HSBC tells Welsh customer not to complain in ‘foreign’ language
- Woman from Wales was complaining about the bank closing its local branches but not catering to her language online
A major bank told a customer who wrote to it in Welsh to complain that some services were not available in her language that she should communicate with it in English rather than a “foreign” tongue.
Nia Lloyd, a classroom assistant from Wrexham in north Wales, wrote to HSBC pointing out that online services were not available in Welsh.
Customer support replied that her message was in a “foreign” language and asked her to resend it in English. Both Welsh and English are official languages in Wales.
“I was shocked that they would respond to my complaint in that way,” said Lloyd. “I thought the bank would have more respect for the Welsh language. They should celebrate all the beautiful cultures and languages of the world.”
Welsh-language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith criticised the bank’s reply.
“These comments are insulting, but unfortunately not unexpected; after all, banks are disrespecting Welsh speakers every day,” said Tamsin Davies, the group’s spokeswoman. “There isn’t a single bank that provides online banking in Welsh.”
Lloyd is one of hundreds of people who have written to banks about the lack of online services in Welsh, Davies said.
