Break-ups are Weird

Well…I just had a long-term break up today. We’ve been together much longer than I’ve even known that my husband existed ??.

I broke up with my bank. ??

The institution, which will remain nameless, has had my personal accounts at least since I got my first real paycheck summer job in Sea Isle City when I was 13-14 ???…so we’re talking over 20 years of financially growing. They were with me through college, first home, bills, jobs, wedding, kids, more bills.? Through all my many changes, I had a trusted, dependable company that had my back, and fit well in my life. I followed all the normal financial rules of checking your account regularly, making sure we didn’t have strange charges, checking that we were getting decent interest.? Twice before, we’ve asked about surprise changes on our accounts only to find out our plan didn’t exist anymore, and it just defaulted to the lowest instead of any of the new plans…no communication ??. I thought - it’s me, not them. Maybe I should be stopping in more…It’s not much different than the random phone bill hike that I need to check about every once in awhile…

Fast-forward to today, when I admittedly was a bit behind on review and noticed maintenance fees that I’m not used to seeing displayed over the last couple months. I, again, find out my plan hasn’t existed for a while, but was allowed to stay grandfathered in. However, they do tell me there are plans that would work out much better for me. ? Welp…unfortunately this again.?It’s a “me problem” for not noticing fast enough, I admit - I need to be on top of it.

It’s all me here, not you, right?

Temper those expectations. However, out of pure curiosity I asked if any of this is ever communicated to the account holder. When my agent got the manager, she credited back a month which was much appreciated considering I missed it, but then she went on about how I needed to be coming in person more frequently and asking for updates if I wanted the best account. I agreed that sure I will keep an eye out…life had been crazy the past couple months…but it would honestly have been nice if someone had communicated that my plan wasn’t offered anymore and there were new plans that may suit me better now…just a notice.?Still my fault, but food for thought. Similar to the letter when your doctor leaves, or “you could be paying less for your medication.”

This is where she got me - “Do you know how many customers we have? You expect us to be reaching out to everyone?”? To be fair, I was already tired. It’s picture day for the boys today which made for a fun morning, and we had a late basketball tournament that ended last night (oh no…??), but I felt a wave of exhaustion and disappointment roll over me.

After over 20 years of having my name in their accounts, that’s all I felt like; a name.

When she asked if I wanted to make updates, my calm response was, “I’m done.” We kept it cordial, like when you know you’re going to see each other around town. They know they’ll have some in my account until I move all my auto bills and then I’ll be “moving all my things from their place.”

It’s over. So strange, these weird feelings of resignation, almost sadness at this end…for a bank account. Really? I killed a bunch of long-term subscriptions this past week, and it felt fantastic. When we were done with daycare and cut those ties…end of an era, but I was good.?Yet this made me want to curl up in sweats and take a nap.

Change is a weird beast.

Not sure if it was the expectation of customer service, even generic, repeated lack of communication…or just the icing on the cake to have the notion of you, as a customer, mattering to a large company so blatantly laughed at in your face. The thought of this one interaction causing a loss in a customer may or may not mortify a corporation, but it really can be all it takes. However, it’s important for companies to know, however odd it may be, customers form trusted relationships, connections, especially with longevity involved. There’s more to it than a number - growth happens with retention. Retention happens when people feel like people.