Barclays are a joke

ahai1

They have closed it. It varies from bank to bank. I was also told by someone else that she had one opened for her. The thing is that some do open them early but cannot take money in until the actual tax year starts. It is most likely to avoid the queues.

silentfox

ahai1 wrote: »

I am glad that I have not taken my business to them. I hope you phoned the 0800 number as it costs them money and not you.

The staff who are proud to work for Barclays must live in another world. I have had good and bad service but no bank or any other financial instution has treaded me the way Barclays have treated you.

Maybe Sir Fred can come and run Barclays.

On a general note what is up with bankers the bankers at RBS shafted the tax payer to give a lot of money to Sir Fred Goodwin and the bankers at Barclays, UBS and Lloyds have been up to dodgey stuff. The real money laundering is by the banks.

The Guardian article must be somewhere in the grape vine.

The secret documents:

http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2009/03/18/barclays-bank-leaked-memos/

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysBerry.pdf

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysValiha.pdf

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysBrazil.pdf

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysBrontos.pdf

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysKnight.pdf

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysLux.pdf

http://wikileaks.org/leak/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009/BarclaysFaber.pdf

ahai1

Those documents have been doing the rounds and I had a brief look at them from the wikileaks article yesterday but I did not understand them except for the fact that Barclays have a lot to hide.

They should put the same energy into customer service as they do to avoid paying taxes.

They have now got adverts running on TV and they are a work of fiction.

Inactive

This makes interesting reading;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/16/revenue-investigates-barclays-tax-mole-claims.

:eek:

ahai1

Yes it does though I can't figure out how one of the most terrible banks I have had dealings with could do anything that sophiscated.

The only people who got rich are the parasite lawyers at Freshfields. There is some talk that the CEO lied about this.

Wig

Barclays new golden ISA includes a 1% bonus, so if they drop the rate after a few months, and you want to move to somewhere with a better rate, you will not get the 1% from Barclays so your actual rate will be about 2.6%


I was just about to close my ISA and open a Golden one when I thought about this. It makes much more sense to tranfer or open a new cash ISA which does not include a 12 month bonus.

I think the natwest ISA is a similar rate to the Barclays ISA, but the Natwest does not have this 1% 12 month 'tie-in' clause.

I'm closing my existing barclays ISA on Monday. Should have done it a year ago but I'm so lazy I didn't bother. Now the rate is 0.81% they are forcing me to close it. Thing is though, I see through them this time, and my money is going to a different bank.

I only have 5K in there, so I'll be opening a new one before April, then I'll add the remaining 1,400 in April. I don't have anymore to add over the 09/10 year.

ahai1

Don't close transfer.

rb10

Remember though that the Natwest one could drop it's rate at any time (quite likely, given the recent BOE cut). It may be worth considering going for a fixed rate that allows withdrawals, like 3.1% from First Direct or 3% from Halifax.

Castrovalva

All - I think something needs to be made clear.

And it is this:

An ISA account is not formally an ISA account until a minimum of £1 has been invested.

Therefore you cannot open an "ISA" for a future tax year.
Some banks / branches may have let you submit a paper application in advance but it would not have been an ISA.

The account in question - Golden ISA - also states that it has a £1 min opening balance. How do you people think you can open an ISA for a future tax year and pay in that £1?

It's also been made clear in the other threads on this product that the Golden ISAs are being opened in real time.

And if you are looking for advice - Barclays counter staff are not allowed by law to give it. Nor are there call centre staff. They need to be accredited in line with FSA rules.

Sounds like you've got zero idea about how banks have to work these days, sorry if you've had a bad experience - but I think you'll find many people in the other threads are more then happy with the way Barclays is operating with Golden ISA.

Oh, and about the Natwest ISA - you may want to reconsider. I don't recall seeing anything about them holding their rates following the last BoE rate cut - Barclays has.

Castrovalva

ahai1 wrote: »

The only people who got rich are the parasite lawyers at Freshfields. There is some talk that the CEO lied about this.

I think this is classed as slander - watch out - you could get sued.