Do I have high expectations?

My girlfriend told me the other day that I have high expectations. Well yeh, I guess I do. I guess she meant it as constructive criticism, but isn't that a good thing? Who ever achieved anything by having low expectations. Dont people tolerate a lot because they have low expectations. I think my expectations are reasonable. There are a great many banks that offer decent service at least some of the time. Its not as if they can't afford to pay good salaries to attract good people. I dont know the internal politics. Maybe senior executives are all so insecure that they avoid employing people that might compete with them. I worked at a government-owned corporation Australia Post during my university days. The culture was soul destroying. It attracts the worst possible people because of the corrosive structure. I was given 5hours to sort mail. I did it in 2.5-3hours and was paid for 5hrs. Couldn't wait to get out of there. Is this the legacy of a once government-owned CBA. Cultures take time to change, and one wonders if some bad values have persisted.

High expectations need not be some lofty floating abstraction. I have high expectations because I think. I break down problems rather than walk away from them. It requires critical thinking, and a sense of reality that goes beyond petty politics. I was being provocative sending an email to the bank suggesting the MD should be sacked. I expected his to have a sense of objectivity. Of course his future did not lie in pleasing me. I am one customer. Banks offer you a 5% return on your money (before tax) because you have low expectations. I expect 100% an annum. My best return is 3200% over 3 years. That was when I was with Comsec. Maybe they were envious.

I am not imposing my standards on them, they are imposing them on me. They closed my account, they froze my account, they disabled my ability to trade, they sent me duplicated and useless marketing literature. I merely informed them of the uselessness. It was there choice to say: "Andrew, clearly our bank service is not up to your standards', enjoy your life. We will close your account when you ask. Well I can't even do that.

The issue is actually not - low or high expectations - the issue is business model. Which bank believes a good business model is one that screws customers for the highest profit? And which banks believe service is about offering a value in exchange for value. You need only look at the way banks earn revenues - its no longer factors that you compete over like 'the interest rate spread' - its fees. Disclosed in fine print, and applied with contempt because they have no interest in removing the inadequacies in their services which cause you to be levied with fees.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com