A bank with no cashiers
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
January 15, 2016 9:25am CST
Every 3 months I receive a cheque from British Gas, which naturally needs to be paid into my bank account. This morning the cheque arrived just before I set out to visit the city centre, so I took it along with me.
The branch has 5 cashier windows, all of which are usually in operation. Today all 5 windows were closed, which is the strangest thing that I have seen so far. This reduced the service to machines only.
The bank has several cash withdrawal machines along with 2 specifically designed for paying in. I have tried to use these in the past and there appears to be some reason that a cheque from British Gas never works in them. I did try both machines, but in each case I received an error message and the cheque was returned. This resulted in my bringing the cheque back home with me.
This is not a serious problem because I have at least 3 months to use the cheque, but I cannot understand why there were no cashiers on duty. I hope that this proves to be an isolated incident and not a sign of the future.
19 people like this
19 responses
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
15 Jan 16
I wonder if you can call the hotline to ask about it or send an email.
I hate going to the banks because there is always a long queue there.
I think the cashiers are at work, but the system is down, so they just board it up.
When the banking system is down, there is no way a cashier can perform any transaction at all
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
15 Jan 16
Is it possible that it is a holiday, and you just did not realize that today is a holiday?
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
15 Jan 16
@purplealabaster The branch was open, but the internal windows for the cashiers were closed. The machines that I referred to are inside the branch and not those outside.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
15 Jan 16
@Asylum That is what it sounded like you were saying ... the windows were closed and you could only access the cash machines.
1 person likes this
@kevin1877uk (36987)
•
19 Jan 16
Wow not seen that before, maybe it is something for the future which I hope not.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Jan 16
I hope not as well. I returned yesterday and they were still closed, so I queued at the information desk. Once it was my turn I was advised to use the machine, which did not please me in the slightest. Eventually the man provided an envelope to place the cheque into and accepted it.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Jan 16
@kevin1877uk I forgot to ask while I was there, but I am hoping that this is temporary and the area is being renovated behind the scenes.
1 person likes this
@kevin1877uk (36987)
•
19 Jan 16
@Asylum Oh wow looks like they are going to that kind of banking then. Hopefully my bank doesn't do that, they seemed to have staff there yesterday when I went in lol.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Jan 16
A few times in the past the cashier has told me to use the machines, which I always insisted does not work. On a couple of occasions they came out of the room to demonstrate to me, but it has never worked once for a British Gas cheque. Nobody seems to be sure why.
1 person likes this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
19 Jan 16
That stinks. I hate that so many things once done by people are now done by machine. It means fewer jobs and fewer interactions with other people as we go through our day. I hope it is something temporary in your case.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23978)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 16
That is ridiculous. I would have a swift word with the manager. Either they provide a service or they do not. There should at least have been a greeter on duty to help with such difficulties.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Jan 16
It was certainly annoying to say the least. There had better be someone on duty the next time that I go or I will be extremely unhappy.
The only time that I need the bank is when I pay in a cheque, as I expect applies to many people these days, so they should at least provide some level of service.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Jan 16
@garymarsh6 They have two machines for cheques at the branch that I use, but neither of them will ever accept a British Gas cheque.
It can be very annoying to see large queues and decide to desperately try the machines first, then finally concede and queue only to be told "It is quicker using the machine".
@garymarsh6 (23978)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 16
@Asylum I much prefer to deal with a human than those blooming paying in machines. The last time I went the lady directed me to a machine no matter how I tried the blooming thing would not accept the cheque. I called her over the dozy mare had shown me to the wrong machine I was trying to pay in on a pay out machine! DUH!!!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
16 Jan 16
Sorry, but I saw an article online this morning that said that this is exactly the bank of the future, except it gets worse. There will be no bank building at all. It will all be online. This is frightening, because sites have problems at times. Accounts get hacked. Cash is becoming a thing of the past too. Sheesh. A little simplicity would be nice.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
16 Jan 16
@Asylum Checks are deposited by taking a photo with your camera/phone. Cash is disappearing, so will not be an issue.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
16 Jan 16
That is really strange, who was minding the store? or in this case the bank!!
1 person likes this
