Why do some banks insist on trying to scam people?

Question

Today after finishing up a little grocery shopping, I remembered that I might need a few quarters to do laundry. The grocery store I was at has a Guaranty Bank branch so I stopped in after shopping hoping to get a roll of quarters.

The teller inquired "Do you have a Guaranty Bank Account with us?"

Me: "No"

Teller: "Sir, I need to inform you that because you are not a customer, I will have to charge you $0.25 per roll of quarters"

LOL!

Granted twenty-five cents is by no means going to cause me to go broke, I just thought it was pretty pathetic that a BANK would try and charge someone to convert legal US tender from a paper form to a coin form. Absolutely ridiculous.

Needless to say, I stuck by my principles and did not cave into such a ridiculous proposal from a bank. I bet you can't guess what I'll be thinking about the next time Guaranty Bank tries to get me to sign up for an account.

What other shady things have you seen banks try to pull on the general public?

Answer 1

That is pretty pathetic, but I'm not surprised.  Many banks will charge you to convert your coins to cash if you're not a member.  That charge makes a little more sense to me because you are actually using their coin counting equipment.  Converting a $10 bill to a roll of quarters the clerk just has to pull out of his register box does sound pretty sad.  I would have done the same as you.

Answer 2

Pretty sad it is... even worse, the way banks preyed on people's ignorance getting them to sign into adjustable rate mortgages and telling them not to look at what would happen if rates went up.

Answer 3

I hear stories like this all of the time about the lengths that banks will go to alienate present and future potential customers.  I know that any business exists to make money, but I would equate this to restaurants  installing pay toilets.  On the other hand, the laundry mat should have a working change machine for their customers (free of charge), or perhaps you should go to another laundry mat.  

Answer 4

Agreed.  If you paid $0.25 every week for one roll of quarters so you could do your laundry, you would end up paying 52 weeks x 0.25 =  $13.00 every year.  I guess you could think of that as some kind of yearly subscription fee you pay the bank to get quarters, but in reality it is pathetic.  I mean its not like you're asking them to exchange pesos into quarters.

Answer 5

That is not a scam, that is a bank charging for a service (namely handling your money).  Pretty darn cheap if you ask me.  

That's what businesses do, if it has escaped your notice.

You have the right to go elsewhere for your service.

Answer 6

I don't know about shady business practices but I do know that many banks in the US charge fees for everything except walking through the door.