Jeff Swensen for The Wall Street Journal
In a world where bigger has been too long equated with better, common sense business decision making has been lost. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, March 11, 2010, reported a story about a large bank whose contractor entered the home of a mortgage borrower while she was away, stopped the utilities, “winterized” the home, padlocked the door and repossessed her pet parrot. A bank employee incorrectly believed the house was vacant and the borrower delinquent, and sent the contractor to secure the property.
When she called the bank numerous times to complain and regain possession of her pet, the bank staff first denied the event, then told her that they were “tired” of hearing from her and suggested the police might be able to help. Once she filed a lawsuit, the bank rapidly located her parrot and agreed to “quickly review the actual events and consider any hardships that resulted.”
There were so many points in this story where common sense and local decision-making could have stopped the unfortunate sequence of events. The contractor could have been working with a set of procedures that said “if the home is clearly occupied, to include a pet, STOP, and call to determine the correct action”. Better trained employees who are empowered to say “We made a mistake; we are sorry; let us make it right” could have mitigated the ill will and the law suit. Being able to find and communicate with a local decision maker at the bank could have turned a week-long battle into a one-and-done solution.
At UFCU we remain committed to local leadership and decision making. We believe in owning our errors and correcting them. Consider doing your banking with a local bank or credit union where you can talk to someone in charge, someone can solve problems before your parrot learns new words while hanging out with strangers.
Amy Gandy
