Barclays Golden ISA feedback

Crabman

I tried Barclays this year but it wasn't possible to open it without going into a branch and wasting an hour of my time, despite being an existing ISA customer.

I also realised upon receiving a statement, that although interest was supposed to have been backdated (remember all the mess & delays last year?) they've not done so and therefore missed two months worth of interest. I've now sent another complaint to get this resolved.

In my view Barclays can't be trusted, they've told MSE they'll backdate interest this year but they said something similar last year (14 days if I remember rightly, though when I was at the branch I was told it would be from date of application). For the sake of 0.1% AER it wasn't worth the risk & I therefore opened Natwest's eISA instead which was quick and easy & accepted transfers in.

MrGumby

Crabman wrote: »

I tried Barclays this year but it wasn't possible to open it without going into a branch and wasting an hour of my time, despite being an existing ISA customer.

I also realised upon receiving a statement, that although interest was supposed to have been backdated (remember all the mess & delays last year?) they've not done so and therefore missed two months worth of interest. I've now sent another complaint to get this resolved.

In my view Barclays can't be trusted, they've told MSE they'll backdate interest this year but they said something similar last year (14 days if I remember rightly, though when I was at the branch I was told it would be from date of application). For the sake of 0.1% AER it wasn't worth the risk & I therefore opened Natwest's eISA instead which was quick and easy & accepted transfers in.

I could have written that almost verbatim about my own experience. It's ridiculous that I had to go to a Barclays branch to open my ISA a year ago, let alone that I couldn't open this year's online and had to go to the branch again.

Natti_A

Opened nice and quickly this morning.... i'm pleased with this yrs service, last yrs took forever to sort out!!

exel1966

the_lone_ranger wrote: »

Hi there im a member of barclays staff. last year i no there was alot of delay with opening isa's but it is true about the increase in advisors availiable to open the isa. it is a great rate of interest and alot of people have already opened the new golden isa this week. my advise is if you havent used your isa limits this year open one asap then come new tax year no waiting around or waiting to be seen by an advisor in branch when everyone is trying to open in branch. to be honest a good advisor on the phone can open an account for you if you already hold a barclays product in roughly 5 to 10 mins including all of the imortant reading, which to be frank can be abit repetitive lol, but last year one department could open the isa's but now a trained sales advisor can do it for you in no time.
i have worked at barclays for two years no and it has been hard on everyone and i no sometimes when you ring the bank its like talking to a brick wall (not just barclays) but i no that its not all the advisors that are that way and if you ever get through to someone you cant understand or dont want to talk to you can ask to be put through to another advisor
cheers :T :rotfl:

If this is a genuine post then one read through will tell you all you need to know about Barclays ! :rolleyes:

I'm still waiting for the fiasco surrounding the 7.75% regular saver to be sorted, thats if and when they actually get round to acknowledging an account which was opened 4 months ago !

Buzzbox

*touch wood*... I've just applied for a the new Golden ISA for myself and partner in about 10 minutes, quick and easy and it looks like you can transfer into the account from your normal Barclays account. You could only do that via standing order last year which was so annoying as I wanted to move the money into the account, then and there.....

Smithills

Just opened over the phone. I got through quickly, a few questions from the advisor, opened account, the advisor was just about to read through "some important points" when I got cut off! I rang back, got through to another advisor, and was then told it looked as if I had opened an account for the previous tax year- which would be a bit of a problem, as I already have an ISA for last year. The nice Scouse advisor then went off to speak to colleagues- came back to say that it looks as if there's a bit of a glitch on the computer, which makes it look as if I opened an account yesterday

Anyway, he is going to "look into it"- but says it shouldn't be a problem. And hey, that's why it's handy to have all these conversations taped- for both us and the providers benefit eh? So, I think I have today opened my account- and the first advisor then rang me back to go through the important points, so all bases covered. Just waiting for the info pack to come through now. I'd give them 7/10, would have been 10/10 if the "which year was it opened for?"issue had not come up.

chaddman

Looks like Barclays still haven't fixed their problems. I went to my branch this morning (6th April) to open an ISA and their system was overloaded. They told me it was a "national problem" and to come back in a couple of days. I don't think so - I'm off to another provider.

techno12

Opened mine this morning online, seems to have gone through ok. Though I did notice that the big terms and conditions page before final confirmation stated that I was committed to subscribing to an ISA for the 2008/09 year onwards, rather than 2009/10. (I already have a Barclays Tax Haven ISA for 08/09 - I was one of the lucky few who had no hassles opening that one online, it took a couple of days, though it was a pain to make further deposits)

I'm assuming they just haven't got round to updating that page yet - sloppy!

PaddyOReilly

Did mine earlier online, selected 06/04/09 - 05/04/10, went through no problems.

Frazzle

I have just opened a Barclays Golden ISA On-line.
I am a Barclays customer with on-line banking and have been waiting until 6th April (today) to open this ISA for the tax year 2009/2010.

I was expecting the system to be very slow this evening, anticipating lots of people doing exactly the same as me. It really couldn't have been easier or faster. The account appeared immediately on-line amoung my other accounts.

Well done Barclays!