Dear Friends:
Shown below, is an
actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman. The bank manager
thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times of London.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to thank you
for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three
nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my
account of the funds needed to honour it.
I refer, of course, to
the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been
in place for only eight years.
You are to be commended
for seizing that brief window of opportunity and also for debiting my account £30 by way of
penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs
from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial
ways.
I noticed that, whereas I
personally answer your telephone calls and letters, when I try to
contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless
entity which your bank has become.
From now on, I, like you,
choose to deal only with a flesh-and-blood person.
My mortgage and loan
repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank,
by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you
must nominate.
Be aware that it is an
OFFENCE under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.
Please find attached an
Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am
sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about
me, there is no alternative.
Please note
that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public figure, and the
mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be
accompanied by documented proof.
In due course, at MY
convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in
dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it
on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your
telephone banking service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Allow me to
level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as
follows: IMMEDIATELY AFTER
DIALLING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH
#1. To make an
appointment to see me.
#2. To query a missing
payment.
#3. To transfer the call
to my living room in case I am there.
#4. To
transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
#5. To transfer the call
to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
#6. To transfer the call
to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
#7. To leave a message on
my computer. (Please note, a password to access my computer is required. The password will be communicated to you at a later date,
and to the Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.)
#8. To return to the main
menu and to listen to options 1 to 9.
#9. To make a general
complaint or inquiry.
The contact will then be
put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
While this may, on
occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again
following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this
new arrangement.
May I wish you a happy,
if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?
Your Humble Client
And remember: Don't
make old people mad We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss
us off!!!!
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