Why I bank locally

Since Jena and I got married, our primary checking account has been at Barnes Bank. That was nice and convenient when we lived in Davis County, not so much now that we live at the south end of the valley. But we have never considered closing our account there, and today was an example of why.

I use direct-deposit at work, which is extra convenient since the nearest Barnes branch is over 20 minutes away. I was supposed to be paid on Friday, but when we checked our account this morning, the check wasn't there. I checked at work, and there was no indication that something was wrong, and the HR website showed that my check had been deposited. I decided to call the bank.

The first great thing was that when I called, a human being answered! An actually flesh-and-blood person asked me where to direct my call. I wasn't sure, so I just said that I had a problem with my direct-deposit from work. She transferred me to exactly the right person.

The second nice thing was that the lady I talked to about the problem was very nice and polite. She quickly found the error and fixed it. She also checked to be sure that we didn't bounce any checks or have any problems because of the mixup.

It turns out that the problem was the 24th of July holiday. I don't know what happened, but I imagine that somebody had probably left early or something and failed to post my check. That wouldn't have happened with a larger (read: national) bank, since the 24th is a state holiday, but I don't care.

Even though it was something that happened because of their small size, fixing the problem was so painless and quick that it wouldn't even be worth mentioning except in praise.

Every customer experience I've had with Barnes Bank has been positive (in contrast to Wells Fargo and Chase bank, which have both been absolute nightmares to deal with).

Good job, Barnes, you have a customer for life (well, barring some astoundingly horrific experience).