Dear Editor,
The announced closing of the Beachburg Scotiabank branch exposes the phoniness of corporate advertising done by the major banks. You know, the ones showing the smiling faces of all the people ready and waiting to meet your financial needs.
Please understand: I have experienced excellent service from wonderful Scotiabank employees since I opened an account with the Cobden branch when I accepted employment based in that community in 1984. One example: my husband and I were negotiating a mortgage and had verbally agreed to terms and were just waiting for the paperwork. The employee serving us phoned the next morning to tell me ask me if I could come in and initial some changes because, as she was lying in bed the previous night, had come up with another option, one more favourable to us.
This employee is the sort of person in our local branches, such as those in the Beachburg branch, who have always had the entire spectrum of the people they serve in mind, and of the priority they give to individual needs. I’m certain those employees, when they lie down in their beds these evenings, see many of the faces of their customers in their minds’ eyes and feel very sad because they will soon be deprived of the opportunities to serve them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Cobden employees are experiencing similar visualizations, because, if they get away with this in Beachburg, who’s next?
Full disclosure: I was an early adopter of Internet technology and am very comfortable with online banking. But we operate a small business out of our LaPasse home – nice supplement to the OAS and CPP – and so I would like the decision-makers at Scotiabank to be aware that, no matter how tech-savvy one is, one can’t stuff cash into one’s computer or withdraw cash out of it. (Yes, they’re even removing Beachburg’s ATMs!)
So this isn’t just about seniors who can conveniently be written off as not keeping up with the times. Never mind the fact that it’s because of their work, efforts, and support throughout their lives that there even is a bank branch to consider closing.
And it isn’t just about the fact that if you don’t drive, it’s a lot easier to get a ride to the bank within your community than to line up transportation into Pembroke or Cobden 15 or 20 km away. For some with physical limitations the longer trip might even be a deal-breaker. (Further note to Scotiabank decision-makers: Beachburg has no public transportation. Not even Über – get your brains around that one!)
And this isn’t just about the tiny (in corporate terms) community of Beachburg and the needs of persons who make up that community. It’s also about Westmeath and LaPasse and THEIR surrounding communities. It’s about the added time it takes to drive those extra 15 or 20 or whatever km, and the cost of fuel and wear and tear on vehicles – and then there’s the carbon footprint thing. Penny wise and pound foolish – but I guess that’s OK when you’re dealing with your own corporate pennies vs the pounds of the community residents and businesses which, according to your ads, you are serving.
I guess you just can’t be too careful when your profit last year was only $9.4 billion.
Sincerely,
Marie Zettler of LaPasse
