HAPPY BIRTHDAY BANK OF BARODA
- "Rupees eight hundred penalty for an improperly presented cheque?" This is the beginning of an argument between a customer and the bank clerk. The customer had forgotten to sign the cheque and it bounced though all other things were correct and the bank charged Rs. 800/- for the mistake treating it as an offence.
- A car worth eighty lacs was bought with bank loan where the delivery of the car was delayed beyond the auspicious month for want of full payment by a mere Rs. 400/- which the bank deducted from the loan amount as part of processing fee with the explanation 'though processing fee is waived this fee is compulsory'.
In both the cases the customer
service was behaviorally very polite, courteous, friendly and even sophisticated
in words in that Private Bank.
Garden Silk Mills in early eighties
signed an Agreement with their Union a couple of months before Diwali that
resulted in payment of huge arrears and bonus to employees. The Financial Heads
of the Company along with Mr. Arun Dudhwala Credit Manager of the bank entered
the cabin of Rasikbhai who was in charge Regional Head. After hectic and
prolonged discussion proposals were readied with late night sitting of all
concerned and a team of bankers and Company reps rushed to Mumbai Central
Office for further action.
We are not concerned with cost of
credit but timely credit was the statement from the Company. As the credit was
sanctioned the Central Office much to the envy of other bankers in Surat also
arranged for release of new notes by RBI something that Guajarati are
sentimentally attached.
After a year or so the bankers were at the
doorstep of the Company when short term interests were low only in our bank
giving the Company a chance to reciprocate the gesture by not withdrawing their
deposits. Such all weather relationship is something persons like me not
connected with day to day banking operations cherish with pride even today.
It is just one incident and I have
many more to quote the bondage of customer-banker in our bank. Incidents such
as above make me feel that I worked for an institution that had a culture of
genuine service though customer dissatisfaction often originated by the rules
and regulations that restricted instant service that the customer expected. The
delay is often compensated by the absence of fine prints and invisible charges
that customers face when they get service with quicker decision elsewhere.
It
is fifteen years since I left the bank and have innumerable occasions to see
quick services adds equally quickly charges and conditions when the deal is
about to be struck leaving the customer gasping for options. Invariably I think
of my bank for a comparison of genuineness in deals.
I had an occasion to visit Pandharpur
where once again the local bank staff (unknown to me) arranged hotel booking
through a conference call with the hotel manager. As I reported at the hotel and
said I am Kannan, he gave keys of two suites and I stayed for two days.
As I
settled the bill for our stay and food, I asked the manager who incidentally
was the owner of the hotel, "How did you allow me and my people to stay in
two rooms without an iota of verification or address proof and also advance"?
" Sir, Bank of Baroda booked your room and I started a tea shop three
decades ago with your bank loan and today own this five storied biggest hotel
of the city" was his reply as he wished me happy journey and a return to
the pilgrim center again.
It is trust, pride and confidence
that bubbled in his talk with a sense of affinity to the bank and its staff
making me all the more proud that I served an institution that nurtured values
and relationship that were long lasting.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BANK OF BARODA- LONG LIVE BANK OF
BARODA
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