Originally Posted by Ed2020

My local Natwest has had a refit recently and replaced more than half their counters with ATMs. A lot of the time I still queue up at the counter (as I do in Tesco and B&Q, both of which are going the same way). When asked whether I realise that I could have completed my transaction more quickly at a machine my response is always the same - that I'd prefer not to see the staff all replaced by machines. Their silence after I say this suggests to me that they feel the same.

My other objection (and I realise this may be slightly irrational) is that these companies are pushing what was once their job onto the customer. In a lot of examples it's not the machine that saves the money, it's the fact that they're getting the customers to take on some of the work. Automated answering services with umpteen options to select from make me feel the same way.

Rant over.