Guess They Don't Have Toasters Anymore

from the cheap-cheap-cheap dept

A 17-year-old in England discovered an ATM at his bank had been rigged with a fake front used by crooks to record card information and PIN numbers, and after ripping it off, was chased by the thieves that had put it there. He managed to get away, and his act saved the bank countless hassles and probably quite a bit of money. How did they thank him? By sending him a cheap plastic calculator (via Digg). Funnily enough, it was the same bank that we reported yesterday was removing clocks from their branches so people couldn't tell how long they'd been waiting in line. They could have at least sent him a clock, since they've probably got plenty of extras.
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  • identicon
    Knight, 15 Dec 2005 @ 1:44pm

    No Subject Given

    It's pretty amazing how companies want more and more and give less and less. They don't care about persons, they just care about your money.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Mousky, 15 Dec 2005 @ 1:51pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      Not really. The companies that do well over the long term do care about people - both customers and their employees. If you can't give your customers what they want, those customers will go elsewhere. Believe it or not, but the free market economy and capitalism really does work. It's not perfect, but it is a whole lot better than say the planned economies of the former Soviet Bloc.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      vmd, 15 Dec 2005 @ 2:16pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      i think that business needs to be reminded that they are making profit thanks to us, customers, and that we deserve better service and more attention if they want to stay in business. alas that doesn't seem to be the case here. i guess it'd be only natural for us now to stay away from that "bank". what's the name, by the way?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    me, 15 Dec 2005 @ 2:18pm

    toast?

    What does that have to do with toasters?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      drkkgt, 15 Dec 2005 @ 4:30pm

      Re: toast?

      old story, open a checking account, get a toaster

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      kenlration, 1 Feb 2006 @ 5:59am

      Re: toast?

      ** Toast and Banking: A history Lesson **
      Way, way back in the old days banks would give out toasters (or other various and sundry cheapie swag) to people that came in and opened a new account. Apparently, back then, your average Joe Consumer would think "hey, I gotta open a savings and/or checking account somewhere, so I may as well get an appliance out of the deal!"
      Of course, now we are much more sophisticated consumers. A toaster? Bah! Now we think to ourselves "which bank out there has the lowest in ATM fees, monthly service fees, overdraft fees, and is least likely to invent new and innovative ways to sap money out of my already meager account?"
      See, things are much better nowadays.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Dec 2005 @ 2:43pm

    No Subject Given

    guess they never heard of watchs

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    brendon, 15 Dec 2005 @ 4:08pm

    ???

    was hopping to find out that someone invented a toaster replacement :(

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sv, 15 Dec 2005 @ 6:00pm

    Dilema

    What a dilema on the side of the bank:

    - give the guy something cheap and not so attractive, but something, as a sign of gratitude

    - give the guy a laptop or a good amount of cash and make half of US browse arount ATM machines, ripping them appart, and risk being kidnapped by the thieves, and the bank then risk being sued for encouraging this.

    Woa, I'd give the cheap calculator...

    Also, it's smarter to call the police or inform the bank immediately instead of playing Rambo and then whining about your free gift being cheap.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Format c: v:stupid /q, 15 Dec 2005 @ 10:11pm

    Which is scarier?

    The fact that the bank doesn't know how to treat its customers? Or that the employees are stupid enough to have never noticed that the ATM had been tampered with.
    Suposidly, these people can tell a fake bill just by touching it. You would think that they would be able to detect that something isn't quite right about the ATM machine.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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