Standard Chartered, You Suck!

I went to the Standard Chartered branch in Lot 10 to open a Saadiq Saver-i account. After waiting half an hour, it was my turn.

When I explained to the Associate Personal Financial Manager (APFM) what I wanted, she said I'd need to go to the Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) branch to open the account because they didn't have the service at the Lot 10 branch.

I was surprised because I had called up the bank's customer service line the day before. And the agent there said I could open the account at any branch. The paperwork/documents will be sent to the TTDI branch for processing and everything should be completed within 7 working days.

When I told the APFM that, she looked lost and her colleague who was standing nearby suddenly said I could open my account there. I think the colleague must be her supervisor or something.

Then they asked how I was going to make a deposit? I told them I wanted to transfer from my existing Standard Chartered current account. They said I cannot do so; I'd need to use fresh funds. Apparently the bank doesn't want a slew of customers transfering their funds because of the better interest rates that Islamic Banking offers.

Now I would like to ask Standard Chartered these questions:

1. First of all, how can you make your customers wait for half an hour when customers at other banks only have to wait 5 - 10 minutes max, even during peak hours?
   
   
2. Secondly, why did your customer service agent at the call centre and the APFM gave me different answers? What kind of training and briefing did you give your staff before launching the product?
   
   
3. And lastly, why don't you allow customers to open an account by transfering from an existing account? I did that when I opened my Maybank Premier Mudharabah Account-i. It's also an Islamic account with similar way of calculating interest rates. But opening that account was a breeze.

Since I didn't have any deposit with me, I told the APFM and her colleague I'd come again in 2 days to open the account.

Yes I'll definitely come back, but this time to close my existing account. I'd rather put my money in banks who give better services that are hassle free.

Sorry ... but Standard Chartered ... you suck and you've just lost another customer.

Back to Work!

Coming to work this morning was a breeze. Human traffic was a lot less today on the KTM Komuter and Monorail. Most denizens of Kuala Lumpur were still on Chinese New Year (CNY) leave.

My office building had that eerie feeling because there were not many people around.

And when I stepped into my office at at about 9.30am, only two colleagues were in; the rest were on leave. Great! I'll have the whole office to myself!

I switched on the computer, made myself a cup of instant oats and filled up my water bottle. Then checked emails, read blogs and Facebook.

After a while the office got so quiet it felt like working in a mortuary. So I played Janet Siedel and The Chieftains from my computer. But made sure it was not too loud till it distracted the others.

I'm gonna take a long lunch today - need to go to Isetan Lot 10 to exchange a blouse I bought for my mum for CNY. It didn't fit her and I learned my lesson never to buy clothes for someone who's not there to try it on. And since my mum's not here again, I'm gonna exchange the blouse for something for myself. That's another excuse to get something for my wardrobe :-)

Work today is a bliss ...