“On 5th October 2018 at around noon, I went to withdraw £2500 cash from Barclays Bothwell St, Glasgow branch because I was traveling and wanted “Bank of England” notes instead of “Bank of Scotland” notes. I entered the bank, stayed in the queue till it got to my turn and politely gave the teller my request, she seemed okay at first but the next teller immediately jumped in and told me she doesn’t think they had enough “BoE” notes but she will have to check, so I told her it’s okay and that I will wait and have her check.
So the teller serving me asked me to confirm my PIN on the PinSentry device which I did, she left for a while, came back and opened the safe and brought out “BoE” notes, kept counting it over and over again whiles whispering to her colleague behind the counter. She left again, came back and this time around noticed she kept looking at the CCTV and kept switching the views. After a while, she asked for my ID card which I provided, I even gave her two ID cards (my driver’s license and BRP), after a few minutes she asked me to confirm recent transactions which I did, then proceeded to ask me about a transfer to my account(from a joint account I hold with my wife). I told her that amount was transferred from my joint account with my wife because it’s more like a savings account for us, to control our spending and also protect against fraud because we only own a debit cards so we cannot get chargebacks for fraudulent payments and once the money is gone, it’s gone.
She still kept me there staring at the screen saying nothing, most probably just going through my transactions. So I asked her why I’m being treated differently because there was Caucasian guy on my left who was able to withdraw money claiming his card was missing and even showed an expired passport as proof of identity. I asked to speak to the manager but instead a woman whom I later identified as Angela Bradford came out yelling at me to leave and go sit somewhere. I asked her why she was being rude to me just because I am making a withdrawal but instead she threatened to call the police, so I asked her to go ahead and call the police and that I will wait. That was when I took my phone to record the incident because as a black guy you do not stand a chance at any false allegation, she angrily came back trying to snatch my phone yelling at me not to record but I told her I need to protect myself because I have no idea what she will tell the police so I need some form of evidence.
After waiting for almost an hour with no police showing up, I asked her if I should still wait for the police to which she replied “they will come and find me” and started laughing out loud and also told me she will have my account closed. I went to the branch on Argyle St, Glasgow to make the withdrawal only to see that my account has been placed under review and that I cannot withdraw or use my account until the review is over, which usually takes at least 10 business days. It was so clear from the attitude of the staff at Bothwell St that as a black guy, withdrawing just £2500 was such a big deal and labeled me as a criminal. The last place I expected to face racism was in the bank trying to withdraw my own money. Most banks in the UK have very bad reviews but I chose Barclays because I used Barclays back in Ghana. I only transfer money to my Barclays account from “MY” bank account from other EU financial institutions and just because of the bad experiences people shared online. The only reason I chose to even transfer that much money from “MY ACCOUNT” to my Barclays account because I wanted “BoE” notes so I can get a better exchange rate, my biggest regret. This incident has caused me lots of depression and will be visiting my GP tomorrow because the daily racist abuse and stereotype is just too much for me and is just sickening. I have also asked my wife to switch banks because of this incident, I’m just glad we did not accept the mortgage and credit card offers from this fraudulent and racist institution. This attitude is totally unacceptable, being a black person does not mean you should be poor. I save and invest a lot because I want to have a better future.
#RacistBarclays #BoycottBarclays #BarclaysDiscrimination #BarclaysRacism #BarclaysStereotype #AngelaBradford #BarclaysBothwellSt”
“Applied for a car loan (10k in 5 years) 7 months ago after being their client (4 years) and having a "very good" credit score, even though never had loans in my life before, so I was expecting an high APR. Loan that ended up being a personal loan so unsecured loan with higher APR then.
At the moment I have applied they promised me that they would have reviewed my APR rate within a few months once my credit score would have got better.
Anyway I was pre-selected for a 25k personal loan at 19% APR,
so I thought to apply for 10k with the same 19% which after the credit check ended up being up to 26.5% !!!!!!
I could not refuse as I had already booked my car so needed to accept it anyway but with the hope to tweak it in a few months later.
Now after 7 months, I have more money in my bank account, my salary went way up by 5k per year and my credit score with Experian is Excellent only 8 points less than the maximum 999.
I went to the barclays branch to discuss my existing loan and they said that I don't have any chances to tweak my existing loan, and if I wanted a better rate I should have applied for a new loan with them and pay off the existing one, but anyway this wasn't convenient for me as the proposed APR was still way too high...
I decided to pay back the 14£ Experian membership then, to check any other loans alternatives, and found out that I was pre-approved at 100% with Lendable for 14% APR which was already quite good compare to the Barclays one, and had 95% chances to get 3.3% with Admiral finance.
I went straight away to try it and done a soft credit check with Admiral which confirmed the 3.3% loan for 9k spreaded in 3 years to pay off my existing one.
I have applied for a hard credit check which confirmed the loan.
3.3% against 26% that's INSANE!!!
that's the way how Barclays treats its customers!
If it wasn't to keep the account open for my credit history I would have already shut off my Barclays account! You must seriously have something wrong in your customer service and treatments.
I wish you all the worst!”
“I opened my bank account with Barclays more than 3 years ago without any problem and really I was happy with them, yesterday without any notice they blocked my account and neither the phone customer service nor the bank branch in Liverpool could explain why did that happen! They just said that my account is under reviewing and they can’t tell me the reason! I’m really disappointed”
“No customers are using the machines but all queuing for 1 poor cashier trying to cope on their own while 5 staff with tablets stand around doing nothing !! They ask customers how they can help and proceed to tell them to stand in the que for the 1 cashier !!! Most frustrating bank ever.....”
“I support a lady in her 90s who has savings with Barclays and has not accessed them for years. Now she needs the money, she rang the bank to request the balance, she wa told they couldn’t access the account. We spoke to them again today, very unhelpful person and to cut a long story short, Barclays have told this lady to go through dormant accounts process, in the meantime, she has no heating, no running water, no money, damp in the house and Barclays are enjoying her money! Awful bank, keep away! They don’t care about vulnerable people, I’m disgusted!
Forgot to say, whilst I was helping this lady on the phone, Police turned up asking if she was okay! I wish Barclays could have resolved this lady’s issue with the prompt speed they called the Police!”
“Just too share my experience at Barclays bank my nan wanted too close her account down and ask me too go with her am her granddaughter as my mum has passed away and her son is in Australia firstly they kept us waiting 2 hours saying we trying too contact head office then she kept saying I’ve got too ask my Manager By this time it was about too close so they ask my nan too go to gilling ham the next day and they would help her then by now my nan wasn’t ever happy all she wanted to do was close her bank so off we went the next day my nan gets a knock at the door it the police asking if she was ok and was she being Bullied In too handing over her money too her career my nan replied I don’t have a carer And no am not being bullied in too handing over money they ask my nan for my names address and telephone num and said they going to ring me . My nan told the lady at rainham bank who I was and I was calling her nan they twist thing make up lies I think every one should stay well away from Barclays Bank coz if u want to close it they call the police on u I will be taking this matter to Citizens advice I think it disgusting how we got treated”
“I wanted to open a bank account first of all when I try to fill in the online form it wouldn't let me completed because the security are not a robot thing wasn't working. so then I rang and then made me appointment and told me what proof I need to bring when I got to the bank this morning although I bought what they told me to bring on the phone it wasn't accepted waste of time waste of petrol and waste of money paying parking.”
“Please be aware when using the JetBlue credit which is
associated with Barclays Bank. Barclays Bank has horrible
customer support service. I made an honest mistake as
a charge was made unknown to me to the credit card and the
balance went over 30 days due. When contacted by Barclays,
I immediately paid the amount and asked them to please have
the late payment notification be removed from credit report as it
brought my FICO score from 810 to 650. This was an honest
mistake for a charge that was done without my knowledge but
Barclays has refused to help and now I am stuck with a poor FICO score .I have been a good paying customer for over 10 years and would understand if I had a history of late payments or high balances but this is not the case. A friend of mine had the same issue with Capital One and they were able to help her on the spot. I guess Barclays does not understand we are human and can occasionally also mistakes, just as corporations do. They will no longer have my business.”
“Barclays Banks at Bluewater Kent has excellent customer service. Staff are very understanding and caring. Compared to other banks I’ve recently dealt with.”
“Well, I cannot rate them well as service are not helpful. I am using the android app which was very good until recently. Now I cannot make payments od access any other info. Complaint about this and was advised they are aware but still not helpful at all. Leaving for holiday with a payment app not working including their stupid pins entry card reader not working either. This is a total mess and show how organised this Barclays is. They do not care about their small private customers.”
“Appalling bank, customer leaves alot to be desired, constantly repeat yourself. Wouldn't recommend this bank, been with them over 11 years still can't get it right. Don't appreciate their customers. Hire staff that cannot speak or understand English properly. I have no issue speaking to non British people, if your going to hire them make sure and can speak and understand. Not one or the other but both.”
“Not allowed to deposit cheque via Pay In machine as our account isn't a business account. Cashier couldn't explain why but now we have to queue to pay in cash/cheques whilst the cashiers deal with the business customers who don't use the pay in machine. Farsical.”
“After banking with Barclays for 30 years, I have just experienced the worst possible scenario which has me thinking of seriously changing my bank.
On the first day of my holiday in Florence Italy I had my wallet stolen by a pickpocket (there was no safe in my hotel room for me to leave my wallet there!) All my credit cards, bank card and 300 Euros gone. I was left with 4 euros cash!
After reporting the loss to the police, I cancelled the Credit Cards.
Halifax – excellent, Person with slight Scottish accent who I could understand completely and cancelled my card.
Barclaycard – 30 minute wait to get through and then to a call center. Spoke to person with Asian accent whom I had difficulty understanding. He cancelled my card, but I could not understand from him if money had been taken from my card or not. I told him I needed to cancel my Debit card also, so he transferred me.
For my Debit Card it was also a call centre and a person with a very strong Asian accent. I had great difficulty understanding him and he spoke very quickly on the phone. I told him I had a hearing difficulty and could he speak slower, which he did for a while. After going through security with him he cancelled my card. I asked if any money had been taken and he said he was not allowed to tell me. This I could not believe and argued with him for some time on the phone. He said he’d seek advice, and came back to me about 5 minutes later to say that no money had been taken from my card. I asked if money could be transferred to a bank here in Florence which I could collect using my passport and answering any security questions, and he said no. After a lengthy discussion, which I felt he was anything but sympathetic to my situation, I asked for his name, and to speak to his Supervisor. After a 15 minute wait he came back on the phone and told me I could phone a number, and a Visa card would be delivered to me in three or four hours. I checked the number would get me the Visa here in Florence Italy, and he said I was in France! He had not listened to me earlier! He gave me another number for Italy. I hung up and tried this number several times, using international codes as well. The number was unobtainable! It was now 1am in the morning and I was getting pretty stressed.
I phoned Barclays again, and this time, quite quickly got through to a lady with no accent, whom I could understand. I explained to her my recent experience with the last call and she was sympathetic. She told me there was no way I could get a visa in 3 or 4 hours, that it would take 3 or4 days! I had been given the wrong information. I asked if money could be transferred for me to a Bank in Florence, and she said no. I could go to a bank here and phone a Barclays global processing number and they could arrange a transfer, but it would take a while. She advised getting someone in the UK to transfer money to me using Western Express. This I did and got cash the following day.
I have complained in my local Barclays Bank about my experience and they were suitably horrified. I do not blame the person in the Call Center for the problem I experienced with him but I blame Barclays. He was not sufficiently trained to help me. Call centre staff in my experience are in Asia, have strong accents making them difficult to understand on the phone, and work to a prepared script they are given. Also, Barclays need to consider the needs of their customers in difficulties such as I experienced, and be in a position to help rather than give advice to use a different company, Western Union.”
“The PATRONISING bank - I've banked with Barclays for over 25 years. The quality of staff and management they currently employ especially in their call centres is of the lowest quality in all of that time.
Their robot asks various details about your account and when you eventually get put through to a human being - they ask you EXACTLY the same questions - it's degrading and shows that senior management have total contempt for their customers time and lack the ability to just stand in their customers shoes for a few moments. I have just spent the last 10 days purchasing one of their travel packs - I wished I had gone elsewhere - I've had to speak to around 15 different people and still it's not up and running properly. They blame their contractor Aviva and Aviva tell you to ring Barclays Customer Services - NO ONE wants to take ownership of a legitimate complaint - you get a kid who has no understanding of basic law that your contract is with Barclays and not their contractor Aviva. You try and share your experience with them but they in a patronising way try and tell you that it's your option ion when I very well know it's my EXPERIENCE that I'm getting second rate 3rd world patronising customer services - they say that they will pass your views back but clearly it never reaches the decision makers or it's just a case that the decision makers don't have the ability to look at issues from the customers experience.”
“Avoid Barclays bank as much as possible!
Have been waiting for a business account for over three weeks while having to deal with rude and incompetent staff. They do not care about their customers and have no concept of the term "customer service". Save yourself the stress of having to deal with them.”
“discusting customer service..very disapointed . branch staff vas very rude and unhelpful. but lady over the phone (03309957686) dont know how to talk at all (seems she was drunk) if there no star i beter go for it! be ready for it!!!!”
