A follow-up that reduces most, but not all, of my initial anger/concern, is described here.
This really, really pissed me off today.
I was trying to deposit some money at the counter at the one surviving HSBC branch near to my house.
#199
ROWLAND HEIGHTS OFFICE
(C. F. PLAZA) 18250 COLIMA ROAD
ROWLAND HGTS, CA 91748
An elderly lady, accompanied by her grandson, entered the bank, assisted with a manual walker. She and her grandson make their way slowly to the window nearest the safe deposit boxes. Once they are at the end, the local branch manager (or some high-ranking banker in the branch), a tall Chinese guy, informed them that they will need to actually wait in the line. The old lady shuffles back slowly to the line. The banker barely mumbles a "sorry" before hurrying away to his office.
The line goes very slowly. They are understaffed on a Friday afternoon - understaffed, at least, at the counter.
I, the old lady, and the grandson wait in line for about 20 minutes.
There were a few bankers in cubicles, including the unhelpful tall guy. Not a single banker stepped back behind the counter to open a register. It's possible they don't have that authority or flexibility. It's possible they were required to fill out paperwork or process critical information at 4:30 PM on a Friday.
But the overwhelming message I got was a big "fuck you" to the people waiting, and especially to this old lady. I wonder if it would've been different if she hadn't had her grandson carrying a heavy satchel.
To my shame, I didn't offer her the opportunity to go ahead of me in line. I really should have. I thought about even lugging a chair from the waiting area to the line so she could at least rest for a while. (But then I thought that she could have rested in the waiting area, and had her grandson wait in line for her, if she felt the need.)
This isn't the first time I've witnessed this crappy customer service by the tall guy. A similar situation, a couple months ago, involved long lines and zero support behind the counter by the senior bankers.
Look, I realize HSBC is restructuring its North American footprint. Although the heavy Chinese concentration in Rowland Heights probably means this branch will remain open, I understand if people are stressed about keeping their jobs. At a previous visit, I congratulated a teller, explaining that I assumed she had recently gotten the job. As it turns out, it sounds like she lost her full-time position elsewhere and was now a part-time employee. :(
Also, I like HSBC. They've kept their fees low, and I've really enjoyed their customer service in New York, Maryland, and in Pasadena/San Gabriel. So I'm not someone who has an axe to grind with a bank because I was dumb enough to let my account be overdrafted.
But the point is, I still think he should've let her go to the safe deposit box. At the absolute bare minimum, he should've apologized a bit more generously to the lady, explaining either that it was unfair to other customers to help her first, or at least acknowledge her existence. Hell, this lady probably survived the Cultural Revolution. Or early KMT rule in Taiwan. That should count for something.
It is dangerous to generalize from a single person's behavior on multiple instances to a more general statement about culture. Yet I will do precisely that, because it does mesh with other experiences I've had with the emerging Chinese and Chinese-American culture. If this banker is any indication, the narrative of Confucian reverence for elders is absolute bullshit, at least in the finance industry. The bank is completely Chinese or Taiwanese; not a single employee I saw was not fluent in at least Mandarin.
What this banker communicates is that it's perfectly acceptable to treat someone like shit, no matter how old, as long as they are a low-value customer. The bank wasn't making much on that safe deposit box. Maybe she didn't have a mortgage with the bank. Maybe she, like me, had just a crappy checking account and modest savings there.
But she's still an old lady and a human being.
Maybe there's a cultural thing I'm not getting. Maybe its considered rude to imply, however obliquely, to the elderly that they need help. I hope my Chinese friends let me know. (Given the other experiences, I'm unwilling to extend the banker the benefit of the doubt.)
I usually don't do this, but I'm going to definitely communicate this as a letter to the branch manager. I had to do some banking at Chase later the same day, and it was shocking the difference in attitude and basic human decency. It takes a lot to get this old crank into action. But congratulations asshole; you achieved the impossible today. I'm not going to pretend that my withdrawal of my broke-ass cash will make a difference. But I will tell people as much as I can about this disgraceful incident.
2 comments:
This was a good thing for me to read this morning. I think I'm like that manager sometimes. Caught up in my world and some system with its rules. Is it possible that the manager just couldn't think outside the box? He had a role, there are rules, and all he had to be attentive to that system. Customers belong in lines,
period.
I wonder what would have happened if you had approached the manager and said, "Excuse me, I know that customers have to wait in line, but I'm concerned that this woman may be uncomfortable, could there be a way to make this easier for her -- and if there's a way I could be helpful, I'd be glad to."
(I never think on my feet very fast so this idea would have come to me 3 days later.) But anyway, something like this recognizes his role, (and for all we know, he may be smarting from just being chewed out for not following some protocol)but demonstrates and invites a way to think outside the box. He may have pitched in, which would have been wonderful, but he may have blown you off -- in which case, it at least would have passed his consciousness that other people might look at this situation differently.
I see a lot of people around me (myself included) who are bright enough, but rule bound, situation-bound. Making "exceptions" requires another kind of thinking, and honestly, some comfort with who you are in the world. Its easier for me, now that I'm older, to approach people and ask stupid questions, to bend rules, to ask for what I want, to point stuff out -- all with a smile, and less anxiety than it was when I was younger.
Anyway, there are a million variations on this -- when you see a parent chew out a kid inappropriately, (the one that kills me) -- that require mulling over what to do when you are a bystander. So thanks for this rminder. I could imagine myself totally zoned out and not paying attention to this drama at all.
That said, your quesions about culture, etc., -- I'll tune back in to see if anybody else has something to say about that.
Thanks for the comment. I did calm down after writing the post (eventually), and decided not to raise holy hell about it. But I think it still merits a kindly worded letter directed at general bank policy, and not a specific person.
Post a Comment