"If we foul up, we'll pay up," Chemical Bank is telling retail customers who are affected by its merger with Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co.
With the phaseout of the Hanover name moving into top gear in early 1993, Chemical is promising customers $5 if it bungles an account transfer from one branch to another.
It also is promising $5 if it fails to solve other merger-related problems "to your satisfaction."
Chemical will have closed eight to 10 branches by Jan. 1, and expects to shut 70 more branches next year. Tens of thousands of customers will be affected.
The new program, which mirrors an ongoing offer of $5 to any Chemical customer who waits in a teller line for more than seven minutes, will apply to customers whose accounts are being transferred to another branch and to customers at the other branch who may be affected by the new traffic.
A spokesman said the bank piloted the program at five branches this year and decided to extend it companywide. "The purpose is to assure customers of both branches that service will continue to be high quality," the spokesman said.
