Amid all the bad news, some good
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
Amid all the bad news we’re hearing from Wall Street comes some good news from Realtors throughout the West, which is that sales of existing homes have risen year over year yet again.
It is true that the prices of most, if not all, of these houses are lower than they were a year ago — some 24 percent on average, according to the National Association of Realtors. But that’s old news.
While the sellers don’t welcome those lower prices, especially if they paid much higher prices a couple or three years ago, qualified buyers are rejoicing at the prospect of finally being able to afford homes without having to pay more than they could afford or resort to gimmicky and/or downright dangerous-to-their finances mortgages.
Those mortgages weren’t just dangerous to those who used them to buy houses when prices were high. They also were dangerous to lenders, who are seeing homeowners default on those mortgages in droves.
As in any market, this one has its winners as well as its losers, and right now people entering the housing market are finding it full of affordable bargains.
As the old saying goes, these bargains won’t last forever. Eventually — probably within a year — they will be snapped up, which will put upward pressure on prices, and the market will be more stable.
As the population grows, so will the need for housing, for it is something we all need.
Like any commodity, though, housing is subject to the variables and timing of the marketplace. Sometimes it is a good time to buy, sometimes a good time to sell, and sometimes the market is in balance, which is where it seems to be headed now, thank goodness.
An Open letter to … (bank name removed)
Dear (name removed);
I am writing this letter to you because of the rude and embarrassing customer service at your (bank name removed) branch in Madera, CA.
For the past 3 years I have been cashing my paycheck at this branch, drawn on your bank, and never had any problems doing so. I have even paid the checking cashing fee your bank requires of people cashing their payroll checks drawn on your bank, at each visit. I’m not even sure my school district has agreed to this fee on their employees.
However, today I feel discriminated against because I was made to feel so unwelcome at your bank. Without a doubt your personnel were so rude and embarrassing to me as a potential customer, (as well as their attitude), that I will not now or ever be a customer of your bank.
Where do you get your employees from? Jail? Gangs? Bottom of the barrel collection agencies? Just what kind of training do you give them? How unprofessional and embarrassing for (bank name removed), and how this will be looked on by others in the banking industry or anyone doing business with your bank.
Cashing a check drawn on any bank of the same name as on the check with valid identification is not a courtesy service. Do your employees understand that: Under UCC §3-502(b)(2), if a bank taking a check over the counter fails to pay that check by the end of the day on which it is presented, the bank has dishonored the check. Assuming that the check is otherwise properly payable and there are sufficient funds in the account to cover it, that dishonor is probably “wrongful.” Thus, any bank’s customer could maintain an action against it under UCC §4-402(b) for the damages caused by that dishonor, including potential consequential damages.
I was made to be embarrassed while the teller discussed loudly with the floor manager, who also spoke loudly, about how I did not have an account at their branch. So even though I had several valid identification pieces including my fingerprint on the check as well as my drivers license, Social Security card, teacher identification card, gym card, medical insurance card, library card and more, that they were not valid enough.
They finally cashed the check after I asked them if they were refusing to cash a payroll check drawn on your bank and because the line kept getting longer. Saying loudly that they would not, in the future, nor should they now cash my paycheck drawn on your bank unless I opened an account.
I just want to repeat that until today I have never had any problems cashing my payroll check drawn on your bank. If this is how your bank treats their costumers, it is a wonder it is still in business.
I am going to make sure my school district, union, family, friends and others know of the shabby treatment I received by your bank.
What bank is this?
WEBMASTER’S NOTE: At this time, the Red Line tries to avoid publishing names of businesses that are attacked or promoted via an online comment.
“WEBMASTER’S NOTE: At this time, the Red Line tries to avoid publishing names of businesses that are attacked or promoted via an online comment.”
While it’s perfectly ok to do this (referring to the quote above) it makes me wonder if anyone at the Madera Tribune does research before they give Web site links in articles they print in the paper. I’m referring to the article “Madera community college student wins state award” on May 12, 2008 and the Web site link the writer posted. The clothing line etc., Burnablunt, is concerned with marijuana and promoting the smoking of it, as the name implies.
I guess while the writers and editors at the Madera Tribune are doing stories on drug busts, they also feel the need to give notice to a group of people that promote the use of an illegal drug through their clothing line etc. The article is a good article but would have been far better without mention of the Web site or clothing etc. company. We do not need any more young people doing drugs or starting to because of mention of Web sites or otherwise promoting drug use (even though they claim not to anyone can see between the lines…).
(While I know that this criticism of the Madera Tribune and the company described will be heavily edited on this Web site, hopefully I can write a letter to the paper to get this point across.)
COPY EDITOR’S NOTE: The inclusion of that Web site address was an oversight on my part as well as the journalist who wrote the story. Neither of us double checked the site itself and, as far as I know, neither of us even knew what the slang use of the word “blunt” meant. A correction to that article even had to be published in the newspaper because readers mistakenly assumed that the company the community college student worked for, as a graphic designer, was somehow associated with the Web site he had worked on during his own time. My apologies for the mistake on my part.
The customer service rep. of this major bank apologized to me via e-mail. However, the local one has not as of yet. He suggested I send my complaint to the local branch, and to their California customer branch in L.A., which I did.
I want to thank the newspaper for printing my complaint.
When you see banks going out of business and being bought up lately, it really makes one wonder why any bank would treat any customer badly. It is time hard working people stood up and said we are not going to take this type of customer service anymore.
I for one am really tired of being the nice guy and just sitting back to get walked all over on. I think more people should stand up for being treated with integrity and respect. The power of one can make a difference.