Queues in Letterkenny!

oranbhoy67

Is anyone else sick of the amount of queuing you have to do to get served in the banks and post offices in Letterkenny??

I have to use the AIB , Bank of Ireland and Post Office on the Main Street every week, & 9 times out of 10 i will be waiting at least half an hour to be served.


I have made official complaints in all 3. & in the AIB & PO i was thanked for my input and told they would work to try & reduce queues,, however in the Bank Of Ireland i was brought into an office with the branch manger who assured me the reason the queues are so long is because the "older generation" refuse to use all the shiny new self-service banking systems that they have installed lately in a major refit.. to me this is just passing the buck.


I have to laugh,that in this major refit -which obviously cost a right few bob- they forgot to put pens anywhere for customers to use while they queue.. and they now only have 3 teller windows of which i have never saw more than 2 open at any one time .while other staff float about at the entrance meeting and greeting customers & trying to get them to use the self service machines. ( if i could use them for my transactions i would, but cant )

Basically id urge everyone who is fed up with the queues to make an official complaint otherwise things wont change.. as i often see people muttering and moaning under there breath but never actually saying anything to any staff to let them know there frustrations!


Anyway rant over but it really is one of my pet hates.

Ayla

Ummm...is this a rant about AIB/PO/BOI in general or about only those branches in LK?

See, the way I see it, if we all want the banks & public servant funding to decrease (which many do with placards about sticking it to them) then there will be drawbacks - queues being one. Of course they can't have all teller windows open if they don't have the staff to man them, and of course they can't put pens out b/c every customer helps themselves. And of course they're trying to encourage anyone to use the self-help set up b/c that cuts their costs as well.

I get it; queues annoy me too, but really... there's a bigger picture here.

Sorry, maybe you're just having an off day, but if you're ranting at the companies in general I wouldn't imagine the Donegal forum the best place for this thread. If you're ranting only about the LK branches, I think you'll find that it's not only in LK that this is happening (but indeed all over the country).

oranbhoy67

Ayla wrote: »

Sorry, maybe you're just having an off day, but if you're ranting at the companies in general I wouldn't imagine the Donegal forum the best place for this thread. If you're ranting only about the LK branches, I think you'll find that it's not only in LK that this is happening (but indeed all over the country).

I cant say what its like around the country because i dont travel much around and th rare time that i do i dont use there banks/POs, having said that i take your point & if a mod wants to move my rant for not being Donegal specific then feel free to.


I hope the rest of the country are experiencing similar massive queues and we arent the only ones wasting there lives away waiting in line to pay a bill/lodge money.. then maybe something will be done about it.

homer simpson

oranbhoy67 wrote: »

I cant say what its like around the country because i dont travel much around and th rare time that i do i dont use there banks/POs, having said that i take your point & if a mod wants to move my rant for not being Donegal specific then feel free to.


I hope the rest of the country are experiencing similar massive queues and we arent the only ones wasting there lives away waiting in line to pay a bill/lodge money.. then maybe something will be done about it.

Not a thing wrong with your post Oranbhoy, It's titled "queues in Letterkenny" and your OP says "in the banks and post offices in Letterkenny", I think its more than specific enough for here, it is a bit ranty though, but your right.

Firblog

Everything is great in Ulsterbank in Donegal Town, rarely have to queue for more than a few minutes Could it be the time of day that you are going? Perhaps try going an hour earlier/later to see what it's like...

Cee-Jay-Cee

The Post Office in LK is a nightmare most days and a certain blonde woman who works there makes it worse with her gossiping with the customers while there are queues out the door. I understand that customers start conversations and you cant blank them but that particular woman takes the p*** the way she holds things up. I have driven out to Manor to go to the PO on numerous occasions rather than Q outside the PO in town, its probably as quick!

One good thing though is that they have moved the parcel collection dept to the new link road at carnamuggagh which means you dont have to try and get up main street then find a parking spot and then Q for whatever lenght of time in the PO anymore.

I bank with BOI but thankfully do all my banking online and so have only been in the bank once in the last year to lodge a cheque...the stupid new machine wouldnt take it even though it was a BOI cheque! But i did find it a bit ridiculous that they reduced the number of cashier desks in their refit!

oranbhoy67

Spot on ,i know exactly the one your on about in the PO & theres one in the BOI that does the same, she mustve been told that i complained because the next time i went in she was very sarcastic to me even though i hadnt complained about the staff just the system, the queue in the Post Office has been ridicolous lately, on Wednesday it was right down to Paddy Power Bookmakers, then once you get in the door there is still a massive queue inside, i think a lot of it is down to the goverment stopping people from recieving there social welfare into there bank account, i think its ridicolous that a town the size of LK has only 1 PO

Cee-Jay-Cee

There was talk a while back about a 'satellite' PO in the town and Glencar and Ballyraine were both mentioned as possible areas but i havent seen or heard anything about it since. The town needs a second PO but i think what theyre afraid of is that if they did open a new one then no one would use the one on the main street as parking etc etc is near enough non existant during the day and so everyone would end up using the new one which is true enough. I personally wouldnt go anywhere near the main street only for the PO, there is nothing on it anymore that isnt available in the shopping centre or retail parks.

senordingdong

It's the elderies fault that the banks put more effort in serving their own interests rather than their customers? I would expect that customers are an interest of the bank.

Firblog

senordingdong wrote: »

It's the elderies fault that the banks put more effort in serving their own interests rather than their customers? I would expect that customers are an interest of the bank.

Sorry can't make any sense out of that at all...

senordingdong

The bank blames the elderly. The elderly are not to blame, the bank is.

oranbhoy67

I agree Senor & i told the BOI manager as much, i myself would use the machines if i could but im depositing money into someone elses account so i cant, the manager spent most of my time in his office trying to get me to sign up to a direct debit, something which i have absolutley no intrest in having set up,having had the misfortune of using them before,& once he found out i wasnt an actual customer of his bank his attitude turned sour,i may not be a customer but i put cash into a customer of his account every week and he would do well to remember that,


Instead of blaming the elderly he should look inwards when u spend a fortune transforming a bank so it only has 2 tellers at any time dealing with the public,while they have staff on the floor spending there time (mostly unsuccesfully) trying to get people to use there self service machines,& you cant even provide the basics like a pen on a chain then thats not the elderlys fault its the banks.


Its not just at the highest level they are a disgrace its at the most basic. Standing in line for more than half an hour everytime you want to do a simple transaction is NOT acceptable, & its worse when certain banks shift the blame on to there elderly customers, next time you find yourself stuck in a long queue please make an offical complaint, be polite and nice about it but let your complaint be noted or it will never change

ednwireland

Firblog wrote: »

Everything is great in Ulsterbank in Donegal Town, rarely have to queue for more than a few minutes Could it be the time of day that you are going? Perhaps try going an hour earlier/later to see what it's like...

try ulster bank between 12 and 2 on a friday (rarely half an hour though)

bank of ireland still closes for lunch in donegal town - unbelievable

and dont get me started on those envelopes you put cheques into - i've had stuff put into the wrong account, te company i work for has had cheques lost as well

its friday am i allowed a rant ?

senordingdong

Couldn't agree more, I can stand how the banks refuse to open to customers earlier than ten, and refuse to stay open to customers later than four. And refuse to open weekends.

'The' bank is long overdue being taken done a peg or two.

implausible

senordingdong wrote: »

Couldn't agree more, I can stand how the banks refuse to open to customers earlier than ten, and refuse to stay open to customers later than four. And refuse to open weekends.

Does Ulster Bank not open on a Saturday morning?

The biggest issue I have with using the banks or PO is not necessarily the queues in them, but the major hassle of going down main street at all - traffic, idiots 'parking' and the hassle of finding parking.

I can see why the PO are scared to open another office in case of Main St dying, but a wee office anywhere but on Main St for limited postal stuff (e.g. not social welfare) would be so handy.

senordingdong

implausible wrote: »

I can see why the PO are scared to open another office in case of Main St dying, but a wee office anywhere but on Main St for limited postal stuff (e.g. not social welfare) would be so handy.

Well that's the other unfortunate side of things.
In order to keep the dying main street post office alive, they have increased the amount of things you can do there.
You can pay traffic fines, to take some of the workload off the Gardaí/DoT, you can collect social welfare to alleviate the DoSW and so on.
If this is good or bad economics is beyond me but god help the person who wants to go to the post office to actually send a letter or parcel.

martyeds

At least Ulster Bank and AIB offer the option of just putting money into an envelope. BOI dont, and as the OP states if you are depositing money into someone elses account, you dont have their card and you have to queue up for ages.

On the subject of opening a sub Post Office, in the lead up to the General Election, Jimmy Harte was talking getting one opened in Ballyraine, Gortlee area. I signed the petition and left my name and mobile number. He texted me back, thanking me for signing the petition. For the next month, i was bombarded with texts about giving him my Number 1 vote.....he must have lost my number because i havent heard from him since!!

echo beach

I went to the bank recently to pay a bill and was told I could pay it in the Post Office. Have you ever heard an employee of any business telling you to use a different one?
I asked her if she was trying to lose her job but she couldn't see any connection. She then tried to sell me house insurance. So instead of wanting to the job she is there for, i.e. banking, she was doing a different job, selling insurance. She told me later that they were monitored to ensure they asked EVERY customer about insurance. Not a single one was interested, probably because if they did want insurance they wouldn't have gone to a bank to do something else.

Ayla

martyeds wrote: »

At least Ulster Bank and AIB offer the option of just putting money into an envelope. BOI dont, and as the OP states if you are depositing money into someone elses account, you dont have their card and you have to queue up for ages.

That is factually incorrect. Anyone can put cash and/or cheques into a quick deposit envelope & drop it into BOI (even in the out-of-hours drop slot outside of the bank). Get the account holder to fill out the account details, put it in an envelope, drop it off. No queues.

I have been doing this at the BOI Donegal Town for 7 years and have never had a problem.

donegal_road

last 2 times Ive been to the government services building to pay car tax the line-up has backed up the stairs

oranbhoy67

donegal_road wrote: »

last 2 times Ive been to the government services building to pay car tax the line-up has backed up the stairs

thats another place i forgot to write down , that place is always mobbed as is the community welfare officer next door, who can only spare two morning sessions a week to meet us pesants ,another place is the social welfare office on the high road. why dont they stagger the signing-on days so different people can sign-on on different days? instead of having the queue snake all the way down to the mace shop. it makes the degrading task of signing-on even more dergrading,,maybe that is the point of it though?? :mad:

homer simpson

Ayla wrote: »

That is factually incorrect. Anyone can put cash and/or cheques into a quick deposit envelope & drop it into BOI (even in the out-of-hours drop slot outside of the bank). Get the account holder to fill out the account details, put it in an envelope, drop it off. No queues.

I have been doing this at the BOI Donegal Town for 7 years and have never had a problem.

Nope its not incorrect.

You don't have any box to deposit the fast lodge envelopes in Letterkenny since the major renovation. That fast lodge system has been replaced with self service lodgement machines, which look like ATM's) You need the bank card and pin to use them.

they Don't even have a customer service desk anymore, I kid you not. I asked they teller, at the cash desk, the last time I was in the bank and she said "you see the 3 computer screen's and phones.... they are now your costumer service" :eek:

echo beach

homer_simpson wrote: »

they Don't even have a customer service desk anymore, I kid you not." :eek:

Why would they waste space, not to mention a member of staff, with a customer service desk when they have absolutely no desire to offer a service to customers?

I got a letter today from my bank to tell me they had given me a new 'relationship manager'. I thought I was able to manage my relationships by myself. I'm very tempted to contact him to say I've had a row with my husband and ask him what I should do.:)

Maldesu

oranbhoy67 wrote: »

another place is the social welfare office on the high road. why dont they stagger the signing-on days so different people can sign-on on different days? instead of having the queue snake all the way down to the mace shop. it makes the degrading task of signing-on even more dergrading,,maybe that is the point of it though?? :mad:

afaik there are two signing days now. Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make.

oranbhoy67

Maldesu wrote: »

afaik there are two signing days now. Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make.

Yeah im on a Tuesday now, queue was still just the same, theyve wasted more money on an electrical signing machine thing too,, god knows why.. maybe to combat fraud, if they want to do that all they have to do is look at the people who are signing while wearing work overalls :rolleyes: