letter to Greenpoint Bank


Mary Ellen Murphy
Greenpoint Bank
1981 Marcus Ave.
Lake Success, NY 11042

Dear Ms. Murphy:

I am writing to address a number of complaints regarding the Greenpoint account I have had for the past year. I mean no personal attack by the occasional forcefulness of the remarks that follow, but as you will see, I have been extremely displeased with my experience of Greenpoint as a corporation. It seems to me some of these issues may be related to systemic and/or managerial problems, hence I have presented them in a letter.

Fees for use of a ‘free’ account
First of all, I am requesting a refund of service fees I have been charged for my “free” direct-deposit account despite regular direct deposits of my salary. Although I have been charged these fees for the last ten months, I am only requesting a refund of $42 to cover the first five months ($30, December through April), plus August and September ($12). However, unless the situation is rectified, I will undoubtedly be charged the $6 service fee in October as well. Yesterday at the Penn Plaza branch, they credited me $18 for the May, June, and July fees charged based on the bank statements I furnished.

Inconsistent procedures for reporting an address change
You might wonder why I didn’t also have the most-current bank statements. I wish I had them, but notifying the bank of an address-change is remarkably difficult. At first it appeared I could do this through the web site. One page provided specific directions about sending a message with one’s new address through the web site (see “Customer Service” under the One Point Internet Banking Help menu). Eager to promptly get mail at my new address, I sent the required message. But a few days later, I had a message waiting for me when I logged in, telling me I in fact had to go to a branch to report the address change. Yesterday I was too upset by the service I received to apprise them of the change.

Unhelpful customer service
For you see, that this matter of refunded fees requires a letter is a substantial part of my complaint. The woman at 34th Street was unwilling to refund the remaining money, and she did not to my knowledge correct the core problem on the account, responsible for these continuous fees! The associate whom she consulted for advice (possibly a supervisor?) refused to credit the full amount because she said I should have questioned the matter earlier. Actually, I did question the issue earlier this summer, but the teller at that time (though far more sympathetic) requested old bank statements to substantiate the history of the problem. For various reasons detailed below, I did not address the problem during the winter or spring, and was not able to bring the statements until yesterday. I do apologize for the delay on my part. Should you require an explanation of this, I have provided it below. Should you not require an explanation in order to complete the refund, I have confined this letter to the main complaints I have with Greenpoint.

Frankly, this account has been a source of exasperation almost since day one. When I opened the account in Astoria, about a year ago, the bank employee I dealt with never told me I would be charged $1 each time I used my bank card for debit transactions instead of as a credit card. When I still lived in Arizona, I banked with BankOne, which never charged such peculiar fees. Thus it never occurred to me I would be penalized for using my much-touted debit card … as a debit card. After the first statement arrived and I encountered this surprise, bonus feature of my “completely free” Greenpoint checking account, I called to question the fees. They told me I had to go to the branch where I opened the account to request a refund of the unexpected fees. Of course, the hours of that branch conflicted with my work-and-commute schedule. It was only a few dollars, so I sucked it up. Henceforth I used my debit card as a debit card only in emergencies. So much for convenience.

Conclusion
I don’t like to be rude in letters such as these, but frankly, I’m starting to get pretty angry about the “service” I’ve received at the hands of Greenpoint. To summarize my grievances, they are as follows:

1. Since December 2002, I have been charged a $6 monthly fee for use of my supposedly free direct-deposit checking account, to which I receive regular direct deposits. To my knowledge, no correction has been made to halt this ongoing problem.
2. When I requested a refund of said fees on Oct. 15, 2003 ($60 total, through September), I was only repaid $18. This letter constitutes a request for the remaining $42.
3. The $1 debit-card fees are an extreme inconvenience of which I was not informed when opening the account. These fees are particularly grievous because stores sometimes run my purchases as a debit transaction even when I’ve told them to treat it as credit (this happened at TJ Maxx, for example). Thus through no fault of my own, I’m charged an additional fee.
4. Your branches and hours of operation are generally very inconvenient, as is the procedure for reporting an address change. Other banks with which I’ve dealt have a far-more efficient process for handling such changes.

It has come to a point where there’s almost no redeeming value in keeping my account with Greenpoint. I earn nominal interest that is far outweighed by the miscellaneous fees I am charged for daring to access my money elsewhere than the handful of branches in Manhattan. I am charged a monthly $6 fee that no one has bothered to stop, for an account that is supposed to be free. When I attempt to transact my business on the Web, I am stymied by promises of service that are not fulfilled. When I finally resort to transacting business at a branch, I encounter inconvenient hours and locations, long lines, and generally unhelpful staff (there have been a few exceptions). Should I really be starting to think Washington Mutual’s catchy ad campaign was directly inspired by Greenpoint?

Thank you for your attention to my concerns, and forbearance with my ire. I look forward to your response. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you desire additional substantiation of these issues. Should you desire to call me, I can be reached between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at 212-904-3416.

Sincerely,
Christi A. Foist

Enc: Addendum
Addendum

Why did I not address the fee issue earlier? When it first began, in December, I was starting a new job, and still settling in from a major move across country. (I will spare you the tedious details of attempting to get established in a city where I was not initially employed.) Also, the pattern of regular fees had not yet emerged. Between all of this, going to the bank for a face-to-face was not high on my list of priorities.

By the time the pattern was becoming clear, I was immersed in a second move. Unfortunately, my new apartment was nowhere near a Greenpoint branch. Nor was my new job (in Chelsea). Getting to a branch to address a matter requiring face-to-face contact was not exactly easy. A 1-hour lunch (at a job where the boss begrudged lunch hours anyway) didn’t afford time to take the train to the nearest branch, stand eternally in line with everyone else doing business on their lunch break, face a protracted explanation of the problem, and then train back to work.

Finally in May I changed jobs to a company quite near the 34th St. branch. I believe shortly after that I went to the bank about the problem. But as I said, the woman needed to see old bank statements, which I didn’t have at hand.

Summer proved quite busy. In August I moved again. All my papers got crammed in two battered boot boxes to which the lids were affixed with duct tape. Between long hours at my publishing job and the slow, weary process of settling in a third time, I didn’t remember to get the statements in order and bring them in until this week.

posted @ 01:12 AM on Sun - September 14, 2003 remark! Email |  as quoted:
before I said ...  but more recently: 

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