By RARZACK OLAEGBE
Let the headline marinate. While Man United players do not think about the club daily, some bank tellers have stopped thinking about banking. It shows in their not-available-service attitude. As such, some bank tellers offer service as a favour. The customer is an indigent person who needs help. ‘’Let me help you,’’ the customer service personnel said to me.
‘’I am just helping you’’. You have listened to this refrain too many times. Emanating from the throat of a customer-facing person is quite irritating. ‘’What we need is work that creates value’’, a friend told me. ‘’We need work that keeps promises. We need work that solves problems. We need work that respects the people who depend on it’’.
Overheard
A teller told a customer that if her account officer responded on time, the customer’s account might be activated in two weeks owing to ‘’a change of name’’ on the account. “Before the short messaging platform is activated it will be in 72 hours.”
Is it a curse to be married and have a change of name? The teller had no iota of empathy. No sense of let-me-walk-in-shoes-a-mile-to-understand-your-plight. The customer left to lament her circumstances. Now to think that not one of the ‘’all-female tellers cast’’ demonstrated sisterly predisposition for that newlywed female customer was beyond me. The female teller and others in blue skirt suits carried on without a care. Like the Man United players during a recent football match where they were walloped 4-1.
Priority seating
Who has the privilege to occupy this seat at the banking hall of a bank? Pregnant women? A nursing mother? The aged? The sick. Or PWDs? It was a shock to notice a priority seat being occupied by young and able-bodied customers while seven aged women loitered around, waiting to be served. The in-banking hall concierge did not notice. Or did not care to interfere on behalf of the aged. When you did, many did not understand. Is it that this particular bank did not educate the customer, its staff, or the ‘priority seating’ was a décor?
In other parts of the world where priority seating has a foothold, certain customers get faster assistance or comfort because they cannot wait for too long. These customers are those with special or physical needs. The elderly, pregnant women and PWDs are in this group. Then the high net worth customers. Priority seating reduces wait time. Enhances comfort. Anyone in this category comes ahead of other customers.
Recently, there was priority seating but without service. Perhaps those who occupied the area were undeserving of any priority. Move to the parking lot. Able-bodied customers’ cars occupy designated parking spaces for PWDs. Perhaps the reason is that PWDs rarely visit the banking hall. That was why the space was unused by the PWDs. This is not peculiar to banks only. It is the same at all public offices. The PWDs are unwelcome.
No to Short Message Service
If I send my personal details via SMS to a bank, it will be unacceptable. Why would a bank send me a short message? A manager in one of the FUGAZ and I discussed this matter recently. The bank does not accept any information sent via short messaging. A short message is not one of the requirements to open a bank account. I opted out of the short messaging service. Signed an indemnity. What follows is a story for another day. A hint. I won. How?
Thinking about banking
Who are you serving through your work? While Man United players have neglected their primary duties, some bank tellers have done the same. They do not think about banking.
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