This rant comes from Dxxxx Bxxxxxxx, who wishes to remain anonymous in case the heavy mob from Canada Square come looking for him …
I have been an HSBC customer for some 30 years and have always been satisfied with the service I have received, until one Thursday when I visited my usual branch to deposit an amount of coin. At about 3.00 p.m. the bank was not busy, and there were only two people ahead of me at the counter. As one of them left and I stepped forward to be served, the cashier closed his position.
I then waited for a good ten minutes while the only other cashier completed a complicated transaction. By the time my turn came, three people were queueing behind me. By the time my own transaction was halfway complete, there were six. The ones at the front must have been waiting at least as long as I had, and could only look forward to an even longer wait.
The missing cashier returned but did not open his window, instead busying himself with some no doubt important paperwork. I asked my cashier if she did not think it was necessary to open another window as there were six people waiting behind me. If all the transactions were going to take as long as mine, the person at the back of the queue could be waiting for half an hour. The cashier was very polite, said that there was no-one to do it, and asked if I would like to speak to the manager? He or she was busy, however, and I thought I had waited long enough so asked the cashier to pass my complaint on for me.
The next morning there was a letter on my doormat from a lady called the "Customer Services Manager". She said that, referring to my "comments" in the bank the day before, at that time of day they have standard procedures which must be followed because it's the cut-off time for the banking industries (sic) end of day. This included balancing their tills, hence some positions being closed. Customers visiting the counter at that time might therefore have to wait longer than usual.
She finished by saying that if this was unacceptable, I should avoid going to the bank at that time.
In fact, what she was saying was "because at a certain time of day we are very busy with other important things, we have decided to offer a poor standard of customer service. If you don't like it, don't come in at that time". Bloody rude, really.
I hadn't meant to do any more about such a footling matter, but I obviously couldn't let it rest. I immediately replied saying "I understand about cashing-up and know it has to be done when it has to be done. To be frank, that's your problem; it should not be a problem for your customers. All businesses have internal processes that are essential to their operations. Asda and Sainsbury's cash-up, but they don't stop serving customers while they do it. MacDonalds takes deliveries, gets cleaned, trains its staff, gets inspected for hygiene - but it keeps on serving the burgers. My gardener turns up faithfully every Wednesday, come rain or shine: he doesn't stay at home one week because he has to do his VAT return. When teachers have to complete reports or write exams, they don't send the children out to play while they do it.
When delays are caused by sheer volume of business they're unavoidable. When they are caused by your failure to provide enough staff or because your staff have better things to do than attend to customers, they are unacceptable. It is also unacceptable at any time that there should be no senior staff-member available to deal with problems or complaints".
A couple of weeks ago I did a bit of research. On the same day of the week and at the same time I visited all the various banks in our town centre. This is what I found …
• HSBC: 2 windows open, queues at both. One other staff talking to a customer
• NatWest: All windows open - no queues. Girl at reception said they never close windows at that time of the afternoon, and cash up when the bank closes at 5.00.
• Lloyds TSB - first branch: 4 windows open, two girls on reception. No queues. Girl at reception said they only close windows when trade is slack, and open them if they are needed. They used to cash up at 3.30, but now do it when the bank closes at 5.00.
• Lloyds TSB - second branch: five windows open plus another two that were open but had no visible cashier. No queues.
• Barclays: 5 windows open, plus at least four staff talking to customers. No queues.
By the way, two months on I am still awaiting a reply to my letter!
The GOS says: And this is the bank that has announced record profits for a UK company with earnings of £9.6bn in 2004 - a 37% increase over the previous year. This profit works out at around £1m an hour.
You'd think they could afford a couple of extra cashiers, then, wouldn't you?
either on this site or on the World Wide Web.
This site created and maintained by PlainSite