28 FEBRUARY 2004, Page 24

Banking on arrogance

From Sir Laurie Magnus Sir: I recently had a similar experience with a big bank to Theodore Dalrymple's (The customer is always a nuisance', 14 February). I was working at home one afternoon last week when the telephone rang.

'Is that Mr Sir Magnus or Mr Sir Laurence Magnus?'

'Yes, speaking.'

`Mr Magnus, I am calling from the bank about your account.'

'Yes. Is there a problem?'

'Mr Magnus, I can go no further until I confirm your identity for security reasons. I need to ask you a few questions. Can you please confirm your date of birth?' Having read a number of articles about identity theft, I decided to turn the tables. 'How do I know you are from the bank?' I asked. 'Can you please tell me your name? And can you please tell me the name of the chairman of your bank?' I detected a flutter at the other end of the line.

'My name is James Nagel,' came the reply. 'I suggest you call the following freephone number and ask for me. Then you will know I am genuine.' So I called the number. It was a call centre.

'Can I please speak to James Nagel?' 'What department is he in?'

'I have no idea. He asked me to call him on this number.'

'We have thousands of people connected through this number. Unless you can tell me his department, I cannot find him for you.'

I decided to persist. After a few minutes, a manager came on the line. His computer traced a number of employees called Nagel, of which the most likely was apparently based at a facility in Hemel Hempstead. He was uncertain, however, and therefore unwilling to connect me to him. He apologised for 'any inconvenience caused'. I shall never know what Mr Nagel wanted. My bank clearly could not be bothered to find out. I was just an awkward customer who refused to submit to the call-centre process.

Theodore Dalrymple is absolutely right. There is no passion for customer service in these vast banking bureaucracies. Intelligence, let alone common sense, has been replaced by blinkered arrogance. Nor, as my conversation demonstrated, are these callcentre procedures a sign of any sort of efficiency or security within the bank itself.

Sir Laurie Magnus

London SW1