While I was away from Melbourne, I got a cheque for $1.64 in the mail. It was waiting for me on my desk when I got back.

Not one for loose ends, I walked to the local branch of my bank so that I could deposit it. Usually, I make deposits through the ATM. The machine gave me an envelope as normal. I stuffed the cheque in and licked it shut. I was in a hurry because the machine was beeping at me: ‘Quickly! Put the envelope in! I’m going to cancel your transaction, you’re taking too long…’

I pushed the envelope into the deposit slot and only managed to squish it against an unseen surface. I tried again. Push. Squish. The ATM seemed jammed.

I hit ‘cancel’ — then, patiently joined the queue inside the bank for a teller. When I was called to the counter, I explained the situation.

‘Could you help me deposit this cheque? I tried to put it into the ATM but the machine is jammed.’

‘Of course. No problem.’ The teller ripped open the end of the ATM envelope, only to find she had ripped off the end of my cheque as well. After further struggles with sticky tape, my $1.64 was finally on its way to my account.

‘Thanks for that,’ I said. ‘Umm… Could you make sure I’m not charged for this transaction? The teller assist fee, I mean?’

I have an internet-based bank account. For $2 a month, I get electronic and ATM transactions for free but am charged $2.50 if I need help from a teller.

‘Oh no, I can’t do that’ she said. ‘You’re charged as soon as you show up at the teller. When you get your statement with the charges listed, bring it into the branch. They might be able to do something about it then.’

Walking home from the bank, I felt more and more vexed. If I got charged $2.50, I would make a loss of 86 cents on this deposit. I would have been better off ripping up the cheque in the first place!

At home, I turned on the computer and composed an email to the bank’s complaints department. I clicked ‘send’ and felt better. There. I had done my best.

The next day, I got a call from the bank.

‘Hello, is this Joan?’

‘Yes?’

‘This is Madeleine from the bank. We got a feedback email from you yesterday and I’m calling to let you know that you won’t be charged for the cheque deposit.’

‘Oh, good!’ I said.

‘And for the trouble that you took to write that email, we’re also waiving your $2 account keeping fee for this month.’

I started laughing. ‘Wow, uh, fantastic! Every little bit counts, I guess!’

Madeleine giggled too. I knew it cost her nothing to offer the $2. To the bank, $2 was a tiny price for keeping a customer happy.