Abused by bank staff

[Tara336]

Not so much an AIBU but WWYD? I’m actually still quite shocked by an incident that happened in DM local bank yesterday. She’s quite old now and doesn’t always take things in very well. She asked me to accompany her to the local branch to help her pay a bill as she was insisting they would no let her pay by card. She was worried about carrying lots of cash. I did tell her I’m sure she had misunderstood but I didn’t go with her.

My mum qued up and I was stood behind her, one of the staff asked I for she needed help and myself my DM explained she was here’s to pay a bill and then proceeded to explain how it was the second attempt and how she was struggling to understand the changes the bank had made etc. The FW (floorwalker) explained the reasoning (which seemed reasonable to me ) and politely listened to DM mild whinge. As FW walked away she rolled her eyes an sighed in my direction which I thought though bit wasn’t professional.

DM then went to desk to pay and had another little moan (I admit annoying but nothing nasty) FW walked up to the desk to fetch her drink and return to her desk on other side of branch. As she did so she looked at my DM sighed loudly and rolled her eyes again. I was a it surprised and let out an involuntary “oh”. My DM heard the sign and looked round to see the eye roll and said “please don’t roll your eyes at me” At that all hell broke loose the FW jumped up from her seat And started shouting that she hadn’t rolled rolled eyes etc and was generally behaving in quite a shocking way. I started to usher my mum out of the branch and as we were leaving the FW was still shouting at us! I politely said I did see you eye roll too and it was rude and we walked out into the high times street absolutely stunned! My Dm said I think we ought to complain and I said yes yes.

THIS is where it gets even more crazy, we were walking down the high street and heard someone shouting excuse me, wevlooked round and FW is chasing after us! She then proceeds to start shouting again about how other staff in branch heard me call her a bitch! I said no I did not and I’ve been nothing but polite to her, by this time there’s a crowd watching this, I decide the best thing to do was walk away, but I’m absolutely stunned by the whole thing and a actually in a state of disbelief tbh

If your mum is anxious & struggling with small change, I'd recommend getting power of attorney in place so you can deal with financial matters for her

@Puzzledandpissedoff

Of course the bank will apologise to the customer if evidence supports the staff member was in the wrong. Unlikely they'll watch cctv though. They'll speak to other staff members & find out what happened

Beggars belief that people on here can defend the FW in any way.
However whingey OP's DM was, there's no excuse for the FW attitude. I would have verbally tore into the nasty sod.

I don't know why anyone is doubting the OP's veracity here. I have found that service in general on the high street can be shockingly bad (and verified by friends and coworkers so I know it isn't just me) and it doesn't surprise me at all that people opt to do most of their business online now. It's a real shame. Once I went to open an account at a major high street bank and they yelled at me! Luckily they were next door to a much friendlier bank who I've now been with for years.

It doesn't matter what the back story is or even if there is one.
There's no excuse whatsoever for that behavior.
Yes make a cunt out of them.

Why would you consider reporting this to the police? A crime hasn't been committed, a member of staff was rude to a customer, who by the sounds of it may have been rude to them first. The OP states that her DM was complaining more than once.
Just go back to the bank, ask to see the manager and explain about the incident. They WILL check the CCTV of which they will have several cameras, and which will have sound. They will then deal with the staff member appropriately.

Why not change banks and get a mobile bank app and you can pay your mums bills etc for her. I can talk on my mobile and pay someone at the same time, fantastic tech:)

No more having to traipse to the bank in fact its amazing you have a open branch anyway these days you can if need be pay in cheques at the Post office now no longer and need to go to the bank anyway:-)

justaboy If OP's mother is struggling with the changes in a bank branch, I hardly think a mobile app is the solution. And many older people can not manage bank apps on a mobile phone. It requires a level of fine motor skills that some no longer have, as well as eyesight.

You need to complain. However annoying your mother was by complaining the fw was completely wrong to chase you down the street and harass you. She shouldn’t be working in a customer facing role.

To the pp who said 75 isn’t old: I’m in my 50s and need help with basic tasks due to illness. If I’m still around in my 70s I will need care 24/7 and there are many thousands who are like me.

It’s very possible that she has behaved like this before with other customers and that the bank are already aware. There’s a disciplinary process that involves a series of warnings culminating in dismissal, when appropriate. It won’t be just your DM that’s being subjected to this behaviour. If there’s a general culture in that branch of staff behaving aggressively towards vulnerable customers, head office should be made aware. Complain. Finally, many high streets have cctv for security, they would show her approaching you in the street and the manner of her approach. You would have to involve the police to get access to that but it might be worth mentioning it in your complaint to the bank as a possible next step.

clairemcnam

No, the idea was for the mums daughter to do that for her. Mum can still get the bank statements and all that but no longer has to go to the bank branch to simply pay a bill.

Use it all the time excellent invention:)

There will be other cctv from other shops.So they can get a good timeline.I would go back in and ask to see the manager or someone in charge.That is not on at all.

Soon pot be60, Chasing after someone more vulnerable than you then verbally abusing in the street them may be of interest to the police, perhaps community liaison officer or similar. Customer service staff should be well versed in how to deal with complaints in a professional manner no matter how irritating and repetitive they are.

justaboy I can see that would be helpful when she can no longer manage her own financial affairs, but as her mother already gets anxious, taking over tasks from her when she can still do them, is not helpful for her.

Why do people always think posters are only telling half the story ?

When the story sounds so outrageous the readers just can't believe it? I'm not saying that the OP is lying, but the thought of a bank worker chasing a customer down the street yelling abuse (even if the the customer had genuinely called her a bitch) is really hard to swallow. It is just not the sort of thing that normal people do.

It is bizarre, and I would be extremely upset, to the point of being frightened probably, if it happened to me...

I had a similar thing at my bank recently with lots of new changes. The FWs kept sending me to different places and really were not helping so I can imagine how frustrating it was for an older person. If you work in a customer facing job you need to behave better. Running out after a customer tells us more about her attitude and behaviour. I would definitely complain and get your mum online banking. I do my Dad's as sometimes older people are targeted coming out of banks

It isn't 1984, banks don't have branch mangers any more.

Yes they do. My dad is a branch manager a a bank. What a bizarre comment.

@Biancadelrioisback

Of course branches still have managers but they do not do the roles they did in 1984. A complaint will more thank likely be dealt with by the customer service manager, not the branch manager

CCTV won't have sound but it will show body language and relative positions of everyone involved etc. It will also show which other staff should have seen the incident. Ask very soon for it to be reviewed in case they (claim to) have recorded over the footage.

Another one that doesn’t get why this is so unbelievable so there must be another side to the story.

I had an experience where when being served with my small ds (somewhere I used to shop regularly) a member of staff started berating me for using crutches because they made me look disabled. Well I am disabled. And? She then went on to start going into detail about her sex life and that when I’m her age I’ll know what real sex is (wink wink) that’s if I can get someone to have sex with me, what with me being so clearly undesirable being disabled. Finally she told me that my kids deserved better because they have different hair colouring so they must have different dads, so proof I’ve ‘slept around’. I left, without my purchases.

I went to my other half’s place and was in tears, so angry. He wanted to go in and let rip, but I felt like I wanted to, so called ahead and asked for a manager to meet me at the front of the store. We discussed it and she apologised but ultimately nothing was done because nobody else had complained about her but ‘we know what Karen’s like, she’s always inappropriate like that’. Was asked not to avoid shopping there because she didn’t represent the company.
I went there a few weeks later and the same woman laid into me over reporting her to the manager. I left and have never been back.

Disgusting customer service, op I really hope the complaint is dealt with seriously, your poor mum must be really shaken.

I never reported it before because I'm ashamed of my hygiene (long back story there) and my experiences of having done so before have been of being told to just put up with it, and making it worse.

Our bank definitely had a manager before it closed - the husband of the woman I mentioned above.

@Tara336 apologies got the user name mixed up X I totally understand why your mother needs help x

Becca, I’d consider reporting that woman to the police for harassment. And I bloody well hope she has lost her job.

These stories are horrendous - what makes people be abusive to complete strangers, especially those working in public facing roles? Horrible!!

@ny20005 well yes, but that's not what the comment I responded to said. It stated they don't exist. They do exist. That was my point.
A CSM will deal with the initial complaint. Branch managers still hear about and can respond to the more serious complaints.