I felt I had to put pen to paper to record the utter disgust and humiliation my 76-year-old mother and I felt while visiting the HSBC branch in Paola on a weekday.

We have been long-standing customers of HSBC, and on 5 July, our bad experience made us think otherwise. We waited patiently in the queue, just to change some currency, for one-and-a-half hours.

After such a long wait, my mother needed to go to the toilet. To my utter astonishment she was bluntly told to use the public convenience across the road. To get to these facilities one has to cross a busy junction.

My mother has to be driven everywhere. She suffers a great deal to walk. My car was parked about two corners away. So there was no other option for her but to walk.

I am very disappointed. So much for a world-wide bank which distinguishes itself from local banks based on its “customer service”. May I also take this opportunity to point out that the staff need some kind of customer care training. Service with a smile! (If they smile their face would crack!)

M. Blackburn

Blata l-Bajda