This is my wife and just to clarify, she said she moved out the way so he wouldn't thump her. Rather than address her and ask her if he could use the machine, he simply physically intimidated her out of his way so that he could get her to stop what she was doing and use the machine before her. I also think he was little, in stature and spirit but he was bigger than her. There was no queue for the machine and she was there for 1 minute. She had grabbed the paying in envelope from the top of the machine, had all her cheques and slips already written (had done this at home)and was simply filling the envelope with the cheques and was just about to write the total amount on the outside of the envelope. Had she used the pen on the top of the machine that is put there precisely for this purpose, the man wouldn't have been able to encroach on her, but she used her own pen. Ironically, when the man came upon her she was adding up and would have been done in seconds but she lost focus because he actually started doing his paperwork on the machine right on top of her, which is really odd. It threw her because it was meant to, she thought he might be mad, might be trying to rob her, she was completely freaked out by his inappropriate closeness. She looked about for someone else to notice it was odd and ask him to step back from her while she was carrying out a financial trasaction but noone did, which is also odd given it's such a small bank and there were 2 staff on the customer floor. She was just about to place the envelope in the slot but he was freaking her out too much for her to do it, she couldn't gather herself enough to focus. He finished his paperwork and pushed her hand from the slot and inserted his card. She said that the man manipulated her nervousness, had he left her alone she could have been out of his way in seconds, but his intrusion stalled her and it was meant to. He never once asked her if he could use the machine. He just assumed he had right of way over her. i actually think if someone is leaning on the machine to write out slips that's okay, they have to do it at some point and there are slips, an envelope and a pen put there to enable people to do that but that wasn't what she was doing. I also think if you want to jump in you should ask first not just plant yourself on top of someone and physically menace them out of the way. A bank is a senstive area, people are handling their money, he was an arsehole. He also took over the machine while she had her purse, her phone her keys and her cheque guarantee card on it... she was concerned that he might be attempting to rob her. He messed about with her and it was nasty. I was more shocked that the bank staff didn't just sit her down after the event. They could have taken her envelope and led her to a desk to pay her money in.. she has no recollection of what she actually did with the money after that although she does have her receipt so must have put the money in, she was obviously freaked out. At no point did they think they should help her or calm her down. This happened on their premises but they took no responsibility. The staff member who thought it was okay to make a joke about it afterwards was so off the mark. I think she would be frightened to go in there again as she doesn't feel it's a safe place to handle her money. Maybe they do need security instead of those ridiculius doors and staff who are just there to sell you a financial product. She'll be fine but she won't go in that bank again and thank you for the address to complain to.
