Who owns the company?

Hi, I know i promised to post regularly. I know I have not done so for a loooong time. I got a new job and have been very very busy fitting in. Lets hope things settle down soon. Now back to the post.

I was in the reception area of one of the banks. This bank has a very impressive building as its head office. I was watching as a middle aged lady walked in. She was followed by two other ladies and a kid in tow. She was coaxing them to follow her.

It was at that moment that the security head happen to notice this small group. They were admiring the massive interiors .. which also boasts a 3 floor water wall along its walls (now that should give away the identity of the bank). The security asked them what they were doing. The lady replied that they were visiting the bank's branch and starting walking towards the area where the entrance to the branch was located.

Now the building has a branch outlet on the ground floor. It has an entrance from the outside. As well as an entry from the reception area. The lady obviously knew about this internal area too. She wanted to show the lovely structure to her accomplices. And she was very proudly showing it off too. Just as a housewife likes to show off a new furniture in her house.

The security head refused to allow the group to continue and asked them to leave the building and enter the branch from the external entrance. Everyone seemed a bit upset over this.

I found it very annoying that me and others who were visitors (some business and some personal) were allowed to loiter in the reception area, but an obvious customer was not allowed to do the same.

Should not the customer feel she owns the company? Will this sense of ownership not increase the loyalty of the customer? Just imagine the proud feeling the lady would have accomplished, if she could have been allowed to complete her journey and show off "her bank" to her friends. Here is one bank which lost one lovely opportunity to give the customer a chance to feel proud of "her bank". Goes back to the old adage that customer relationship is not in process but in the heart and soul of each employee.