Bex's story

Background

I was a Bank of Boston customer for 19 years, from the time I moved to Boston in 1981 until shortly after Fleet took over in 2000. I rolled with their minimum deposit requirements, keeping a NOW checking account (no interest) and a Money Market account (premium interest) over the years. I never paid any fees (monthly or transaction). I had direct deposit and I paid my bills online.

The conversion

In April 2000, I received a large package from Fleet saying that my accounts had been converted from Bank Boston to Fleet, roughly matching up what I'd had with their new account structure. Note that they did not offer me a choice of coversion options - just said what they had already done. There was no way for me to avoid fees already accruing.

The materials had pages of different accounts and fees and minimums... I could not understand them. Now, I am not a novice at this. I am a financial professional. I manage a huge 401(k) fund and explain pension benefits and investing to employees everyday. But I could not understand the Fleet material. I thought it said there was no way to avoid fees (without much larger minimum balances I could not afford), but I could not tell how much the fees would be. So I decided to stay wtih Fleet for awhile and see what happened.

The fees

The monthly statement arrived in May. They had charged me $14 in fees. Both a monthly fee and transaction fees. I went back to the brochure, and still could not figure out why it cost me that much. So I tried calling Fleet to get help. I waded through a long list of options, then waited on hold for 20 minutes to talk to a person. They didn't seem to understand my question, just kept saying "If you would leave $10,000 in your accounts..." so I hung up.

I read some more and figured out it might help to close my money market account and only have one account. So I called back to ask how to do that. After waiting another eon on hold, the person told me I had to go to a branch, and see a customer service person, not a teller.

So the next day at 10:30 am (not lunch hour!) I went to the branch. There was 1 customer service person, instead of the 3 BankBoston used to have. I waited in line behind 2 people. It took 30 minutes. Then the guy took me out to the ATM in the lobby and told me to transfer the money using the machine. I asked why I had to see him to do that and he said I didn't. Great.

I got another statement in June. Still $14 in fees...grrrr...

The search for a better bank

So I started looking for another bank. I began collecting account info from any bank I passed on my way to work, and asking friends. I checked out online banks. I heard an ad on WBZ for Lighthousebank.com and checked it out. I had no idea the options that were out there. It was fabulous! Almost any bank was better than Fleet!

Making the change

I was slightly unnerved by the idea of having to mail deposits, so I looked for a local online bank so it could be overnight receipt. I thought I would run two accounts at once, trying online and Fleet in tandem, but the online was so wonderful so fast that I could dump Fleet forever without regret in August!

When I closed my Fleet account, it took me another eternity in line at the branch. And the person never asked why I was doing it or offered any regret for losing me as a customer. It became clear to me that Fleet was not interested in "small account" retail banking. They were glad to see me go and made no effort to keep me or learn why I was leaving.

What a difference!

Setting up the new account was easy - they sent me all the materials by overnight mail, with a free return envelope. They were easy to read. I had a couple of questions, and called them. Got a live person right away! He offered several options, then even went beyond my question to make a couple of additional helpful suggestions. When we were done he made sure I knew his name and told me to call back if anything else came up, because they wanted their customers to be happy. That really drove home for me just how much I had been letting Fleet abuse me. It felt so good to be Fleet-less!

Here is a brief comparison of Fleet vs. Lighthouse:

The only down side I have found at Lighthouse is that they would not let me deposit "third-party checks" made out to my husband and endorsed over to me. But with their easy requirements, we just opened him an account, too!

The aftermath

Of course, Fleet continued to send me statements and try to bill me for my account for 2 months after I closed it. I managed to get them to reverse it both times I called and waited on the phone, but it served to confirm for me over and over that I had done the right thing!

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