OMG, part deux

So I've had a couple of savings bonds since I was a kid. Here they have a face value of $25 a piece and me, not being too Bond savvy, am thinking they're only worth their face value. Thanks to the US Treasury Department website I was able to calculate the accrued value of these jobbies and since they've been sitting around for thirty years, who knew? They're actually worth a good bit more than their face values. So, I decide to cash them in and in turn get new Bonds so that in another thirty years thanks to inflation I'll have some extra cash that might, by then, buy me a loaf of bread. I go to my local Chase branch. Now you would think, in these economic times if someone comes in with a bonds, gets money for the bonds and actually wants to reinvest in the US Government (which, let's face it, could be bought out by China any minute now) you'd take their money. Does Chase do that? No. I walk in and ask at the service desk whether they can help me. I'm met with a blank stare. That guy goes over and asks the branch manager who nods that they can both redeem my bonds and get me new ones, she then points to a teller.

I go over and see Natalia the teller who can barely figure out how to cash the ones I have. She then tells me that if I want new bonds there are two kinds-- great, I ask which one has a higher yield and/or better rate of return: All I can get from Natalia is that the EE bonds only require a 50% of face value payment up front and the I bonds require 100% payment and that's all she knows. In theory, I don't have a problem with a teller not having this sort of information, but shouldn't the bank manager have actually directed me then to one of their financial people?? Meanwhile, Natalia keeps getting interrupted by the teller next to her who was stumbling through trying to prepare a bank check for another customer. I've got Miss B. who is slowly coming to realize that hanging out in line at the teller window is not very exciting. The teller than asks me how I want my cash-- I say in $100's, whatever's easiest... she gives me all twenties. Okay, if I ask for 100's and follow with "whatever's easiest" I mean EASIEST FOR ME. I.e. let's have as few bills to count as possible. On my way out I let the branch manager know that my experience was less than stellar. If this is the kind of service that a Chase customer is getting, good luck to all those poor WaMu bastards!