I’m a bit fired up, so look out…
I got a letter in the mail that was very confusing.
It was from BenefitWallet, a company I’d never heard of.
It was a “Welcome to BenefitWallet” letter, telling me that they’d opened up a Health Savings Account for me.
Except…
I DIDN’T!
They were trying to get me to set up my online User ID and Password.
And then to verify my account so they could finish opening my HSA.
Except — I never asked for an account with them in the first place!
What the heck?
I called customer service — and it was as bad as I expected…
First, it took some zigging and zagging to get through the phone tree. Annoying, but that’s the kind of abuse I guess I’ve come to expect in modern society. (Although, notably, it’s NOT required, and I love that my cell phone company Ting has a policy that you talk to people — here’s a funny video about it.)
Then, I got the customer service person whose accent was thick enough I couldn’t understand her name (especially because the audio quality wasn’t great either).
Which, I don’t have any problem with people with accents. But it does make it difficult to get customer service when you can’t understand the person. I know I sound like an old white guy from middle America in saying that, but it’s true. I think I took it worse today though because I was already angry before I got her on the phone.
So then here was the really interesting part.
Because this was for a bank account, they asked me to verify some details. They clearly had my name and address, so it wasn’t a surprise there. But they also asked for my birthday, and the last 4 digits of my SSN.
Remember: I didn’t ask them to open an account! I didn’t give them this information.
But Facebook tells the world my birthday, and at this point I’m curious so I verify the last 4 of my social, and actually get to talk about the account.
Then, the runaround begins…
The customer service employee — Jamie Lynn — was kind. But quite frustrating.
I explained that I had no freaking clue why I was getting this telling me that I had an account with them.
And she said, “I understand, would you like me to activate the account?”
“NO!” I don’t want that!
You don’t open an account, in my name, without my permission, and then when I call to complain, try to close the sale.
I was going crazy.
I asked for a supervisor, and she tried to deflect.
SIDE NOTE: My great grandma’s cousin was President Harry Truman. When he worked in the Oval Office, he famously had a plaque on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.” In short, it was his job to take final responsibility. Others may pass the buck, but his belief was that as a good president, he was ultimately responsible for the wellbeing of the country, and for doing the right thing. That’s not just national legend to me, it’s family legend. I’ve internalized it, and I think of it in situations like these.
So she’s basically telling me that I need to talk to my employer or my insurance carrier. It’s not her fault or responsibility to fix.
I’m my employer, thank you very much. And as for my insurance carrier, they’re not the one that sent me this letter.
So I asked for a supervisor again.
I get the runaround again!
She asks me to hold for half a minute, which was fruitless.
She asks me to hold for two more minutes, fruitless.
And two more, fruitless.
And when she comes back and asks again, I was about to hang up on her…
When finally I just ask if she can close the account I never opened.
She says she can.
She does.
And I think I’m resolved with BenefitWallet, although now I also have a separate complaint in with my insurer regarding this issue.
Why the heck am I sharing this story?
Because it’s a blatant example of what’s probably a really effective — but also really awful, unethical, and deception-based — way to get customers.
Here’s my guess of what happened.
Some big wigs at BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) and BenefitWallet got together.
BenefitWallet said, “We’ll provide HSA accounts to your eligible insurance customers.”
BCBS said, “Okay.”
And some kind of profit-sharing alliance was formed.
BCBS then gave all my financial data to BenefitWallet, without my permission. Although probably technically within the bounds of the law.
And BenefitWallet simply opened up that account and sent me the account activation letter.
In a situation like this, you can expect a large number of people to simply not think for themselves…
Not me. But there’s a whole lot of people out there who will take the instructions for activating that account, and simply follow them.
And suddenly just by activating the account, there’s at least $4.75 in monthly fees.
And who knows what other costs.
And then if you don’t think about it and start using them as your actual HSA provider, they’re going to make a bunch of money on the money you have deposited with them.
Which — none of that really bugs me — AS LONG AS I’M THE ONE CHOOSING TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM!
But that’s not what happened here.
They got my information from a back channel and opened up an account on my behalf, presuming that I’d simply activate it.
I’m sure this is a moneymaking customer acquisition strategy…
Every customer a bank brings through the door is presumably worth a fortune. Not just for the fees and what they charge you. But with a depositor account, they get to use fractional reserve lending to essentially lend out your money many times over, making money on that.
So even a small number of customers coming through the door with this could be worth a big chunk of change for the bank.
And by presuming it’s okay to activate it on my behalf as opposed to making a more honest offer, they probably get higher activations.
What works best isn’t always the long-term best option for your business…
Think twice before you trick people into doing business with you.
Think twice before you do something like this.
Think twice before you use deception — in your marketing or business practices.
What gets the highest conversion rate today may not be best for your business long-term.
Remember Wells Fargo?
Instead focus on how you can legitimately provide competitive value.
If BenefitWallet had told me they were working with BCBS to provide HSAs and they’d like me to compare what I have to what they’re offering, I might have considered them. Especially if it had come with a note from BCBS saying why they partnered with BenefitWallet to provide this service to customers.
As-is, no.
As-is, I’m posted a frustrated rant online, for anyone who searches for “BenefitWallet scam.”
Okay, rant over.
Do right by your customers.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
