RBS managers should be ashamed over Lochinver closure
Sir – We have just had written notification that our RBS Lochinver branch is to close on 17th of August.
he letter was signed by Martin Girvan, local CEO for our bank, who invites comment. So here mine is, already sent to him:
Dear Martin Girvan,
I remember RBS (or The Royal Bank of Scotland as it used to be referred to) managers down past decades attending family funerals. Known and usually liked members of our small community. Familiar. Not faceless, not ghosts sitting behind the walls of "modern" empty bank foyers peopled only by ATM machines, as you will find today even in Inverness.
Recently, and after we were no longer able to speak directly by phone to staff we know personally at our Lochinver branch, moronic telephone questionnaires were put to RBS customers. "How long after crossing the Bank threshold was it before you were attended to?" I told the questioner across her continued fatuous questioning (something that the programmed message would be deaf to) that the staff were always friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, willing to give you their time until problems were solved.
This brave new Teflon, faceless world of virtual reality is blowing an older, better world out of the water, as sure as ISIS will destroy Palmyra.
And, my god, when you look at your RBSness in the mirror, and only today at the latest round of fines imposed on you over the Libor rate fixing, and your continued bad behaviour this past decade – how do you think I should feel about losing one of the few once immutable feeling limpets left on our remote Assynt rock?
If RBS had remained "tweedy", old fashioned, Scottish and reliable, you wouldn’t be sending out this dammed letter.
You, in Edinburgh, should be ashamed of yourselves.
Angus McEwan.
8, Inverkirkaig,
Lochinver.
