By floor9 on Jun 18, 2009 in Featured, Metro Bank Harrisburg | 8 Comments
I just got off the phone with the Pennsylvania Department of Banking. They called me back in reference to the complaint I filed yesterday. They are responding in a very pro-consumer manner to this mess and are very interested in what you have to say.
If your Metro Bank account is not straightened out as of right this instant, please contact the PA Department of Banking immediately using this link. As always, remember to remain calm and professional. We’re all frustrated and angry (and rightfully so), but remember that the Dept of Banking is here to help you. They have the power to set things right, and if that can’t be done, they have the power to punish Metro Bank.
UPDATE: As of 6/19/09, Metro Bank’s CEO is stating that the “glitches” have been fixed and everything is back to normal. Interestingly, he’s also stating that affected customers are being contacted by phone or email to let them know what happened. This is a dramatic change from earlier in the week, when they attempted to sweep their issues under the rug with silence. It’s pretty obvious that Metro Bank’s change in attitude is a direct result of the avalanche of negative PR that’s kept them buried all week. While it’s good to see them finally starting to take responsibility for their poor planning and poor execution, it’s disturbing that they regarded “give customers the silent treatment” as their best option.
By floor9 on Jul 4, 2009 in Budget Impasse | 1 Comment
I was going to blog about the curious email I received from Metro Bank, but that will have to wait. A commenter just posted a very interesting link regarding our now-in-effect budget impasse, and I wanted to share.
Governor Rendell is stating that the court has declared that the Pennsylvania Constitution supersedes the Fair Labor Standards Act. And as you know, I have repeatedly said that this is incorrect. The Rendell administration is only telling part of the story; because there is no conflict between the Constitution and the FLSA, neither supersedes the other. The court has said that the FLSA doesn’t care where they money comes from, and in fact, not having money is not an excuse for violating the FLSA. And in reviewing the court’s published opinion, I somehow missed this very enlightening footnote:
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By floor9 on Jun 30, 2009 in Politics | 13 Comments
Pennsylvania’s annual budget impasse (2009 edition) is well underway. Today, June 30th, is the deadline for a budget to be passed as per state law. Naturally, our legislature and governor are all too busy having a pissing match to be bothered to actually do their jobs. But they’ve all found plenty of time to spread a lot of misinformation. Despite what Governor Rendell might suggest, AFSCME’s 2008 lawsuit did not declare that state employees must not be paid. Here’s why:
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By floor9 on Jun 25, 2009 in Metro Bank Harrisburg | 0 Comments
For the past ten days, former Commerce Bank customers have been experiencing — and documenting — epic levels of frustration over the bank’s badly-botched changeover to Metro Bank (Central PA). What has happened is a painful lesson in why every business needs to not only employ talented PR professionals, but remain in a constant two-way dialogue with its employees. Comments from employees and/or alleged employees posted here run the gamut from the apologetic to the obscene, with most leaning towards the latter.
And I’m not the only one who noticed.
Since the first post ten days ago, the Metro Bank reviews have been read just over 12,000 times and clocked in just shy of 200 comments. Search engine terms like “Metro Bank Harrisburg” and “Metro Bank complaints” (and my personal favorite, “Metro Bank sucks”) brought in just under 800 views. Referrals from media outlets such as PennLive and The Consumerist brought in 2715 views. While it is impossible to say exactly how many unique individuals viewed the site, those numbers alone are staggering.
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By floor9 on Jun 25, 2009 in Central PA, Politics | 10 Comments
An anonymous source just forwarded me a very interesting email concerning Pennsylvania’s threat to require its employees to work with delayed pay. While it’s already been fairly well established that federal labor law will apply, our Governor and our legislature seem to think that it does not. I can not fathom why they would put Pennsylvania taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in civil damages by breaking the law.
At any rate, the US Department of Labor — the federal agency tasked with enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act — seems to disagree with them. And Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (469 U.S. 528 (1985)), decided almost a quarter century ago, says that government workers are, in fact, protected by the FLSA.
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By floor9 on Jun 19, 2009 in Metro Bank Harrisburg | 9 Comments
As the first week of Metro Bank Harrisburg (formerly Commerce Bank) draws to a close, I’m still hearing from people who are having trouble with their bank accounts. If your problems haven’t yet been fixed, or if you experience any strange account “changes”, please follow the complaint information documented above.
A lot of alleged Metro Bank employees have been contributing to this series. Some good, some bad. A number of other bloggers, podcasters, journalists, and Tweeps have been linking and re-linking to this site, which has driven my traffic through the roof. As of 12:30am on Friday 6/19/09, over 4600 hits have come in on the Metro Bank posts alone. I don’t know Metro Bank’s customer tally, but 4600 customers or potential customers is certainly a noteworhty amount. So a big “thank you” to everyone who’s been helping to bring attention to this matter!
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By floor9 on Jun 17, 2009 in Metro Bank Harrisburg | 23 Comments
I’ve been getting a ton of traffic and support over Metro Bank’s ongoing customer service issues. In this post I’m going to talk about how to file a complaint and get results. But first, I’d like to help:
My site is currently getting thousands of hits every day from Metro Bank customers. If you work for a bank or credit union and you’re offering any sort of special incentive for Metro Bank customers to jump ship, send me your contact information and details on your promotion. I’ll post all the offers within a day or two. I’m willing to do this for free, and in fact, I will not accept any compensation of any kind.
From the comments here and elsewhere, the most common problems users are reporting are:
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