How NOT to Respond to Customers: Navy Federal Credit Union

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In an effort to do my part to help bring the economy back into control, I moved my money into a credit union. Specifically Navy Federal Credit Union. So far so good, not the same experience as being with a big bank, but not bad either. There are no branches in the state I live, so I rely on their website. They have an eDeposit utility. It uses your scanner to scan the front and back of checks. It's not perfect, in fact it's been a bit frustrating to use.
So I sent them a message with an outline of the problems I've experienced and some suggestions. 

eDeposit utility leaves a lot to be desired, as does your rejection system.
The automatic crop is often wrong and seems to not have sufficient logic built into it. For example it autocropped the back of a check to a small square that just included my signature. Should it not compare the relative size of the front and back of a check and realize there's a problem when they're not even close in proportionate size? It often crops the check incorrectly making a vertical rectangle when the check was placed on the scanner horizontally and vice versa. This is even with a black binder placed on top of the check for contrast. Hitting the "reset" button often doesn't fix this as the program has already pre-cropped off half the check. This is inconsistent as other times when it automatically crops incorrectly and I press the "reset" button, I get the entire scanned area from the scanner, complete with empty space and the entire check.
The rejection system said that my check was rejected for "poor image quality". Since this is an automated process, the user is not allowed to make any changes to image quality, so the error makes very little sense. The user is given no controls to adjust DPI or anything along those lines. I even looked at the check scan images in question and there was no issue with the quality. Everything was clear and legible, no blurs, no dust or hair making letters or numbers harder to read. So what was the problem? Your scanning software cropped off the account number and routing number at the bottom of the check! That's not poor image quality, that's a bad crop! Image quality and cropping are completely separate issues."Quality" refers to light, focus, blur, debris on the scanner. I didn't make that change, your software did. A rejection notice of "account and routing number on front of check is missing or obscured" would've been a lot more helpful. Or at least something along the lines of "information missing" rather than rejection reason that suggests my scanner is dirty or that the check moved during the scan.
I should note that I'm not haphazardly placing my checks, either. I'm placing them directly in the corner of the scanner, a corner the machine has highlighted as being a preferred placement area for alignment purposes. I've had to start placing a black binder on top of the checks on the scanner because your software likes to crop off sections of the check randomly and the contrast in color seems to help, at least sometimes.
It's great that you have this feature, but it needs a lot of improvement. In the case of rejection, it should give you steps/instructions on how to do another type of deposit. I see nothing on the website navigation that shows me any other way to make a deposit. I could mail a check, I'm sure, but I don't see anything that even hints on where I'd find that information. If you do have this info on your website, it's not easy to find, or in an intuitive section. Your information architecture could use some help, in fact a UX audit would greatly help.
My suggestion would be to not have the utility auto-crop a check. Just get the whole scannable area from the scanner and perhaps highlight a "suggested crop" that can be dragged or resized. Don't use any sort of size detection as it does not seem to work correctly or consistently.
Thank you.

Did they respond with a polite "thank you" or any sort of recognition that their system needs some work?
No, this is how they responded, seriously:

Thank you for using Navy Federal’s eMessaging Service. According to our records, on 05/25/12 a Scan Deposit in the amount of $xxx.xx was declined due to "Poor Image Quality". The image of your check was not clear or was scanned incorrectly. On 05/26/12, the check was approved. Depending on the type of scanner you have, you will need to either feed your check into the scanner (duplex scanner) or separately scan the front and back of your check (flatbed scanner). Before submitting your deposit, you'll be able to review the scanned check image and deposit information you've entered. It's important to verify that the image is clear and correct before submitting. Once you've submitted your deposit, you'll be taken to a printable confirmation screen. You'll also receive a confirmation email and subsequent emails letting you know the status of each scanned deposit.
If you are receiving an error message please be sure your system is compatible with our eDeposits service. Navy Federal's Scan Deposit service is supported by the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows (32 Bit and 64 Bit) - this includes Windows XP and Windows 7
Apple Mac OS 10.2 or later (32 Bit Only)
Please Note: 64-bit mode in Mac OSX is currently not supported. Unfortunately, this cannot be fixed by changing your browser setting.

Additionally, Home computers require updated browser settings with Java, as well as a TWAIN compliant scanner or scanning device. Remember to disable pop-up blockers to prevent Scan Deposit service errors. TWAIN compliant refers to image-capturing devices that are standardized for use across different computer hardware and software applications. Non-TWAIN compliant devices require specific, proprietary software to use the hardware.

Also note, it is necessary to have most recent version of Java installed and be sure the web browser is configured to allow Java programs to run on your computer. If the web browser is currently set to block pop-up boxes, it may be preventing an error or information messages from being presented as the Java application is attempting to load. Finally, if you have selected to add a nickname to any of your Navy Federal Checking or Savings accounts, please be sure the nicknames to not contain any symbols (Ex. &, #, $ etc.) This will prevent the system from properly pulling account information when selecting the eDeposits tab.
If you still further assistance in accessing our eDeposits service, please contact our Electronic Services department at 1-888-868-8123 Monday - Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. Thank you.

To deposit funds into your Navy Federal account(s), there are several options:
Take the deposit into any Navy Federal Branch.
Most Navy Federal ATMs now accept deposits and payments.
By mail to Navy Federal CU, P.O. Box 3100, Merrifield, VA 22119-3100. We suggest that you not endorse the check with your signature but rather write "For Deposit Only," unless a signature is required. Be sure to reference your account number.
By direct deposit or wire transfer by providing the paying agency or financial institution with your entire account number, and Navy Federal's routing/transit number, 2560-7497-4.
Using your scanner or mobile device through the eDeposit feature of Account Access.
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

So, to recap. I have issues, I outline the bugs in their system and give them suggestions. They respond by sending me instructions on how to use their product. No acknowledgment of my complaints, no acknowledgement of the issues or how they could be fixed, nope. Just a condescending, copy-paste of the instructions. It was nice to include the mailing deposit information, but it's as if they had a machine do a keyword search. Do they not allow their reps to compose individual messages?  It's just so bizarre, not every message that's typed can be responded to with a preformatted bit of boilerplate.I worked in tech support for 2 years, and I've been using computers since I was 10. Not long ago I built my own website, and half of my jobs have been troubleshooting equipment, I know how to use a machine. 
I responded that it wasn't at all the right way to handle this and let them know I'd be posting the exchange to the web. Customer Service is difficult. I know, I've done a lot of it my life. But doing it the right way, especially when you have a customer who isn't being unreasonable or screaming at you is actually pretty darn easy.I'm not out for blood here, I never was, in fact I wasn't really expecting much of a response just a "thank you for your comments" sort of deal, signed by a representative ---which would've been better than this, quite frankly.  What say you, internet? Was this good customer service?