Despite more technology and more forms of communication possible, how is it that communicating with your bank can be so hard? It really still comes down to people. They can use the technology, but if there's no proper follow-up, it's all useless. Which ultimately leads to simply looking for another financial institution.
(1)
Earlier this year, I received an email from a CIBC "Financial Service Representative", Tej Gill. This was the second time that this person has emailed me. When I emailed them back the first time, they did not reply and simply sent me another email weeks later, in March.
(2)
The email I received in March (slide 1 below) was just as vague and thoroughly uninformative as the first one:
I tried reaching out [top] you regarding one of your investment accounts. Please give a call at below number [sic].
Is this some attempt to sell me more stuff? What is this about? I didn't want to waste my time calling, hoping that this person might be in and available to talk. Or worse, just get put on hold and watch my airtime wasted. The last time I had to call CIBC it was about a VISA dispute and even though I was at a bank branch and an accounts manager was making the call, we were put on hold for over an hour.
So I emailed them AGAIN -- remember, this is the second email from them, and they hadn't yet replied to me the first time.
And AGAIN, I get nothing back.
Why does this person give out their email address as one of the ways to contact them if they won't even respond to their email?
(3)
It's TWO MONTHS later and Tej Gill still hasn't responded. Obviously it's not important, right?
It's now May and I get a third email from CIBC, this time from a "Banking Centre Leader", Atabak Elekteristeh.
The email actually more information in what looks like basically a form letter. And it's coming from "an account that is only used to send messages -- please do not reply to this email".
Elekteristeh's email (slide 2) says they need to update my KYC (Know Your Client) information and this is a regulatory requirement. Was this what Tej Gill wanted to speak with me about? Why couldn't they just say it in their email?
Elekteristeh's email ends this way:
Please reach out to the banking centre directly to set up an appointment at your earliest convenience.
(4)
I go to the branch indicated in the signature of Tej Gill's emails. I show the teller my mutual fund statement, and tell him I received an email to update my KYC and I want to make an appointment with someone.
They ask me if this is related to Investor's Edge. I have no idea. My statement says nothing about "Investor's Edge". All I know is I need to get my KYC updated.
The teller says there is no one I can make an appointment with to handle this and to call whatever number was indicated in the email.
I tell them I don't want to waste my time making a phone call and getting put on hold, and I prefer to just make an appointment. They tell me to wait and they go away to consult with someone to figure out what to do. When they come back, they tell me someone will call me.
This doesn't make sense. If someone can call me, why can't I make an appointment with them? Are they from head office? Another branch? Whatever. I agree to a phone call.
I set it up for morning of the next day. I ask for a specific time but the teller couldn't provide me one. He said the branch opens at 9.30am so some time after that.
I ask what number they would call from. When I got home, I checked the number against Tej Gill's emails as well as the branch phone number. It is the same.
So someone will call me from the branch I walked into, but I cannot make an appointment with anyone there? It's the same branch where Tej Gill works, the same Tej Gill who probably wanted to talk to me about my KYC. But it was not possible to make an appointment with anyone? Huh.
(5)
Today is the day I'm supposed to get a call from someone from CIBC to handle the KYC.
I waited from 9.30am till Noon. Morning is officially over. No one called.
(6) UPDATE: May-19
After I shared my blog post on Twitter, I received a response from @CIBC on Twitterasking me to contact them so they can resolve this situation satisfactorily. I message them privately, they get my information, and a couple of days later I got an email (slide 3) indicating my complaint has been acknowledged.
According to the "Our Service Commitment to You" PDF they linked in the email, my complaint will automatically be escalated after 14 days unless it is resolved by the person who received the complaint (slide 4).
Meanwhile, I had already written to my account manager at ScotiaMcLeod about transferring my assets over from CIBC. I got a response within two days. They confirmed it would be possible, so I initiated the process. I was told to expect a letter of direction for me to sign.
(7) UPDATE: May-21
I got a response (slide 5) from a "Case Manager" who wrote,
I received your file today and happy to assist where possible. Notes indicate you have been waiting for contact from a Branch.
I apologize for the lack of communication.
Please connect with me at your earliest opportunity so I can assist you.
I didn't want to rehash my issue, so I wrote back,
I have already tried to go to a branch to make an appointment for my issue but that failed.
So what is the next step?
Honestly I expected that they would already have analyzed the situation, arranged for a response to settle my issue, and then tell me who to contact to finalize details.
*
I'm going to look into transferring my assets to another financial institution. If it can be done before the KYC update deadline at the end of this year, I can safely ignore all communications from CIBC.
