CIBC can be stupidly tedious

Despite more technology and more forms of communication possible, how is it that communicating with your bank can be so hard? It really still comes down to people. They can use the technology, but if there's no proper follow-up, it's all useless. Which ultimately leads to simply looking for another financial institution.

(1)

Earlier this year, I received  an email from a CIBC "Financial Service Representative", Tej Gill. This was the second time that this person has emailed me. When I emailed them back the first time, they did not reply and simply sent me another email weeks later, in March.

(2)

The email I received in March (slide 1 below) was just as vague and thoroughly uninformative as the first one:

I tried reaching out [top] you regarding one of your investment accounts. Please give a call at below number [sic].

Is this some attempt to sell me more stuff? What is this about? I didn't want to waste my time calling, hoping that this person might be in and available to talk. Or worse, just get put on hold and watch my airtime wasted. The last time I had to call CIBC it was about a VISA dispute and even though I was at a bank branch and an accounts manager was making the call, we were put on hold for over an hour.

So I emailed them AGAIN --  remember, this is the second email from them, and they hadn't yet replied to me the first time.

And AGAIN, I get nothing back.

Why does this person give out their email address as one of the ways to contact them if they won't even respond to their email?

(3)

It's TWO MONTHS later and Tej Gill still hasn't responded. Obviously it's not important, right?

It's now May and I get a third email from CIBC, this time from a "Banking Centre Leader", Atabak Elekteristeh.

The email actually more information in what looks like basically a form letter. And it's coming from "an account that is only used to send messages -- please do not reply to this email".

Elekteristeh's email (slide 2) says they need to update my KYC (Know Your Client) information and this is a regulatory requirement. Was this what Tej Gill wanted to speak with me about? Why couldn't they just say it in their email?

Elekteristeh's email ends this way:

Please reach out to the banking centre directly to set up an appointment at your earliest convenience.

(4)

I go to the branch indicated in the signature of Tej Gill's emails. I show the teller my mutual fund statement, and tell him I received an email to update my KYC and I want to make an appointment with someone.

They ask me if this is related to Investor's Edge. I have no idea. My statement says nothing about "Investor's Edge". All I know is I need to get my KYC updated.

The teller says there is no one I can make an appointment with to handle this and to call whatever number was indicated in the email.

I tell them I don't want to waste my time making a phone call and getting put on hold, and I prefer to just make an appointment. They tell me to wait and they go away to consult with someone to figure out what to do. When they come back, they tell me someone will call me.

This doesn't make sense. If someone can call me, why can't I make an appointment with them? Are they from head office? Another branch? Whatever. I agree to a phone call.

I set it up for morning of the next day. I ask for a specific time but the teller couldn't provide me one. He said the branch opens at 9.30am so some time after that.

I ask what number they would call from. When I got home, I checked the number against Tej Gill's emails as well as the branch phone number. It is the same.

So someone will call me from the branch I walked into, but I cannot make an appointment with anyone there? It's the same branch where Tej Gill works, the same Tej Gill who probably wanted to talk to me about my KYC. But it was not possible to make an appointment with anyone? Huh.

(5)

Today is the day I'm supposed to get a call from someone from CIBC to handle the KYC.

I waited from 9.30am till Noon. Morning is officially over. No one called.

(6) UPDATE: May-19

After I shared my blog post on Twitter, I received a response from @CIBC on Twitter asking me to contact them so they can resolve this situation satisfactorily. I message them privately, they get my information, and a couple of days later I got an email (slide 3) indicating my complaint has been acknowledged.

According to the  "Our Service Commitment to You" PDF they linked in the email, my complaint will automatically be escalated after 14 days unless it is resolved by the person who received the complaint (slide 4).

Meanwhile, I had already written to my account manager at ScotiaMcLeod about transferring my assets over from CIBC. I got a response within two days. They confirmed it would be possible, so I initiated the process. I was told to expect a letter of direction for me to sign.

(7) UPDATE: May-21

I got a response (slide 5) from a "Case Manager" who wrote,

I received your file today and happy to assist where possible. Notes indicate you have been waiting for contact from a Branch.

I apologize for the lack of communication.

Please connect with me at your earliest opportunity so I can assist you.

I didn't want to rehash my issue, so I wrote back,

I have already tried to go to a branch to make an appointment for my issue but that failed.

So what is the next step?

Honestly I expected that they would already have analyzed the situation, arranged for a response to settle my issue, and then tell me who to contact to finalize details.

(8) UPDATE: May-22

The case manager replied (slide 6),

Let me know which branch you attended and I will have them call you to make an appointment.

At this point I'm not sure if they even know what my issue is or that I was fed up of waiting all morning for a phone call that never materialized. I really didn't want a repeat of the same thing. In any case, the branch is nearby and it would probably save me more time if I just went to try to make another appointment. So in my reply I offer to go to the branch again.

(9) UPDATE: May-24

Based on the case manager's replies (slides 7 and 8), it seems clear to me that my issue landed on their desk with barely any information:

​

(From the May-22 email)

I understood from the notes you had to go to the branch to update personal info?

Maybe this was not accurate?

Please provide clarity on what issue you are having and need assistance with to better give direction?

(From the May-24 email)

Please reply to my last email so I know exactly what issue you are having so I can best assist.

Certainly it seems no one at all reviewed this blog post which I linked in my Twitter post (which was what CIBC's Twitter staff responded to).

How do they expect to properly handle a complaint and help someone when they don't even try to find out what is going on? How is it helpful to send a complaint case to a manager without giving them any useful information? Is this how company bureaucracy works nowadays?

So now I have to all over again explain things to another person.

(10) UPDATE: May-27/28

After explaining everything all over again by forwarding emails, the Case Manager replied (slide 9) and shortly after, Tej Gill finally replied to my email (slide 10). I replied to Tej Gill promptly with three available days this week for an appointment. Later in the day they reply that they are fully booked this week and on vacation next week (slide 11).

At this point, I was thinking why didn't they list their limited appointment slots in the first place? Or assign someone else to handle updating the KYC? They want a mid-JUNE appointment. The Case Manager didn't feel that was inappropriate either (slide 12) but at least they had follow-up from Tej Gill and they followed up with me.

I didn't even bother to press for something faster because I was curious whether Scotia McLeod would finish their process faster despite mailing me a hardcopy form to sign. The paperwork arrived May-28. I signed and mailed it back the same day.

(11) UPDATE: Jun-3

The Case Manager sent what looked like a form letter marked "Confidential". I strongly suspected it was  form letter because of the line that read,

We have carefully reviewed your interaction of May 14, 2024 and regrettably the level of service you received did not meet the quality of service we strive to deliver.

My issue most certainly did not originate on May-14.

The rest of the letter had nothing special, just that the situation was resolved and their role was concluded. An appeals process was also explained.

I wonder why the letter was marked "confidential", however.

*

I'm going to look into transferring my assets to another financial institution. If it can be done before the KYC update deadline at the end of this year, I can safely ignore all communications from CIBC.