Bank Branches what are they there for?

Those hounb women are the worst! (Sorry. Couldn't resist)

Private room !

I had a problem recently ( Halifax) I went to the bank explained what I wanted , was directed into a otivatd room where a very efficient and professional man listened and sorted thr problem for me - very impressed!
On a less positive note I went into Lloyds and was ' greeted ' by a hounb woman - yes weilding a tablet . She sat me down in a public area and I found myself discussing my business in close proximity of other people doing the same thing!!

We still have a fairly big branch of our bank in the local town but they seem reluctant to help in person, always directing you to do it online or via machines. Sometimes, that just doesn’t cut it!

When we moved house three years ago a bank clerk filled in a hand written form incorrectly, changing my initials. It caused havoc because it meant that it didn’t match any of my others accounts such as savings, and I couldn’t use my passport or driver’s licence as ID. I kept being told I could change it back online but I couldn’t because it required ID - which no longer matched! 😫 It took months of repeated visits to the bank finally get it sorted.

We also use the bank for £5 notes and £1 coins (useful for grandchildren and local parking which doesn’t take cards or notes) but they’re very salty about giving us those. I also wanted US dollars recently and was snippily informed that they ‘don’t usually do that sort of thing’ though they did reluctantly produce some for me in the end. If they don’t do basics such as foreign currency and cash, what do they do??

Oldbat1

Our town now does not have any banks. There is a banking hub.

Nor ours.

Nationwide shut down years ago!

There used to be a Lloyds, NatWest, Abby national and nation wide in our village centre. Now they're all gone, and if you need a problem sorted ( in my case with NW) I have an hour bus journey to my ' local' branch, or chat to a bot via a phone app. It's bloody ridiculous

Oh Maggiemaybe - wars are for the purposes of helping the rich and powerful grab even more than they already have. A bit of "divide and rule" thrown in as well...

Thinks....I can feel a little research project coming on at some point - entitled "What excuses were used to start up all the wars of the last 100 years?". The one thing we can be sure and certain of = it wasnt for our benefit (ie "yer ordinary person in the street").

Sorry to digress, and I’m sure it’s just me, but I can’t help reading the thread title in my head to the tune of “War, huh, yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!”

We have a banking hub in our town to cover the banks whose branches have closed. I went there to pay in a cheque but the Barclays representative also helped me set up the App on my phone which I couldn't get to work. I found out that when you have to touch for your fingerprint to log you in you just touch lightly. I was pressing too hard. Who knew?! That also solved the problems I'd had with other Apps!

Nanny27

Our banks have been replaced by a banking hub which has one day a week for each bank. DH went in because he had a large ish cheque to pay into his account and was told they couldn't do it there. Beyond belief.

Astonishing indeed. The very rare cheques that I get sent these days just get sent back by post by me to my own branch of my "bank" - ie the Nationwide. My own branch is in a (small) city and it goes through.

I was rather surprised the other day when I received a cheque for something and needed to pay it in and I, rather cheekily and not really expecting a positive answer, went in that little Wales only building society (Principality) that I have some savings with here (and who, in their own words, tell me "We're a bit old-fashioned here" - yep indeed they are....) and asked if I could just put it into my savings account and it duly got taken straight off me and put into my account there. I was able to take a look (to prove it to myself) seconds later - as they still have passbooks and it got handed back to me with the entry duly made that it had gone in.

So if one is in that part of the country at least = sorted. I would imagine there are other building societies that do this service too.

It works out very handy for me - as they have a lot of branches still (albeit in Wales only) and I can just walk into one a matter of minutes from my home, see middle-aged women assistants sitting there at desks (ie the group of people most likely to know their jobs properly imo) and acting helpfully and job done. No person standing there with a tablet trying to bar entrance. Sorted.

My local branch as closed and I have 2 options as visiting a branch which involves travel , but I rely on statements plus i think the banks should be charging customers who use there smart phones for transactions as most have closed because banks are not in profit .
Mick

I am fed up of having on line everything foisted on me. I want to speak to a person, a vain hope.

I needed to speak to a human about my finances recently. I had to travel 15 miles into Edinburgh to the headquarters of my bank. I was asked at the door if I had an appointment! I didn't know I had to and there wasn't an obvious phone number.

I was shown to a seat, offered a coffee and told there could be a wait.

Eventually a polite young man talked through my problem, made a phonecall and suggested I see my solicitor.

I did and eventually the problem was solved.
I wondered what banks actually do!

Mostly I bank online but the robot helpline is worse than useless.

HSBC have changed their phone help to be more obstructive with constant telling you you can do it through your banking app. Butt talking gibberrish usually gets me a person who is normally very helpful. However, sometimes randomly you get the Indian call centre, and while they can do some things, they are simply trained only to read what is on their screen.

The branch is variable, and over busy, so we make an appointment with the one who really knows her job (shout out to Tanis)

As to Nationwide, they have quite a few branches, but ours has nowhere private if you want to talk, just the cash counter. And if you want anything complicated now, you make an appointment. What I do not understand is that I have 2 current joint accounts with them (for specific reasons), and for one, we get 2 sets of everything by post, for the other, we have to go into branch to get them to print statements!

The complaints procedure is in place to enable you to resolve your problem.
Going to see a random member of staff is never going to work, as they may not know enough about your type of query to be able to sort this out for you.
At the end of the day, you have to use the bank’s processes. Speaking loudly and threatening to move your account is pretty useless.

I did have to go into my local branch (Nationwide) about a year ago about a complicated problem I was having with an overseas payment. The chap I saw couldn't help very much but he was able to give me a lot of account details that I was able to use to sort it out. Other than that money comes in and goes out and I don't often have to query anything.

M0nica

What bank branches?

In Newbury we have the following - it must be a record!

Barclays
Lloyds
Santander
Metro
Handlesbanken
NatWest
Nationwide
Newbury Building Society

I just got a new credit card with Nat West, a bank I haven't been with before. I went into the branch to change the PIN. I was just heading towards the machines when a lady bounced up to me and asked if she could help. I told her what I had come to do and she replied "Oh yes, any of the machines can do that, just wait in the queue". Well, thanks!

We are so lucky - we have a small branch of HSBC in the next large village. There are a lot of elderly people in that village and that’s one of the main reasons they’re still there! And - they still have CASH! They were an enormous help to me when selling my mother’s house and buying her her flat (I have LPA). I dread them closing……

What bank branches?

Ali61

Just a suggestion, but if you use online banking there are lots of places to go to within your banking app where you can report a problem online. I didn't know this until the other day when my Mum had a query about a payment going out which she didn't recognise. My daughter actually pointed me in the right direction. I know you'd just like to speak to a person, but unfortunately doing everything online is just becoming the norm now.

Yes, I WOULD like to speak to a person. A real one.

That's what I tell the AI robots who answer the phones/online queries at my bank.

" Please may I speak to a live human being. "

We're lucky we still have a Barclays branch. Although we bank online, occasionally we go into the branch. We did a week or so ago to transfer some money into an ISA. The staff are really helpful whenever we go in. Firstly my o/h got the day wrong for the appointment, they managed to squeeze us in. The woman member of staff was very personable and thorough, there were a couple of snags which she diligently worked through.

TheMaggiejane1

This is a shame. Our local Barclays has recently closed down but they have installed an advisor in an office in a local coffee shop. They don’t handle cash but I recently went in as I’ve been having problems making a regular payment through the banking app as the company I was paying had changed their banking details. The advisor couldn’t have been more helpful and talked me through the whole procedure. I hope they don’t decide to close this facility as well.

Our local Barclays closed 3 years ago.

They set up an office in the library 3 days a week.

The contract was for 3 years.

It has now closed, the reason being it was underused, strange as there were always customers queuing to be seen.

But obviously once the contract was up, they had no intention of carrying on.

I agree, I left banking in 2014 and even then, loads of experienced staff had already left. There has since been a gradual move away from staff being able to think for themselves. This has meant being restricted on freedom of common sense actions and service, unless the computer says 'yes'. Services such as executor accounts and anything slightly 'out of the ordinary' are mostly alien to the inexperienced staff that remain

This is a shame. Our local Barclays has recently closed down but they have installed an advisor in an office in a local coffee shop. They don’t handle cash but I recently went in as I’ve been having problems making a regular payment through the banking app as the company I was paying had changed their banking details. The advisor couldn’t have been more helpful and talked me through the whole procedure. I hope they don’t decide to close this facility as well.