It’s a long story but I ended up with a cheque in dollars. Trying to do something with it has been a faff. I couldn’t do anything with it through the app (only cheques in pounds are accepted) and there is no longer a branch of my bank in my home town. The next time I was in Newcastle I thought I’d take it to the bank in its lovely building on Grey Street, only to find it had moved to somewhere less glamorous. On arrival at the new site I was led a merry dance only to find the queue for services was too long for me to wait.
The next week I was in Hexham and so I took my cheque with me. By now it needed ironing but I was aware that Hexham still had a branch… at least for now. When we got there the bank was busy, with a queue of people waiting for a teller to become free. On the wall was a notice advertising the branch’s impending closure, giving helpful advice that the nearest branch would be at Consett, a twenty mile drive away. The next nearest were at Carlisle or Newcastle. There are other banks in Hexham but I wonder for how long.
I understand that banks are businesses and their model has changed yet in both branches that I have visited recently, there were many people requiring personal service. Where will these people go once all the branches have gone? What will we do when we need a non-standard service, such as foreign currency cheques?
I feel that a backlash against this efficiency creep is forming. It’s a small number at the moment yet there are noticeably more people using the attended tills in the shops than the automated ones. I find myself standing in a queue to be served by a person rather than engaging with a machine. Only when I am in a hurry will I avoid human contact. I am rebelling against the system!
Being served in the ‘old-fashioned’ way is nicer. There are no instructions to follow and you can engage in pleasantries with the person serving you. There is time to pack your bags and there is no suspicion that you are taking things you haven’t paid for. It also means that someone is employed.
Life is a pendulum. It swings one way and then swings back. Sometimes it swings too far and, for me, this is where we are with so-called automated efficiencies (they move the work from the business to the consumer). One day the pendulum is going to swing back. They may even start opening the banks again.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 