Nightmare at NCB Oxford Road

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Exposure in the media of instances of abysmal customer care by public or corporate bodies is sometimes essential to trigger remedial action. This is the spirit in which I write to highlight an atrocious lack of customer care meted out to NCB customers at its Oxford Road branch on the morning of Wednesday, July 3.

I and several other NCB customers had to wait in line each for approximately three hours to conduct transactions with tellers. This was because of a woeful lack of tellers. To compound the situation, despite the protests of the customers while waiting in the line, no manager or supervisor emerged from the sanctuaries of their offices to the floor to apologise.

After, at long last, completing my transaction, I tenaciously pursued efforts to meet and complain to the service and quality manager and eventually succeeded in those efforts. It was only then that that manager agreed to go on the floor and apologise for the inordinate delay.

STATUS QUO

From the murmurings and loud complaints I heard from the other customers, this has been the status quo there for some time. I understand NCB’s push to increase online and mobile banking services, but this should never be at the cost of good personalised service.

NCB’s customers wish, and deserve, the best one-on-one service at any branch they visit. I sincerely hope that the neglect by NCB to provide adequate tellers is not a strategy to cajole customers at this or any other branch into using online services. Loyal ­customers deserve far better.

I would think that with NCB’s huge profits, providing an adequate number of tellers is well within its reach if it wishes to put customers first.

NORMAN DAVIS

davisanorman@gmail.com