Bank customers deserve better

I look forward to a time when customer care service in the country’s banks will not be limited to polite greetings and smiles from cashiers.

When you waste an hour on a queue just to deposit a few kwachas, the cashier’s broad smile does very little to pacify you or compensate for the precious time lost.

When your plan for the day has been disrupted by a slow bank service, even the cool temperatures in the air conditioned banking hall fail to lower down your body temperature.

Bank customers have jobs or businesses to run. It is, therefore, unwarranted for banks to take advantage of people who give them business and keep them waiting on queues that sometimes have over 100 people!

Don’t tell me about the provision of chairs in the banking hall because the few chairs get filled up and customers are left to stand as they wait for their turn to be served.

I have noted several times I have been on such queues that the elderly, physically-challenged and nursing mothers are moved forward and quickly assisted, which is commendable.

But unknown to the banks, there are hungry people on the same queues; sick and weak too.

There is also someone who just sneaked out of the office to do a quick transaction only to be held by a thoughtless bank.

Then, there are customers who, in the course of waiting, may need to answer the call of nature. Unfortunately, there are no customer toilets when they know their facilities hold customers for longer than necessary.

For me, a vital element of a good service any bank can offer is shortening the time that customers spend on these queues.

It is deplorable and uncaring for banks to let a customer spend an hour standing in the banking hall just to make a simple transaction such as withdrawing money.

The bank manager doesn’t need someone to drop a piece of paper in a suggestion box for them to know there is a problem.

By now, banks should be aware of patterns their business follows.

There are peak hours, days or months when effort can be made to ensure all counters have cashiers to make sure customers don’t waste their days in banking halls.

A packed banking hall is not the best place to spend an hour of your day.

We, customers, deserve better.