Polite bank staff?

System

First Direct do have branches - they have use of every HSBC branch for transactions such as making deposits and withdrawals. They have have access to the Post Office network those basic transactions too.

Tesco did have some branches and still now still allow some basic transactions in their larger stores.

takman wrote: »

I think that is good proof that it's possible to entirely operate your finances without visiting a branch ever...Like I said above Tesco and First Direct have proven that bank branches are unnecessary to successfully operate a bank. Plus First Direct always get the best ratings for customer service beating all the other banks that have branches.

MABLE

veryintrigued wrote: »

Indeed.

The fact you feel the need to state that in your signature and berate others for holding up the bank queue you're also waiting in gives a very good indication of the 'type of girl' you are.

I hope you have a better day today.

I was just saying.:rotfl:

takman

Heng_Leng wrote: »

First Direct do have branches - they have use of every HSBC branch for transactions such as making deposits and withdrawals. They have have access to the Post Office network those basic transactions too.

Tesco did have some branches and still now still allow some basic transactions in their larger stores.

Technically they don't have any of their own branches, and considering the only services they offer are withdrawing and depositing cash and cheques that again shows that branches are not required because this can be done easily by machine.

Mrs_Ryan

I had a Lloyds account until recently and as I had a Chip and Sign card my card didn't work in cash machines so I used to have to queue at the counter if I wanted cash- which I used to do every Tuesday to pay for my Pilates class as I would need the coins counting out for me (I have severe dyscalculia and can't count coins) If I was asked to use the cash machine I would politely say I have a chip and signature card and I would usually be left alone. However one member of staff upon hearing this said 'oh shall I order you a PIN number?' some of the staff were quite persistent and it drove me bonkers especially as some of them appeared not to know what a Chip and Sign card was! I have a Halifax Chip and Sign card but I haven't attempted to use it in branch yet

Flobberchops

A quite agree that we should all stand in the queue for any and all transactions - even those as simple as getting a mini statement or withdrawing a tenner - as it keeps the counter staff in a job. The rate that modern technology is making people redundant is depressing.

Why, on any given afternoon you can see a grim-faced queue outside the job centre: former bank tellers (some of them jobless since the introduction of ATMs in 1967), supermarket cashiers fired in the great Self Service Purges, laid-off petrol pump attendants, jobless elevator operatives, and out-of-work VCR repair men.

As any fool knows progress always means job cuts, and it's a literal impossibility for the worker to train for a new role. I'm marching on Downing Street this afternoon to raise awareness for the Union of Chimney Sweeps, Barrow Boys and Powder Monkeys. I hope I can count on seeing all of you there?

pinkdalek

Flobberchops wrote: »

A quite agree that we should all stand in the queue for any and all transactions - even those as simple as getting a mini statement or withdrawing a tenner - as it keeps the counter staff in a job. The rate that modern technology is making people redundant is depressing.

If you standing in a queue and your transaction could be done elsewhere but YOU choose to queue then don't moan at staff who are helping. The reality is there is no more staff who can open another till and serve, there is not a surplus of people round the back just counting money and drinking tea. It is not the 1980s.

But queueing up to "keep folk in a job" is an urban myth. A bank will close a branch if it is costing it too much to run, or is not making it enough profit and if there is another branch nearby then they'll just tell you to go there.

Westie983

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

I have a Halifax Chip and Sign card but I haven't attempted to use it in branch yet

Shouldn't be a problem, if you just say its signature only, if you are asked to put it in the chip and pin machine it will say to remove it as its wants a signature.

If you are approached when you arrive in branch just explain you sign for withdrawals and they should direct you to the counter.

Westie983

They want to run the counter with one cashier where I work and occasionally for a hour between 12:30 and 200 the could be two cashiers, but mostly run with one cashier,
if you decide to queue to get a mini statement, you will either be taken from the queue by the queue comber who can assist you with your request, if there is no queue comber you may find you are told to go to help and advice as counter is cash only transactions.

If you decide to queue, then moaning that there is one casher, isnt fair on the cashier who is just trying to keep the queue maintained with passbook customers or transactions that cant be done via self service, its can be very annoying for both the customer and the cashier if you are asked for a bank statement, and you have waited and queued when it could have been done at other part of the bank in a quicker time,.

That said there will always need to be cashiers, well ~I hope so...

deadendwaterfall

I currently have two accounts, one with Halifax which I've had the longest and a Lloyd's one and I've always found the Lloyd's staff to be the politest. I would have thought the standards would have been the same considering the two companys come under the same banking group.

JuicyJesus

deadendwaterfall wrote: »

I currently have two accounts, one with Halifax which I've had the longest and a Lloyd's one and I've always found the Lloyd's staff to be the politest. I would have thought the standards would have been the same considering the two companys come under the same banking group.

Lloyds and Halifax target different markets and different groups of people - note how Lloyds advertise in a professional way with nicely shot adverts and horses, and Halifax advertise with strange tie-ins with irrelevant cartoons and films.