Cut the cord

I went to the blasted bank today. And by blasted I mean Lippobank/CIMB Niaga at Jl. Nyimas Melati Tangerang.

I arrived at 8.50am and there were already 13 people in front of me at the customer service line. There was only 1 customer service officer! This was not at a Kantor Cabang Pembantu, this one was a Kantor Cabang Utama in the city (Kodya) of Tangerang, occupying a two-storey building, a huge one. One, uno, siji, hiji, satu CSO!

I came prepared for that kind of situation. I brought with me my iPod, a tumbler (water, not coffee, to avoid suddenly being beser in the middle of the line), and my trusted BlackBerry (of course). I wore my most comfortable sandals and had lime-green eyeshadow on with dark grey eyeliner and two coats of mascara ;)

How long did I spend until I finished the whole thing (closing up my account there)? I left the building free of all attachment with Lippobank/CIMB Niaga at 12.15pm. What a great way to spend the morning... not!

As comparison, here was what happened when I went to BCA at Jl Kisamaun Tangerang, right after I finished my business at Lippobank/CIMB Niaga Jl Nyimas Melati Tangerang.
* 3 security guards (1 at the door, 2 at the metal detector gate) smiled and greeted my cheerfully.
* One of the security guards helped me take the queue number from this automatic dispensing machine.
* I barely sat down at the comfortable (and many! sofas) for 2 minutes when a Duty-Officer came to me and asked me how she could be of assistance. And I didn't appear confused or upset! I was just sitting quietly, waiting for my turn -which I assume wouldn't have been long, because there were 7 (seven!) CSOs.
* The duty-officer assisted me with my online-banking registration and activation, and even put me through (by telephone, BCA's phone, not mine!) with HaloBCA when it turned out that my old login ID had been blocked and need to be released with the help of a HaloBCA officer.
* When I left the building, I left feeling satisfied and well-catered. The polite and prompt assistance was all that I needed to be a happy customer.