Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Banker (spit) story (long)

Just thought I'd vent a little. Nobody likes lawyers, a given. But bankers are just a little behind them, in my experience. So..., I started this Indian adventure by talking to the Indian finance people. They ran my numbers, okayed me for a loan, needed 10% down, no problem. Ten minutes and I'm pre-approved. But I thought I'd give my own bank a shot at this, local people, ya know, and I've banked/borrowed money/payed off loans there for more than twenty years. Same initial experience, she (hereby know as "the lady", ran my numbers, said I was good, and was all smiles. Then, at the end, it gets stupid. She says that new banking policy asks to see your income tax forms to verify your income. No problem, I skooted right home and brought them right back. She studies them for a couple of minutes and states, "you only have $5000 in income. I said, "no, thats not correct, you must be looking at the wrong figure. Who makes 5K in income?" I take the forms and show her the W2s from both my jobs, which clearly adds up to what I told her. "No, she says, line 2bc#8cc (whatever) says that you make 5 K." I'm still being polite, and again state, you must be looking at the wrong line. She then takes it out of her office to somebody who is more "qualified" to read income tax forms and comes back in ten minutes with, "the other person agrees that you have 5 K in income, but I'll check it out with my more experienced superior tommorrow and call you back." Next day, an hour after she said she'd call me, I call her and she says, "you're right, you're approved." THEN, I clearly ask her, cause now I'm seriously thinking about the purchase, HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO PROCESS MY LOAN? Sign the paperwork and such, and walk out with the money? The lady says, "Oh, that's NO PROBLEM, just come in and sign a few papers and it's 15 minutes. I asked her again, in a different way, to be sure, and she assured me it was no problem at all. NEXT DAY, I stroll into the bank at ten after nine, I'm ushered into her office, she looks at the paperwork I've brought, and she states, with no smile, "oh, I can't do this loan today at all, NO WAY. The person who usually does this is not here, and I'm too busy. MAYBE, if I work late tonight, I can get it done tommorrow. At this point I'm still being calm, and stated, "well, that's a problem, cause I already called the dealer and he's prepping the bike, I've already called my guys to cancel work for today and I've made plans with my wife. You said yesterday it would be 15 minutes." She says, "Well, I might get a chance to get it done this afternoon (?), but I can't promise anything." I left the bank, and the more I thought about it, the madder I got. I drove two blocks to another bank, talked to a nice young guy, and he approved me and would get the loan for me in an hour. But, the terms were not very good, so I declined. Finally, I just said **** this, pulled out all my savings, (which is not what I wanted to do) and drove up and did the deal with Indian. No problem, 15 minutes and friendly as hell. TOMMORROW, I'm gonna go down to my "friendly neighborhood bank, we're there for you, blah, blah, commercial blah, and close my accounts. I'm really steamed. It is true that I'm no a high roller, just a modest, honest small businessman/carpenter, but I'm not gonna just roll over because they have the "power".

I agree with your vent so I'm venting vicariously through you. I would close my accounts and make sure they understand its because of poor service and incompetent staff.

On the upside, you save yourself a bunch of interest by jot borrowing the money ... Much more than the savings would have earnt you.

Pics ... Of the bike or it didn't happen!

I feel your pain. I banked with the same instruction for a good 20 years. Where I became a number, a fee for this a fee for that. Excessive paperwork and delays for any function.

I was out one day a saw a car for sale at a local credit union. Stepped in to inquire and I was immediately treated like an old friend. Took there sale sheet and scratched an offer, 15 mins later I was driving that sucker home.
I closed all my accounts with the "big bank" and moved them to the Credit Union where I am known on a first name basis.
It has a small town country bank feel to the place.

Remember the theme song to the sitcom "Cheers", where everybody knows your name.

Banks have simply (most of them) become another retail outlet, bait and switch, loss leaders to gain margin on other offerings and all those other retail buzz words. I think the only reason i have not pulled the trigger on a large classic bike is just that, i don't want to spend my savings, i can't stand owing anything to the banks or anyone for that matter and interest makes me ill (when i am paying of course)

I would respond the same way! If they can't get to a loan, they can't have my money!!!

+1 on Credit Unions. I haven't done business with a regular back in 15 years. Credit Unions are the best!

Same here. I left my bank about 1998 and have had my credit union ever since. Way easier to work with.

I have used a Credit Union almost all of my adult life. The one time I tried using a Bank (when I lived in Virginia) it only lasted 6 months. Credit Unions have fees like Banks, but they don't go out of their way to make sure you pay them. Besides, with a Bank the only way I can own part of it is it I buy their Stock. With a Credit Union all I have to have is money deposited and I am considered a share holder, and all the profits come back to the share holders.

I use both. I have a bank for checking because there are more cash machines for the bank I use w/o paying a fee and a credit union for savings and a Visa. Credit unions almost always have lower rates on credit cards.