Barclays Tax Beater Cash ISA - experiences so far (merged)

gelato_cat · 25 March 2007 at 1:56PM

Hi all

I'm going to apply for one of the above for my 2007-8 allowance. Has anyone applied for one recently and, if so, was the experience OK? How long did it take etc?

TIA

Suze

Ken68 · 25 March 2007 at 2:05PM

Barclays..no way..not after the mis-selling report on tv the other night.

gelato_cat · 26 March 2007 at 5:48PM

OK.

Can anyone who has applied let me know what their experience was like pls?

Suze

Ken68 wrote: »

Barclays..no way..not after the mis-selling report on tv the other night.

hereford_2 · 26 March 2007 at 7:21PM

I applied for one today. It was far from the smooth experience I was expecting.

I filled in the form on the web and printed it out, and went round to the local branch with my passport, council tax bill and a cheque for £3000 as I don't bank with barclays so you have to apply in person.

I thought it would be a quick id verification from the passport and council tax bill and away, but no, I had to see a personal account advisor.

I must have been with him for 20mins to half an hour. He ignored the form completely, and asked me for all my details which he keyed into a terminal. Why he needed to know much I earned, my marital status and how many kids I have is beyond me. I just wanted to handover the cheque.

We got there in the end, but banks seem to want to know far too much these days. I had the same kind of interrogation a couple of months ago at Lloyds when I opened a regular saver account, and I've been with them for 28 years. I could understand if I was applying for a loan, but I'm actually offering to loan them money.

Oh, and he did make the point that it would be far easier to get at the money in the ISA if I had a Barclays current account, but when I asked if it was a prerequisite he said no, and let it drop.

He was also interested as I was applying for an ISA for this tax year, how much and how soon would I be putting in any money after the 6th April.

I came away feeling I'd just been for a job interview, and hadn't done particularly well.

Pinklepurr · 26 March 2007 at 7:29PM

hereford wrote: »

I applied for one today. It was far from the smooth experience I was expecting.

I filled in the form on the web and printed it out, and went round to the local branch with my passport, council tax bill and a cheque for £3000 as I don't bank with barclays so you have to apply in person.

I thought it would be a quick id verification from the passport and council tax bill and away, but no, I had to see a personal account advisor.

I must have been with him for 20mins to half an hour. He ignored the form completely, and asked me for all my details which he keyed into a terminal. Why he needed to know much I earned, my marital status and how many kids I have is beyond me. I just wanted to handover the cheque.

We got there in the end, but banks seem to want to know far too much these days. I had the same kind of interrogation a couple of months ago at Lloyds when I opened a regular saver account, and I've been with them for 28 years. I could understand if I was applying for a loan, but I'm actually offering to loan them money.

Oh, and he did make the point that it would be far easier to get at the money in the ISA if I had a Barclays current account, but when I asked if it was a prerequisite he said no, and let it drop.

He was also interested as I was applying for an ISA for this tax year, how much and how soon would I be putting in any money after the 6th April.

I came away feeling I'd just been for a job interview, and hadn't done particularly well.

Ditto! Mty DH queued the whole of his lunchbreak last Friday to open one and got exactly the same. The advisor tried selling him a mortgage and current account and home insurance and wanted to know his salary. My DH challenged him on this as he thought it wasn't relevent. I suspect they will use all the info for marketing purposes so I expect junk mail to follow. I hope the account works smoothly. No paperwork received from them as yet.

fbrj · 27 March 2007 at 1:08AM

hereford wrote: »

I applied for one today. It was far from the smooth experience I was expecting.

I came away feeling I'd just been for a job interview, and hadn't done particularly well.

My experience was rather different. I went to our local Barclays on Monday 19th. I was one of the first through the door on opening and was immediately directed to an advisor [ie not a cashier]. I had 2 applications, one for my wife who banks at Barclays (although at a different branch) and one for me - both for 2006/07. We had completed all the paperwork beforehand and I went equipped with my passport and a council tax bill. Each application was checked line by line and then signed off. Our ID paperwork was then copied and returned. There was no question of selling any other product apart from an enquiry about an ISA for 2007/08; I don't think I was in the branch for more than 10 minutes altogether.

As yet nothing has been received through the post.

TheDink · 27 March 2007 at 12:24PM

My OH picked up the application form in a branch, while I downloaded it off the website. We both posted them off at the tail end of last week, so I doubt we will hear anything for a while as they are likely to be inundated with applications for this tax year. We are both existing customers, which probably does make things a bit easier.

magpiejay · 27 March 2007 at 2:23PM

Just opened (i hope) one in branch for the NEXT TAX YEAR 2007/08 (non Barclays customer). There was some confusion as the branch thought the offer expired April 5th and was for this tax year only. It took a waving of the application form featuring the 2007/08 option and a call to HQ to prove it could be done.

Account won't actually be opened until the 6th though and assistant just put all my forms in the post, along with my quid. All a little chaotic it seems. Have printed off t's and c's ready for ASA/FSA should the offer and its terms mysteriously change before April 7th.

thumshie · 27 March 2007 at 3:22PM

Went into branch on tuesday 20th with form printed out, with id(don't bank with them).. After a wait to see an advisor it went pretty quickly, photocopied id. Not received anything yet(infact nothing was given to me by advisor-i.e. receipt) and cheque not been cashed...just slightly concerned...

Lorian · 27 March 2007 at 3:24PM

magpiejay wrote: »

Just opened (i hope) one in branch for the NEXT TAX YEAR 2007/08 (non Barclays customer). There was some confusion as the branch thought the offer expired April 5th and was for this tax year only. It took a waving of the application form featuring the 2007/08 option and a call to HQ to prove it could be done.

Account won't actually be opened until the 6th though and assistant just put all my forms in the post, along with my quid. All a little chaotic it seems. Have printed off t's and c's ready for ASA/FSA should the offer and its terms mysteriously change before April 7th.

You are in for hassle if they open it in *this* tax year by mistake.

gelato_cat · 27 March 2007 at 8:34PM

hereford wrote:

I applied for one today. It was far from the smooth experience I was expecting.

Yikes...

hereford wrote:

I filled in the form on the web and printed it out, and went round to the local branch with my passport, council tax bill and a cheque for £3000 as I don't bank with barclays so you have to apply in person.

I thought it would be a quick id verification from the passport and council tax bill and away, but no, I had to see a personal account advisor.

I must have been with him for 20mins to half an hour. He ignored the form completely, and asked me for all my details which he keyed into a terminal. Why he needed to know much I earned, my marital status and how many kids I have is beyond me. I just wanted to handover the cheque.

Good lord, thanks for the heads up. I haven't filled the form in yet but I'm glad you told me about this - I'm not going to give them any more information than the form asks for! Even National Savings weren't that fussy (although I spose you could argue they have access to all that information anyway).

hereford wrote:

I had the same kind of interrogation a couple of months ago at Lloyds when I opened a regular saver account, and I've been with them for 28 years.

I couldn't open one in the branch. I queued for over half an hour to be told they didn't have any "account openers" in. I did it over the phone instead and wasn't asked for any "extra" information. I spose they have call targets etc though...

hereford wrote:

Oh, and he did make the point that it would be far easier to get at the money in the ISA if I had a Barclays current account, but when I asked if it was a prerequisite he said no, and let it drop.

I wonder how much commission they get on these products.

hereford wrote:

He was also interested as I was applying for an ISA for this tax year, how much and how soon would I be putting in any money after the 6th April.

I would really have lost my patience with him. Sounds a bit like when you ask for a quote for double glazing and get a three-hour sales pitch.

Thanks for the info! Forewarned is forearmed...

Suze

Barclays Tax Beater Cash ISA - experiences so far (merged)

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