David_Wallis

Why the **** do they open at 9.30 and close at 4.30

Allways closed when you need to go.. Pah..

Yeah I know just humans... but they could work shifts..

rant over..

David

krankyd

yeah - and when you buy something, like a sofa, telly, fridge or whatever and you get it delivered.

`why yes sir, we can be very flexible to deliver, monday to friday, 9 to 5pm`

Like I'm gonna take a day off and lose a days pay, when I've had to fork out money? no way!

dnb

It annoys me too. They're never open when I'm not at work - the same with shops etc.

Thankfully we have the internet now. This has improved things a bit, and my parents in law are very good about receiving deliveries...

ProperCharlie

A while ago I decided to avoid buying anything from those big electrical retailers - the shops are sh*te, the service is sh*te, the staff know f*** all about what they are selling, and the goods are overpriced. Oh and they pester you into trying to take out a massively overpriced insurance policy in case your goods turn out to be a load of cr*p and consequently break. Well anyway despite all this I recently went to one to buy a fridge. (Don't I ever learn ) Anyway, it was quite a costly fridge, and one that would never fit in anyone's car. So I assumed it would be delivered FOC. *WRONG* We can deliver it for £15. Oh. When? When you are at work, of course sir. Oh, well there's a slight problem as at this precise moment, I do not actually employ anyone specifically for the ppurpose of accepting fridges delivered to my house. Oh, well of course we could deliver it another time, but that will cost £25. WTF is going on here? And no, I don't want your f***ing insurance either. Sorry, I don't care that you make commission selling it. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

[/rant... for the time being]

Charlie.

SpongebobSquarepants

The local branch of the Yorkshire Bank here specialises in having it's staff all go for lunch during normal lunch hour, so everyone else who has used their lunch hour to go to the bank, ends up in a queue out of the doors!!:
Spongebob

David_Wallis

sounds familiar...

but ffs.. stupid or what.. they could at least open 8 - 6 not 9.30 - 4.30.

or open saturdays..

David

carl

It seems like some companies have embraced the 24-hour economy and others haven't
Even the Inland Revenue helplines are open till 8 pm (I think they recognize that people might not want to discuss taxation issues while they're at work), and Lakeside and Bluewater's shops open 10am-10pm (IIRC).

In the not-so-distant past, banks used to close at 3pm! And at 12:30 on Wednesdays in our town (along with all the other shops)

[Edited by carl - 3/27/2003 12:01:52 PM]

ChrisB

8 till 6 David?

The Banking Unions would have an eppy!

dnb

I often wonder whether the staff are sent on courses to teach them how best to be needlessly difficult...

If we assume that half the population works "normal hours" then how many people go into the shops during work hours? Surely they'd catch many more people if they staggered the opening times a bit so that we can go shopping without having to make special efforts to leave work early?

P1Fanatic

Ah the advantages of working shift. Shop/bank etc whilst most people are at work. Organising delivery is easy too. Reduced rates during the week for pretty much anything esp Golf

Simon.

Nigel H

David,

I'm not sure why you needed to go to a bank, maybe you did really to go.

I very rarely go to a bank now, cos I used first direct. They're great and I can do most things over the 'phone or the net. If I need to pay a cheque in most branches of HSBC have autopayment facilities. And some even open on Saturday morning.

Hell it sounds like I'm defending banks IMHE first direct have taken much of the pain out of it

MattN

I use internet banking too.

However when I had £1500 in cash the only way was to go to a branch. I also needed to talk to them about some incorrect charges - apparantly they couldn't deal with it over the phone. I also had some cheques to pay in but the cash machines require a paying in slip and they have removed these from the cash point area.

David_Wallis

Eh??

I had to get £550 out to pay for some wheels..

However in a vain attempt to drink less I snapped by bank card up..

worked quite well.. no more pissed up cashback..

Also wanted to pay a cheque for £400 in...

Hence not doing it via the net..

David

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Ive only just realised that you dont need to go the bank to pay cheques in & can just post them with a paying in slip- DOH! ...the amount of lunch time CS sessions Ive missed out on!

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

Flexible hours Mr Wallis

Clarebabes

I rarely go into a bank either. Barclays has a good online service and if you want to pay cheques in, the local post office accepts them. Takes a day longer, but I think it's worth that to be able to park right outside and not have to trudge into town, pay £1.05(!) for parking, get hassled by illegals, get to the bank which is full to the gills anyway, then repeat in reverse.

There is a better way

Hanley

Why don't you just try banking over the telephone / internet??

I wouldn't dream of going into a branch and wasting my time queing up when I can click my mouse or phone them up!!

David_Wallis

how does that get me £550 though...

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

It doesnt, they missed the point you need CASH, dont have a CASH CARD, so need to go to the bank and cash a cheque.

Use your flexible working hours to fit in with going to the bank, it is only round the corner isnt ut? Assuming LloydsTSB

David_Wallis

my flexible working hours are for working...

I needed the money for 9.30...

I walked to the bank at oakwood this morning for 9.00 and it was closed.. so had to go to fooking town and go to the bank there which opened at 9.00...

David

boomer

David_Wallis,

how old are you? It isn't that long ago that banks closed at 15:30 - never mind half four

In the old days, before computers were invented, banks closed at 15:30 so that they had a couple of hours to manually process all the cheques, slips etc. before manually posting them to the clearing thingy in London.

Then PacMan was invented, so all the manual stuff could be done automatically whilst the staff played games. This was an opportunity to allow branches to open later - but there were high-scores to maintain

Seriously, however, working practices and union rules played a part in sticking with the old opening hours. I think that it was Barclays who first started opening to 16:30, and threw everything into turmoil. Other banks felt that they had to follow suit, but that meant new employee contracts and all kinds of hassle.

Although opening hours may increase, availability to banking facilities is already 24hr - with the telephone and Internet. It is only cash transactions that suffer

Try airports (AMEX tend to be open from 06:00 'til late) for personal cheque cashing.

Paying in, well if you hadn't snipped your card, you can pay in at many cash machines!

mb

Who remembers the days before cash machines!!

OllieC

The truth is that opening hours are usually decided by people looking at profit. I work in a Building Society (please don't think that I trust/love the financial world any more than anyone else). We recently had a "project" that looked at the profitability of being open at different times - and we ended up reducing our hours! They also stopped paying us overtime.
Basically, taking money out or paying in little bits is very expensive for the organisation. They only really make a profit from selling things like mortgages, insurance and longer-term investments. Transactions generally make a loss. The accountants don't look at the customer service side as much as customers look at it. If you opened your branches all the time, the rates on your account would be crap and you'd take your money elsewhere. So they say.

David_Wallis

23

I snapped my card for a good reason and Im saving a fortune...

David

Nigel H

So you did really need to go to a bank then Fair doos I was only tring to help

Diesel

I know the prob David! Had a large expenses cheque to pay in and was on me way abroad - thought I'd pay it in at Heathrow. No such option though... Hugely annoyed as I am now 4k overdrawn, but with a cheque in me bag to cover the interest I'm paying! Arghhhhh!!! I could hardly have deposited a bomb in there could I???

I enjoyed the rants here - esp my pet hate the 'we can deliver at an undetermined point when you are in a meeting at work' thing!

D

bigjohn

you know this ***** me off more than anything in the world its my pet hate that you have to take an afternoon off work only for a delivery driver to turn up at 6pm when you could have stayed at work ,,, the level of customer service in this country is absolutely ****e ,the people are at these distribution centres seem to think that the whole world doesnt work regular hours so they can waste an afternoon for nothing ..... crazy especially when you think that the consumer accounts for 66% of the economy

FERRARINUTTER

Waited in to have my electric meter changed

Me "Hello can you give me a time they'll be round?"

Company"certainly sir, between 9 and 5"

Me"Anymore specific than tht, like am or pm?"

Company "oh no sir we can't give times, just 9 tll 5"

Me"I'll leave the backgate open, and your guy can do the work..."

Company"Oh no sir we have t have a signature before the works carried out"

Me"I'll leave a letter saying I'm happy"

Company"oh no we have to have it on our letter head"

Me"Send it to me and I'll sign it

Company"click <supervisor discussion> no sir we have to get the sheet signed with a time"

Me"surely the engineer can sign it with a time"

Company"no sir engineers are notorious for geting details wrong"

Me"and this guy is fitting my new electric meter"

Company"Yes they are professionally accredited"

Me"so they are accredited but can't put the time on?"

COmpany"yes sir"

Me"OK, I'll arrange something <baseball bat>"

Company"Is there anything else I can help with"

Me"you haven't helped with this yet, though I do have problems starting my quadbike"

COmpany"Ahhhh no sir we don't get involved with quadbikes anything else I can help with

Me"need to put a white wash on what setting should I use, my garden needs cutting, and my fence needs painting"

Company"ahh can't help there either sir.....I won't ask if there is anything else thankyou for your call, and we value your custome....goodbye <click>

Anyway meter guy arrives a 4.10, (no coffes or use of my toilet!) changes meter gone at 4.15, no paperwork, no timesheet, no customer satisfaction feedback form

Meterman"i never can understand those call centres, pain in the **** if you ask me............."

I agree, a whole day wasted for 5 minutes work

Diesel

LMAO @ Ferr Nutt!

>>>Company"Is there anything else I can help with"

Me"you haven't helped with this yet, though I do have problems starting my quadbike"<<<