Not exactly the customer-focused care I would expect of a bank, who already is getting plenty by charging us to access our own money while they lend it around... but this alone wasn't enough to drive me away.
No, the breaking point came when I opened my statement and was notified that my low-interest credit card was being converted to a line of credit. The good news, according to them, was this would save me the service charge if I used my credit card to withdraw cash advances, something I (nor any other intelligent, sane, non-desperate person) would never do anyway. Sadly, this also removed my grace period, allowing them to start charging interest immediately. But wait! If I didn't want this, I was free to contact Scotiabank to refuse the conversion and maintain my credit card. So I called, hoping that it was really as simple as all that, but secretly expecting additional, unadvertised disappointment.
I was not surprised.
Scotiabank was discontinuing its low interest card so if I wanted it back it would not be at the rate I signed up for. Furthermore, if I wanted to cancel the card I would have to do so in person.
I immediately walked to the closest branch and relinquished the card, thus ending the shortest, most disappointing relationship I've ever had with a North American bank. (Yes, including the US).
I guess Scotiabank can still make a good living by marketing its customers into submission and changing their terms of service on a whim. In tribute of their success, I offer them my own custom-made remix of their advertising campaign:
Posts
