Tales of a fashion designer.....Bank Palava

Bankers parade everyday, marketing and asking sweet citizens like us to come and open an account. I opened a corporate account with Bank D, I was really excited and felt like I was finally becoming a responsible entrepreneur, it's so unprofessional to have people pay money into a personal account when you have a registered company, so you can imagine my joy on that very random day when I was given a cheque book with my company's name on it, i felt like a little Dangote, I had taken another step, no matter how small it was and it felt damn good. My relationship with Bank D was terrible, they kept deducting a certain amount of money from the account every month. My entire family bore the brunt as I complained bitterly every month telling them I had been deceived by Bank D's advert, which by the way was really catchy. After some months, I sent a mail to their head office in Lagos, they apologised and said the marketer probably did not explain the terms and conditions of operating a corporate account with them. The next day, a polite lady representing Bank D called me and asked if I wanted them to close the account, I politely said "Yes". That was the end of the relationship between Bank D and MiDe Fashion County.

On another random day, two bankers representing Bank S paid me a visit, they explained to me that I was on the bank's list, their bank was interested in Mi'De Fashion County and would like me to open an account with them. They blabbed and blabbed, I starred and starred. I told them ''I would think about their offer". That wooing ended that day because I never opened the account, so there was no relationship with Bank S.

My best friend told me about his pleasant relationship with bank F, so I decided to try Bank F. I opened the account successfully. I started operating the account and my experience was pleasant until this year when I sent my P.A to withdraw some cash and she called with a sad news "MiDe Fashion County's account had been frozen". I slowly said "Okay" and went to Bank F to get some explanations. I got to Bank F and I had to wait for minutes because according to the customer care rep, the bank's server was down. I was then told the account had been frozen because one of the reference forms from one of my referee's bank was not returned. To add salt to the injury, the customer care rep was not affable. She acted like she was doing me a favour and that was supposed to be her job.

As I left the bank, I wondered why the bank didn't send me an email or text to let me know my account may have issues and state clearly that one of the reference forms was not sent back to the branch and let me know the consequences. I was not warned or advised to get another reference form signed by another referee. I had even credited my account the previous day and no one told me the account was frozen, when I said this in the bank, I was told it was a debit freeze. Translation: I can pay money into the account but I can't withdraw. 

The following week, I managed to get another referee to sign my form. It's the 18th day of February and my account is still frozen. Is this how banking should be? I ask this question while I patiently wait for my account officer to call with some good news.