Dear Editor,
GBTI’s Lethem branch has been turning away customers who wished to open new accounts. One such customer was told that there is a shortage of staff and a long waiting list. This customer was given a one week waiting time. Is this a normal practice with banks? In Lethem, it is especially inconvenient because customers usually travel long distances, sometimes over a hundred miles, and incur heavy costs for travelling as well as meals. Maybe, the management of the bank isn’t aware of the effort required to get to Lethem to do bank transactions. The management should undertake a few trips to some of the far-flung locations of their clients to get a firsthand understanding of the logistics which their customers endure to conduct transactions with their bank. Maybe then they will consider having a system in place where customers from the far-flung locations of Region #9 are given some sort of priority for the processing of their documents to negate the need for them to make a number of trips to Lethem to conclude what should be simple bank transactions.
On busy days customers can be seen standing in the hot sun outside of the bank or using the side walls of the external stairway as seats because the seating facilities in the bank are woefully inadequate. This clearly indicates that the bank does not have adequate seating facilities for its customers. A shaded and properly ventilated seated area outside of the bank would go a long way towards making customers more comfortable. The fact that there are so many people waiting to sign up for new accounts or lines that spread out into the yard means that business is booming with the bank. Certainly some of those proceeds can go back towards providing better customer service to the people who make the banks turn a profit. Here’s hoping that someone in the hierarchy of the bank takes note of these complaints and make an effort to improve the service at this hinterland location.
Sincerely,
(Name and Address Provided)
