Thursday, June 2, 2011

Too Green Bank


TD Bank is America's most convenient bank. At least, that's what their sign says. Their logo is green. So is their philosophy. (And so is their mascot, apparently. Thank God I've never seen that thing in person). Eddie and I pulled into the lot of one we hadn't been to before. The first two spaces next to the handicapped parking were reserved for hybrid and electric vehicles. Huh, that's an interesting way of thinking. I don't know how many people would be encouraged to get these kinds of cars because of advantageous parking spaces, but surely those who already own the cars appreciate it.

Sidenote--the rest of the parking lot was extremely confusing with all kinds of lines and lanes marked for thru traffic, no parking, parking, and drive-up.

Then came the actual banking. Their machine does not use envelopes. Eddie had his envelope all ready to roll and saw that there was no slot for it. He had to put the money into the machine. Just a stack of bills. Into the machine. It wouldn't take more than a certain number of bills, so we had to stand there and count out separate stacks. Sometimes the machine agreed with what we said we put it. Sometimes it had a different count. Who was right? We didn't know but we trusted the machine because we had no alternative. This became the most aggravating exchange with an ATM machine I've ever had.

Coincidentally, the most aggravating exchange with an ATM machine before that happened only within the past few weeks when I finally figured out how to get an envelope out of the ATM at my own bank. They no longer have a stack available and you can get an envelope only in the middle of your transaction, during which the machine beeped at me while I filled out the envelope because I was taking too long. I would have had it all filled out already had it allowed me to get one before beginning my transaction.

Sometimes progress is a major setback. Think these things through, bank people. Think it through.

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