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Barclays Monthly Saver - Problems!

Tony2009_2
Tony2009_2 Posts: 14 Forumite
in Savings & investments
I wanted to open the Monthly Saver advertised by Barclays. This was advertised as 6% fixed for 12 months.

So I visited the Canton branch in Cardiff and had a meeting with Karen Kelly, the personal banker. She went through the details with me and gave me a sort code and an account number. I was told I would get a letter a few days later to confirm the account had been opened.

Here's where it went wrong. I received a letter 4 days later that stated my account was a "Nest-egg" account and that it required a minimum opening balance of £5000 and did not specify an interest rate.

So I rang Barclays and their representative claimed that I did indeed have a Monthly Saver and after some persuasion he agreed to send me a letter confirming this in writing.

However, I did not receive the letter, but a bank statement 6 days later saying I had a Monthly Savings account with an interest rate of 2.99% and "under certain rules on this product, your account may be paid up to 2.85% in addition to the rate(s) above".

I'm confused. OK, 2.99 + 2.85 is 5.84%, a bit less that the 6% I thought I would get. And it is not clear from this statement under which conditions I qualify for the 5.84%. I didn't know it was conditional?

I've rung Barclays again today to ask for an explanation, but they couldn't help. I asked again if they could send me a letter confirming the account I have opened and the 6% interest rate, however this time they said they couldn't do this. Strange. I thought that was a reasonable request?

They've given me a reference number and have said someone should ring me back in 5 working days. If not, I have to call a 0845 number that they gave me.

Has anyone else had this experience with Barclays?

I'm tempted to close the account down.
«13

Comments

  • Mikeyorks
    Mikeyorks Posts: 10,380 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The AER is 6% ..... but the gross is lower at 5.84% - because the interest is paid monthly.

    But the interest rate drops to 2.99% if you make any withdrawals. If you don't do that - you continue to get the 6% (5.84%). Detail here :

    http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=popup1group&value=14974&target=_blank&site=pfs
    If you want to test the depth of the water .........don't use both feet !
  • Castleman
    Castleman Posts: 365 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Barclays suck. I've been trying to get them to issue me with a new card for 10months...
  • Tony2009_2
    Tony2009_2 Posts: 14 Forumite
    Mikeyorks wrote: »
    The AER is 6% ..... but the gross is lower at 5.84% - because the interest is paid monthly.

    But the interest rate drops to 2.99% if you make any withdrawals. If you don't do that - you continue to get the 6% (5.84%). Detail here :

    http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=popup1group&value=14974&target=_blank&site=pfs

    Thanks I didn't realise the difference.

    Why couldn't they tell me on the phone and how did they manage to muck-it up so much by sending me a letter for a totally different account? I guess they must be new to banking and are still having teething problems? :rolleyes:

    This is the first time I've done anything with Barclays and the impression they've left me with is that they are inept when it comes to customer service.
  • Mikeyorks
    Mikeyorks Posts: 10,380 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Tony2009 wrote: »
    I guess they must be new to banking and are still having teething problems? :rolleyes:

    Get used to it ;)

    I've d/w two family Probates in just over a year and decided that most UK companies are inherently useless when it comes to awareness of their own policies and products. At a time when they should be showing sensitivity and knowledge ... most show neither.

    The Banks are bad ... but the utilities etc follow close behind.
    If you want to test the depth of the water .........don't use both feet !
  • Tony2009_2
    Tony2009_2 Posts: 14 Forumite
    Mikeyorks wrote: »
    The Banks are bad ... but the utilities etc follow close behind.

    I know from bitter experience with British Gas. It took me a year of bashing them repeatedly to get them to send me a letter admitting that they'd got a bill wrong and for them to own up to being top-class doughnuts.
  • Tony2009_2
    Tony2009_2 Posts: 14 Forumite
    I have just received through the post a letter from Barclays that starts "Thank you for your recent enquiry about Barclays Savings Accounts.". It includes a booklet about all their savings accounts. So that was their response to my request for confirmation about the Monthly Savings account that I started with them. Thanks for that Barclays, that really is not help at all.

    Barclays are muppets. It's official. :T
  • Natti_A
    Natti_A Posts: 190 Forumite
    It took them 3 weeks to send my confirmation letter... it should come, even after all the errors they have made.
    Credit Card 6.9% - £0/£2800
    Graduate OD 19.9% - [STRIKE]£1000[/STRIKE] Paid off Sept 11 :beer:

    Sealed Pot Challenger #598
    Pay off as much as you can 2012 #69
  • nig0609
    nig0609 Posts: 103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Castleman wrote: »
    Barclays suck. I've been trying to get them to issue me with a new card for 10months...
    Hi, I had the same issue last year, it turned out I had moved about a year earlier, my statements were coming to my new address but somehow my address with the card issuing department was the old address - go into branch and get them to check, took about half an hour with a personal banker (make sure you take ID, proof of address etc.).
  • withnell
    withnell Posts: 1,629 Forumite
    I never got a confirmation letter - I got the branch to give me a signed letter stating my interest rate in the end!
  • Tony2009_2
    Tony2009_2 Posts: 14 Forumite
    withnell wrote: »
    I never got a confirmation letter - I got the branch to give me a signed letter stating my interest rate in the end!

    I'd have to take time off work to get that now if I need to visit the branch in person. It's near where I live, but I work 10 miles away. All I got from them at the time was a note with my sort code and account number on. I naively assumed there wouldn't be any problems. It just didn't occur to me that there could be such a problem with opening what should be a simple savings account. I shouldn't have left without all the details on paper from them. Never again, I've learned my lesson. :(
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