Is this the norm for banks???

[Ally]

Last Thursday after landing we went straight to Lloyd's bank in Yardley which Joanie has belonged to forever.

Well..I couldn't believe the transformation!

Gone was the dark wooded walls, staff behind a glass thingy and the general old fashioned comforting feel of a bank as I remember it.
The staff were sitting on what looked like bar stools arranged artistically in the centre of the room.

It was as bright as a summers day with halogen lights everywhere.

MUSIC!!!! Blasting out..and I am not exaggerating..we could hardly hear what the young man was saying to us.

I'm not sure having Shania Twain warbling 'I feel like a woman' whilst discussing Power of Attorney is quite appropriate.
(No offence to Shania but I'm usually flicking a duster around when listening to her!!)

Don then asked to go somewhere more private to discuss his mother's matters..the 12 year old dealing with us obviously thought we didn't mind everyone knowing her business!

Off he goes and I sit in a big squishy chair..think Ikea.

The disco continued and I hummed along to the Bee Gees, Chic and David Cassidy..rather jolly.

All this time I'm watching the staff greeting all customers coming in as if they were long lost relations from outer Mongolia!!

HELLO!!!! HOW ARE YOU!!!! Haven't seen you for AGES!!! You get the drift.

Jeez......

Ally...glad she does online banking!

[Kaz]

Yep sounds about right! My bank has a smiley little lady who leaps out at you while you're queueing for the ATMs and asks if she can help you today? Erm no I'm queueing for the ATM thanks...................

I do online too Ally much better

[victor]

wot? no tv to watch as well--standards are slipping

Ah Lloyds ,wonderful bank ,had a letter from from them saying -as you have not used your C.C for a long time we will not be issuing a new one when your current one expires.

hello !!!we stopped using you 6 years ago.and i have been returning them -cut up-all that time

[saundra]

it annoys me when you are in a queue only
2 cashiers and the smilley lady
comes along and says can i help you
yes open a cash desk i reply
she just looks blank

[Workingman]

The larger Post Offices have also gone all "user friendly".

You are greeted by Ken and Barby who ask what your business is:
"I want to post this parcel"
One of them will then enter your needs at the speed of light on their touch screen and out pops a ticket.
"Over there - area C"
So you take your parcel and ticket and head to area C, your eyes glued to one of the many screens just in case your number comes up.
"Excuse me, going to area C"
"Sorry, didn't see you, I was looking at the screen"
"Me too"
So you get to area C and there are no seats. The numbers on the screen keep coming up, but not yours - A197 to desk 17, A198 to desk 19, C 243 to desk 27...
What, I'm C 261 F ff f ff... and A198 came in AFTER me!
Then you notice three or four desks with cashiers but no customers.... they are doing money transfers or foreign exchange and nobody wants that today. They are there "just in case", but not for you.
All this is supposed to "enhance your customer experience".
Sorry P.O. it isn't working for me.
The old cha-cha conga single file used to work.... I knew where I was in that queue.

[tonicha]

Gawd, that sounds dreadful.

We do on-line banking for our English stuff, but we also have a Portuguese bank. As we had a problem filling in a form the other day, we popped in.

Out came a very smartly dressed man, shook our hands, asked how he could help. We explained, he filled it in for us added a copy for us, a copy for them and another spare copy for us.

Then shook our hands again as we left.

Marvellous

[JoM]

We use Barclays and Nationwide. Barclays have a greeter at the door now and also someone who comes along the queue asking if they can help you. Nationwide seems to have nothing like that but then it's only a small branch.

I did notice in town the other day that there's a big sparkly new Lloyds branch on the corner of Corporation St and New St. It looked very light and very open.

[victor]

well here with our Portugese bank we were allocated an acc manager,we just ring and make an appt-none of this queuing malarkey

even rang us once as interest rate was changing--we were in UK at the time -rang our mobile-apologised for ringing as we were on "vacation"-and said he would freeze our acc til we were back

[Suff]

We still bank with the Bank of Scotland (hbos/Lloyds/ whatever). They went trendy and open plan more than a decade ago. Their service levels have raised so much that you virtually cannot speak to the branch, Ever, unless you make a fuss.

They are becoming more useless by the year. I remember when RBS did this. They pulled the mortgages and loans back from the branches and into the centre. Hey Presto, the branches start losing money....

It's like "Military Intelligence" a contradiction in terms.....

What a bunch of "b"ankers.

[Ally]

Gawd, that sounds dreadful.

We do on-line banking for our English stuff, but we also have a Portuguese bank. As we had a problem filling in a form the other day, we popped in.

Out came a very smartly dressed man, shook our hands, asked how he could help. We explained, he filled it in for us added a copy for us, a copy for them and another spare copy for us.

Then shook our hands again as we left.

Marvellous

We do all our banking online apart from our local branch of Santander..it's a nice little bank and quiet!!