To think that banks these days are a disgrace and couldn’t care less about their customers?

Totally agree.
Supermarkets too!

I think sadly it is the same with everything.

Customer service is dreadful, nothing is ever anyone's fault and it's extremely hard to get good service!

Example - my elderly mother gets a dishwasher put in. It breaks but is under guarantee. She rings the phone number and waits a long time to get through. Is asked to pull the dishwasher out to get the serial number from the back. She says she can't so they refuse to fix it. She's helped to get the serial number. Rings back and waits again. The lady on the phone is polite but my mum struggles to understand her accent. Mum is asked to confirm a serious of 'yes' 'no' questions. 'Are the lights on when the door is shut?' 'I don't know, because when the door is shut I can't see the lights' 'so the lights are off' 'I don't know' 'we need to know before we will be able to help you'

It's awful for the older generations but equally customer service is awful for everyone. You make a phone call and it's not their department/you need to go online/download the app etc.

You can pay cheques in via the app. It is clever how it works , but I appreciate that not everyone could work it out as it needs a bit of knowledge of the app and a steady hand to take a photo of the cheque etc.
Another example of having to do everything yourself though

She should be able to pay her cheque in from the mobile app using an image of it

I remember queuing for an hour for the bank during lockdown. The bank was then open about 4 hours a day on 4 days a week. Then less days a week, then it closed.

DH once went to the bank to withdraw several hundred pounds of cash. (I cant recall what for) The cashier asked if he had the barclays app. He does. Then they said you can order up to £1k to collect from an ATM (aka why are you coming to a bank?)
I'm pretty sure most people, if withdrawing large amounts of cash, wouldn't choose to do that in a public street.

I have been helping my elderly DM set up online banking with various banks. Every single one has required phone calls or branch visits. Special mention to Santander who couldn't get the phone number associated with the online banking checked, let alone changed, in branch. To top it off the branch managed to change all accounts to paperless statements after she said she did NOT want them.

The PO where I live is at the back of a non essential shop. They weren't allowed to open during lockdowns. Yet could easily done it by moving the clothes racks together or get the retailer to move them into storage, and put some barriers up, creating a corridor.

Modern life is just shit op, but like the proverbial frogs who don't know they are being boiled until the last minute we have all allowed this to happen by these big banks and corporations who don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves.

I personally blame the banks' attitudes in lockdown days. One branch near me only allowed ONE customer at a time. The branch is big enough for 6 customers with social distancing. One at the counter, one queuing, two at the internal ATMs (putting a barrier between them) and another 2 queuing to use these. Not allowing anyone to go into the bank to use the counter when one customer was using an internal ATM was crazy!

Then the bank claimed that fewer people used them - duh! There was always a queue outside and some people were generally put off which the crazy SD policy. Then they increased the numbers to 3 at a time. 18 months- 2 years later, the branch closed.

If the banks followed my suggestion as above with allowing 6 customers in at a time, some of these branches would still be open today.

Are you sure the post office itself is open those hours? We have a small post office in the co-op. The co-op has one set of opening hours, the post office has another eg it closes at iirc 12.30pm on Saturday and not open on Sunday.

Maybe that is a postcode lottery, I have 10 post offices within a 10 min drive. My closest one is in my village within the local shop and open 7am to 11pm a 2 min drive or 10 min walk and no real queuing issues

@maddening you keep mentioning paying and withdrawing money at post offices. But post offices seem to be closing at the same frequency as banks! Every single time I go in the "post office" at the back of the local gloomy WHSmith there is also a massive queue and only one desk out of five open!

I belong to an ethical credit union that has no ties to fossil fuels. The service has always reflected their values as well. There are lots of chairs around and the staff has been most helpful and kind. It's a softer, less impersonal experience than the banks. It's also never busy like the big banks are, so you don't have to wait in line long. I went in once to buy a GIC, was able to see an investment advisor immediately, and it was all done in ten minutes. Do you have anything like that where you live?
I would never switch back to a bank from a credit union.

You can pay cash and cheques in at the post office and withdraw cash at the post office.

You can pay in cheques at the post office- no need to post it

"agree hugely about lots of people over 70 going to places like the bank and post office and suchlike, for the company and for a chat,"
Sorry but the bank or post office are not the places to go if you want a bloody chat! It's so annoying when there's a massive queue, you're on your lunch break and someone at the front is having a chat!

This. ^

I suppose so - but it's the potential waiting and not knowing.

If you lose your bag or have it stolen, at least you know that straightaway. If it doesn't show in your account, how long do you wait until you're sure it's been lost? What if you give up and go though all the faff of getting the payee to cancel and reissue (which they may not want the hassle or potential cost of) and then it was on the verge of clearing anyway?!

Now that the branches are so few and far between there is always a monstrous queue of people waiting. DH went to the bank on a Saturday once. He was there before opening time and there was already a queue. The staff were only able to see about 5 people in the queue, before it closed a few hours later, and the rest were told to come back another time.
I feel sure it must be stressful for staff to have more customers than they can adequately serve.

Everyone is there either because the problem is not a straightforward one rhat can be fixed online or they are not competent/confident to do online banking. The banks are blatantly ignoring the fact that while cash and cheques are still legal, and online banking cant be used for 100% of issues there is still a need for in person banking.

And the fluffy "we're here for you" type tv ads grind my gears, you're literally not there, you've closed down!!

I voted YABU because this isn’t a recent thing - banks are there for them to make money for shareholders. Of course they don’t give a shit about customers!

'You can post a cheque to your branch saying ‘please pay into account number xxxxxxx sort code 00-00-00’ add your full name and address and sign. No need for paying in slips.'

Can anyone advise which banks allow this . Nat West 'lost' my cheques and told me this was not acceptable (although someone on the phone a couple of years ago had told me it was). I moved from Barclays because they didn't allow it either, to Nationwide who closed the nearest branch 11 days before they made the 'not closing branches' promise.

I'm in East Anglia/edge of the midlands and have changed banks in an attempt to get a decent service.
Nat West 17 miles away is open on Saturday morning open but only for a clueless idiot to direct us all to machines which can't answer our queries.
I'm not an idiot. I manage to hold down an intellectually challenging career, run a home, support elderly relatives, raised a clutch of children to adulthood (the last two at uni). I live in a semi rural area between 2 counties where I see perfectly normal people coming into the village food bank asking for advice because they can't access their money and can't buy what they need unless online.
No, most banks do not accept a handwritten note with 'please pay this cheque into my account' , even if account details are provided.
No, it isn't possible to get cash back from the local coop any more since they put a cash point machine in.
No, it isn't possible to get cash out of the machine since someone ripped it out if the shop-front with a digger and the decision was made not to replace it.
So, no, it isn't possible to buy a small amount of groceries from the market as you have no access to cash so you are stuck with the prices in the co-op.
So we switch to electronic bank transfer, which means that for every £5 you pay for potatoes, your greengrocer loses 25p to the bank.
When cash becomes unavailable to the masses and thus the small trader, the e if the small trader becomes less viable or the local cost if goods goes up for all. The only winners are the banks. This isn't about them saving money. It is about them making money.

This. ^ Me and DH for the first time in around 35 years together have a 5-figure sum in the bank in savings. (Been building at a decent pace for about 5 years.) Low to mid 5 figures but a nice 'cushion.') And I see it when I log into our internet banking. I am terrified that one day, I will log on, and the 5 figure sum in the savings will say £0. There will be a massive withdrawal that appears to be me - or DH - and we can't prove it wasn't us!

I mean, we are super careful so hopefully nothing will happen! Well I should say I am super careful. DH is a bit cautious but not super careful. He has nearly got scammed twice in the past year - by phone/text scams. Only my intervention has stopped him responding! Luckily I am the one who deals with the finances and bills and he doesn't go near the bank accounts. He can have access when he wants, (joint accounts,) but he leaves it all to me.

If banks want people to totally rely on online banking then they need to introduce more anti-scamming measures. Back in the day of bank branches and cashpoints you used to hear stories of people being mugged but you never heard stories of people losing their entire life-savings at the press of a button or because of one phone call.

But it's far more likely to get lost in the post - than it is to get stolen from your handbag on the way to the branch!

Me and DH are able (and prefer) to do online banking.
DH is SE and some customers pay cheque and some pay cash. The vast majority pay by online bank transfer. Several years ago (before the all the banks in our town closed) I took some cash to pay in to the account. There were 2 cashiers. one "was not set up to accept cash" (wtf? It's literally a bank) I couldn't see useless cashier because he couldn't accept cash. The next lady wanted help with a direct debit - he also couldn't help with that, the 3rd person also wanted to pay in cash...so he couldn't help them....so he was providing minimal help. Meanwhile the queue for the more useful person was nearly out the door.

You can pay in cheques via the app....except its really temperamental and can only read about 50% of cheques and has a limit of 1k.
Every time we have had reason to go to the bank for something not possible to do online, the queue is out the door!

DH and I "recently" wanted to open a new joint account. It couldn't be done done online and needed a phone appointment....the next appointment available was 7 weeks, which involved a 2 min chat, and then they sent some forms via email, we returned the forms. They alleged they hadn't received them. We filled them in twice more - each time they said they hadn't received them. Multiple emails, at least 4 phones calls and a whole load of hassle later, the account is open....5 months after we first applied! And we are hopefully not elderly or vulnerable, and do know how to use online banking!