Cash, credit, or debit?

Recently I've made a decision to use cash whenever possible instead of credit or debit cards. Credit card interest rates are ridiculous and debit cards are rigged to cause overdraft fees due to the bank's refusal to provide an accurate real-time balance. . . at least for those of us who spend most of our paychecks before the next one arrives. My bank's advice when disputing an overdraft fee was to get out a pen and paper to keep track of my funds and to not rely on the "available balance" offered by the pleasant computerized woman or bank website. With such great advice it is no wonder my bank has been unable to make money by lending money and instead finds itself in the Federal hand-out business. And besides, since the bank got my taxes, they surely won't need the 1 or 2 percent in merchant fees I used to generate every time I swiped my card, right?







All that aside, I've discovered a very annoying habit of check-out clerks when using cash. When did Wal-Mart insert language into their employee handbook that all my bills have to face the same way!?! When spending $8, I suppose it is not that big a deal for the poor clerk to "organize" the three one dollar bills so that ole George Washington is facing the same way on each bill. I figured this extra effort on the part of the clerk was because her shift was almost over perhaps? What if the guy in line behind me buys something for $7 and pays with a $10 bill? Are her efforts wasted?







My partner waits tables for a living. He works hard for his money and often shows up at home with $200 cash in his pocket for a days work. Trouble is, three-quarters of it is one dollar bills. Last week I made my usual trek to Wal-Mart for the usual cart full of stuff I don't need. I made the mistake of carefully counting out $120 in cash. . . yep, one-hundred and twenty single bills.




I counted and patiently waited while the clerk counted. She counted 118 the first time, 121 the second time. On the third count, bingo! As I waited for my receipt and coins back for change, she began counting again. Apparently she wanted to be sure. I can understand that. She would want to get 120 twice. She did. Then she began going through the bills a fifth time, but she wasn't counting. She was shuffling the bills around, flipping and turning each one it seemed, so that it faced the same as the one beneath it.







By this time I felt like the clown buying 47 items in the 12-items-or-less Express Lane. People in line behind me were directing heavy sighs in my direction. One even called out the name of our Lord, although I'm not sure what help He may have rendered in such a situation. The clerks shuffling of the bills was taking longer than the previous four counting episodes and people were getting mad. Were they mad at me for daring to use cash in this electronic age? Were they mad at the clerk for organizing the bills? She thanked me and said she, "needed ones." But if she needed them presumably for change, why on Earth was she taking so long to line up all the pictures of George? If it needed to be done, shouldn't it be done in the back room behind the service desk? Certainly delaying my departure, tying up the register, and forcing the other folks in line to learn the fate of the latest celebrity dancer and American Idol contestant was creating a poor customer service experience. . . even for Wal-Mart.







It's silly really, but please don't waste a customer's time by fiddling with the direction of my Treasury notes - just stuff 'em in the drawer and gimme my receipt. That's a piece of my mind.

Bank of America

I find it utterly disgusting that Bank of America, and several other large U.S. banks, have outsourced jobs overseas while sticking their hand into the American piggy bank. Bank of America has done this for some time, utilizing companies that go by names like TeleTech, providing customer service over the telephone. Yep, when Bank of America customers call the bank to replace a debit card, get a balance, open a new account, or ask about that $35 overdraft charge, chances are good that one is not even speaking with a Bank of America employee! Yet this person has all of your personal information at their fingertips. Bank of America can't be bothered to talk to you, and has hired various companies to solve your problem and make you go away.



While Bank of America does employ customer service agents, the Teletech's of the world carry out the bank's customer service at a substantial cost savings. Bank of America pays their customer service agents upwards of $15 per hour, acceptable when considering the level of training and access to knowledge and information critical to providing customer service for a bank. Outfits like Teletech pay between $9 - $10 per hour to provide the same, but experience high turn-over.



Here's where I come unglued, both as Bank of America customer and U.S. taxpayer. I find it astonishing that when one uses the online live-chat feature of the Bank of America website, I'm chatting LIVE with a CONTRACTOR in INDIA, complete with broken English and typos (when a cut an paste answer just won't do). Spanish your native language? Call Bank of America and you may be speaking with a CONTRACTOR in MEXICO. The Guadalajara, Mexico call center for Bank of America outsourced and operated by Teletech pays its customer service employees $3 per hour. They work six days a week, 12 hours a day, with no benefits. They know your balance.



The December 12, 2008 New York Times said Bank of America is laying off over 30,000 people. Did they suddenly find a way to provide banking services that require less human capital? Nope. They're turning over the work to CONTRACTORS at lower pay in far flung corners of God's green Earth.

So, as Bank of America's CEO wipes the sweet taste of the American Treasury off his lips, we can all rest assured that while the bank puts Americans with good paying jobs on the street it has replaced them with contract workers in a foreign land - at Taxpayer expense. That's a piece of my mind.