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Customer comes in asking for a payment to his loan to be reversed.
Background policy
Doing a loan adjustment to reverse a payment is a back-office pain in the a$$, so it has never been something that we like to do, but it used to be that we would if the customer requested it and didn't like the alternative options (like paying less or skipping the NEXT payment as the overpayment is automatically credited to the future payment). About two years ago, however, management really cracked down on this and stated that unless the overpayment was a bank error (such as customer requesting a skipped month on the due date and we don't stop the automatic payment as part of it) we don't back off the payment. There are still the rare exceptions for crazy circumstances (I had a customer who's other bank accidentally SENT us two payments on the same day), but if the customer purposefully paid extra on the loan, it's done. No take-backs.
The story
Customer today comes in wanting to back off THREE THOUSAND of a five thousand dollar payment he made on his auto loan. This was not a mistake. This was not an error. He decided to put his Christmas bonus on the loan, then a month later finds something else he'd like to spend some of that money on and wants us to reverse the payment.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: "I am sorry sir, but we do not back out overpayments that are not caused by bank error. Your overpayment is, however, applied to future payments so your next payment would not be due until March (it was a high minimum payment so 5k only paid December, January and February's payments in full) if you would like to stop making payments until then."
Of course, of course the customer is not happy with this because "somebody already told me I could do this" and "I was able to back off a payment last time".
I look up the loan history, and he is correct in part at least. Last year, someone backed off an overpayment for him. WITH notes that it was being done as an exception and the customer was informed such.
So 1) GRRRRRR about someone making the exception for no good reason (that I could see) but that the customer yelled loud enough, but 2) NO, we are not going to make the exception again.
But "somebody already told me I could do this". The call center told him he could do it if he came in person to sign for it (there is no requirement, in those circumstances when we do back off a payment, for the customer to come in person to do it, nor is there a signature required). [Other Branch] told me that I could do it. (Then why aren't you at Other Branch?)
Anyway, I stuck to my guns. My assistant manager stuck to her guns. The customer left, NOT happy.
Coincidentally enough, my branch manager is filling in at Other Branch, so I decide to shoot her an e-mail in case the customer put in a complaint on me or if he heads over there since "someone" there told him he could do it.
Turns out that before he came to see me, he had been at Other Branch. The loan rep there had already told him no, as had my manager when he demanded to see her. Yeah right, he had already been told we would do it, and yay! for consistency.
Please note that this is not about whether or not the bank should allow easy reversals of loan payments, only that it does NOT, and if a customer has already had the exception made for him once, you'd think he'd have that figured out so that he'd THINK before paying extra on the loan again.
Background policy
Doing a loan adjustment to reverse a payment is a back-office pain in the a$$, so it has never been something that we like to do, but it used to be that we would if the customer requested it and didn't like the alternative options (like paying less or skipping the NEXT payment as the overpayment is automatically credited to the future payment). About two years ago, however, management really cracked down on this and stated that unless the overpayment was a bank error (such as customer requesting a skipped month on the due date and we don't stop the automatic payment as part of it) we don't back off the payment. There are still the rare exceptions for crazy circumstances (I had a customer who's other bank accidentally SENT us two payments on the same day), but if the customer purposefully paid extra on the loan, it's done. No take-backs.
The story
Customer today comes in wanting to back off THREE THOUSAND of a five thousand dollar payment he made on his auto loan. This was not a mistake. This was not an error. He decided to put his Christmas bonus on the loan, then a month later finds something else he'd like to spend some of that money on and wants us to reverse the payment.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: "I am sorry sir, but we do not back out overpayments that are not caused by bank error. Your overpayment is, however, applied to future payments so your next payment would not be due until March (it was a high minimum payment so 5k only paid December, January and February's payments in full) if you would like to stop making payments until then."
Of course, of course the customer is not happy with this because "somebody already told me I could do this" and "I was able to back off a payment last time".
I look up the loan history, and he is correct in part at least. Last year, someone backed off an overpayment for him. WITH notes that it was being done as an exception and the customer was informed such.
So 1) GRRRRRR about someone making the exception for no good reason (that I could see) but that the customer yelled loud enough, but 2) NO, we are not going to make the exception again.
But "somebody already told me I could do this". The call center told him he could do it if he came in person to sign for it (there is no requirement, in those circumstances when we do back off a payment, for the customer to come in person to do it, nor is there a signature required). [Other Branch] told me that I could do it. (Then why aren't you at Other Branch?)
Anyway, I stuck to my guns. My assistant manager stuck to her guns. The customer left, NOT happy.
Coincidentally enough, my branch manager is filling in at Other Branch, so I decide to shoot her an e-mail in case the customer put in a complaint on me or if he heads over there since "someone" there told him he could do it.
Turns out that before he came to see me, he had been at Other Branch. The loan rep there had already told him no, as had my manager when he demanded to see her. Yeah right, he had already been told we would do it, and yay! for consistency.
Please note that this is not about whether or not the bank should allow easy reversals of loan payments, only that it does NOT, and if a customer has already had the exception made for him once, you'd think he'd have that figured out so that he'd THINK before paying extra on the loan again.
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