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An Example of Excellent Customer Service

by Flexo on August 11, 2007

in Consumer

KMC from Advanced Personal Finance shared a stroke of genius by a USAA customer service representative. When he called the bank to undo a theoretically costly mistake, the representative offered to fix the problem in a way he didn’t even know was possible. While KMC simply wanted to un-cancel his oldest credit card, the employee not only reinstated the card but converted it to a rewards program.

I can only think of one example of a customer service representative going above and beyond in my experience, and it isn’t even that significant. My brick-and-mortar savings account was charged $4 for some sort of unidentified fee last year. I called to inquire about the fee and the Wachovia employee refunded it and somehow placed a “note” within my account information that would prevent me from receiving any fees in the future. That’s not a bad deal.

Feel free to share any positive customer service experiences, in which the employee goes above and beyond the call of duty without being asked, particularly those experiences dealing with banks.

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About the Author

Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • I've always been a huge fan of USAA's customer service. In the rare instance that I have to call them for anything at all, they're amazingly friendly, very professional, and always make sure I'm happy before they get off the phone. The only other financial institution that compares ( that I know of ) is Penfed. Both have world-class customer service.
  • Russ
    When it comes to customer service, it doesn't get any better than USAA. I have my checking, savings, brokerage, homeowners, life insurance, auto insurance, home equity and mortgage with them for a reason. They're simply awesome.

    Membership is limited to those with military connections, which is unfortunate because USAA just rocks.
  • I just wrote a post on financial institutions and how one of the areas they need to improve in is customer service. I have had a few good experiences, but usually I've had to ask for them. Such as getting hit w/an annual fee on a credit card when I wasn't supposed to, but they worked to resolve that.
  • I have used USAA for 5 years and their service is amazing.
    They do not offer some of the high interest saving accounts or the low priced mutual funds like vanguard; however their service consistently surpasses others.
    My car insurance though them is amazing, one call call, send in a police report and just take you car in to get fixed.
  • USAA has outstanding customer support. We're slowly moving a lot of our money there. We might be able to get another half percent of interest elsewhere, but for the difference between 4.5 and 5%, we'll take the customer service.
  • Paco
    I worked for USAA while I was in college. I was a lowly claims rep, but it remains the most buttoned-up company I've ever worked for. Their training is phenomenal and they really take care of their employees. USAA is a great example of how a company should be run.
  • Tim
    i echo what others have said about usaa; however, the company has changed and customer support has decreased. usaa is also more likely to drop you quickly over insurance claims. they are a good company if you maintain good credit; otherwise, if they will sort of blacklist you until you get your finances in order (i.e. if you have credit issues, they will cut off online banking which essentially means that you cannot use usaa as your primary bank unless you live in san antonio). they also have higher limit requirements than most other banks out there for premium services--that is, private banking at other major banks requires around $75k-$100k, whereas usaa requires $500k.

    i've been with them for a long time, and they are very good and very responsive even though i think service has decreased some. with that said, you cannot beat the deposit@home feature.
  • MoneyFwd
    I agree with Tim. The service used to be better and it has been getting worse, depending on your situation. They are still better than mostly everyone else I've dealt with on the phone. Also, they seem to be trying to convert everyone to rewards, and it seems to be a standard practive for them now.

    My best experience from them lately was when I had to get an appraisal for my wife's harp and couldn't find a place to get it. I called USAA and the individual spent about 15 minutes or so asking around and searching before he found a store I could call or go to.
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