All run by buggy computer programs, no commonsense allowed!
I have been with them about 40 years. They have gone from friendly and helpful and staffed by actual human beings who knew you and could help, to a total faceless, impersonal, automated bureaucracy.
Nobody gives a damn, or has any commonsense or initiative. Everything is dictated by "The System", and what "The System" won't do can't be done, even if it's "The System" that is wrong!
I discovered this when I made a routine request for deposit slips - needed to deposit cheques via the post office now there is no longer any local branch - and found they never arrive because "Computer says no."
The reason? My account is in my initials and surname only - exactly the way Barclays set it up when they opened it for me 40 years ago, and how it has always been.
Suddenly, "The System" cannot cope with an account name in this format - which THEY chose, not me - because it it doesn't recognize it as a proper account name. So no deposit slips for me, and I'm absolutely dreading what happens when I need to be issued a new chequebook or bank card, as presumably the ACTUAL account name they assigned me won't be recognized then either, so I won't be able to have them.
I have tried four times now; twice through online banking, and twice on the telephone. From online banking, the request just goes into a black hole from which nothing ever emerges. I get a polite email acknowledging request of the deposit slips, but they never arrive.
I thought I was doing better by phone. The first time, after a rather ominous wait, during which the agent consulted her supervisor, I was assured all was well, and that my deposit slips would now be on the way.
A couple of days later, I received the expected parcel, only to find it did not contain deposit slips, but just the envelopes you place them in - of which the post office keeps a ready supply anyway - each marked with: "Have you remembered to include your deposit slip?" (the thing I haven't got).
So I called again, and spoke to a very nice lady, who explained about the problem with the initials, and said that was probably why the previous attempts had failed. She couldn't override it, but said she was going to raise some sort of exception report to get it sorted. That same afternoon, I got a nice email thanking me for my call, and claiming the deposit slips were now ordered.
But still nothing came!
As it's useless speaking to them on the phone, secure messaging in online banking doesn't work, and they don't publish any customer service email address, I've now lodged an official complaint through Resolver.co.uk - a self-help site that facilitates contact with companies who don't publish an email address.
According to statistics on that site, Barclays do recognize them, and 64% of complainants got a resolution. I am not yet in the lucky 64%, and haven't had any response in a week. I wrote to them again. So that is a total of six contacts with Barclays since February, and I still don't have the deposit slips.
They are worse than useless, because "useless" wouldn't cost so much time and effort trying to sort out - you'd just bin it and get on with your life. Unfortunately I can't in this case, because I do still need a solution.
May 3, 2023
Unprompted review