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| SCROOGE’S ‘MEAN’
BANK |
Campaigner dons Dickensian garb
for queue protest
Campaigner Dr Mike Westmacott outside the bank with supporter
Andrew Thomas |
SCROOGE himself turned up in Upper Street this week to protest
at “mean penny-pinching banks” and to claim that staff
cuts force customers to queue for up to 40 minutes.
Computer expert Dr Mike Westmacott, dressed as the Dickens character
in Victorian nightclothes and dressing gown, was cheered by disgruntled
customers outside the HSBC branch at Angel. He described banks’
attitude to customers as “humbug” and carried a banner
describing HSBC’s “record profits and record queues”.
He said: “Scrooge was cold, uncaring and unkind. The banks
appear to have picked up a few of his tips.”
Dr Westmacott, 27, hired his Scrooge outfit from a local costumier
for the one-man demonstration at lunchtime yesterday (Thursday)
outside the branch of Britain’s biggest bank.
Banned from entering the bank, he handed out his questionnaires
asking customers to rate the quality of service they have received
from counter staff.
He was stepping up a campaign – first featured in the Tribune
last month – for more counter staff to cut queues at peak times.
He has won support from national pressure group Campaign for Community
Banking, which opposes bank closures and calls for improved services.
He said: “The bank thinks I’m going away but I’m
here to stay. I’m dressing up as Scrooge to shame them into
action.
“Customers are having to queue because the bank is being mean
in not providing sufficient staff for the counter.”
He launched his campaign after having to queue for a teller for
40 minutes to change cash from a night’s takings at the pub
where he works part-time. He said just two out of five counters
were in use.
Dr Westmacott added: “All the banks have cut their levels of
staff in recent years. They earn millions from customers, and are
quite happy to allow us to get into debt. But when it comes to providing
a service they want to cut costs.”
A spokeswoman for HSBC said: “Dr Westmacott, though a regular
user of the branch, mainly to get change for the pub he runs, doesn’t
actually hold his business account with the bank.
“We believe his concern is queuing for the counter but if it
wasn’t for HSBC serving non-customers, like Mr Westmacott’s
pub, clearly queues would be smaller, particularly at busy times.
“Currently the counter is fully resourced through three till
positions at all times, which is considered reasonable, given the
usage by customers.”
She added that, under a new policy being introduced, non-customers
will not be served at HSBC’s busiest 400 branches between 11am
and 2pm.
Non-customers who choose to use the bank outside these hours will
have to pay an administration fee. |
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