Barclays vent

I'm sure someone on here works for Barclays and I don't mean to offend, but I am absolutely astonished at the way DH and I have been treated since I moved here with regard to our bank account.

Mr.R had a bank account with his son's mother 2+ years ago. They met up and removed her from the account then.
I moved to the UK in October and STILL do not have access to our money via my own debit card in my own name.

First we were told to make an appointment at a branch which we did over the phone with our local branch which is about 100 meters from our flat. When we turned up for our appointment on my husband's only day off in 15 days, apparently it was scheduled with someone who hadn't worked at that branch for over a year. Then, we were taken to an office by an employee who offered to help. We had a pile of paperwork including my NHS card, NI number, council tax bill, utility bills, etc. all in my married name. I also had my passport which is in my maiden name and our marriage certificate which proves we were married in Las Vegas. We were told they could not add me to the account because they did not know what a Las Vegas marriage certificate looked like and my passport was in a different name. Needless to say we were furious and left with nothing.

We tweeted and phoned their customer service and were told I should apply for a provisional driver's licence in my married name which they would accept as verification that my name was in fact the same as my husband's. Mind you I earn money, pay taxes and receive free healthcare under my husband's surname, but having a provisional driver's licence (£50 out of pocket) would be more official. They actually deposited £50 to cover the cost of the provisional licence in our account which baffled me, but we decided to consider the gesture compensation for our wasted time instead and decided to try again elsewhere or switch banks.

A few months later we were able to carve out another time when we were both free to sit in a bank branch for two hours and likely leave disappointed. We met with another agent at a different branch near my work. He was friendly and helpful and added me to my husband's account. He assure us I was added to the account and my debit card would come in my married name within a week.

Ten days went by and I was suspicious so I tweeted to them and was told to call their online support team. According to the agent I got first I wasn't added to the account at all. He asked to speak to my husband: the account holder. I put him on and we were transferred to customer service. That agent confirmed, on the same call, that I WAS on the account. Apparently, my husband's ex was removed from the account when they visited the branch 2 years ago, but her debit card was never cancelled. As their policy states only two people can have debit cards on one account at a time so the request met with a block in their system cancelling our request for a card for me, without any notice to us. No letter, no email, no call -- just blanking us. I only called because the timeframe for the card to be posted expired and I feared identity theft.

We were told on that same call the manager we spoke with (Alex) would ring me on Monday (this was a Saturday) once he was able to communicate with the branch where we completed the paperwork. No one called on Monday.

Today, Tuesday, I was at work (this is why we asked him to call on Monday, my day off) and I missed his call. He left a return call number which was an 0 800 number which isn't free from mobile phones. When I rang it, I was confronted with a new agent from a call center which he claimed did not allow him to transfer anyone to another agent. I explained a message was left for me to ring it back and ask for Alex. If I couldn't be transferred to him why would he leave a message asking me to ring him back?! In the message he also said he would call back later that day. I didn't get through to him and he never called back.

Finally, I spoke to a woman who explained I was on the account, but since "Alex" removed DH's ex and cancelled her card on Saturday (thrilling), I would have to go to the branch and re-apply for a card. I can go alone and it won't take hours.

I can pretty much guarantee this isn't over, but I cannot IMAGINE how they have managed to be one of the largest banks in the world treating their customers this way.

I have only been this frustrated with Bank of America in the past, but I am wondering if you guys have had similar experiences in the UK.

Rant over.
Mrs.Randall

Sorry for your experience. One thing I would suggest is definitely get your provisional driver's license.  It's widely accepted in the UK as a form of identification and it will likely help you greatly in a situation like this.

I have only been this frustrated with Bank of America in the past, but I am wondering if you guys have had similar experiences in the UK.

In my experience, most UK banks are a perfect storm of bad customer service and "we do it that way because we've always done it that way."  I first moved to the UK in 2007, and had to do the same meeting with the bank manager to get an account at Lloyds TSB that you had to do with Barclays.  While she was perfectly nice, there was an undercurrent of "I'm doing you a great favor by opening an account for you" to the whole thing that I didn't understand at the time.  To me, banks should be competing for my business, not thinking up reasons not to take my money.

A few years later my wife and I were looking for a mortgage, and despite banking with them for a long enough period of time that they could get a solid picture of how much money was coming in and how much was going out, Lloyds wouldn't consider me for a mortgage without having ILR.  It turns out no UK bank (that I've found, anyway) will give a mortgage to an immigrant on FLR.  What they think they're protecting themselves from, I have no idea.  Maybe there are cases where the immigrant's visa runs out and they go back to their home country without continuing the mortgage payments, but then the bank could just take the house and sell it again.  And does such a thing happen so often that it's more advantageous to the bank to do no mortgage business with immigrants altogether?

And as for customer service, try to find two branches of the same UK bank that have the same understanding of any of the bank's policies, and you'll wind up disappointed.  Do you need statement printouts stamped and signed?  The branch on your local High Street says they don't do that, but if you come to UKY to ask about it, you'll get helpful responses from people who have found the ones who do.  If one branch will do it, why won't they all?

Anyhow, I'm ranting now, so I'll stop.  I hope you get the situation with Barclays solved soon!

When I first came here as a student, my uni told me to open an account at the local Barclays, as that is where the uni had its accounts. The int'l student office gave me a letter confirming my enrolment and I had a student loan check (plus personal money) to deposit. Barclays refused to open an account for me, even when the head of the int'l office went with me to plead my case. We went down the road to HSBC and the response was completely different. I have been with them ever since (nearly 8 years) and have no complaints. And that holds for my original London branch and my current Ludlow branch. Yes, I know that makes me a bit of a rarity, as UK and non-UK nationals alike seem to despise HSBC.

Also, I spent the first 6 years of my time in the UK without a learner's permit and never had any problems with producing documents for proof of ID (nor was I ever told to get one). Admittedly it's easier to carry around than a passport and lots of papers. I suspect once you get the bank sorted, you won't be asked for ID too often. But hey, if Barclays want to pay for it, why not!

And re: getting a mortgage, we had no trouble getting one when I was on FLR and had two years to go before I could apply for ILR. And we weren't married at the time. HSBC asked to see my passport and visa in addition to payslips and other documents which my partner had to show too, but they never even hinted that my immigration status could be an issue.

All of my experiences aside, customer service in the UK, especially from big companies, leaves a lot to be desired. Best of luck!

Thank you all for your tales of banking woes! Please keep em coming, maybe one of us will compile a tell-all book about the REAL story of the "world's best banks"!

I have to agree about customer service. I love the advert for the rent-a-car (car hire) service Enterprise: with the American customer service bit at the end.
It's like they KNOW they are sh*t at it, and yet carry on abusing customers anyhow.

I agree banks should be competing for business instead of trying to keep you out. However that's an American attitude for sure.
Truthfully little accounts like ours probably are more trouble than they are worth for banks since many people live paycheck to paycheck and thereby cost banks money in overdrafts, careless internet charges and fraud. Although it is the millions of small amounts deposited that give the bank the equity to lend and spend the way they do for their investors. So really they should be nicer to everyone lest enough people get the shaft and decide to stuff their mattresses instead.

I have heard about people going to PayPal instead, because they can do everything they can with a bank without the bureaucracy.
Maybe Square and PayPal are the future!

I have heard good things about Metro Bank and the Cooperative. Anyone have good or bad stories of those?

Mrs.Randall