We find ways… to piss you off!

I just can’t take it anymore! BDO is really ruining my used to be perfect banking experience with them. The first incident happened last Friday at the main office in Makati Ave.

I was encashing a check. They wouldn’t let me because apparently, the other ID that I was presenting was not a valid one. It’s a government-issued ID, by the way. I asked why. I think I was speaking to the supervisor at this point as the teller immediately called him and asked about my ID’s. I told them that it was the same ID I used to open an account with them. He said that’s different. That was opening an account. This was encashing a check. I asked what difference would that make and he just kept saying that my ID is invalid. I told him I resigned from the company issuing the check that’s why I don’t have a company ID anymore. I even told him to call up the company to verify. He just kept insisting that my ID is invalid.

I told him that I needed the money as I will be going to MMC right after the bank. He said to just deposit it in my account. I told him I didn’t bring my ATM as I was already expecting this money. He asked for my bank account number. I told him I don’t know. Then he asked for my address. I asked which address he needed, my house or the company’s and in a haughty voice he said, “ Ewan ko. Ano bang address ang ginamit nyo pang open ng account? Malay ko ba kung anong ginamit nyo.” And he was looking at me as if I stole the check or something. I told him, can’t you check? My account is at SM Makati. First they said that they do not have access to the other accounts then after a few minutes, they found my account. I was fishing around my bag to see if I have a copy of my account number and apparently I had one. I tried giving it to the teller but she said she already has it. Lies.

Oh, after a lengthy discussion, the supervisor had the nerve to ask me for an NBI clearance! What the hell??? Why would I need an NBI clearance to get MY money!

I was really pissed off that day and told the supervisor, I thought you find ways. And he said, that is all I can do for you. For you to deposit your check and withdraw it from the ATM. That’s my “we find ways”.

Let’s step back for a moment and analyze what he said. Assuming I had my ATM with me that day, he wants me to deposit my check. Let’s say I did. After that, he wants me to go to the nearest ATM which is just a few steps away from the counter and withdraw my money. Now tell me, how idiotic is that? That is such a waste of time, effort and paper! Why are they doubting my identity when I already have 2 government-issued ID’s in front of them and they even verified that it’s the same ID used to open my account?? They have my pictures and ID up on their monitor!

So I ended up not withdrawing my money that day and not going to MMC. I already told them that it’s an emergency and they wouldn’t budge. Siguro if I passed out in front of them or collapsed then they will release the money. I’m also wondering if they will do the same thing to some famous person like Kris Aquino. They will probably encash her check without asking for ID’s.

The second incident happened today, just a few minutes ago. I received a letter from BDO’s collection agency, Capital Collection and Recovery Specialists Inc.  saying that I’m not paying my loan with GE. I immediately called them up and told them that this was impossible as I’ve issued postdated checks good enough to cover my entire loan and my account is well funded. The guy on the other end just said, ok ma’am, just disregard that notice. WTF???

I called up BDO to complain because this has been going on for the past 4 months now and it’s such a hassle! They have been calling me up every month asking what my mode of payment is and then to end the conversation they would say, “O sige ma’am, tatawagan ka na lang namin pag di ka na nakakabayad” /We will just call you up again if you’re not able to pay anymore. The other time it was, “O sige ma’am tatawagan ka na lang namin pag hindi mo na napopondohan ung cheke mo.”/ We will just call you up if you’re not funding your checks anymore. Now tell me, if you’re somebody who pays your bills on time, even earlier, how would you feel if somebody says that to you? That’s very rude di ba? And improper! I feel insulted. I’m proud to say that I pay all my bills days before their due dates.

So this was the last straw. This idiotic letter. And they even got my minimum due wrong! BDO gave me a bunch of numbers to call and directed me to another agency handling my account.The guy I spoke to said that the other agency will call me up every month to “update” their records. The first thing he said was to remind me of my due and not update their records. Clearly, they just want to piss their clients off.  He told me that I can complain at the head office. He also said to call somebody else, who is in charge of the GE loans and ask if one of my checks bounced. I told him, I am absolutely sure that none of my checks bounced otherwise, the bank would have called me plus I deposit more than enough funds TWICE a month to cover everything. Besides, why would Capital Collections tell me to disregard the notice if I’m not paying my bills? They clearly made a mistake.

I ended up not calling anymore as I know this will go nowhere unless some higher up reads this blog post of mine. It’s such a waste of time, money and effort. I can do more productive things than stay on the phone, wait and be transferred to God knows where.

I used to be proud of my BDO account. I used to tell my friends and family to open a BDO account as it’s the best. I told my mom the other day to open an account with BPI, BDO’s number 1 rival. Now I’m going to tell all my friends about my very bad experience with BDO.

So yeah, BDO – We find ways… to piss you off, to ruin your day, to annoy you,  to make you miserable.