Firstly there was the awful transfer from Barclays Stockbrokers to Barclays Smart Investor. I couldn't access the system for a week. Luckily there were no profits warnings, otherwise I could have lost a lot of money. Now the system basically works but there are still niggling issues. The good points: * Barclays tend to get good prices on buys and sells * the advertising is slick and glossy * the jingles while you wait to talk to a customer service representative are quite catchy The bad points * the website often drops me off with no warning and then I need to log in again * summary information is completely wrong. It says I have made a 300% profit this year. I wish * lots of things that I can't buy. There are lots of great US and European shares that I would like to buy but Smart Investor only allows UK listed shares * the price - charging a %age of the value of my holdings is just a rip off and much higher than some of the competition. I wouldn't mind paying more for a better service. But I'm not getting a better service So why haven't I moved to another stockbroker? People trying to transfer out have been reporting a 3 month or more transfer time during which they have been unable to buy or sell. And the cost of being locked out of trading can be huge. So I have to wait until transferring out becomes easy and quick Definitely not recommended