Ted Grigg's Reflections about Direct Marketing

This morning I got an automated call that did not make me hang up immediately as usual.

It began by saying something like this:

“Hello, This is a call from your bank offering to lower your present interest rate to 6.9%. This offer is blah, blah, blah.”

I listened for a few more lines expecting them to tell me what bank. Like most of the population, I use several banks. But it was obvious after a few seconds they were not going to answer that all-important question. “Who are you?”

I hung up the phone disgusted.

First of all, I assume that this was a legal call and that I am indeed a customer as they claimed. I am listed on both the national and state “No Call” lists for the number called.

But their refusal to tell me up front who they were completely ignored my need to make a decision as to whether or not I even wanted to listen to the message.

The second issue is that if it was the bank’s desire to reduce my interest rate, instead of sneakily raising it over time without my explicit permission as they have done in the past, then they should simply do so. Then send me a letter explaining how they were treating me like an important customer by voluntarily reducing my rate. What a novelty! Treat me like a customer for a change.

The banking industry really needs to sit back for five minutes and think about the needs of their customers. This industry is plagued by insensitive behavior in its marketing practices.

What experiences have you had with banks showing that they are either in touch with their customers or not?