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The Clock that Doesn't Tell Time

On Grafton Street in downtown Charlottetown there is a branch of the Bank of Montreal. On the front of the bank is a large outdoor clock. At one point this clock may have actually told the time, but for as long as I can remember — at least a couple of years — it has not:


Clock at the Bank of Montreal in Charlottetown

While this is annoying, and perhaps even irresponsible on behalf of the bank, more so it is just plain stupid marketing for the bank: if they can’t even fix their clock, I say to myself, what are they going to do with my money? Are their computers and adding machines and timelocks broken too?

I can’t imagine an amount of money that would be too much to prevent the Bank of Montreal from simply getting someone in to fix the clock and, if it cannot be repaired, simply replacing it with something else.

Sunday, August 4, 2002 - 2:36pm

Comments

Mark McQuaid's picture
Mark McQuaid on August 4, 2002
i often wondered if anybody had ever reported the clock deal the bank..And what their take on it was..hmm i wonder indeed
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 4, 2002
Well, some one should start complaining. The city should at least… For any people who visit Downtown Charlottetown each Summer, the time has been the same for the last 2 years… How stupid does that make us look?
Rob MacD's picture
Rob MacD on August 4, 2002
Well, the clock IS right twice a day!! Ba Dum, Ching! Hello? Is this thing on? Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here until 6:39 all week long.
Jevon's picture
Jevon on August 4, 2002
No progress Peter? http://www.reinvented.net/onestory.php3?number=535
Jevon's picture
Jevon on August 4, 2002
No progress Peter? http://www.reinvented.net/onestory.php3?number=535
Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on August 4, 2002
Jevon: alas, no.
Alan's picture
Alan on August 5, 2002
Isn’t this just one more of those Sunshine Sketches aspects to life in the province. Soon, like limitations like the can ban, it will become a virtue - time stands still on PEI. Then the CBC will start reporting that in NS and NB they still use clocks and that the crime rates there are higher (relying on anecdote only, of course) than here and that clocks that do not tell time are, infact, a key aspect of the Island Way of Life. Then the Minister of Environment or…better… Mike Curry in Business Development will pass a regularion requiring the improvement of all clocks to timelessness. Then a monopoly will be created, spun off, funded by the province and staffed by hacks to ensure clocks in rental cottages do not run so that tourist expectations are met. I think we saw a hint of that in the first whacked new PEI tourist ad about the mommy’s boy in the VW bug who couldn’t leave home. He realized he would have to rely on time, got all jittery as he drove to the ferry and turned back in time for supper in his family’s 1940 kitchen.
Lana's picture
Lana on August 5, 2002
Best.Response.Ever.
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 5, 2002
Don’t give them any ideas…
Oliver's picture
Oliver on August 5, 2002
Peter, to ratchet up the pressure, maybe you ought to create a Web page with a live cam turned to the clock that never moves, with links to the bank of Montreal. Then again, if the bank was sensitive to irony they might have fixed the clock, for all the reasons you pointed out.
Justin's picture
Justin on August 5, 2002
? I thought BoM was hep enough to buy a Dali. It’s a clock?
Rob MacD's picture
Rob MacD on August 6, 2002
Oliver, would it need to be a ‘live’ web page? How about a web page that, each minute, displays a PhotoShop doctored image of the clock that shows the ‘right’ time?
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 6, 2002
Well, with a clock that does not work all you would need is one image and say it’s live. Something like the Island Cam One at 3AM…
Stephen DesRoches's picture
Stephen DesRoches on August 6, 2002
So in other words Andrew, here is the live webpage of the BoM clock. http://www.reinvented.net/onestory.php3?number=825
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 6, 2002
Thats it alright, I think I seen a bird fly by the clock. Wait, I think it was a fly on my monitor… My bad.
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 6, 2002
I just emailed the head branch of the bank to tell them about this issue. Best part of the email was the subject: Tick-Tock, your bank should fix it’s clock. I’ll let you know if I get a response.
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 7, 2002
BMO got back to me, very fast too…

Dear Mr. Chisholm,

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. I can understand how frustrating this must be.

I have taken the liberty of forwarding a copy of your correspondence to the Branch Manager of our Charlottetown Main Branch - Kelli Tweel and sincerely hope that she will arrange to have the clock returned to working order very soon.

Again, we appreciate the time you have taken to forward your comments.

Sincerely,

Lisa Hare
BMO mbanx Direct
Andrew's picture
Andrew on August 7, 2002
Do you think the Charlottetown main branch will fix it now? I doubt it…
stephen's picture
stephen on August 9, 2002
why is it that only banks (Time is Money) and funeral homes (Tempus Fugit - Time she is fleeting or fleeing or something) have clocks anyway?

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