BIG MISTAKE. BIG. HUGE!
Hey You! What’s that new fragrance you’re wearing? Girl, you smell good!
It’s been a busy week for me, back from Toronto and right into my lively life, with an interview with Canadian songstress Sarah Harmer, the opening of the Image+Nation film festival and successfully completing a 30K training run in preparation for the Philadelphia Marathon. All elements of a great week! Yet one of the defining moments revolved around the disapproving evaluation of my personal worth.
On Tuesday morning, I got myself spruced up and marched down to RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) to put my signature on a Line of Credit of which I had applied. As part of my travel preparations, I decided that a small “back-up fund” would be a good plan – just in case I should find myself in the heart the Congo stoically tracking pigmy unicorns, and then suddenly acquire an ambitious mutant tapeworm that leaves my bowels in a state of anarchy and needing emergency transport back to the Canadian healthcare system. You know, so I could put my name on a list and wait for treatment.
These sorts of intestinal hijackings happen, thus I requested $10 000 from RBC to soften the blow of any major crisis on the road.
After reviewing my information, the clean-cut financial advisor looked at me with regret in his eyes and informed me that my contract-based work disqualified me from a Line of Credit. I would need to have a permanent employer to be eligible for a loan. “Could I interest you in one of our low-rate credit cards?” he stated, thinking that Visa or Mastercard might somehow provide an appealing alternative to cash.
“No, I don’t want a fucking CREDIT CARD,” I venomously replied in my head. And then I politely excused myself from the bank; feeling frustrated at how quickly RBC had applied their generic formula and deemed me untrustworthy of engaging in a relatively minor transaction. I wasn’t exactly seeking out a quarter million dollar mortgage.
I could sugarcoat this situation, or empathetically see it through the eyes of the financial corporation, but the sentiment I felt expressed was this – “You are not an economically worthy human being.”
Of course, I know my financial history and my capabilities more intimately than the bank. In my mind I had deemed a Line of Credit as a “no-brainer” – I am a well-respected and responsible member of my community. And after acquiring $10 000 worth of student loans during university, I worked hard and they were paid off within 18 months graduating. Of course the bank would be willing to support my projects.
Yet instead of taking the time to evaluate the regularity of my income, my timely credit card payments or my previous loan history, the bank saw one “flaw” in my application and rejected me. As someone who appreciates being viewed as a holistic human being, and not a dollar sign of personal worth, I felt chaffed. I deem next year’s project – traveling – as the safest of all personal investments, and the bank’s inability to support my request, for whatever reason, was an assault on this hefty life decision that I’ve made.
After a couple days of jostling with my perceptions of this interaction, I view this as a loss for the RBC. At a time when more and more folks work contract-based jobs, or simply work for themselves, the bank should perhaps be exploring an alternative way of evaluating their clientele. Could they have taken that extra ten minutes to look deeper into my financial history or had a conversation with me about my personal or financial goals?
The whole situation reminds me of that satisfying scene in the film Pretty Woman, when Vivian walks back into the store that had previously rejected her and coyly states, “Big mistake. Big. Huge!”
Well RBC, you might want to reconsider the way you do business. Right now I’m pushing the EPIC FAIL button on you. Because this internet-whore will soon be selling books and running a small media empire. And when it comes time to find a financial institute to manage my greenbacks, guess where I won’t be turning? Big mistake. Big. Huge!
In the meantime, I guess I’ll share this story of my banking disappointment with my social networks, such as my 2751 Facebook friends and 2418 Twitter followers. All of whom I managed to acquire through my lowly “contract” work.
When you’re ready to talk about actual personal worth, I’ll be waiting.
xoxo
Daniel
I hear ya. I worked in a bank for 5 years. And thoses rules don’t only apply to RBC! *sigh*
I wanted to punch that cold, supercilious suit in the face!!
Here’s my Facebook comment once again for the benefit of those who do not have the good fortune to follow you there: May I recommend you go check out HSBC? My experience has been that they’re very tolerant and understanding of particular financial situations. I actually closed my account at RBC Westmount Square after experiencing similar nonsense and have been a very happy customer with the HSBC’s Chinatown branch ever since.
I feel you, Daniel – and I assure you that you are worth much more than 10 000$
Agreeing that HSBC has provided excellent customer service (Pointe Claire branch). Try also Quebec’s Caisses Pops.
Thanks for the tips guys. I’ve started researching other institutions.
I’ll keep you posted!
+1 for HSBC!
RBC is such a horrible bank. They’re quick to ask you switch all of your banking to them or figure out how they can squeeze money out of you. I try not to interfere with my clients’ financing decisions, but when I hear them say they’re considering RBC for their mortgage, I feel it’s my duty to step in and give them an alternative to consider. EVERY SINGLE TIME, they choose the alternative. If only more people would share their RBC-horror stories!
FUCK THE MAN!
you’ll find a way.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
If you get Congolese tapeworms, you’ll just need each of your FB friends and Twit followers to send you $5. We’ll call it the “Bail out Baylis” campaign.
That’s way we left TD