[Resolved]  Saving Bank Account — Very Poor Customer Orientation

Dear Sir / Madam,

I have been holding an account with SBI Bhayander ( West ) for a long time now and every time i have visited the branch, i got a feeling of very lethargic working attitude amongst the employees of this particular branch and recently certain events, over the last week, crossed all my limits of tolerance as to their approach towards the customer handling.

I am citing some of the events that transpired very precisely as below :

1) Last to last week, i deposited certain cash and was told by the teller that i can get my passbook updated entry if i could wait for some 15 - 20 minutes. But inspite of waiting for more than half an hour i came to know that the person being new and hence slow, will take more time and eventually with a slight bitter taste i left the bank.

2) I was wanting to avail a bank loan, met your concerned people in the branch, so as to understand the formalities for the loan and the percentage of the aggreement value loan i am entitle of and to my shock, as compared to the other Banks, SBI will disburse, as informed by your people in that branch, only 70- 75% of the agreement value. May be, they would be right, but i want to know exactly how much and how soon SBI disburse's the Home loan.
The approach of the gentleman who was called in by some lady was very casual and not so interested, probably because SBI must be doing great value / business in HLF. Eventually i approached Standard Chartered Bank.

3) For the same, on a later date, i wanted my account statement for the last 6 months and i went to the branch and requested for the same. I was committed by an employee, Mr. Rebello, that the same will be sent to my email id by 2:00 PM max., as he was very busy then ( around 12 Noon when i was in that branch ). Till 4:00 PM i kept checking my mail account for this mail of my statement but nothing ever came in. I called the bank and was told by some person that Mr. Rebello has gone to the ATM's around in Bhayander and he doesn't know when Mr. Rebello would return. He asked me to call back after an hour. With the kind of experience that i had, i again went back from my place, which is around 4-5 km's away from the branch as i had comitted to the SCB person who was to come and collect the documents from my residence at around 6:30 PM the same evening. I had to wait at the branch for almost an hour to get my account summary print out.
I had approached straight to Mr. Sheikh in his cabin that time also for the same and had asked if any thing could be done, i was asked to wait for Mr. Rebello till he comes back. This is the attitude. After waiting for an hour i requested some another person who was there, he gave me the print out, so why couldn't the Senior Branch Manager could have done the same, the moment i told him about the problem. That day also i had verbally shown my dis-satisfaction to the Senior Branch Manager; Mr. Sheikh, but he was just quite and very causal.

4) All hell broke loose on Friday as i was to get my flat registered and went to the branch at 12:15 PM to get Pay Orders made for the Stamp Duty & Registration.
" Grahak Mitra " person sitting on the front desk told me that the printer is not working and i should go to some another bank to get my PO. I was shocked, i went to Mr. Sheikh and told him my problem to which this time he said he will help me as i was the customer of their bank.
I also told him the urgency as after Friday, next three days are holidays, and my job profile keeps me away on business tours for long. I also informed him that the seller and our brokers are waiting for me at Kandivili so as to complete the formalities.
He asked me to go home or do my personal things, if any , and come back in half an hours time and by then he will be ready with my Pay Orders. This was at sharp 12:25 when i filled the PO application and submitted to him.
Here i want to iterate that no other banks have this kind of an assumption or attitude that the people who bank with them are " free " and have nothing to do and can spare time as per your people's conviniences.
I came back at 1:00 after killing time at a Tea Stall close by but till then nothing was ready......
1: 15 PM i started getting calls from my broker and told him by 2:00 PM i will be at Kandivili as Mr. Sheikh requested for another 15-20 minutes more. I was getting frustrated.....but still kept my cool
1:45 PM and still the things were not moving ........... Calls from my broker and this time i went into his cabin so as to pressurise him and make him understand the urgency and he responded to this by saying " What can i do if the printer is not working properly and this is not in his control......" i went mad...............

A Senior Branch Manager of SBI doesn't have people & equipments in his control is something very very shocking. He should have requested for a replacement so as to ensure that the equipments are up & working efficiently so as to take care of the customers banking with SBI and he is definitly responsible to ensure smooth functioning of his branch and, if not keeping Customers Happy, atleast not making them suffer banking with SBI through your branch in Bhayander.

Chaos broke out and both o[censored]s were screaming at full pitch inside the branch, and the people were silently watching us........ That was ridiculous, i had never ever before been involved in such a dirty and down level piece of an argument. Thanks to your ' SENIOR BRANCH MANAGER' Mr. Sheikh.

I was literally trembling with anger and asked this " Grahak Mitra " for the name of this branch Manager, as i told him during the course of the argument that i am going to escalate this issue to the top most level. " Grahak Mitra " person asked me to see and note the same on the board hanging on his door to which i informed him that the sign board is only carrying his designation and not his name to which he did not respond. Some another person sitting next told me about his name................ " That's again your 'Grahak Mittra'..........

I did iterate earlier and now i am very sure that if the Senior Manager of a branch can have a callous attitude, what can you expect from the others in that branch........

Finally i got my Pay Orders at 2:30 PM. Complete 2 hours & 15 Minutes in a SBI branch for 2 Pay Orders..................... That's the Banking Experience i have and every time i laugh at your advt. which has a punch line saying " Pure Banking & Nothing Else ". Please change the slogan, at least for Bhayander Branch.

I could not reach in time to complete my registration & stamp duty formalities and since i am on tour from Tuesday morning to Friday night, i might be able to do it on Saturday, that's purely the result of banking with SBI.

I request you to visit the HDFC branch at Bhayander and just observe the way employees are trained to take care and create value for their customers who are banking with them. These two banks are physically just 1 km away from each other but in my opinion, millions and millions of miles away as to the "Customer Orientation & Approach" and don't need to put here who is ahead.................... ( My personal opinion from this experience )


Sir / Madam, i am going to take this matter, if i am not updated of the action taken for my complaint, to the next higher level. If i can spend 2-1/2 hours in the branch on a working day and during the working hours, i can surely pursue this complaint till the end after the working hours. May be 15 minutes a day late in the night........................


Looking forward to a prompt and appropriate strong effective action for overall improvement for all.

Regards,

Sanjay Sharma
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