Awful Experience in HSBC

[paulino]

The more I re-read the posts from Spirit and her husband the less sympathy I find I have. No, it was not me pushing in at HSBC either, and if these sentiments mark me out as a callous, vicious, uncaring Londoner, then so be it. But really, go back and look at the events:

The man wrote out his paying-in slip next to Spirit.

Spirit was blocking the machine, still sticking down the envelope.

The man said 'Out of my way'

Spirit said 'You can't do that I'm using this machine'

The man said 'No you're not you're just writing and you're wasting my time'

Rude, maybe, but it seems a big jump to say that this man was mad, deranged, lunatic about to start thumping her and running off with her purse. Like many have mentioned, it is a shame that you felt upset by the incident, and if the essay earlier has helped get things off your chest and made you feel better, then great. But in all towns and cities people live their lives at different paces, and if this kind of reaction is created when you come into contact with people who live a little faster then maybe it is a good thing for both the staff and customers of HSBC if you move your custom elsewhere.

[njc97]

Huguenot, I'm not sure spirit did describe these events:

* an extended attendance at the machine facilities while she did her accounts

* that she unpacked her handbag at the machine

* that she wrote her slips with the pen at the machine for an 'number' of cheques

And regardless, had she done so I don't think it would have been unreasonable behaviour. I think it's a sad state of affairs when people get angry because they are being "held up" by other people going about their business.

[Growlybear]

I've read the OP several times now, and I'm struggling to understand the justification of her complaint. Whilst the man concerned sounds as though he was unnecessarily rude, to be honest, if I was in a hurry to use the machine in a bank and was prevented from doing so by someone who was faffing around with all her possessions spread around everywhere and not actually using the machine, I think I would have been extremely irritated as well. I would never dream of starting a transaction at an ATM or blocking access to it until I had my card in my hand, and was ready to start using it immediately.

It's a bit like people in supermarkets who suddenly realise that they just might be expected to get their purse or wallet out to pay for their purchases when they've packed every last thing away, and hold up the queue for ages whilst they search for their card.

[Huguenot]

I understand njc97, I'll explain my interpretation, which may well be wrong:

"Was almost done when I thought it best to use the calculator on my mobile to add up the cheques one more time"

'Almost done' implies a task that isn't instantaneous, and 'add up the cheques' implies there was more than one; 'one more time' implies this was a task she had done before and the repetition implies even more time passing.

"I started to put away my purse and phone and gather up my papers" coupled with "I had all my things out in front of me"

Implies that there was somewhere where these items were normally 'put away', but not at this stage, so they must have been brought 'out' from somewhere. Accept it may not be a handbag, it could be her pockets, or any other receptacle. Probably not a suitcase. Taking 'all my things out' initially could also imply time passing.

"I was using my own pen"

Implies she was writing something. For the number of cheques, see my earlier point.

[flipbrit]

I was a staff in Barclays before, disagreement between people, yes, but being pushed away

by anyone is no good, make a formal complaint and make sure to demand compensation

[paulino]

Growlybear Wrote:

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> It's a bit like people in supermarkets who

> suddenly realise that they just might be expected

> to get their purse or wallet out to pay for their

> purchases when they've packed every last thing

> away, and hold up the queue for ages whilst they

> search for their card.

Or people at the front of the bus queue who - after waiting at the stop of ten minutes - suddenly realize that they will need to fish their oyster card out from the depths of their handbag :))

[jimmy two times]

Can we extend that to people who don't indicate to turn right at traffic lights and only do so after the lights turn green and you have pulled up behind them and you want to go straight on.

[Moos]

Yeah, and old people, and disabled people. Why can't they just get the hell out of the way? Bastards. Do they not know how busy and important I am?

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Spirit and Jason I trust you both feel better now, as it was a good idea to let off steam on here, and also receive different opinions/interpretations of what occurred from all Parties viewpoint.

The Guy was obviously obnoxious and inevitably will be rude to the wrong person, sooner or later and, hopefully, receive his comeuppance.

I think I need to make a "Book" on this to try to discover the culprit if, indeed, he is a Member of this Forum so here's my first views:

Evens: Huguenot (though he is not resident in this Country and hasn't been back for many a long day)

3/1 : All the other Male contributors who have tried to keep an open mind and form an independent view, these include paulion, Growlybear, njc07, lenk, jimmytwoshoes..

4/1 Favourite: TLS on a rare return visit to Inner London

6/1 Moos, in disguise

2/1 The rest of The Population....

Anyone wanna bet?

p.s I've just heard Huguenot was definitely NOT in the Country so his price has drifted to 5/4 against.

[Huguenot]

Terrible odds those

[Growlybear]

Good grief! The last time I looked I was distinctly female!

[Villager]

jason cox Wrote:

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> she moved out the way so he wouldn't thump her.

Did he say he would thump her or threaten to use any form of violence?

> he simply physically intimidated her

"Physically intimidated" indicates actual violence. Did he hit her?

> I also think he was little, in stature and spirit

> but he was bigger than her.

"in stature and spirit" Does that mean he was a wimp - a nasty little wimp?

>

> There was no queue for the machine and she was

> there for 1 minute.

1 minute would appear extremely reasonable and highly unlikely to have given rise to exasperation by the man.

>Ironically, when the man came upon her

Why didn't someone pull him off and call the police?

>she was adding up and would have been done in seconds

Adding up two cheques could surely be done quickly by mental arithmetic so why use the mobile phone's calculator?

> she thought he might be mad

Probably not, as "Care in the Community" contains that sort of thing.

> might be trying to rob her

Unlikely, as she was depositing 2 cheques, not cash. And there's lots of cameras in the bank so he would never have got away with it. Plus he would have to negotiate the airlock double doors controlled by the staff.

> She looked about for someone else to

> notice it was odd

Maybe they didn't think his behaviour was odd at all.

> She said that the man manipulated her nervousness,

So was he a manipulative little wimp then? It gets worse.

> he

> was an arsehole.

Nuff said then

> He messed about with her and it was nasty.

Not quite sure what you mean by this. Maybe the police should have been called.

>

> I was more shocked that the bank staff didn't just

> sit her down after the event.

They are not social workers. They have no right or obligation to intervene in a dispute between two members of the public. Well intentioned people have been attacked before for doing just this. Are you suggesting they should have abandoned their positions and in so doing, compromised security?

>They could have

> taken her envelope and led her to a desk to pay

> her money in.

So she wanted preferential treatment ahead of the others in the queue after she had selfishly restricted access to the machine whilst she prepared her paperwork?

> At no point did they think they should help her or calm

> her down. This happened on their premises but they

> took no responsibility.

Correct, they have clearly defined duties. They have no responsibility to intercede between customers.

>

> The staff member who thought it was okay to make a

> joke about it afterwards was so off the mark.

What was the joke? We'd all like to know.

> she doesn't feel it's a safe place to handle

> her money.

Ok, try keeping it under the mattress and see how she feels about security then.

> Maybe they do need security instead of

> those ridiculius doors and staff who are just

> there to sell you a financial product.

>

The doors are frustrating but they certainly frustrate robbers much more effectively than having a security guard on the premises.

Jason, next time she wants to go to the bank, why don't you go with her. Be supportive, she sounds like a very sensitive person. That way you can be a witness and give an accurate first hand account of what transpires.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Growlybear Wrote:

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> Good grief! The last time I looked I was

> distinctly female!

Sorry GB...in that case you've gone out to 5/1....

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Huguenot Wrote:

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> Terrible odds those

Typical Billy Bunter (Punter) always moaning about the odds, but as its you 13/8...I can't be fairer than that.

Are you trying to ruin my livelihood..:-S

[Tony.London Suburbs]

My nostrils are twitching as Villager seems a tad defensive about all this..

New Market Formed

6/4 Villager

5/2 Where You Like...

[Administrator]

Please stay on topic (some irrelevant posts have been removed)

[Siduhe]

Aren't there two issues here:

1. the rude man (I think everyone here agrees he was rude and boorish). Like others, I can see why he may have overreacted - not condoning his actions or agreeing with them - but I can see where his head may have been. A few months ago I was standing at a cashpoint when the woman in front of me got very agitated and kept looking round at me and dropping her stuff. I asked her if she was ok, and she said she thought I was standing way too close to her. It was a crowded pavement at lunchtime, and I was about two feet away from her, but it made her feel uncomfortable (and I'm a girl!) which honestly hadn't occurred to me. He genuinely may not have understood how upset your wife was by his physical prescence.

2. the staff at HSBC - here I have sympathy for your wife/partner. She was obviously upset and needed a bit of looking after and support. She's a customer in their branch and they are supposed to provide customer service. Making jokes about it doesn't seem like the right way to handle it.

[lenk]

+1 Villager

POTD..

[Green Goose]

flipbrit Wrote:

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> I was a staff in Barclays before, disagreement

> between people, yes, but being pushed away

> by anyone is no good, make a formal complaint and

> make sure to demand compensation

flipbrit,

Demand compensation from whom? The bank? Surely not.

The incident only happened on HSBC's premises. The OP was not attacked or threatened by any member of the bank's staff.

If anyone is attacked by another bank customer then there will be CCTV footage which will have recorded every little detail. The assailant could be readily identified from the footage and the deposit paperwork.

The OP might consider going to the police who will then requisition the CCTV footage, do all the interviews and press charges if necessary. If the man gets charged and convicted then the court can decide about damages.

Some anarchists might well see the banks as filthy tools of the capitalism system but in this case it HSBC is not guilty of any crime. Hence damages against the bank is totally fanciful.

This whole compensation culture thing seems to be all pervasive now. Great little earner though for those compensation lawyers.

[diwhy]

Would people be making such a fuss if it was a "large rude woman" that was getting impatient waiting to someone playing with the contents of their suitcase to just deposit the cheques and move on?

Villager says it all

[ThinLizzy]

Sorry to hear about your experience :(

Definitely complain -- I had an account with these thieves for 11 years, and closed my account (but after doing the 'claiming back all the dodgy charges') -- they made this very difficult for me, not banking (ptp) on my meticulous filing system -- ie, they said unless I could 'name' every single charge, with date they couldn't do anything -- so I did :) Got about 500 quid back in estimated charges over 6 years -- but I closed the account because of rudeness and general lack of customer service.

Isn't EDF great -- you've even got the Chairman's address a few posts back -- well done Dulwich peeps :)

[Green Goose]

Spirit or Jason,

Let's have a clear description of this nasty man then we can all give him a wide berth.

[seanmlow]

Ah, HSBC - left them 5 years ago after shocking treatment.

The worst was what happened when I had my wallet stolen in the Dominican Republic. Having expressed concern about the area I was going to the bank before I left, they assured me that with my account, if anything went wrong I could call them and have replacement cards and ?500 in cash within 24hrs, or go to a local bank, call them FREE and they would wire it over.

2 days, ?100 in phone calls later - nothing. Luckily I was with my brother, but I could have literally been stranded with nothing half way across the world. I kept calling, but was told there was 'nothing they could do', despite cover for my accounts and my cards.

When I returned to the UK and complained, I was told the situation was 'out of their remit' and was offered ?15 in compensation. Not really worth it after the phone calls costs and 2 days spend in various banks in ridiculous heat in the Dominican Republic.

[ontheedge]

"ground control to major tom" totally agree with villager and wonder is london the right place for such sensitive souls to live. Rudeness is not necessarily right but if you want to survive in this city without the need for valium you have to put up with it. Maybe some gradual exposure to the reality of your environs is in order eg. using public transport as schools finish, a few trips to the supermarket at 6pm.

[????]

I think this thread should probably go down as EDF Gold......