After a 5 month ordeal, we were finally able to close on the re-fi of our mortgage. The last 24 hours, however, were an “epic” tale of the situation “coming down to the wire” (literally.)
Here’s the note I sent to the senior executive team at Etrade…. Enjoy.
There is good news and bad news in this Etrade customer satisfaction tale.
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that thanks to the heroic sense of devotion to customer service by Heather, Dionne, and Tondra (will someone please copy her and her manager), the re-financing of my home mortgage was able to close by the required deadline.
At approx. $400/month savings, that’s some real money, so I appreciate it.
Heather, Dionne, and Tondra have a standing invitation to my home for drinks or coffee (your choice!)
THE BAD NEWS
The bad news is that I had no direct interface to the Wire Transfer department to obtain the help I needed at the moment when I needed it, I have ZERO confidence in the “relationship manager” who has been assigned to me, and that (and this is my fault), I made an assumption that because I have such high expectations of E*Trade, when it comes to money, pretty much anything is possible.
THE BACKGROUND
I am a 12 year E*Trade customer. My wife, kids, and I have a combined 18 accounts with you (they used to be worth a lot more, but we’re not unique in that sense).
I have sung your praises many times on both of my blogs. In fact, I even sent in an unsolicited proposal based on my passion as a customer for how to “social media-ify” the experience.
When I am happy, I tell everyone.
When I am dissatisfied, I express it and state my expectations that you should be at the cutting-edge of online banking/brokerage.
THE CONTEXT
To complete the re-financing of my mortgage, I needed to wire funds from my E*trade account to the settlement attorney’s trust account. On Wed. night at 11pm (when we signed the documents), we both said, “oh, it’s E*trade, no question I can do that.”
Well, by Thursday afternoon, I had become intimately familiar with the requirements and if I told you the amount of logistical challenges that were overcome so that both my wife and I could sign the document and have it notarized, you’d think you were watching Seinfeld. It was insane.
Per the direction of the first rep with whom I spoke, I sent the LOA via fax to the wire transfer group and begged, pleaded that it’s receipt be acknowledged and, since I was a customer of longstanding, would they please expedite it?
Nothing.
Time was ticking, so I called back and spoke with Tondra, who took ownership of the situation, but was only able to email them. She assured me she’d follow up the next day.
Nothing.
Friday morning rolls around and I’m getting nervous that I’m about to lose the re-fi on my mortgage. I trust Tondra, but it’s a single point of failure. What if she got sick? I can’t take that chance.
I don’t know what else to do, so I hit my personal E*Trade customer satisfaction Panic Button.
In my notes in Outlook, I had Heather’s name and phone number because THREE YEARS AGO, she had intervened on another high priority issue and solved it for me.
It was my only hope. I didn’t even know if she still worked there, but I called.
Got her VM, but fortunately, she left her cell number.
I felt bad, but faced with the alternative of losing the re-fi, I had no choice.
Once I explained that she was my “nuclear option,” she took ownership (while driving no less).
Moments later, Dionne called. She immediately picked up the baton (and after coordinating w/Tondra who called on my other line at that moment) began to jump over hurdle after hurdle (and there were many) on the way to completing the process.
Dionne continuously kept me in the loop, made me feel confident (and calm, since my blood pressure was skyrocketing), and at 1.58pm called to tell me that “it was done.”
THE WRAP-UP
It is, of course, wonderful that people like Tondra, Dionne, and Heather feel the customer’s pain and do all they can to solve the problem.
What’s not great is that we had this problem in the first place.
I’m sure there’s a reason for not being able to wire money wherever I want. I’m just curious what it is.
Regardless, if I send an “expedited fax” request to a department that can’t be reached by phone, the LEAST someone can do is call me back to say “we got it, we’re on it” or “here’s what we need.”
And if I didn’t have Heather’s number as my “ace in the hole,” well, I guess I would have been out of luck, which is not a feeling I want with my bank/brokerage.
It’s quite possible that my feelings are not grounded in a legitimate foundation.
Perhaps I should have checked the website to make sure that in fact I could wire to a 3rd party. Those are fair points, but the E*Trade brand means, in my mind, “a way to move and deploy money as flexibly as you want.” That’s the brand promise to me.
Anyway, it’s fortunate that this story has a happy ending and that Heather, Dionne, and Tondra are such rockstars.
I hope you will recognize their contributions.
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