TSB is going to do absolutely nothing. Not a thing. No support, no nothing. Diddlysquat. Zilch!!
Branch managers have been told by Area Directors to get on with it. We are aware of some branch managers who are losing three members of staff and they are being given no support whatsoever. Staffing levels were cut to the bone before the IT meltdown began and by taking hundreds of staff out of the branches when the system is still not working is just making things much worse for those left behind. And the people who come up with this idea are the same ones who caused the damage in the first place. It really is the case of lions being led by donkeys
So branch managers who have lost staff are going to spend most of their time on the tills or in the banking hall helping out with customers. However, those same branch managers will then be expected to do their ‘day’ jobs at the beginning and end of each day and at a time when the Bank has just removed double time for overtime working. The Bank said recently it would be shining a light on mental health issues but what it’s doing is putting branch managers under so much pressure they are not going to be able cope.
A number of Area Directors, who shall remain nameless for the time being, have now started to ask about branch performance and made it clear they are not interested in excuses about the IT system or staffing level problems. Those Area Directors, and they know who they are, are under notice that if they persist in making veiled threats to our members we will name and shame them locally and nationally. Moreover, we will tell TSB customers in the locations covered by the Area Directors what they are doing.
Those Area Directors have been warned and no further warnings will be given. Peter – “It will still be the quickest bank systems migration since Norman times (3rd October 2017) – Navin, Community Banking Director, needs to rein in his Area Directors and Regional Directors. If he doesn’t or can’t, we will.
Continuing IT Problems
It seems to be that TSB’s senior management team can’t quite grasp the fact that the IT system is still not working properly. Members have told us that:
- The vouchers readers are still hit and miss and it takes a lifetime for customers to pay in simple cheques. Staff have said the new system makes them “look like idiots” in front of customers. Moreover, many customers have lost trust in the Bank’s systems. In the past customers could be directed to cash points or IDMs but those are not trusted anymore and customers are actively choosing to queue far more than they did in the past.
- Customers are still coming into branches because they can’t log onto internet banking. A number of branches have reported that some customers can’t log on because their date of birth has either disappeared altogether or been changed.
- The chip and pin system which was supposed to have been fixed still freezes regularly or stops working all together.
- Ordering new/lost/stolen cards is “a joke” according to members. One member said the system “was so complicated you don’t know if you are ordering the right card for the right customer”.
- In a number of cases customers reporting stolen cards have been sent new cards which have exactly the same numbers as the old cards including the same PIN numbers.
- On some of the cards issued by TSB the expiry date is so far in the future it renders them useless.
- It’s taking so long for customers to get their new cards that they are cancelling them thinking they’re lost, only for them to turn up a few days later. However, because the cards have been cancelled, they are useless. The process then starts all over again.
- Booking appointments for customers is also a nightmare. Customers are turning up for appointments that have been booked on the new system only to be told that the members of staff, who weren’t aware of the appointments, have gone home.
TSB Award
The Bank says that “no decisions have been made yet but the Bank Executive Committee and the Remuneration Committee are considering how we can reward Partners for their hard work in 2018”. Let’s be clear, members of the Bank’s Executive Committee and Board should get absolutely nothing for their collective performance in 2018. The fact that any of them are still in jobs is beyond comprehension.
Equally, if staff are fobbed off with an inadequate award and pay increases then we will ballot members on industrial action immediately and we will call on the two HR approved unions to find their backbones and do the same. Our survey results, some of which we have already published, show that staff were divided about industrial action at the height of the meltdown but that will change quickly if their hard work goes unrewarded when those who caused the chaos have walked off with large severance payments.
We’ve also created a PDF version of this newsletter which includes a number of graphs and charts showing the results from our recent TSB members survey. Please click this text to view the PDF.
Members with any questions on this Newsletter can contact the Union’s Bedford office on 01234 716029 or they can email us at 24hours@tbuonline.co.uk.