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Why Doesn't The Bank Have A PlayPlace?!
From
bad_service,
mamid posts with much ire:
http://community.livejournal.com/bad_service/698023.html
I took my kids with me when I had to go to the bank yesterday. The bank in question had two ways to enter but had locked the other door, so that left a huge area for kids to run around in. Nor are mine the only ones to ever run around in said place. Do note: there are no toys that other banks, or even branches of this same bank, have to occupy kids. Just a dead end.
So, while I was dealing with my transaction, I hear a "whump" then my son crying. I call him to me and keep him at my side for the rest of the time there. He's whimpering. As I go to leave, I realize that my son didn't just hit his head but has a gash by his eye. The hostess was really rude. No offer of first aide was given even though I asked for some. Not even the security guard who was standing by the only entrance.
Last night, I write a letter via their online customer support and tell them what happened. I get a boiler plate reply of "contact customer service here if you have more concerns."
Uh. yah. I have some concerns. Why don't they have an area to keep the kids occupied? Why don't they have a first aide kit on the premises? And why did the hostess have to be so rude? The area around my son's eye is swollen right where the wound is. If it had bled more, I would have been raising more of a fuss. Instead, I'll just watch him for any problems.
Responses are...probably not what she expected:
katieturtle: Why would you expect a bank to provide a babysitting service for you? Hire someone to watch your children while you run errands or do not let your kids run around like that without you watching them. You are the parent, not the bank employees, and it's your responsibility to watch your children, not theirs.This post does not belong in bad service, it belongs in a community for bad parents.
kikayume : It's not the bank's job to mother your children.
If you cannot supervise them, do not take them.
Not everywhere is expected to cater to you letting your children run rampant.
furryhatsrock : If it were a nursery or day care center, there would be toys. And people to watch your children for you.
A bank, on the other hand, is full of people wanting to complete financial transactions and who probably don't appreciate listening to your kids wailing and running around playing.
Day care... bank. Day care... bank. Clearly, these things are not equal.
It's no one's responsibility but yours to watch your children and keep them entertained, and to make sure they're not running around like maniacs. If you can't do that, then leave them with a friend or relative while you take care of your business. I seem to remember, as a child, that my mother could take myself and my younger brother places and we very rarely acted up.
It's called personal responsibility. Learn to have some.
mamid fires back: So, my son being hurt in a bank which could open them up to liabilities and lawsuits doesn't matter?
My son is 3, partially deaf, hyperactive and what does the hostess give him as soon as he walks through the door on every other visit? A sucker. Which sends him ballistic and he spends the next hour bouncing off the walls.
What's worse? A kid running around or a kid having a tantrum? And my son doesn't have "normal" tantrums. He has thermonuclear meltdowns when I've told him no.
All the other times we've been in that branch he wasn't hurt. But the time he was hurt, its MY responsibility? I am not superhuman. I can only do two things at once, and when the teller wanted my attention, I had to turn it away from the kids.
We, my DP and I, believe in natural consequences. If he runs around and gets hurt, that's the natural consequence of running around when he wasn't supposed to. Trust me. He won't be running around that bank again.
bad_service continue their replies, still with very little of the sympathy this bereaved mother is undoubtedly hoping for.
ETA:
customers_suck has got ahold of it. http://community.livejournal.com/customers_suck/15879073.html
EATA: (Edited Again To Add): Damn, it appears to be bahleeted. Hail to
wyn for saving it! First Page
HOWEVER...all is not lost!
mamid takes it to her own LJ, and ratches the self-pity up another notch! http://mamid.livejournal.com/37778.html. However, the commenting-ability is friends-only. Awww!