America’s Most Convenient Bank?

I’d like to preface this by saying I’ve used Commerce Bank since I was a kid. I’ve always been very pleased with the services, and even toot their horn every now and then reminding friends and colleagues they are “America’s Most Convenient Bank.”

I even worked for Commerce for nearly six months, with little or no negative things to say about them. The job was boring at times, but the people were nice and their banking systems were, I was told, advanced.

My perspective shifted exactly two weeks ago.

I started a new job as a Sales Manager for The Enterprise Center at BCC, a conference center owned by Burling County College, but operated by Flik International Corp. (the company I work for) which is a subsidiary of The Compass Group. Get all that?

My direct deposit was set up through The Compass Group site, payday rolled around on Friday two weeks ago, but the money didn’t appear in my account. I waited. Maybe because it is my first paycheck it takes longer, I thought (even though I knew that sounded nonsensical). That afternoon, my boss printed out the statement showing the funds were released by Compass; still no money in the account. I called Commerce customer service and eventually learned that the direct deposit was “coded” as going to a savings account. Who gets their paycheck sent to their savings account? Mine, of course, was supposed to go to my checking account.

Commerce insisted we made a mistake, which I refuted because both my boss – a really sharp guy – and I were sure the direct deposit info was entered correctly. We swallowed our pride, and as per the request of the bank, faxed a letter stating we mistakenly entered the info as savings rather than checking and to please correct the problem, etc, etc.

I faxed the letter to the ACH dept. (ACH? I don’t know what it stands for either.) then called customer service to ensure delivery. Customer service calls ACH and then comes back to me saying they didn’t get the fax. I got in my car. Drove to a branch. Sat down with a CSR who then called ACH and told me they had actually received my FAX.

The pisser is, the correction wasn’t going to be made until the next business day. And the business day after that, you get the money.

Probably the worst news you can get on a Friday is that the money from the paycheck won’t be available until Tuesday. Well, maybe not the worst. But it’s pretty bad.

As promised, the money was in my account Tuesday morning after floating around in neverland for four days. Thanks guys.

I held my breath for two weeks wondering if it would happen again.

My boss and I conferred; we entered the information correctly. We both agreed we thought the kink had worked it self out, and rather than risk mudding things up more by entering my direct deposit information into the system again, we’d go ahead based on the assumption this issue was resolved.

On the bright side, today my co-workers got to see a new side of Jeff: the frustrated (and slightly volatile) one.

It happened again.

As a seasoned veteran to this situation, I first called customer service to confirm the problem. Again, I got the same schpeel, “If we receive a letter from you by Monday morning at 11:00 a.m., you will have the money Tuesday.” I said, “But it’s Friday. Is there anyway to fix this quicker?”

I was told if I got a letter to them by 11:00 a.m. today it would clear tomorrow. After all, this is America’s Most Convenient Bank. The nice woman suggested adding a note stating I was going away on a trip (which I am) and that I need the money (which I do). I took her advice and also added that this was not the first time we encountered this issue.

I faxed the letter we sent two weeks ago and the letter I wrote up today to my boss, who was not in the office yet. He created his own letter very similar to the one I wrote today. He faxed it back. I got in my car again.

Sitting down across from a CSR at the branch around the corner, I just handed the letter across the oversized wood deck. It seemed easier. A succinct letter.

After some (expected) confusion, the ACH person relayed that the CSR I spoke with this morning was incorrect. Great. The mistake must be corrected the following BUSINESS day and then the money will be available the following day. I couldn’t believe it.

I took a few deep breaths, calmly got up, smiled, shook Kristen’s hand and walked out of the branch.

I believe the phrase is “an exercise in futility.”

So, to be clear, at a bank stressing their convenience and customer service, that happens to be open seven days a week:

-Direct deposit error occurs on Friday morning
-Letter to the department handling direct deposits received before 11:00 a.m. on Friday
-Affected customer sits in branch with customer service rep Friday morning
-Affected customer gets money … Tuesday

Wha!?

Where does this money hang out all weekend? Is someone making money with my money?

When it’s released by Compass, Commerce must have it somewhere, right? If so, why can’t they just move it my account?

How come someone sitting behind a computer cannot quickly change the deposit from savings to checking?

What’s to stop this person from clicking around until the money makes its way to the right place? How hard could that be? The problem was very clear. A clear problem should have a clear solution.

Getting my money that day would certainly “WOW” me.

Why is the correction made on the following business day? And why does it take another day still to see the money?

America’s MOST Convenient Bank?

Man, I’d hate to see what the other guys are up to if that’s the case.

I heard "Bodysnatchers" at the Marlton Tavern last night

Granted, the upstairs bar had on 104.5, but to hear Radiohead's first single off their recently released In Rainbows is sort of exciting to me. I guess I'm a nerd, but I thought it was really cool. You may have heard the tune by now.

I haven't weighed in on this album yet, really, so here's my story.

I, like fans worldwide and people with their ear to the music scene, was shocked to see the announcement from Radiohead that essentially said: "We recorded an album, you can download it in 10 days for whatever price you choose."

Umm... hello!? Really? Despite hearing little bits here and there about their album in the works, the announcement came as a shock because things had been quiet for some time and there was no word in regards to mixing or mastering or anything. The at-the-time-untitled album wasn't expected for at least six months, I'd guess. Their brief announcement made headlines all over because they were releasing this album themselves - without a label - and anyone could download it for nothing (if they so desired).

I couldn't help but wonder if this recording had been haphazardly put together and quickly released. Would it be any good? The 2003 release of Hail To The Thief was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm - both from me and the nation media.

I'll admit it, I was skeptical.

Plus, what the hell was up with the name In Rainbows? Sounds pretty gay to me, I thought.

But the release day came and I hadn't made up my mind yet as to whether I was going to do the digital download thing or buck up and spend the dough for the "discbox" (an eleborately designed physical edition of the recording from the mind of Stanley Donwood that included a bonus disc but cost ... ehhem... 80 bucks).

That night, I got an IM from a very good friend. First of all, he hasn't liked Radiohead's last three albums and I'd say is more "appreciative" of their music but not necessarily a fan. Who can say Ok Computer is great though, right? I should add that while we don’t necessarily like all the same music, we do love a lot of the same bands. So this dude says the new Radiohead album is "amazing" and I can't believe what I'm reading. Really, dude? Amazing?

That was enough for me. I broke out the credit card and bought the discbox - which included a digital download of the album.

I put on my headphones and that was that. My boy Jimmy was right. Radiohead continued the trend of outdoing themselves once again. I think I remember shaking my head about half way through the relatively short 10 track album in disbelief. "How did they keep doing this?"

SUMMER 2008 TOUR

I read today they are rumored to be headlining not one, but two nights at the new All Points West Music & Arts Festival brought to Liberty State Park in gorgeous north Jersey on August 8, 9 and 10 by the Coachella organizers, AEG Live and Goldenvoice. The first time I witnessed the spectacle that is a Radiohead concert back in 2001, I was looking on from the grass of the same venue as Thom dedicated "No Surprises" to the Statue of Liberty standing just to the left of the stage. I'm really looking forward to August.

Facebook and privacy

I like how Facebook has “opened up” recently. In other words, I am glad this once little college-based social network has grown massively into a social network pioneer. Facebook is an Internet gigant now. It continues to “blow up” so to speak. The addition of the mini-feed and applications has created a totally new social network experience.

Facebook’s features are plentiful and, fortunately for us users, they offer very elaborate privacy settings. (Myspace, for better or worse, gives users a simple choice: private or public. That’s it! Last time I checked at least.)

I URGE everyone to pay attention to your privacy settings on Facebook, especially those of us living in the “real” world (not in college anymore).

Facebook added a new “Public Search Listing” today. It means two things. The first being non-members of the site can now search your name and pull up the thumbnail of your picture with four options: Message, Poke, Add to Friends, View Friend List. (You can change what will appear by checking and un-checking boxes in your privacy settings.)

Secondly, your public search listing will be indexed by external search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN. That means your little Facebook box showing the thumbnail and the user set options will appear, I assume. Search engine indexing will occur soon; a vague timetable is set.

Of course, both public search listings are a privacy setting set by the user. You can opt out of both if you wish. But, the default setting allows anyone to search for you both through Facebook and through search engine.

Personally, I turned off the external search engine setting, but left the search through Facebook open. If people want to find me on here, find me through Facebook. I don’t need someone Google-ing my name and finding me on Facebook.

My privacy settings are moderately strict. My photos, friends, wall, notes, mini-feed, etc. are ONLY available to my friends. Granted, I have a few random friends on Facebook, but they are either friends of friends from college or high school. I don’t accept random requests. Message me if you need to, but I am not going to open up my profile for just anyone. I have a lot of stuff (i.e. photos, notes) that random people don’t need to see.

The only piece of this privacy puzzle I’m not totally knowledgeable about is the limited profile. Let’s say someone sends me a message, they cannot see my profile or my limited profile. But, if I send a message to someone who is not a friend or reply to a message sent from someone who is not a friend, they can see my limited profile for something like 30 days. I think that’s how it works.

And the default settings for the limited profile aren’t very “limited.”

So…

Be careful!

Examine your privacy settings!

I recommend making your “limited” profile actually limited.

Read about this new public search listing.

Be smart and responsible on Facebook. It’s an outstanding social network.

The Interrupter

Late Night with Conan O'Brien is silly, random, ridiculous and just plain hilarious, in my opinion. Here's a video to prove it.

The Interrupter is played by Brian Stack, a writer and comic best known for things like this on Conan. I can't find a video of his sketch as Hannigan the travelling salesman (it's fantastic) but I stumbled across another gem from the O'Brien/Stack collection recently and had a good laugh with a buddy. In this one he plays Artie Kendall the "Ghost Crooner" and ... you just have to watch it.

I'll continue to look for the travelling salesman video.

I like my camera

I've been shooting my D70 at friends' softball games and I've gotten some decent stuff. Here's a little Scotty H. for you.






She's out!

Web 2.0 video

It's cool. It shows Netvibes, which you should totally use by now.

The Boy With No Name

I can't stop listening to the new Travis album, The Boy With No Name.

But, it's not shocking. I've loved this Scottish band since I started consistently spinning The Man Who back in 2002. (Yeah, I know, it hit the US in May 2000. Shoot me.)

"Closer" is the first single on The Boy With No Name. It's a light-hearted, poppy and sorta love song-ish, but I still find it completely irresistible. It's the third track on the new album (their 5th full-length) released May 7.

Here's the video for "Closer"


Right now, my favorites on the album are the opener, "3 Times And You Lose" and "My Eyes" but I'm sure that will change with more and more listens.

They should tour soon. I use "should" because normally bands tour following an album release, but so far they are playing some festivals but no US tour announcements. I'll be there when they do though.

Buy The Boy With No Name on Amazon here. If you've never listened to them, it might not be a bad place to start. Who said working backwards isn't cool? This live DVD is great too, btw.

Oh man, I just found a video of Demetri Martin "interpreting" the second track on the album, "Selfish Jean" and that dude's just friggin' hilarious so here ya go.




And I'm including one more video for good measure. Here's the opening track of their fantastic sophomore album, The Man Who. It still reminds me of someone I used to know.