Brand Killer: “Dear Credit Union—Why Don’t You Love Me Anymore?”

Tony Mannor
November 4, 2008 | COMMENTS

I had to get some papers notarized. I don't have to do this often, but enough that I have a regular place that I go to get this done.

But there is a new shopping center near my neighborhood. Now, I am not rolling in so much dough that I walk around in a top hat, cane, and monocle – but my neighborhood has a pretty high average income. This means that this little shopping center has a fairly cooperative clientele with generally higher deposit rates.

What I am saying is that it is a good neighborhood for a bank or credit union to move into. That is exactly what happened.

So in my little shopping center I have a local bank (about $800 million in assets) and a credit union (about $6 billion in assets) and a UPS store (all places for notary publics to hang out). I have an account at the credit union but have never used them to notarize my papers. I thought it would make for a neat experiment – plus with gas at $5.00 a gallon, I didn't want to drive across town to go to my regular place for notary services.

The security guard informed me that I would not be allowed to wear my sunglasses inside (for security purposes) so I took them off. He was pretty nice about it, but I live in California where we rarely take off our sunglasses, even when we are inside. I have permanent raccoon eyes (sunglass tan lines). But it wasn't a big deal so I tucked them into my shirt.

There was one teller, not uncommon or unexpected for first thing in the morning. There was a member at the wicket so I stood in line. This is what I saw.

Three employees were sitting in guest chairs in the lobby (by the entrance door) stretched out and chatting about the weekend. When I say stretched out, I mean streeeeeeetched out. One guy's butt wasn't even on the chair seat. It looked comfy and uncomfortable all at the same time. I keep looking around and see a woman in a room sitting in a chair against the window facing the opposite direction. She looked back a few times to see me, the member behind me and the rest of the goof-offs in the lobby.

I wonder if she is waiting to open an account or get into a safe deposit box or something. She looks back and we lock eyes a few times. I smile as I understand how frustrating it could be to be alone in an office like that. She finally stands up and looks pretty upset. I am thinking she is going to open the door and start raising hell to get some attention. Then I notice that she is walking towards me.

“What do you need help with?” she asks curtly. I look and see she is wearing a nametag.

I was a little stunned. She was in charge. She wasn't an irritated member, she was a pissed employee.

“I just need to get these papers notarized.” Showing her the papers.

“Come over here,” she says, as she walks away. I follow like a sheepish puppy.

“Let me see what you got. What are these?” I explain what the papers are and she looks and sees that there are two signature lines. One line is for me and one for the vice president of the financial institution that sent me the papers, from Missouri .

“Yeah, see, we can't do anything because this other person needs to be here too,” she said while handing the papers back to me.

“I just need a notary to verify who I am as I sign the papers, I don't need you to verify the identity of the person who sent me the papers,” I responded, a little confused.

“Sorry, she has to be here for us to do anything. That's the law.”

I collected my papers and walked out the door. On my way out, the Nod Squad that was busy holding the chairs down avoided looking in my direction.

The security guard politely suggested that I should have a nice day. It was a tough call at this point whether I could take his suggestion.

So there I am sitting in my car looking at the papers. This didn't make any sense at all. I have never had the writing party have to be present for me to have my signature notarized.

I put the car in reverse and started to head to the office. At the last minute I turned towards town. I was going to head over to the place where I normally get this done. I know them a little better, they know me, maybe I can get some answers. Plus they were right next to the coffee shop and I was in need of a fix.

My regular notary signed my papers, gave me everything I needed, charged me $20 and mailed my papers off for me. We chatted a little and I was on my way with a smile. That's how you treat a customer that you want to keep. I felt a little vindicated that I wasn't a complete moron.

But that has led me to today. This happened three days ago and it is still irritating me.

My credit union, where I have been a member for about five years wasn't friendly, service-oriented, or even cared that I was there. I was a pest to them.

No one wanted to talk to me. No one wanted to help me. No one wanted to do anything but send me on my way as quickly as possible so they could get back to their seat polishing.

I have thought about going back in to shoot some video with my Treo to send to their marketing department (these people are trashing their brand after all and that is important to me as a marketer – even though they are not a client). But I am so upset that I really don't want to go back in there. They made me feel like I was at some angry ex-girlfriend's house. Unwelcomed and unloved.

I was incredibly disappointed. Luckily I know where to go to get good service.

Too bad that it is not my credit union.

Does this happen in your branches? Are you sure?

Tony Mannor is CEO of Andermahr & Company in Stockton, California, a marketing firm that works with credit unions. Contact him at 209-467-4800 or visit www.cuhype.com.