While I lived in Chattanooga I always banked with the local home town bank. It provided me with all the conveniences and services I could possibly want and the personal touch that made up for anything it might lack compared to a large bank. So when I moved to Memphis I found that there was really no such thing as a home town bank here. Thus it was a decision of what large bank would I use. To me they would all be the same......many services but impersonal and uncaring. So the bank on my corner seemed as good as any....and this was First Tennessee.

I started out with just a savings account till I could feel comfortable with the bank. When I opened my savings account the lady helping me was very friendly and showed me all options. I was more impressed than I figured I would be. After a month I decided First Tennessee Bank was good enough to settle into for my banking needs. (not that I have any large sums of money to handle by anyone other than my piggy bank). They offered me several different choices of checking accounts and I chose the Priority Checking since it has the most for its monthly fee. The fee was only $9.95 and that seemed reasonable to me.That fee included free checks, money orders and travelers checks. It seemed well worth the price.

I like the way they send the monthly statement. Instead of returning the checks each month, you receive a copy of the check and all of the checks are on one or two pages. It definitely makes keeping the records together easier. The statements are easy to read, especially for when a debit card is used. It shows exactly the debit and where the transaction took place. I was not used to knowing that at my old bank. There I had to keep all my receipts and match up the amount and date to the place I used the card. I appreciate the ease of use with the First Check Card since it is accepted where ever Visa is accepted.

I have been using the internet banking with First Tennessee for about a year now and have found it to be easy to navigate and use. I pay most all my bills online thru this website and have experienced nothing satisfaction. The bills have all been transacted easily and accurately. I save time and money on postage. The fee to use is only $3.00 a month which is well worth the convenience. Using the website this past week ended up saving me $580.

Wednesday morning for some reason I decided to check the balance of my checking account. I keep only the necessary amount in my checking account to pay bills and live on from payday to payday. The rest of my money I put into my savings account, so I may actually save some out of each check. Wednesday when I checked my checking balance, it had me in the hole by $497. Of course at that point my heart stopped and my brain went into overdrive trying to figure out how I had screwed up so badly. I clicked on details of account and watched the listing of my transactions come up. According to this I had withdrew $380 the day before which essentially drained my account and put me overdrawn. Funny part was I sure didn't remember withdrawing any money that day. After pondering this for a moment and starting to panic, I decided to call the bank and see what was up.

Remember I told you that one of the positive points of this bank was the clear way to read what each transaction was with the debit card. Well it was true online also, except for this $380 transaction only said "debit". So I called the bank so they could tell me where I had withdrawn the money. I talked to the account information department and a not so helpful or friendly lady was who I had initial contact with. I was already in one lousy mood thinking I was deep in the hole overdrawn, so I sure was in no mood for a defensive bank employee. But she finally told me she would fax a copy of the transaction to my local branch and I could go and view it there. I could sense the begrudging attitude of this lady, but I just said thank you and hung up. The next call proved to be much more customer friendly.

The call to my local branch gave me to a terrific lady named Pam, who was more than willing to help me figure out where this transaction took place. The fax did not come to her immediately but she didn't not seem to mind me calling back frequently to ask if it had arrived yet. Finally late on Wednesday she received the fax and said it was hard to read. But from what she could make out it was my account number, but not my name or address. She said she just couldn't read who it was, though. She promised me that she would work on finding out what had happened, but that it may take her a day or so to get it done. I accepted that, though my checking account stayed in the negative.

On Thursday afternoon I called Pam back at the branch and she told me she knew where the transaction took place. It was at a mall in Mississippi that I had never heard of, much less had ever been to. She said she knew it was obviously just a mistake in the account number and would find out for sure who and what it was. By late Thursday afternoon she did call me back and let me know it was all tracked down and had been truly a mistake in writing out the other person's account number down. She promised that the funds would be returned to my account and all overdraft charges eliminated. She said it would show up by the next morning in my account. Sure enough on Friday morning the funds were back in and the overdraft charges gone.......plus it was payday and my check was there also............it felt like Christmas for sure!!!

I appreciate all the time Pam spent working on my account to make it right. I know she had to have tired of me calling to check on the status of things, but she never one time said a cross or defensive word. She truly knew what customer service meant. She in her efforts to help me, cemented my loyalty to First Tennessee Bank. It is a rare and good thing to find that people do still care even though they work for a large company where the personal touch is usually lost.

Recommended: Yes