"Banking as switched on as you are" NOT !!

"Banking as switched on as you are" Not the experience I encountered today.

I went to make a cash deposit at the Menlyn Maine branch. Upon arrival i moved towards the Tellers as I normally would. I was stopped by a lady rather rudely, who informed me that I should take a ticket for the queue. I found this quite strange in a bank where there is normally no ticket system for the tellers and an additional form of security for the client that would like to make a cash deposit, like an additional set of doors with the usual time delay lock or cube in place should a ******* take place.

Unfortunately I couldn't count the money before i got to the bank and as I have done in the past, I stood at the table in the teller area to count the money and complete the deposit slip. The same brash lady that I encountered at the entrance then came to me and said I must step outside (the semi secure area) and take a seat within the main branch among the other clients waiting for their ticket numbers to be called. This area offering no additional security apart from the abrasive lady that seems to have the sole duty of ensuring everyone entering the branch - "Takes a ticket and sits down"

I said to the lady that I do not feel secure in the main area of the bank as I had quite a bit of cash to deposit. She told me again in her "special way" that I should take it up with the manager. I did just that, the manager however (it was his first day as manager) didn't quite know how to reply or address my concerns regarding the security or rather the lack thereof for their clients making use of the tellers (which they charge quite a lot more for!) He simply said that he would take the matter further.....

I was again confronted by the "Lady" who asked me "what did he say?" I told her his response and I said again that I do not feel safe standing in the open with the cash in hand. She then shrugged her shoulders and said that I should take a seat!?! To add insult to injury, it was at this time that Eskom decided to start their load shedding in the area.... Just my luck, I had to leave the bank as they couldn't do any transactions while there was limited power.

I find it quite concerning that in South Africa, the banking institutions do not make more of an effort to ensure first of all the safety of their clients and secondly the better customer experience for which we pay exorbitant banking fees for.