“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”
“I pay a monthly fee for a package that includes use of Dragon Pass for Airport lounges. I was shocked when I tried to use the pass at Gatwick to be told that I could not use the lounge because it was too busy. However, I could pay £15 to be upgraded and would be allowed to enter. I subsequently spoke to 4 people I did not know and surprise, surprise, they had on different occasions had the same problem.
How can Barclays get away with charging a fee for something that customers cannot access.”
“Barclays App
The Barclays online app takes forever. So annoying. It takes at least 2 minutes to view your outstanding balance. Keeps on saying loading for a long time once you get through the first stage and then end up waiting a few more minutes just to get into seeing the balance.
How annoying? Better off banking elsewhere where you get quicker access on line .”
“I tried to transfer US dollars to a foreign business and just as the agent told me it was all OK the line went dead. I had no idea whether the urgent payment had gone through or not. So I called again and 40 minutes later all that I was told was that I should watch my account online for at 24 hours before making the payment again. I complained about this via the web and got an instant SMS reply that my complaint had been received and would be looked into. That was on June 1st. Today I received a letter informing me that the complaint would be rplied to by 26th July! Not exactly swift!!!”
