Answer:
Answer by Barry Thompson:
My answer to this problem will not win any customer service awards. Your description of this situation leads me to believe this customer is more than a one time problem. I would check with your legal counsel for the interpretation of your state law and close the account.
If you proceed to service this customer, eventually a teller will not be so observant and you will be trying to recover $7,500.00. I cannot believe that your attorney would not agree with this solution.
Good Luck.
Answer:
Answer by Mary Beth Guard:
I see two issues here. One is the long term issue of what you're going to do with this customer. The second is the short-term issue of how you deal with this particular check. If, as we surmise from reading between the lines, this is a problem customer, I agree with Barry's suggestion to close the account.
With respect to the check, however, this may be a situation where you customer is the victim. The customer may believe the item is legitimate and may be expecting the $7500 to be credited to the account. Since that is not going to happen, you need to take steps to notify the customer so the customer will not be spending money he doesn't have. If you have previously documented that correspondence to the address on the account has been returned as undeliverable, make a note to the file that you are choosing not to mail a notification to the bad address. Try calling the telephone numbers the customer has supplied to see if you can reach the customer through that route.
First published on BankersOnline.com 12/2/02
print
share