Those who waded through the saga described in my last post will recall that 1) I was advised by CCCU to close my checking account because I lost some checks 2) I opened a new account but after a month the new checks hadn’t come 3) CCCU contacted the Deluxe (check) company and was told that the checks must have been lost in the mail 4) CCCU closed THAT checking account and opened a new one for me and 5) I had to contact all 14 of the utilities, credit cards etc that I have payments deducted for to advise them that the payments would now come from a THIRD checking account.
I imagine you can guess what happened next. The day after I finished all the letters, calls and visits changing the account number for the second time (North Valley Bank insisted on an original letter) , the checks showed up for the second account, now closed. According to the package, the checks were mailed from Lancaster, CA on March 13. It took FIVE WEEKS AND ONE DAY for a small package to arrive here from Lancaster. In the meantime I had tried to research the lost-mail stats fro the USPS and found- not surprisingly- that there are no clear figures. The consensus seems to be that the loss rate is between 2% and 5% for the USPS and a QUICK survey of what’s available on the loss rate of UPS and Fed Ex seems to indicate that customer satisfaction is far higher with UPS than with Fed Ex but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. A graph published by Fed Ex gives their loss rate as .55% for what that’s worth.
I was curious to know how long it would take me to hear from CCCU since the very helpful and talented staff there are skilled at calming customers and I really wanted someone from management to give Deluxe a reality check on their delivery times. This morning a nice person named Jolene (“like the Dolly Parton song”) called and we agreed that if this NEXT order of checks doesn’t get here in two weeks, I should call her and she will call Deluxe. I’ll settle for that. I will also mention that the envelope in which Deluxe mails its checks ( with the box flattened but you’d have to be an idiot not to figure out that the “Important Documents Enclosed” are checks) in a plastic envelope that says “tamper-proof” but which can easily be cut open so should really read ‘tamper-evident”.
I hope this is the end of it.
I will add just one thing more. Of all the entities I have had to deal with during this mess, the EASIEST one was Suddenlink, the WORST one was PG&E. Happy Spring!
A couple years ago I had a customer quite a ways behind in paying me. I usually just caught her in person or would send her a bill on a post card. She didn’t mail payment and I hadn’t seen her since she started her own business so I finally sent her and actual invoice via USPS along with a postpaid pre- addressed return envelope.
After a month she hadn’t replied so I figured that was the end of her and the $300 was just water under the bridge.
Towards the end of February I received my letter back in the mail stamped “No longer at this address”- over two months from the time I mailed it. I thought that odd as I’d driven by her place at least a few times and saw her dog and other personal stuff still in her yard. I wondered if she might have figured some way to scam to post office so I’d think she’d moved?
I took the letter to work with me one day and saw a guy delivering mail. I showed him the envelope and asked him if he could think of a way she could fake not living there anymore. He looked at the envelope and told me he didn’t think it had even been delivered because there was no note on the envelope, which would have been the case had someone tried to deliver it.
He said it looked like it was flagged when it went through the main office so never made it to a delivery attempt. Made sense, and I felt he was spot on. What got me is it took over two months to get the envelope returned.
No, I’m not really picking on USPS. Shit happens everywhere.
I agree, it happens everywhere. But it definitely happens in some post offices more than others. I think the service in Eureka is good but there’s a PO near my folks’ house in Jacksonville that’s a real den of thieves. I lost three packages there before I got smart and started insuring everything. They’d rip off a book and deliver the empty box! Everything happens in Florida.
It is unfortunate that you believe that the CCCU response was good customer service; it was not. Considering that amount of trouble you had, the credit union representative should have offered to call Deluxe, explained the situation to them and placed an expedited order for you, which most likely would have had your checks in hand within about 48 hours. It would have taken very little effort for the credit union to have done this and it is more than a little bit disappointing that they did not extend themselves in order to resolve your issue. Their response is equivalent to the proverbial doctor’s “take two aspirin and call me in the morning”.
If you have check delivery problems in the future, call Deluxe Customer Service directly at 866-838-5301.
I never said they had provided GOOD customer service but good enough for me to settle for. I mean I’m TIRED of this. Not sure how that works with Deluxe when I’m not paying, CCCU is. Thanks for your feedback.
You are made of tougher stuff than I: At Step 4 I would have been crying uncontrollably at the credit union and they would have had to have two strong men deposit me outside on the curb (but they would have been very nice about it I’m sure).
What’s scary for me is I do my banking with CCCU. No such problems yet for me; but my number could come up any moment (unlike my number for the Super Lotto).
I hope your Odyssey will have a happy ending.
Thank you, MOLA. I have never had anything remotely like this happen to me before. It was at least gratifying that they responded. They must have a Google Alert set up. I BELIEVE in credit unions. Here’s wishing you many more years of trouble-free transactions with CCCU!