Dear Sir,

The banks in Bermuda, especially Butterfield and HSBC, need to send their chief executive officers and other senior management on a course on basic customer service.

Customer service begins with telephone receptionists saying good morning, good evening, how may I direct your call? Not “press 5, press 7, etc” and end up with an answering machine.

At least the two customer service representatives at each branch on the ground floor are visible to the customer.

The banks need more tellers and a suggestion box that is visible to all.

What CEOs and senior management seem to forget is that without customers they have no business. Policy in these banks should be based on what the customers wants, not what is convenient to management.

Not all customers want or like ATMs or electronic banking. They do not trust these electronic services; they want to transact with the bank and a human being.

Get it together, banks. What you really need is a competitor like Citicorp, JP Morgan or Bank of America. You would change your ways overnight or lose your customer base.

KEITH GODFREY

Sandys