Get off my lawn - I hate apps moment
Posted by bayoublue@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 33 comments
Just a minor rant.
I am looking to immigrate to a different country and need a pretty specific letter from my Bank. I use Bank of America, and there's one less than a mile from me - easy, right? When I go in, there's 4 bored employees sitting around. I explain what I need, and one of the employees takes me into an office. After verifying what I need, I'm told that I can have him fill out the request and it will take 3-4 weeks, or I can use the "Erica" chat system on the mobile app and it will take one week or less.
Now, I'm addicted to my phone as much as anyone, but the thought that I am already in their office and they push me to use the app sucks. Just to make things better, they don't make "Erica" available on the web, where I have a full screen and keyboard to enter all the details of what I need.
Oh well, back to yelling at clouds.
Blrfl@reddit
That's not an app problem, it's a bank problem. Get a better bank.
GornoP@reddit
Name the bank that would never do something like this.
Hell, name the bank where a human picks up the phone without the press-a-key menu/maze?
porkchopespresso@reddit
A local credit union will be more useful than a national bank in that regard but I can’t swear they don’t have a press 2 for something menu on the phone.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Agreed. I have used credit unions since 98. Would never switch to a chain style bank.
Primary-Cattle-636@reddit
You’re almost certainly right. But man if it doesn’t feel like my CU suddenly operates like a national bank.
archbid@reddit
Credit unions are growing. Mostly because people hate big banks
gravitydefiant@reddit
Mine absolutely does, and it's awful.
GornoP@reddit
OK. Good point, thanks. Hadn't thought about credit union (and my bank IS one).
Generally, though, customer service is dying a slow death. I do empathize with OP overall about App and things replacing traditional humans.
porkchopespresso@reddit
I think customer service was not feeling very well around 2010, but it was finally diagnosed with something terminal during covid. Since then it's been hospice. As shitty as it is today, in 5 years we'll still think it was better now than it will be.
omgkelwtf@reddit
My small regional bank does. For about a decade we had a banker that knew me by voice when I called. She retired and they don't do personal bankers anymore so it's whoever's available. Still the same level of service. I have a really brief menu I have to go through if I call the 800 number but it's pretty easy to get a person. If they ever consolidate we're gone. I'm not doing that big name bank shit.
HLOFRND@reddit
A credit union is a great place to start.
gravitydefiant@reddit
A credit union is a million times better than BoA, but mine still makes me navigate a hellscape of automated menus before I can talk to anyone.
TheJokersChild@reddit
Last credit union I was with had no branches. Digital-only, like Ally. Rates were about the same as banks, too. But my credit card was only 9.99%.
hezaa0706d@reddit
Come to Japan. We’ve been living in the year 2000 since the 80s. Talking to a bank teller in person is still very much a thing. As are printing your transactions in a bank book.
Blrfl@reddit
I've been with the same bank since the early 1990s through several acquisitions by larger companies. Its current incarnation has about 15M customers and operates in the southeastern part of the country. A human at the local branch answers the phone when I call there, and no once has the staff looked bored or been inattentive when I went in. I've needed written verfication of things, walked into the branch and walked out with it. All of the companies this bank has been have had a knack for staying out of the news, which maybe says they're not doing shitty things.
I've had some past dealings with BofA that made me realize they just suck on so many levels.
And, as others said, credit unions tend to be great, too.
Queasy_Barnacle1306@reddit
I can’t name a bank that’s still close to my house since they’re all closing so many branches. That being said, I’m with OP, I have nothing but utter contempt for BOA and have been that way for 20 years.
It’s a grudge that I’ll continue to foster by poking it in the eye every once in a while.
paradox13va@reddit
Local credit union.
MJblowsBubbles@reddit
Not defending the shit service, but I have been in banking for years now. BOA may not allow branch staff to write such things. A CU I worked for did not allow branch or call center staff to write letters for customers. We had to send the request to a team to complete. CU was worried that some language or phrase used could put the branch at risk or make them liable for something.
IceNein@reddit
You should explain to them that Erica is taking their jobs. The more Erica learns to do, the less employees the bank will need.
tossmeawayimdone@reddit
Oh they know.
I was in my early 20's working retail when they rolled out self checkouts. I remember the cashiers being worried that it would cut their hours. And sure enough it did. But they were still told to direct customers to self check out
iheartmycats820@reddit
Interestingly, I went to Wells Fargo today to get the same type of letter you're referring to. The lovely young lady typed it up for me, printed it on letterhead, and had me out the door in less than half an hour. I think it's BofA that is the issue.
porkchopespresso@reddit
No offense to the Ericas of the world, but that's gotta be the absolute worst possible name for an AI chat assistant.
modi123_1@reddit
Probably pulled from the "Mambo No. 5" list.
TheJokersChild@reddit
A little bit of Erica at my bank, just hope my 401(k) don't tank.
Tralfaz1138@reddit
Maybe they were trying to go for a name close to Eliza.
MaximumJones@reddit
Am I the only one who has dark humor enough to see the irony in "immigrating to another country" yet you need help from The Bank of America? 😁
TheJokersChild@reddit
They know...
Otherwise-Mango2732@reddit
Here's what gives me (some) hope. Nearly all ages hate this AI automated crap. Kids, twenty somethings, old people like us... Everyone. Nobody is ever like "hell yeah an AI assistant!"
Visible_Structure483@reddit
I dunno, there are lots of posts in other subs where the kids are telling us we're stupid for not embracing AI and using it for everything. We'll be 'left behind' if we don't.
The horrors.
But someone likes that crap.
jimheim@reddit
I hate when employees won't help me, and I hate when companies invest so little in their employees—both in pay and in training—that they're incapable of helping me.
I love AI. Just not when it replaces employees or gives an excuse for companies to invest even less in humans. I would much rather deal with an AI than the incompetent human alternative. So long as I can also get a human when I need one.
AI is still in its infancy. It's going to get better. It's going to get so much better than humans will be obsolete sooner than anyone is prepared for. Meanwhile, the capable ones are already fantastic tools. I use AI daily in my job and it's saved me a tremendous amount of rote work. I never use Google anymore; I just ask ChatGPT. It's not only correct far more often than it's incorrect, it's also pretty damn smart about doing complex tasks, once you learn to communicate with it.
Alas, banks are always the absolute worst when it comes to technology, so their AIs will continue to suck for a long time. I've worked in computer software my whole life, including extensively in finance and banking. It amazes me how they have near-unlimited financial resources, yet they still have the worst systems in the world. They're stuck in the dark ages.
GornoP@reddit
And yet it's everywhere and continues to spread... :(
Corporations will always dictate the cheapest "solution" even when it doesn't actually work. And so long as ALL of them do it in lockstep, consumers will have no alternatives.
SHDrivesOnTrack@reddit
I have refused to install an app to get a haircut.
On of the local companies wants you to ‘sign in’ to get on the list for a haircut. If you don’t they just bump you to the end of the list ahead of anyone who has the app. I went elsewhere for my haircuts now.
Seriously. I don’t need BigHair tracking my location and sending me adverts and tip shaming me to tip the in app chatbot.
stefaniki@reddit
Erica is completely useless. hate hate hate