fastlaners.

I didn't say anything apart from agree and listen to what they had to say.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Another example...

Bank of America ... perfect example of customer disservice and boneheaded executive decisions that some old guy in an office thought of ... it sounds great, but in practice, the idea is a F*cking disaster.

I go to a BofA location.
There are no tellers.
Just a bunch of desks.
I walk in and ask to get a certified check and sit at a desk while the guy makes small talk.
It takes me 20 minutes.
I ask the guy why there are no tellers.
He says, "Oh, we like to have a personal relationship with our customers."

I don't say anything, but I'm like, stupid stupid stupid. I don't want a personal relationship with a low level employee at a mega-bank. I want to get in, do my business, and get the F*ck out.

Fast forward next month...

I walk into the same branch, talk to the guy at the desk and say I need to make a large deposit with cash back. He says the wait is 40 minutes. So I got to sit here for 40m to make a deposit? WTF? Again, people are busy as hell. We don't care about these stupid "personal relationships" -- how about you let me make a deposit, I get my money, and I can have it done in 40 seconds? Not 40 minutes.

Classic example of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

In Bank of America's attempt to provide a great customer service experience (personal service!) they've done exactly the opposite. Their service is shit and making people wait for 40 minutes to make a deposit because you've decided to eliminate tellers in lieu of "we want to talk to our customers!" is utter BS.

Funny how the unintended consequences of an executive decision is the exact opposite of what they tried to accomplish.
 

Kelly!

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Another example...

Bank of America ... perfect example of customer disservice and boneheaded executive decisions that some old guy in an office thought of ... it sounds great, but in practice, the idea is a f*cking disaster.

I go to a BofA location.
There are no tellers.
Just a bunch of desks.
I walk in and ask to get a certified check and sit at a desk while the guy makes small talk.
It takes me 20 minutes.
I ask the guy why there are no tellers.
He says, "Oh, we like to have a personal relationship with our customers."

I don't say anything, but I'm like, stupid stupid stupid. I don't want a personal relationship with a low level employee at a mega-bank. I want to get in, do my business, and get the f*ck out.

Fast forward next month...

I walk into the same branch, talk to the guy at the desk and say I need to make a large deposit with cash back. He says the wait is 40 minutes. So I got to sit here for 40m to make a deposit? WTF? Again, people are busy as hell. We don't care about these stupid "personal relationships" -- how about you let me make a deposit, I get my money, and I can have it done in 40 seconds? Not 40 minutes.

Classic example of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

In Bank of America's attempt to provide a great customer service experience (personal service!) they've done exactly the opposite. Their service is shit and making people wait for 40 minutes to make a deposit because you've decided to eliminate tellers in lieu of "we want to talk to our customers!" is utter BS.

Funny how the unintended consequences of an executive decision is the exact opposite of what they tried to accomplish.
I canceled my BoA accounts this last spring after only being with them for about 6 months. It was one bad experience after another and they nickel and dime you for everything, where other banks offer the same/better service for FREE!!
 
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AFMKelvin

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Another example...

Bank of America ... perfect example of customer disservice and boneheaded executive decisions that some old guy in an office thought of ... it sounds great, but in practice, the idea is a f*cking disaster.

I go to a BofA location.
There are no tellers.
Just a bunch of desks.
I walk in and ask to get a certified check and sit at a desk while the guy makes small talk.
It takes me 20 minutes.
I ask the guy why there are no tellers.
He says, "Oh, we like to have a personal relationship with our customers."

I don't say anything, but I'm like, stupid stupid stupid. I don't want a personal relationship with a low level employee at a mega-bank. I want to get in, do my business, and get the f*ck out.

Fast forward next month...

I walk into the same branch, talk to the guy at the desk and say I need to make a large deposit with cash back. He says the wait is 40 minutes. So I got to sit here for 40m to make a deposit? WTF? Again, people are busy as hell. We don't care about these stupid "personal relationships" -- how about you let me make a deposit, I get my money, and I can have it done in 40 seconds? Not 40 minutes.

Classic example of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

In Bank of America's attempt to provide a great customer service experience (personal service!) they've done exactly the opposite. Their service is shit and making people wait for 40 minutes to make a deposit because you've decided to eliminate tellers in lieu of "we want to talk to our customers!" is utter BS.

Funny how the unintended consequences of an executive decision is the exact opposite of what they tried to accomplish.
This phony relationships big business try to push are so idiotic. They do the same at t mobile too. The employees are suppose to act like your friend. And they even tailor the music playing in the store based on what they think you'll like (based on how you look, I suppose.)

No I don't want to small talk with you for 5 minutes. No I don't care to have a relationship with you. And no this relationship is not real because you'll fire your employee next week or he'll quit and there goes all the rapport we built up.
 
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Walter Hay

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Product Knowledge is an Essential Part of Customer Service

Ever been frustrated by sales people who know very little about the product you are interested in?

The three professional salesmen where I was working as the accountant for a new car dealership couldn't be bothered to learn so having seen me studying the product information provided by the manufacturers, when a prospect asked about a detail that they knew nothing about they came to my office to ask me. Before long they began calling me to explain direct to the prospects.

Not even getting a thank you, I obtained the owner's permission to approach prospects and I was soon outselling the pros. The reason? Product knowledge plus real customer service actually helping the buyer and avoiding the pros' con man style.

Walter
 

biophase

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Another example...

Bank of America ... perfect example of customer disservice and boneheaded executive decisions that some old guy in an office thought of ... it sounds great, but in practice, the idea is a f*cking disaster.

I go to a BofA location.
There are no tellers.
Just a bunch of desks.
I walk in and ask to get a certified check and sit at a desk while the guy makes small talk.
It takes me 20 minutes.
I ask the guy why there are no tellers.
He says, "Oh, we like to have a personal relationship with our customers."

I don't say anything, but I'm like, stupid stupid stupid. I don't want a personal relationship with a low level employee at a mega-bank. I want to get in, do my business, and get the f*ck out.

Fast forward next month...

I walk into the same branch, talk to the guy at the desk and say I need to make a large deposit with cash back. He says the wait is 40 minutes. So I got to sit here for 40m to make a deposit? WTF? Again, people are busy as hell. We don't care about these stupid "personal relationships" -- how about you let me make a deposit, I get my money, and I can have it done in 40 seconds? Not 40 minutes.

Classic example of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

In Bank of America's attempt to provide a great customer service experience (personal service!) they've done exactly the opposite. Their service is shit and making people wait for 40 minutes to make a deposit because you've decided to eliminate tellers in lieu of "we want to talk to our customers!" is utter BS.

Funny how the unintended consequences of an executive decision is the exact opposite of what they tried to accomplish.

Sadly, I need to leave my current bank in AZ due to my move. It's First Bank and I love the personal attention that I get. I just call the bank and either Mary or Alex answers and I say, Hi it's Kenric, I need to blah blah blah. And they say, great the paperwork will be ready in 15 minutes, and oh are you bringing Shara (my dog), it's been so long since we've seen her.

Now that's a personal relationship!

Here in Nevada, I opened an account an Bank of Nevada. I know they are a bigger bank. I hope my relationship is the same. I've already met my banker Rene and we go by first names and she now knows Shara too.

With Chase, I had Private Client and honestly it was a bunch of crap. You had a special phone line to call, but they had so much turnover that your "personal" banker changed every 3-4 months. And you still had to make appointments to see them because they were so busy.

This is why I can't go with Chase or WF or BoA.

Here is Shara on guard duty at our new bank.
BE26C39C-98B4-4A5C-BDA0-1A476898A7C8.jpeg
 
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Last edited:

JasonR

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With Chase, I had Private Client and honestly it was a bunch of crap. You had a special phone line to call, but they had so much turnover that your "personal" banker changed every 3-4 months. And you still had to make appointments to see them because they were so busy.

Damn - I just switched to private client since BofA is TERRIBLE - echoing @MJ DeMarco on his experiences.

I have the cell of my personal banker, but I hope he doesn't turnover as he's been pretty good. It's probably time to go create some personal relationships with smaller banks.
 

Budgeoly

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Another example...

Bank of America ... perfect example of customer disservice and boneheaded executive decisions that some old guy in an office thought of ... it sounds great, but in practice, the idea is a f*cking disaster.

I go to a BofA location.
There are no tellers.
Just a bunch of desks.
I walk in and ask to get a certified check and sit at a desk while the guy makes small talk.
It takes me 20 minutes.
I ask the guy why there are no tellers.
He says, "Oh, we like to have a personal relationship with our customers."

I don't say anything, but I'm like, stupid stupid stupid. I don't want a personal relationship with a low level employee at a mega-bank. I want to get in, do my business, and get the f*ck out.

Fast forward next month...

I walk into the same branch, talk to the guy at the desk and say I need to make a large deposit with cash back. He says the wait is 40 minutes. So I got to sit here for 40m to make a deposit? WTF? Again, people are busy as hell. We don't care about these stupid "personal relationships" -- how about you let me make a deposit, I get my money, and I can have it done in 40 seconds? Not 40 minutes.

Classic example of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

In Bank of America's attempt to provide a great customer service experience (personal service!) they've done exactly the opposite. Their service is shit and making people wait for 40 minutes to make a deposit because you've decided to eliminate tellers in lieu of "we want to talk to our customers!" is utter BS.

Funny how the unintended consequences of an executive decision is the exact opposite of what they tried to accomplish.
I used to think that doing after call surveys and online surveys was the best way to get upper-level Executives attention but I now have second thoughts about giving surveys to big business anymore because they don't seem to get to the people who made the decisions or the people who can make the decision to correct the problem and more companies use surveys now so it wastes a lot of time (unscripted changed my view of time). I've taken a different approach in recent years which has sometimes gotten better results Go to their website find their leadership and send them all an email. one of the biggest lessons I've learned in life is to be able to express to the right person the right thing the right way at the right time but who is the right person in such a case. I hope this helps but I know it's not resolution. Plainly it's to vent about your time because time is the most important factor but if you want to be helpful to the rest of the humanity who use boa like make the complaint because it happens at my Branch here too
George Franklin Lynn Jr. Budgeoly
 

Kak

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Another example...

Bank of America ... perfect example of customer disservice and boneheaded executive decisions that some old guy in an office thought of ... it sounds great, but in practice, the idea is a f*cking disaster.

I go to a BofA location.
There are no tellers.
Just a bunch of desks.
I walk in and ask to get a certified check and sit at a desk while the guy makes small talk.
It takes me 20 minutes.
I ask the guy why there are no tellers.
He says, "Oh, we like to have a personal relationship with our customers."

I don't say anything, but I'm like, stupid stupid stupid. I don't want a personal relationship with a low level employee at a mega-bank. I want to get in, do my business, and get the f*ck out.

Fast forward next month...

I walk into the same branch, talk to the guy at the desk and say I need to make a large deposit with cash back. He says the wait is 40 minutes. So I got to sit here for 40m to make a deposit? WTF? Again, people are busy as hell. We don't care about these stupid "personal relationships" -- how about you let me make a deposit, I get my money, and I can have it done in 40 seconds? Not 40 minutes.

Classic example of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

In Bank of America's attempt to provide a great customer service experience (personal service!) they've done exactly the opposite. Their service is shit and making people wait for 40 minutes to make a deposit because you've decided to eliminate tellers in lieu of "we want to talk to our customers!" is utter BS.

Funny how the unintended consequences of an executive decision is the exact opposite of what they tried to accomplish.
I have had similar experiences with Chase and Wells Fargo. They are useless.

I have found however that Brex is very easy to use for business accounts and on a personal level I am basically unbanking with TD Ameritrade. I have checks, a debit card, ability to pay bills and deposit without a frickin appointment.

The big banks are only good for credit cards anymore.
 
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Last edited:
G

Guest-5ty5s4

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I have had similar experiences with Chase and Wells Fargo. They are useless.

I have found however that Brex is very easy to use for business accounts and on a personal level I am basically unbanking with TD Ameritrade. I have checks, a debit card, ability to pay bills and deposit without a frickin appointment.

The big banks are only good for credit cards anymore.
Unfortunately the big banks have a monopoly on business lending beyond $5 million - in most cases.

The pandemic situation with the PPP program had them really screwing over lots of businesses that owed money.
 

OleksiyRybakov

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Customer service definitely is horrible at lots of companies. While the lots of banks are not providing quite great service, I definitely believe in crypto a lot so I would expect crypto exchange platforms to be better at customer service than banks. But seriously, most of the crypto companies suck at providing good customer service as well. While crypto.com's service is quite good, Binance is definitely horrible at that.

But the worst customer service was provided by the German crypto platform Nuri (previously Bitwala). At least, at Binance I could get some form of customer service on time. But at Bitwala, it's a different story. Once, my phone number changed and I forgot to replace it in my Bitwala account. Since I had 2FA, I could not log into my account so I had to call the hotline to resolve the issue. The problem was that Bitwala quits phone calls after 20 minutes so you have to call them again without having an opportunity to talk to anyone. Those customers that are longer in the line are prioritized so if you aren't lucky enough, there will always be a customer before you and you won't be able to get customer service at all. It took me two weeks until I managed to reach out to them and fix this issue.
 
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Equilibrium

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I use Apple because of their Customer Service. If I have a problem, I can arrange an appointment to get it fixed within the day. You gain customers for life by supplying awesome Customer Service -- you lose customers for life by doing the opposite.
One day I'm going to share the story with you guys.
Over a dark coffee on one of our yachts.
 
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