Dear Editor,
It is with frustration and disgust that I am writing this letter, highlighting the poor service at the Republic Bank at Rosignol, West Berbice. I cannot understand why persons have to wait for over five hours in a bank to conduct a simple transaction. Come on, in this day and age where technology is at its best, the service is expected to be faster. But yet, workers in the bank operate almost at a snail’s pace and behave as though customers have the whole day to waste. Yes, I have noticed that there is always a large crowd at the bank and that was given as the reason for the long wait when I inquired. But Editor, had the staff been more efficient, customers would have been dealt with in an effective manner, thus reducing the crowd build-up.
Persons who come to the bank at midday to do business may still meet customers who have been there from 8 am. That should not be! What is worse is that senior citizens also have to endure the long wait. They are not even given preferential treatment. An elderly woman said by the time she was finished at the bank one day she almost fainted from hunger. She had rushed out of the house early without eating just to get through fast at the bank but never got out until four-and-a-half hours later.
According to another woman, after waiting in the bank for two hours and not getting through she decided to leave to do other business at Fort Wellington, thinking that the crowd would ease up by the time she got back. She returned in just over an hour to discover how wrong she was.
Many other persons have become so frustrated that they are thinking of closing their account at the bank. I may very well fall into that category as well. Why is that happening? Is it because there is no competition at Rosignol?
The New Building Society is also located in that vicinity but with limited transactions. I have been hearing rumours about another bank opening at that location as well. I would like to say to those in charge that should their branch continue to operate in that manner, then, as the saying goes, ‘Cat eat your dinner.’
Yours faithfully,
M A Khan
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Republic Bank’s Manager of Marketing and Communications, Ms Michelle Johnson, for any comment she might have wished to make and received the following response:
“Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr M A Khan’s letter.
“We do appreciate Mr Khan highlighting these concerns, as we place a high value on customer service and feedback which always affords an opportunity to address the issue and where needed, to work on remedying the situation.
“Within recent months, as local commercial banks had been advising in the media, we have been working in earnest towards the goal of compliance with the recently enacted Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. The Act requires all customers of local financial institutions to confirm their identity and proof of address. While the deadline for compliance with the Act was recently extended, customers have responded to this request with the urgency warranted, and the process has resulted in increased customer traffic at branches, moreso within the past month.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience that the writer and all of our valued customers would have experienced during the ensuing period, and are pleased to advise that additional measures were since instituted to improve the aforementioned process. In addition, I confirm that at each of our branch locations, special arrangements are in place to assist the elderly, persons with disabilities and mothers with babies or young children in order that their stay in the Bank might be as brief as possible.
“Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited wishes to thank our customers for their kind understanding, and to affirm our commitment to providing the quality of customer care that they have come to know and expect.”
