Sir, – As a follow-up to Anne Byrne’s letter (July 23rd) about bartering, I got a crash course in barter as an alternative to cash and credit when, during the Yeltsin years, I undertook a planning assignment in Russia at a manufacturer of components for tractor engines.
Sitting in the company’s balance sheet were stocks of tractor engines, tractors, sugar and pigs. These arose because the manufactured components were paid for with engines which were then bartered for tractors. The tractors were then “sold” to farmers in return for sugar and pigs. These were then used to “pay” employees who bartered or sold them in local markets for cash. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN FLANAGAN,
Blackrock,
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Co Dublin.
Sir, – It is scarcely surprising that AIB says it has seen a decline in branch visits in recent times.
It has strategically greatly reduced tellers at all branches; for example, in Grafton Street branch in Dublin (one of their largest) there are two tellers, one of them for coins, so that a long queue cannot be avoided.
Customer service is providing what the customer wants, and not what the bank itself desires. – Yours, etc,
JAMES WELDON,
Avoca,
Co Wicklow.
