Remember how my Bank to Bank Transfer got suspended because I foobared a transfer?

Well… two calls, two emails and two months later, it’s been reactivated. Huzzah.

The calls never did much, but the email through their site interface seemed to have worked.

This is a friendly reminder to everyone that high-yield online savings account (and to some extent other online-only banking accounts) are generally self-served accounts — expect lighter customer service in return for higher-yields.

Every time I get a service person with a stick up their you-know-what, I would do my best to remain neutral — not because I’m a masochist that enjoys getting push around by a stranger over the phone, but more so because two angry people on the phone will not be accomplishing much.

I recently had to deal with an incredibly rude customer service rep at one particular credit card company. Two minutes into the call and I was receiving attitude, sly remarks, signs of irritation — the works.

Usually at this point I would just end the call and try another rep, but this person was being enough of a jerk that I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle his throat. So instead of doing the impossible, I said:

“Hey listen buddy, I’m not sure what I did to offend you, but you’re being a hardcore jack ass and it’s totally uncalled for.”

The CSR paused for a few second — perhaps a bit surprised that my insult ability was that of a 12 year-old — and then he apologized to me. Sincerely too.

Apparently he had some major family problems at home, and he brought the problems to work with him on that day. Unprofessional? Definitely. But customer service are people after all, they’re not perfect, and you’re probably well aware of the mistakes they can make.

I’m not trying to make excuse for the guy, I didn’t appreciate his attitude, it’s pretty stupid to treat a stranger that way, and it’s even more stupid to do it at work — but as mentioned, they’re people like you and me.

You’ll recall from above that when I encounter an unfriendly CSR, I will do my best to remain neutral so I can have a better chance at resolving the problem — but the real reason (and the point of this post) is because at the end, customer service reps are people too, and they deserve a certain level of respect, regardless of how they treat you initially.

Let’s face it, common courtesy goes a long way, and I’ve found that it’ll travel both way if you give it a chance. Of course, if after your attempts at being civil failed and they still don’t treat you like a human being in return; then by all means, tell them to go to hell.

As the many Emigrant Direct customer knows by now, the Emigrant Direct servers are either down, overloaded, or just want to act like their customer service reps.

While server downtimes are to be expected for any online sites, today’s site problem doesn’t look good at all—especially since Emigrant Direct has been touting the brand new interface that was to be released today.

A customer’s comment from the Fatwallet finance forum sums it up nicely:

I have far lower expectations for non-vital services or utility services devastated by storms than I do for the institutions I trust my money with. This is not a natural disaster or unexpected, simply bad IT. If you are an online bank and you’re planning an upgrade there is no excuse for your bank being offline for an entire day. Worst case scenario your planning fails and you roll back to the old site until you remedy it. Sounds harsh but you’re talking about a failure of the core of your business for a full business day. If I weren’t an IT guy myself I might feel like thats unrealistic. Ymmv.

Thanks to Bill for the notice.

Related Links

• Emigrant Direct’s Online Incompetence from Fivecentnickel.com
• Emigrant Direct Changes Account Numbers from Mymoneyblog.com

So my review of HSBC Direct is fairly positive, but if you’ve actually read it and had experiences like those below, then you would think that I’m full of doggie doo-doo.

• Savvy Saver’s problem w/ opening a joint HSBC account.
• lpkitten’s problems w/ opening an individual HSBC account.

It seems when you have anything to deal with the words customer service and bank, results will greatly vary.

I’ve opened my account quite awhile ago, before HSBC flung out their advertising ogre, so I think I’ll update my review when I get a chance to. Perhaps like many other banks out there, they’re too busy marketing their product and not spending enough time servicing the actual product?

Nahh. That can’t possibly be it.

From CNN:

Airbus in discussion with Asian airlines to offer padded backboards to have flyers stand, increasing capacity of the largest jet to 853 passengers.

Yeah, the standing room option will only be available for short trips, like island-hopping in Japan. But uh, this is seriously stupid. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to feel awfully ridiculous paying for an airfare—even if it’s cheaper—just so I can stand in an airplane against a padded backboard, while strapped in place by a harness.

The standing room space would be only 25 inches front to back, instead of only 30 inches now for the thinnest seats on commercial jets.

Now you can really feel like you’re being shipped in a box!

I’m pretty sure the airlines aren’t crazy enough to go with Airbus’ idea. Yup. Pretty sure.

Let’s not kid ourselves Wal-Mart. There’s no way self check-out is fun.

It may be fast (sometimes), and it may be easy (sometimes)… but I never had a blast standing there, fumbling around looking for the product’s UPC code, scanning it 50 times, or enjoyed hearing the machine telling me: “Weight in basket is incorrect.”

You can also find these “fun” self check-out stations at many supermarket chains across the country. They’re a bad idea to use if you have a bunch of produce with you.

I do use self check-out occasionally, if the lines at the cashier is long and especially if I have a small quantity of items. But it was never fun. It can be a convenience, but it should never replace real cashiers.

Just look at the helper staff at the self check-out station. They sure as hell aren’t having any fun.

Related Post:

• USPS: Sorry We Mauled Your Mail
• The Motley Fool Won’t Leave Me Alone!

I usually ignore emails from companies pitching their products or service, but the guys at Consumer Union (Publisher of Consumer Reports), are an okay bunch with me.

So here’s a plug for HearUsNow.org, a consumer advocacy website which focuses on the media and telecommunications service industry. The website contains a very nifty database of consumer stories. For example, here’s an all too common story on how AOL won’t let you cancel their service because AOL was created by the devil (emphasis mine).

Searching the database is easy enough. You can either go read each individual category, or find consumer stories regarding each specific company at specific states. It’s a handy tool to see which of the lesser evil service provider you should go with (provided you have the option to even choose).

So if your cable company is screwing you over again and you feel like ranting (but don’t feel like making a whiny blog like this), you can head over to the database and share your woes to the world.

Nicely done, Consumer Union.

Although they’re now all owned by the same company (Expedia Inc.), I still prefer TripAdvisor over the others as a source for hotel reviews.

The reviews at TripAdvisor are submitted by people that have actually stayed at the hotel, so they’re a lot more relevant than some arbitrary star-based review from Hotels.com, HotWire, or Expedia.

Sure, it takes about ten years to read through all the reviews, but if you’re planning some special vacation and you really want to get it right, TripAdvisor is worth a visit.