Barclays Bank Wroxham/hoveton

[Jbx5]

The last bank in Wroxham has given notice of closure (1st December 2023).

Not a good move with all the older generation  and holiday makers in the area!

John 

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, Jbx5 said:

The last bank in Wroxham has given notice of closure (1st December 2023).

Not a good move with all the older generation  and holiday makers in the area!

John 

We lost our last bank in Watton in May (also  Barclays) and with it the ATM.  We do have a sub Post Office, but one of the two remaining ATM’s charges £1.90 for a cash withdrawal whilst the other is frequently empty!

[chrisdobson45]

That's a blow, we've used it regularly when about Wroxham as it's easy to access. We lost the last bank in our home town a couple of years ago (Lloyds) and now there's plans for a banking hub to be established but as the high street now comprises mostly vape shops, charity shops and Turkisk Barbours, there's no suitable premises available....

[ChrisB]

Both Lloyd's Banks in North Walsham and Cromer will close in the Autumn. 

[floydraser]

33 minutes ago, chrisdobson45 said:

... the high street now comprises mostly vape shops, charity shops and Turkisk Barbours, 

fast food outlets and tattoo parlours...

And as you exit be careful not to get run down by a youth on a bike delivering Just Eat orders. 

[Roy]

That’s a shame I used it only Monday they closed the Aylsham bank and now have a lady sitting in a dark room in the drill hall in Aylsham for Barclays Bank enquires when the problem involves using a atm she walks to town with you to use tsb atm what a joke that is I feel sorry for the older generation who don’t do online banking companies nowadays are all profit driven !!! 

[CambridgeCabby]

My mother will still only withdraw cash in branch , she doesn’t feel comfortable in using an ATM , her bank is closing later this year also and the nearest post office to her is over a mile away from her house with a virtually non existant bus service and no parking near the post office if she did drive there .

The large corporate banks have no sympathy at all for elderly customers and the difficulties they have , my mother does not have and does not wish to have either a smart phone or internet what she wants is what she feels comfortable with which is human interaction by her bank with whom she has been a loyal customer for 90+ years .

[LizG]

They should have more respect for their elderly customers - before the age of computers and online banking these people kept them in business!

[Wussername]

59 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

My mother will still only withdraw cash in branch , she doesn’t feel comfortable in using an ATM , her bank is closing later this year also and the nearest post office to her is over a mile away from her house with a virtually non existant bus service and no parking near the post office if she did drive there .

The large corporate banks have no sympathy at all for elderly customers and the difficulties they have , my mother does not have and does not wish to have either a smart phone or internet what she wants is what she feels comfortable with which is human interaction by her bank with whom she has been a loyal customer for 90+ years .

With Barclays going from Wroxham we will have lost over the past few years Barclays at Brundall, Acle, Thorpe Road Norwich. In real terms Barclays no longer provide a service for those who prefer a personal meeting. That has now gone. As for cash, it will soon be non existent.  

Telephone banking, computer banking will become the norm.

 CC. My mother, your mother, both of the same age were presented with the same problem.

There were so many things, so many issues that they wished to to resolve themselves.

It is known as independence. 

It was denied. 

The consequences of which still concern me, such is family life when others influence and take advantage. 

Or is it just my family?  

[Turnoar]

Feels like you need an independent banking adviser these days to assist with the changes. My very recent experience of switching to online banking was rubbish, when I popped into a branch today to discuss a hitch they said they could do diddly squat, I’d have to go online.... which Ive already tried and failed to resolve. Lot to be said for human services.

For my sins I also manage an account for a club which may be equally challenging to move with the times, getting the key people to do whatever won’t be easy. My first thought was to simply draw down all the funds and start afresh with another bank and let the old one die of its own accord but I’m not confident it will be straightforward.

Glad I’m not alone in this thought train wussername, it always used to be the case that the customers always write... “sorry Mr Turnoar you’ll have to go online and submit an enquiry”.  Difficult to differentiate between the banks now, all much of a muchness, zero customer service consideration.

[ChrisB]

How do you bank the coinage from charity boxes?

[Wussername]

Thank you Turnover, I thought it was just me.

In my particular instance other people took advantage. Family and those close to the family. And, I found that I was not alone. They took advantage. It had happened to other members of my large family, to neighbours, to friends. 

Such is the consequence of the loss of the independent professional advisor who doesn't have a financial interest in the outcome. The family Bank Manager.

[DAVIDH]

Well, the banks want to save money by closing branches as machines are cheaper in the long run than humans (just as the government is wanting to do with rail ticketing offices by the way). Yet, the financial authorities are keen to hold them to account when they don't do enough to help customers who have been defrauded. 

The other week I received into my Halifax account (electronically of course) a sum from a maturing cash bond. After a few days, I wanted to reinvest it with another bank. Online, I jumped through all the hoops, even spoke to the bank's fraud department to prove I wasn't being manipulated. That wasn't enough though. I was told the money could only be released if I went to my local branch along with my passport and documents to prove the money was indeed being reinvested. Whilst waiting in one of the bank's rooms, I could hear a similar conversation going on next door with another customer. So I guess this is now becoming quite common, because the banks have to be seen to be protecting it's customers....sure it's not altruism! 

So we now have a situation where we may be referred to our local branch on occasion, while at the same time, they are shrinking their branch estate. Hold on to your hats guys, things are only going to get worse! 

[floydraser]

And to try and balance things up a bit: to employ someone these days costs a lot more than just the wages, for instance everyone wants maternity/parternity leave, sickness benefits etc. All has to be costed. We are happy to have our wages paid into the bank direct instead of a brown packet every Friday, and we are happy to buy fuel and groceries anytime of the day or night by waving a card over a sensor. We can't have it all ways. Banks (and rail ticket offices) can't afford to pay people to twiddle their thumbs all day because we have all found alternatives.

There'll always be losers unfortunately.

[addicted]

We lost our last bank (Lloyds) a couple of years ago and the ATM was sited at the  corner supermarket that we use to get our daily papers until it was ramraided about a year ago and as a result no longer has the machine. Fortunately we do have a very good post office and we can usually manage to do what we need there,  although paying money into our account is a bit more complicated. We also don't have and don't want a smart phone and do not do on line banking except basic stuff like checking balances and such. I suppose its correct to say that we are typically old people struggling to cope in an  ever increasingly difficult world. It is very scary. A town where  we frequenty shop has recently changed the payment methods in its parking facilities  and requires the use of a smart phone so now we can't go there any more. Stop the world I want to get off!

Carole

[grendel]

I had to run my ex MIL into town the other week as the local ATM was out of order, we went to morrisons and they had changed their machines which now wouldnt read her card (she said it asked for the card to be put in sideways?) eventually we went to sainsburys where she was successful in obtaining cash.

Also my parents wouldnt know what to do without a branch, my 90 year old mother doesnt hold any ID and all the bills are in my fathers name, my father at 89 has a computer- but not internet, and neither could work a smart phone.

in a way I would call it age discrimination, you would not be allowed to get away with it in the workplace, and somebody should pull these banks up on it.

[grendel]

I went on a team building event in london a few weeks back- virtual formula one racing, I knew there was going to be issues when i saw the signs saying scan the QR code to order food and drinks, so I asked at the door if the lack of a smart phone would be an issue to be told no.

when we got to the games, we found we had to scan in using a QR code to register to play the game, well not having a smart phone made this difficult, so one of the others had to use their phone- the issue, because they had already registered this meant they couldnt, until someone used a second browser on the phone- I got registered with about 1 second to spare in the allocated time.

Why does everywhere nowadays make the assumption that everyone wants / can afford a smart phone- without one (and a lot are expensive and complicated phones) you are made to feel a very much second or third class citizen and excluded from many activities.

[floydraser]

5 hours ago, grendel said:

I went on a team building event in london a few weeks back- virtual formula one racing, I knew there was going to be issues when i saw the signs saying scan the QR code to order food and drinks, so I asked at the door if the lack of a smart phone would be an issue to be told no.

when we got to the games, we found we had to scan in using a QR code to register to play the game, well not having a smart phone made this difficult, so one of the others had to use their phone- the issue, because they had already registered this meant they couldnt, until someone used a second browser on the phone- I got registered with about 1 second to spare in the allocated time.

Why does everywhere nowadays make the assumption that everyone wants / can afford a smart phone- without one (and a lot are expensive and complicated phones) you are made to feel a very much second or third class citizen and excluded from many activities.

That, to me sums up the complete ludicrousy of so called "team building" events. It says to me that if you haven't got a smart phone then you're not part of the "team". I walked out of one such event. In some circumstances they can be counter productive in that they cause resentment among other areas of the workforce.

[grendel]

most of them used their company issued smartphones, yet when I started it was deemed unnecessary for me to have a company phone due to my role (note that new people starting in the role are now issued with company phones, yet I still dont have one- I'm not complaining though as that means they cant contact me out of hours.

[Malanka]

Companies have always been able to contact individuals for work outside of hours. It’s a wonderful invention called a telephone. Company issued phones have a quiet and or off button which I utilised every day of the 22 years I was issued with one. Even with responsibilities on more than one continent I still set times when I was available and when I wasn’t. “They” can’t just phone you whenever your boss ( potential Richard Head) wants to. All that these days is written into the CofE and if you sign one with that in… Eyes open and all that ! 
 

There needs to be some discourse on the advantages judicious use of technology may provide. Whilst in Canada a few weeks ago my credit card was used to pay a £100 civil enforcement action, and a speeding ticket. Both in Birmingham UK. The bank said we see you’re on holiday obviously not you, continue to use your card whilst on holiday and we will monitor everything for you. 
 

Times have changed and will change more. This happens, everywhere, all the time. I’m sure Bronze Age warriors were mightily miffed to come up against Iron swords for the first time, same as the Inca’s with bone vs steel.

 

innovation is what humans do, it’s what permits almost 9 billion people on the planet when experts in the 70’s said we would all starve at 6 billion. I never take for granted what any “expert says” . They are human just like you and me. The world is NOT going to stop changing so it’s sink or swim time. Time and tide wait for no man someone once said…. 
 

See this is what not having a floating boat does to me…. Gawd help us