Cheque that nasty service

Why private banks make even a simple transaction painful.

I remember a time when getting a new cheque book from the bank used to be a chore "" you went to the bank, stood in a queue, handed over a slip, waited, signed in a register, all of which took at least 20 minutes during which you did the rest of your other banking work. With new banks it was supposed to get easier "" after all, banks don't require you to come to them any more.

But at ICICI, where I bank, the logistics boggle the mind. I used to submit an application for a fresh cheque book, which would invariably get misplaced, requiring me to re-submit the application some days later, argue with the bank staff, and emerge angry but triumphant with fresh slips. Dropping a requisition slip in a box was easier, but you still needed to go to the bank, which has become tiresome ever since the branch where I bank has relocated.

Try telebanking, suggested my wife; I did, with mixed results. The last time I got through, my request for a cheque book (10 days, said the operator) was delivered in two! But try as I might all of last week,

I failed to get an operator on the line. Computerised voices cut me off or kept me on hold, till I was forced to drive to my branch for a fresh cheque book.

It'll take four-five days, I was informed by a teller squabbling in public view with another next to her. I want it now, I insisted. Is your cheque book stolen, I was asked. It's exhausted, I told her. I was asked to fill a form, write an application, then told I would get five slips. But I had many more bills to be paid, I cried. I was told to meet the branch operations manager. I did, first waiting for someone with a lost cheque to be dispensed with, then elbowing out another irate customer breaking the queue. I can issue you five slips, she agreed. In which case I'll simply sit here in protest, I shot back. Fifty minutes later, I was issued a fresh cheque book. My public sector bank would have done it in half the time, and with far less angst.

Score: 4/10. It is my money, in my bank, so why shouldn't I get better service?

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