Good Morning Gloucester

Last night after a long day of trying to get some code to work followed by a couple of meetings, I stop by the BankGloucester drive up ATM on Main St. to make a deposit.  I’m on the phone.  The radio’s on.  I grab a deposit envelope, rummage through my pockets to find my glasses, flick on the ceiling light, glance at the amount, stuff the check and deposit slip into the envelope, lift up my butt so I can get my wallet out of my pants, find my ATM card, stick it in the slot, type in my PIN and I’m ready to make the deposit.

OK, that’s done.  Off I go.  Oops.  At the Liquor Locker, I notice my ATM card isn’t in my wallet.  So I race back to the ATM and the friendly little light is flashing above the card slot waiting for my card.

The Bank’s already closed, so I call Vickie and she calls the 800 number on the back of her card to report the problem.  Did somebody take my card?  Could anybody guess my pin?  Not that there’s much money to steal,  but it’s the end of the month.  We’ve got bills to pay. Arrrgggg, this I don’t need tonight!

Well, this morning I get a call from Brittany at BankGloucester telling me that they have my card.  We don’t have to cancel it.  All I have to do is come into the bank, ask for customer service and pick it up.  WOW!  When I get there, I ask Paula Novo (pictured above) if they’ve taken the hold off my card so I can use it.  She says yes, but suggests I test it in the ATM just to make sure.  Another very smart move.  It works.

This has got to be the best service I’ve ever gotten from any bank anywhere, period!  My guess is that there are lots of people at BankGloucester who contributed to making my day today.  Somebody thought to have the ATM swallow cards that aren’t retrieved after a transaction.  Then somebody had to check the machine for swallowed cards, look up my number, call me, verify that it was me when I got to the bank, remove the hold, cancel the lost card ticket, etc., etc., etc.  THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!

I have only one suggestion for BankGloucester.  Instead of just beeping when somebody is about to leave a card in an ATM, why don’t you have the ATM shout, “HEY STUPID” as loud as possible.  I always stop and look around when I hear that . . .

Now, all you people who are going out to hear live music tonight (nine shows all over Cape Ann — see schedule here), remember that it’s just as important not to be distracted when you’re at the bank as it is when you’re driving.  But more importantly, if you’re constantly multitasking and you think you might forget your card some day, bank locally.