You don’t often hear “good customer service” and “bank” mentioned in the same sentence. In Australia, banks are commonly viewed as greedy and heartless organisations which ruthlessly bleed their customers dry. Sometimes this sentiment is justified, and bank-bashing is popular. Today, however, I was pleasantly surprised to receive good service from my bank in spite of its public perception.

I was depositing a pile of coins, and only had to queue for about two minutes. Not content with just being prompt, the teller was observant enough to notice that my home loan interest rate seemed higher than she thought it could be. She asked if I’d like to talk to a lending officer to see if they could work out something better for me, and I agreed. Another very helpful and knowledgeable woman appeared within minutes, and she went to some lengths to understand my circumstances and see what the bank could do to make me better off.

Having previously compared banks and accounts, I’m familiar with assessing fine print, fees and charges, and am good enough with numbers to weigh up benefits with costs. That’s why I hadn’t already changed to a cheaper home loan - usually the savings are offset by disadvantages and higher costs in other areas, such as credit card and transaction accounts (these came fee-free as part of a package with my existing loan). The woman I saw today was able to sort out a combination of home loan and other accounts which really do work out cheaper for me. I felt she wasn’t merely doing a job; she appeared genuinely keen to do what was best for the customer.

Saving money obviously pleased me, but equally impressive was the way two bank employees took the time and effort to provide very good customer service … not what we are conditioned to expect from banks. Especially in a busy bank, on a friday.

It got me thinking about the negative image of banks, government departments, and other large organisations. Much dissatisfaction stems from procedures, policies and prices: things determined by management. Customer service problems often arise through lack of staff or training: something management is responsible for. The bulk of the employees, who do the work - the ones we deal with - are regular people trying to do as good a job as they can in their circumstances.

Today’s experience was a reminder not to let an organisation’s bad image prejudice our judgement of its staff. Good customer service does exist … yes, even in a bank!

(For the curious, the bank I refer to is the Dianella branch of BankWest)