Bring back the old days

legless

I have just been into the Bradford and Bingley to open an account and they refused to take my money as you now have to make an appointment to open an account. They want you to sit for 20 mins for each account you open. So if you want to open 6 accounts it will take 2 hrs. You have to sit while they go through their sales pitch trying to get you to put your money where they want. It do’s not matter how much money you want to put in they will refuse to take it unless they you have an appointment. What ever happen to the old days. By the way I am disabled in a wheelchair and it cost me £10 for a taxi:mad:

bendix

Umm . . go to a different bank, perhaps? I dunno. Just a thought.

opinions4u

legless wrote: »

I have just been into the Bradford and Bingley to open an account and they refused to take my money as you now have to make an appointment to open an account.

Well if other customers have made appointments before you, do you think they should take priority? Or should they be left waiting while you are attended to?

They want you to sit for 20 mins for each account you open. So if you want to open 6 accounts it will take 2 hrs.

It probably wouldn't take that long, but there is a time implication.

You have to sit while they go through their sales pitch trying to get you to put your money where they want.

They also have to show the FSA that they are selling to customer need. Establishing that need takes time.

It do’s not matter how much money you want to put in they will refuse to take it unless they you have an appointment.

At least they offer the same service to all then.

What ever happen to the old days.

Did they encourage queue jumping in those days? It's a genuine question. If staff were all dealing with customers who had pre-booked appointments, what would have happened in the "old days"?

By the way I am disabled in a wheelchair and it cost me £10 for a taxi:mad:

Most banks will open an account by telephone. I'm sure they'd call you back to, so they can pay for the phone bill.

I would like to think that the branch staff would put themselves out a little bit further for a customer with a disability, but it is genuinely possible that they simply didn't have the resources to do so.

legless

I DON'T want to queue jump. I just want to queue up and open an account. You sound to me as if you work there

Lansdowne

I think the point being made is that banks/BS are now requiring appointments for simple matters that in the "old days" would have been dealt with at the counter.

harz99

Simples really; if they don't want your money go elsewhere! (But maybe a phone call first?)

opinions4u

legless wrote: »

I DON'T want to queue jump. I just want to queue up and open an account. You sound to me as if you work there

No, I don't work there and never have. They did offer me a job in 1988 though!

What I was trying to do is to help you realise that staff in banks and building societies are sometimes put in a position where they cannot give the level of service that they would like to give or that customers would demand.

While I always encouraged my staff to bend over backwards to see each and every customer who came through the door, however busy the branch I managed was, it was inevitable that there would be occasions where it simply wasn't possible to deliver this.

I saw having to make a customer an appointment after they'd walked in to a branch to ask for something as a personal failure (unless that was what they wanted). But the reality is that it has to be done from time to time, moreso as the regulatory burden on bank branches increases.

Once an apoointment has been booked, that has to be given priority over any "on-spec" enquiry.

If your B&B branch had packed diaries for staff able to open accounts for you, how else could they accommodate you without booking an appointment?

Lansdowne wrote: »

I think the point being made is that banks/BS are now requiring appointments for simple matters that in the "old days" would have been dealt with at the counter.

Absolutely. It was always a joy stood in a queue where two cashiers were working away and one of them had to spend a chunk of time opening half a dozen new accounts for somebody on the counter, causing a small queue to become a huge queue within 5 minutes.

legless

When I telephoned before I went to the branch to ask about saving accounts and said I would come in to the branch nobody told me I should make an appiontment. You are talking from their point of view Nobody today works as hard as 20 to 30 years ago but want more money

Reaper

I'm with legless on this one. Opening a savings account does not take the counter staff very long. All they want an appointment for is to see what else they can sell you.

An appointment is fair enough for a loan or mortgage, but not simple savings.

I suggest using internet based savings accounts instead. No interviews saving you a taxi fare and a lot of time.

joolsybools

Open an account online, no need to deal with people then!

opinions4u

legless wrote: »

When I telephoned before I went to the branch to ask about saving accounts and said I would come in to the branch nobody told me I should make an appiontment.

Not a hope in hell that I would defend that. They should have done. Tempting to ask them to pay for your taxi fare if you need to make an additional journey.

You are talking from their point of view

I was trying to, yes!

Reaper wrote: »

Opening a savings account does not take the counter staff very long. All they want an appointment for is to see what else they can sell you.

It is one reason. Another would be that to train counter staff in the different Money Laundering Regulations for account opening isn't necessarily the right thing to do. Another reason, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is that the FSA now insist that bank branches justify the choice of savings product sold to a customer to prove that it is appropriate. That can't be done without the right questions being asked to establish need.