[legion]

My recently deceased father had his checking account with Bank of America. I'm on my third try in four months to close the checking account. I'm 150 miles from the closest branch...so this time (after finding out the account wasn't really closed for the *third* time) I decided to call the 800 number to see if they could help...they transferred me to the branch that (allegedly) closed the checking account last time....who then transferred me back to the 800 number.

I think the root of the problem with all mega banks is they went on an M&A spree in the 90's, and never bothered to consolidate their old account systems. (Well, they couldn't because they were completing so many mergers every year.) Now you have tellers that only know the system for the bank they came from, but are clueless when it comes to a legacy system from another formerly independent bank. I wouldn't be surprised if BofA has over 100 different computer systems for accounts...

That said, I bank with a local credit union. They have one branch. The tellers are empowered to fix problems (and not just refer you to another clueless moron). The 800 number rings in the teller area. The CU president's office is ten feet from the teller area...meaning that's literally the distance I physically have to cover to go from the front line employees to the ultimate decision maker. I've never had to walk into the president's office, but it's also nice to know that he can overhear real problems real customers are having. I've never had a problem that hasn't been resolved in any more than one trip and ten minutes.