US Bank, USBancorp: Complaints, Incompetence, Errors, Fraud

Ed. Note: Of the many hundreds of comments we've received from www.usbank-5starscrewed.0catch.com, this is only the
fifth one that was negative. This one demanded a reply. I've posted the comment first, followed by our reply:

Mon, 3 Mar 2003 17:51:53 -0700

To: xxxxxxx From: John.smith@nowhere.com

Form Mail From John Smith!

Comments : R u joking me? This is the eigth largest bank in the united states. With revenue near or over 160 billion and
55,000 employees. This is a very secure bank and no customer should be concerned that their money or information is not
being protected. We comply with federal regulations concerning privacy and customer information. We are very active in
supporting this initiative in broad terms. Just because you had a bad experience, you take it out on a weak site like this.
Venting and frustation are generally normal, but, most people just exercise it off instead of spending time like this. I'm
suprised that your not sued but that's due to free speech. Lucky you don't have trademark logo's posted or else you
probably would've been. Anyways, there you have it. With any organization there is bad and good. You choose the bad.
Other's choose the good things. Looser! :(

Ed. Reply:

Dear Jerry Grundh-------, I mean "John Smith". Thank you for taking the time to visit our web site and post a comment. I am
sure that our site has irritated the hell out of you. But that is exactly the point of it. Let me address your "points" first:

1) "US Bank is the eigth largest bank in the country with billions in revenue". Big deal. Enron was the largest energy
company in the world with revenues that dwarfed US Bank; and look where they ended up.

2) "No customer should be concerned that there information is not being protected"? US Bank got sued by half the
Attorneys General in the country for selling confidential customer information to telemarketers. That's protection? I
personally had someone at this company use my personal account information to create a fraudulent identification here on
yahoo to try to intimidate me. I later learned from an insider that any low level employee had almost unrestricted access to
sensitive customer information.

3) "This is a very secure bank; no customer should be concerned that their money is not being protected"? Look at the
stories and complaints on our Web site. Failed ATM transactions; lost deposits and payments; disappearing funds;
inappropriate withdrawals from accounts. What about the embezzlement scandals? Even the GAO is concerned that tax
payment funds collected by US Bank may not be adequately secured.

4) "Venting and frustation are generally normal, but, most people just exercise it off instead of spending time like this". I am
"exercising it off". I am exercising my right to expose the side of US Bank that you don't want anyone to know about.

5) "I'm suprised (sic) that your (sic) not sued but that's due to free speech. Lucky you don't have trademark logo's posted or
else you probably would've been"--- I am sure you would love to send your pit bull lawyers after us, but you know you don't
have a legal leg to stand on. Everything on our site is public record or otherwise verifiable as the truth. This is still America,
and we do have the right to freely express our opinions and disseminate the truthful information, even if it pisses the hell
out of arrogant asses like you.

6) "With any organization there is bad and good. You choose the bad. Other's choose the good things". ----- Wake up! Your
organization seems to have fallen over to the bad side. People don't take the time and energy to file lawsuits, write up
regulatory complaints, or create complaint web sites unless they have been severely wronged and gotten no satisfaction
from the offending company. Look at the facts. You have been steadily losing customers, a large number of your
employees hate your guts, the regulators are just waiting for you to make your next mis-step, and the greedy lawyers are
hovering with individual and class action lawsuits. Sounds like even the shareholders are getting ready to revolt now. That
is not the sign of a "good" organization. Do you really know what is going on, or are you too busy counting your millions?

7) What the hell is a "looser"?

If you were a truly concerned executive you would be livid about how your company has been operating. You would track
down each of the complaint we have identified and offer both an apology and maybe to make amends. Then you would
investigate why the mistakes happened so they can be prevented from happening again. But I don't expect to see any of
that. Maybe you are in denial. Maybe you think an empty promise and a $5 bill will satisfy most of the peons. Maybe you
really are clueless. Then again maybe you just don't give a damn.

You crossed the wrong person when you pissed off me. This web site will go on. It will continue to grow and be promoted.
Unlike the average complaint web site that gets only a hundred or so visitors a year, our site gets hundreds of thousands.
Thousands of people get the link each and every day. We are steadily climbing in the search engine ratings. Slowly all the
complaint web sites are exchanging links and forming a giant web of truth about US Bank. Soon you will find our site in the
top ratings with any search that includes the keyword "US Bank".

A Five Star Guarantee for YOU--- We are gathering every customer complaint, every news story about unethical or
inappropriate conduct, and information about every regulatory action and lawsuit. We will find every piece of dirt from your
past, and will be there for every mis-step you make in the future. And it will all be posted for the world to see on our web
site---- forever.

So there's the short of it (no pun intended). Don't take it personally. It's just business "John" : )

I was recently terminated from employment at U.S. Bank after 13+ years for 'reversing fees on a personal account.' I sent in
request and was canned. Code of ethics states we cannot do this on family accounts, personal acquaintances, etc. We live in
a town of 500, so not processing transactions on personal acquintances accounts is just not possible. My co-worker sent e-
mail to Region president, after I was terminated stating she did same thing, but she has not been fired. Other small branch
managers in area stated they have done same thing, and how are they suppose to work if they can't even process personal
acquaintances accounts---I am the only one that was fired. There was no recourse or appeals. I showed up for work on
Monday, and was told to sign my termination lette ----shock of all shocks.

Also, I was an exempt employee working 34 hours/week with no chance of overtime, even when I averaged working 8-8-1/2
hours/day. I sent e-mail to my manager and District Manager and they did not answer. I e-mailed Human Resouces dept. and
she said that job could be done in 34 hours---even though other small branch managers were paid for 40 hours. Also, my
duties were not all managerial--teller duties at least 2 days/week, filing, certifications, cleaning, ordering and stocking
supplies, etc. I did nothing about this last year as I valued my job and didn't want to create hassles. With labor standards, I feel
I have a claim for back wages/uncompensated overtime.

BK 2/03

US BANK FIVE STAR SCREWED

Just in case you think that our experience with U.S. Bank was an isolated incident, read these stories from other
people. These are a sampling of the many responses that we have received.

We have not altered these responses except to correct spelling (and sometimes grammar), and to filter out profanity.
This posting of comments operates similar to a moderated message board. We are not responsible for the
accuracy or veracity of any of the information provided to us by others.

Please note: The newest stories/comments are added to the bottom of this page.

Thank you so very much for creating your web site usbank-5starscrewed. The world needs to know how really bad
this bank is. I moved money from our savings account to checking to pay our property tax bill using the bank's
telephone banking system. A few weeks later I got a notice from the county saying that my check had been returned
by the bank. When I called the bank they said they had no record of the transaction (sound familiar). What really
galled me was how they acted like it was no big deal, and how they implied that it must have been my fault. I closed
out all of my accounts that afternoon and went to a credit union. But I had to pay the county interest on the late tax
payment and a returned check penalty fee. And then US Bank badgered us for months trying to get $37 in overdraft
and returned check fees from us. This bank is the worst of the worst. I don't know why anyone would want to bank
with them.

A.N.

I have would have to agree that the bank is not very customer service oriented especially on the retail side. I worked
in trust and institutional business with Firstar for ten plus years. I managed a few areas and feel that we made every
effort to cater to our customers. The first signs of trouble began with Firstar's failed attempt to pull off their own
internal reorganization; Firstar Forward (or Backward as we like to call it). But the problems really set in when Star
Bank of Cinninnati bought Firstar. Once Jerry Grundhofer's team of managers infiltrated the system the chaos began
and grew exponentially as Jerry strived to become the biggest bank (or at least bigger than his brother's). The bank
was making new acquisitions before conversions from the last merger were half complete. It became so bad that
internal personnel didn't have a clue who handled what anymore. I started getting calls from old customers I hadn't
dealt with in years who were wondering what was going on. To the employees the corporate motto became "do
more with less". Lunches became a luxury. If you didn't put in consistent overtime, you were not promoted
regardless of your production levels. Travel didn't count because it incurred cost. If you made too much money
because of tenure or too high of production, your head was in line for the chopping block. The only thing that
mattered was cutting cost and increasing revenue no matter what. Everyone was expendable. Soon it became
apparent that because of Jerry's ego, the bank would never again be a quality firm that I could be proud to work for. I
left well after year-end and was owed serious compensation for far exceeding production levels the prior year. I will
never see any of that money. The one thing they are willing to spend money on is making sure no one gets anything
out of them that they don't want to give. I learned the hard way. I am sorry for what you've had to go through. Most of
the managers I know well from the old Firstar would have never let that happen. Some are still there but it has
become a large bank under the control of the remaining hard nose players that have survived with USB and Star
Bank. Good luck to you. As for me, I just want to stay as far away as possible from what is now US Bank.

N.E.

Firstar refused to honor the $5 cash guarantee for waiting in line more than 5 minutes. I closed my account and will
never do business with them again. Why bank with someone that doesn't care about you?

Thank you for sharing your experience. Thought I was the only one who reallllly got a royal screw from Firstar/ US
Bank. Wish I had the courage to pursue them and fight them as you.

I am a former employee. I worked in the Item Processing Center during the US Bank/FBS conversion, and yes we did
have major problems with the "system". But more importantly, we were under great pressure from the Higher Up's
to make our deadlines and get things thru the item processing equipment. A lot of items... meaning hundreds of
thousands of items, IE: checks, deposits, credit card payments, loan payments, utility payments, ATM deposits &
withdrawals, etc. Anyways I know, first hand that there were many, many items that were "forced" thru the sorters
(System) to make deadlines, and then left to be balanced and posted later. Many didn't ever make it thru the system;
many didn't ever get posted.

Example: we had to make deadline, by 2:00 am. We still had approx. 36,000 items that needed to be sent thru the
sorter, then thru the reject repair machine, then balanced, and then posted. Well that night, items went thru the
sorter and then we had to force a balance, which means we sent things thru the sorter, got into the computer system
to see how much money we had on the credit side and how much we had on the debit side, and if it didn't match
(and oh 9 times out of 10, they don't due to teller, customer or Proof Encoder errors). And this time they didn't
balance, so we put the numbers into the system, and MADE it balance. That job sat there on my bosses desk for 6
months, pushed aside because we were in the middle of the merger conversion and each new day brought a new
set of problems and deadlines. That job had millions, well 9 million to be exact, dollars in it. I'm not sure if it ever did
get balanced. Not long after that, we were told our department was closing, due to downsizing. And there were many,
many other nights just like that. So sir.... it was definitely a nightmare during that time... But also just bullshit. Forcing
the Jobs off the sorters still continues as of this date. And I am sure many customers are still having trouble with
their accounts, missing deposits, missing payments, etc.

I'm sorry you had to go thru the whole ordeal. I was taught that it is the tellers' job to SELL SERVICES to the
customers. Working in the Operations Center, I quickly learned it isn't their job to make sure any transactions
balance. That was supposedly our job... isn't that just ridiculous... Tellers work with customers one on one, deal with
lots of cash, but they don't have to make sure it is all correct. And The company makes a lot of money on NSF &
monthly charges off unsuspecting customers. It's a big part of the bank's profits. anyways, I'm just going on and
on...and probably could be in trouble all over again for sharing this information. They are really big on not sharing any
insider info on how they operate, what systems they use and all that.

Your being told things would be taken care of, and then the feeling that some employee was like well...we'll show
you, is correct. That's just about how the egos, personalities, and temperaments go with a lot of the department
heads as well as the employees under them. You were not wrong in felling that way. I now work for another bank,
and I must say I didn't realize how bad it was until I got the new job. The bosses here are very professional. They
appreciate their employees very much, and have a fairly good standing in the community and customer service.
Thank you for listening.

You have my sympathy and my thanks for your web site. Thousands of people have been screwed by the
Grundhofers and untold lives destroyed by them. I would like you to see our Horror story and what actions we are
taking against Firstar-US Bank. Kudos to you for starting a much needed web site!

B.P.

Our house was burglarized while my husband and I were on vacation. The thieves took the check book for one of our
U.S. Bank accounts. They then waltzed into a nearby U.S. Bank branch, made out a check for almost the whole account
balance and forged my signature. No one at the bank gave it a second thought. They didn't question the transaction,
ask for identification, or check the signature. Just handed over the cash. We had to hire a lawyer and sue U.S. Bank to
recover most of our money, and they fought us the whole way. Saying U.S. Bank is incompetent, or doesn't give a damn
about its customers is the understatement of the century.

M.A.

US Bank is still up to their same BS. I'm currently going through a similar ordeal with their credit card division. I had
some unauthorized charges start appearing on my credit card early last year. The merchant was unresponsive, so I
began disputing the charges through US Bank. While the disputes were resolved in my favor, I got the runaround every
step of the way. Finally fed up, I instructed US Bank to close the account and stop processing ALL charges in July
2001. But they went ahead and continued allowing charges to go through (new charges as well as charges from the
original merchant, that they KNEW were unauthorized). I've been disputing the transactions since then, but they're
refusing to cooperate. They ignored 3 separate instructions to close the account and stop processing charges, are
refusing to reverse the charges, have reported on my credit history that the payment is 120+ days past due, and
reported the account as "closed due to serious delinquency"! . All the while they're continuing to give one BS excuse
after another, have made multiple outright lies in their correspondence, continue to harrass me both at home and my
place of business despite multiple cease and desist orders, and continue to claim I owe them for these unauthorized
charges. US Bank is nothing more than a bunch of thieving a-holes. They're committing fraud, violating the FCBA and
FCRA, and are trying to extort money from me.

P.N.

I've always seen banks as dependable and honest; I'm shocked to know that you went through that kind of experience with
a bank! I hope you continue to maintain this website, because I think it's well-worth it to let people know that there are
actually banks like US Bank in existence.

M.B.B.

....I'm just a former employee....I managed a successful U.S. Bank branch; I have 20 years of banking experience. This
bank has completely lost touch with reality. The upper management seems to be ruling more by fear and indimidation
than strength of products or people. Anyway, I love your website. I totally remember those Advantage lines - another
example that it doesn't take a genius to figure out what kind of tactics people will resort to when working for such a crazy
organization.

E.M

Here's my US Bank nightmare story. Someone stole my identity a while back and has been using bogus credentials in
my name to pass bad checks. They went into a local branch of US Bank, made out a phony check for more than $800,
signed my name and used the phoney ID to cash it. When the check bounced, US Bank came looking for me. I convinced
them that I wasn't involved, and asked them to file a complaint with the local police so that we could stop this asshole.
Know what the bank said? The amount involved wasn't enough for them to pursue criminal action. They've got this guy's
fingerprint, his picture on security tape, and they can't be bothered to help stop him from making someone else a victim.
What a PISS POOR, almost criminal attitude. Believe me, I'm glad I don't do any business with this bank!

B.J.

We asked in July (2002) to have our mortgage payment deferred and were told we could not until it was actually late. In
August we called to have it deferred (July pmt) and were told that since we were refinancing not to worry about it. On
August 30, both my husband and I talked with different loan officers (Ronnie ? and Jerry Vanderhoff) and were told we
were liars, good for nothings that didn't think they had to make payments, trying to get something for nothing, etc... I'm
sure you get the general gist of the abuse. We were also told that we had until 6:00 pm to send them $1793.21... july pmt,
august pmt and sept pmt... even though the July pmt is the only one over 30 days late (pmts due on the 17th of each
month). We were informed by these people that they would personally ruin our credit, refinance and put us out of our
home the following week. Today, we received Notice of Intent to Foreclose, ! even though we are still legally only behind
on the July pmt! We are being torn apart by these people... if I had ben gang raped it would have been less violating than
the way I was spoken to and threatened by them. Even though I NEVER mentioned an attorney or legal action, I was told
that if I "had it in mind" to speak with an attorney that they (US Bank) had "hundreds" of attorneys working for them and
that not only would I lose my home but everything I had. I have filed a complaint with the FTC and if I can get the
addresses and names wish to also send copies of the complaint to US Bank's corporate headquarters... Your website
is MUCH NEEDED.

MDD

ed. note: Follow up information was posted to a message board. For more,

I was reading your website and I am very sorry about what happened to you. I was a customer of USBank but left
because I didn't really like the service and wanted to go to a place that was friendlier.. I have a credit line account there
still and what you wrote worries me...

ed. note: This information relates to my experience of someone associated with USBank using information from our
Credit Line application to create a fraudulent Yahoo! profile, and to post to a message board under my name. For more,
click on:

The application you filled out in 1998 (where you assume/know the bogus yahoo account information came from) is kept
in a relatively loose system. As a $14,000 a year file clerk, I had access to it. And most employees had access to a
mainframe application called "fn01" which allowed them to order that document directly from the filenet server. They had
the option to get it either faxed directly to them with absolutly no human intervention, or have a file clerk print it and mail it
via interoffice mail. Anyone working in the "executive communication" department (this is where your letters to Jack
Grundhofer wound up) should have been able to view this document directly. You are absolutly right about the merger-
related system conversion problems going on at that time. Bancsource couldn't handle the volume of retail loans, so we
were backtracking to Shaw. Suddenly the old Met Fed employees that hadn't been axed were training us on a system
they hadn't touched since 1995. Shaw had gone thru a few updates by this time. but all the add-ons were not purchased
(to save a few bucks). Hogan and Shaw also didn't seem to be exchanging information as expected either. But the
system had already gone live. Good luck with your struggles. BTW, I was laid off 5-31-01

BPM

[ed. note: This information is in reference to an unlawful termination lawsuit filed by an employee in Portland, Oregon]

Employee in Portland, Oregon, accused of theft, was kept in a locked room during interrogation by company investigators,
refused access to bathroom, and then terminated. Policies in employee handbook not followed during investigation or
termination. Result was a confidential settlement as the result of informal, pre-filing demand and negotiations.

Let us know if you want your story published here or not (anonymity is maintained). If you want a reply, please be sure to
provide a valid e-mail address (optional).

U.S. Bank / USBancorp: Customer, Consumer & Employee Information, Stories & Complaints

I too have just recently endured an ordeal with US Bank. It appears (after I had investigated two months worth of bank
printouts from the branch) that US Bank didn't credit one of my ATM deposits. Within three days or so of this deposit, a
chain of NSF fees built up without my knowledge. I continued living as usual (due to my lack of knowledge what was
happening with my money) and it finally came to a head last week (Jan 15th) when my debit card was declined. As it
turns out they cancelled my card that very day! I went to the bank got the printouts of history for two months and found
the missing deposits. Since then, (last Wed) I have been on overload with stress talking to every dept, branch
manager, and etc under the sun -- and the only thing that the bank is doing for me is making me wait while they take
two weeks to run what they call an "missing deposit investigation", in hopes they will find the transaction entered into
the ATM machine. I found out that US Bank hires a vendor to do all of their ATM processing to boot!!!

One month passed exactly with a total of $1008.00 in NSF fees already charged to my account before any NSF
statements were issued to me. I received the first one the day my card was cancelled (exactly one month and 3 days
after the first charge). I then made an agreement with the local branch manager to deposit $1200 into my account. I
was assured by CSR dept, and two branch managers (at different locations) that no checks had been rejected to date
and that if I deposited this $1200 into my account that they would lift the current hold on my account (set into action the
day before) and my checks that were pending would not bounce. I did as agreed only to find out two days later that the
bank took the money for bounced fees, which had accrued the very day I was assured that no checks had been
rejected, and now I have a whopping $49.00 in the bank (which of course will be taken when the remaining checks try
to go through). I don't even know where to turn next. I feel no alternative but to hire an attorney at this point. In the end,
US Bank will have taken $1600+ in Bank NSF fees + some and approximately ten checks have or will bounce before
the end of the week. I of course will be responsible for the fees to the merchants as well. My has been money stolen
and my credit standing ruined just as I was starting my own business. Thought you would want to let people know of
the practices at US Bank.

AZ 1/03

I've been a US Bank customer for twenty years and wanted to warn any prospective new customers that their customer
service, since they were bought out (in 1998?) has steadily declined to the point where it is astoundingly poor. I have an
excellent history, credit record, etc. but they will barely even cash a check, at my physical branch any longer. The clerks
at the branch seem terrified of management and the management seems alternately rude and terrified (of the main
office?). There are other banks out there that no doubt provide at least a minimum level of Customer Service, that US
Bank has evidently decided to abandon.

I.T.

I'm a former Mercantile/Firstar/USBank employee and I am have a hard time getting my 401 K out of there. Any advice? I
have a Stock Certificate from Firstar and I sent it in to get it reissued as US Bank stock. Fortunately I sent it certified mail
and made copies of everything I sent. They have lost it, and three investigations down the road, they are still not able to
find it and keep asking me for copies of the receipt. Which I have sent twice and will be sending again today. Any advice
any one has would be greatly appreciated.

DVD

US bank does suck... It's so true. Why? 1. They let a post dated cheque cash 8 days prior to the date on the cheque. I was
lucky to have enough funds to cover it. Bad business. 2. Ridiculous credit policy. I'm new to the country and have no U.S.
credit. So in order to establish a credit history I must get a secure credit card. I make around 45G/yr and they won't give a
$500 credit card after 'financially existing' past the 6mo. grace period. Bullsh*t. So fine. I play by their rules so I can start
building my credit. Long story short...freakin' Gong show. The head does not know what the ass is saying or doing.
Example: Bank Manager (yes..."Manager") says that they CAN NOT set up a secure credit card from the branch. Phone
18001STARSERVICE. So I call. They say...and I quote, "We CAN NOT set that up over the phone. go to your branch."
Baffled I call my branch. She says, "They are mistaken, we CAN NOT set that up in the branch. Phone them back." I phone
again. "We CAN NOT set that up over the phone, go to ANY US Bank branch to set that up." What can I say...A bank that
doesn't even know it's own policy is scary. 3. Unstable online banking. I'm not a computer/net whiz...but I know enough to
catch the signs of a bad and unsecure website. (losing SSL after I've logged in...). I am from another country where some
banks still suck but at least their websites are rock solid. This also scares me... 4. High turnover at our local branch. Scary
in itself. 5. Unknowledgeable staff. See #2 and tellers that do not know what a foreign draft is...Where do they find these
people??? I could go on but I won't. This week I'm moving my account to a local credit union. So if you are from US Bank
and you're reading this: I'm going to buy a car in May and a house late next year. Kiss tens of thousands of dollars
goodbye. Also, my company banks with US Bank. I've told my VP and our CEO about some of the policy issues. They were
not amused...

Dealing with USBANK has become a nightmare. Please if anyone has information on who the regulators are and where i
can make an offical complaint please e-mail me

Summer 2002, Davenport, Iowa: USBank allowed a number of completely unauthorized charges to go through to Ms
Smith account, and penalized her (with a slew of huge fees) when this caused an overdraft situation. They failed to
notify her promptly of the negative balance (preferring instead to continue to bounce her checks, and to assess daily
overdraft, NSF, and "negative balance" fees). They didn't post the funds I wired to cover the overdraft for a week after they
received the wire, which allowed them to assess additional daily penalties. They promised to reverse (only!) half of the
overdraft fees resulting from their error, but never made good on their promise. They refused to assist Ms. Smith in
recovering the unauthorized amounts. They promised to not allow any more charges against her account from the
aforementioned offender, but all they did was charge Ms. Smith an extortionate $57 each for two useless "stop payment
orders" against the unauthorized transactions they had already allowed. The only way Ms. Smith could stop these
transactions was to close the account. And, to add insult to injury, they took over a month to send Ms. Smith a copy of
the check she needed to show First Midwest Bank to resolve her fraudulent transaction problem with them --- and they
charged an extortionate amount for this (dis)service too.

G.D.

Folks, I used to work at US Bank. I was a manager. The bank was as mean to its employees as it was to its customers
(the epitomy of hatefulness to both). They loved to humiliate the managers and we were the ones trying to take care of our
customers and employees. We often were screaming at someone in a call center or faceless department trying to get
them to help our customers we were not empowered to help. I can remember customers literally sobbing at my desk
because they got so frustrated and no one to help. I would like to see a permanent US Bank Complaint web site. Is there
anyone out there that would like to design a web site for this purpose? It would be great if it could be done is such a way
so that a regulatory agency like the comptroller of the currency could be aware of it. Perhaps there is a lawyer reading
this that could put together a class action law suit for related complaints. It will take coordinated effort through regulatory
agencies that oversee the banking industry or efforts through the legal system to bring about permanent changes at this
bank. Jack Grundhofer, ex-CEO, was reportedly proud of his nickname, "Jack the Ripper" for decimating departments and
axing experiencedp ersonnel and taking over perfectly good and decent small banks and turning them into incompetant
US Banks. This is why the bank's streamlined processes failed. The arrogance at the top level and obsessive focus on
cost cutting to boost stock share price at all costs, to the eventual near collapse of customer service, created an attitude
of dispirited and abused and overworked employees at all levels of the company, who began to take it out on customers
themselves. Once this type of uncaring and hateful attitude takes root in an organizaton, it spreads the frustration and
anger to many inter-related departments, till eventually everyone is frustrated to the breaking point and takes it out on the
customer. This is the legacy of Jack Grundhofer. I don't think the current management (his brother Jerry) has the courage
and imagination to turn anything around. The most experienced and caring employees were long since forced out or into
early retirement, taking with them a culture of caring and knowledge. Management would have to diligently work at
retraining and most of all listen to employees who really are the ones who have the best insights as to how to change
things for the better. But, that would mean respecting employees and customers, treating them with dignity and concern
and empowering them to make decisions. US Bank's downfall was a belief in a rigid, autocratic, top down, managment
style. It has turned around and bit them, but not before many innocent customers and emplyees have been deeply hurt
and frustrated. Jack Grundhoffer is long gone, ensconced firmly in retirement with his fabulous stock options, leaving a
once fine bank decimated and struggling. The only thing I can think is that perhaps through the internet a web site could
be created with the knowledge and approval of regulatory agencies, the press, perhaps the legal system, and don't forget
shareholders, so that this bank is forced into some sort of structural change. But it will take more than just venting anger.
Anyone else got some ideas out there? We need to be creative, organized, and thoughtful.

I'm forwarding your web site link to a friend who still has lots of disgruntled friends working at US Bank.

W.S.D