Barclays Bank (Ruined my Easter)

divadee

Well a big thank you to Barclays Bank for ruining my Easter. Was ment to be taking little miss divadee to a theme park today, got up really early (after over-sleeping cos of the clocks going forward) still up at 7.15 though. Got us all ready and packed up, drive to the cashpoint cant get any money out. so we drive to the barclays cashpoint in town, and that ones not working. Tried every single cashpoint we could find could not get any cash out.

Tried various cards have 3 with barclays but none of them worked.

Called their lost/stolen card line as the only customer service thing open on easter sunday at barclays to be told all our cashpoints are down cos of the clocks going forward :mad: did this come as a surprise to Barclays? it only happens every year so surely they must of been prepared for it.

I am so mad, little miss divadee is soooooooo upset, and barclays just said 'oh keep trying every hour' yep im gonna drive to the cashpoint every hour arent i. Its now to late to go to where we were going.

I am fuming this morning. And i think their chief exec will be getting some seriously stinky e-mails soon. They make enough damn profits out of us dont they. :mad:

divadee

still cant get cash out, have e-mailed there head office complaining, and saying i want compensation.

Have also called the daily mail newspaper, who seemed very interested in the story. So hopefully they will take it up, and shame barclays very publicly.

When i called their customer service for the 4th time, the guy made out like barclays are doing me a favour providing cashpoints :mad: i turned round and said no your customers are doing you a favour by putting their money with your bank so you can have a job with them. he shut up then

before_hollywood

well done divadee, first principle of business is that no customers= no profit.
when i first started my ill fated management degree we were asked why businesses exist.
i answered to help people and provide services. No, i was told, it's to make money. My answer to that is that if you don't help people, provide the right services and treat people right, then you won't make any profit 'cos no-one will use you.

It's a shame huge multinationals still get such simple things wrong, and for you, easter had to be ruined.

gizzmo_2

Barclays web service also appears to be down for "essential maintenance".
There I was all geared up to do my Internet banking on a Sunday like normal...but can't now.
What a shame!!!

Bogof_Babe

A bit late now, but if you or anyone else gets caught out like this again, you could always get cashback from a shop. I know the big shops aren't allowed to open today, but our small local Coop is open, and it does give cashback. Also petrol stations might do the same.

I'm not excusing Barclays and it must have been so maddening, but that's what I'd have tried before giving up in disgust.

divadee

thanks bog off babe

i had tried 6 different garages this morning, none of them gave cashback not even the main tesco one or the tesco express one. little miss divadee is a bit happier now, eating eggs but still asking when we will go to the theme park. as this was mr divadees first easter off in about 6 years havent given her a date yet

Bogof_Babe

Another thought - our Sainsburys has its own cash machines, which take any card for any bank. Not sure whether they'd be dependant on the relevant bank's own system being operational, but could be a possibility. Also, aren't many of the big banks linked so that they will all accept eachother's cards? Don't know if there is a charge, but it wouldn't be more than £1, and might have saved the day. I thought the petrol station suggestion might be a bit dicey - depends on their policy I suppose .

Oh well, at least she is pacified now, bless her. Shame about Mr D's one and only Easter off. How is he fixed for Spring Bank Hols?

Kazza242

Bogof_Babe wrote:

Another thought - our Sainsburys has its own cash machines, which take any card for any bank. Not sure whether they'd be dependant on the relevant bank's own system being operational, but could be a possibility. Also, aren't many of the big banks linked so that they will all accept eachother's cards? Don't know if there is a charge, but it wouldn't be more than £1, and might have saved the day.

Good thinking, but sadly, even Sainsburys' cash machines need to communicate with Barclays' systems in order for it to handle your requests. This applies only when Barclays' network has crashed - not when a barclays cash machine is 'out of service'. If a machine is 'out of service', then you can still use an alternative cash machine.

Divadee - My sympathies. It must have been so infuriating for you, especially when you were planning a day with your little one.

I have to say though, this is not the first time that Barclays' network has crashed on a bank holiday weekend :mad: . It has happened at least 4 times by my reckoning. It has got to the stage now that I withdraw all the money I'm going to need for the week on a Saturday, as a precaution. I know I shouldn't have to do that, but it has saved my bacon on quite a number of occasions.

Also because of the daily withdrawal limit reductions applied my many banks, I have opened a separate interest-earning current account with another bank. It holds around £250-£300. Should I not be able to get money from my Barclays account, then I can always withdraw money from my other current account.

I hope you do complain in writing to the bank. On a non-working day, customers rely on being able to withdraw their money via the ATM, not being able to do so for prolonged periods of time is unacceptable. Good luck with your complaint.

MarkyMarkD

I'm not sure I believe Barclays' explanation (i.e. the clocks changing).

Bank Holiday weekends are a popular time for major companies to undertake system upgrades, as there are (in this case) 4 non-working days for them to get things changed over and tested. But I'm surprised that they would shut down their ATM network without leaving even a contingency system in place - that's just shoddy service.

divadee

Well here is the list of cashpoints i had tried today (none of them worked)

barclays
tesco express garage
hsbc
tesco(main) petrol sation
tesco store atm's
sainsburys
nationwide
abbey
alliance and leicester
and in shear desperation a fee paying link machine.

none of them worked, every machine has to link to barclays computer to see if you have any money. I will learn big time from this, wish i had a card for my savings account was offered one, when i opened it but declined cos i would of been tempted to spend the money in there.

Epiphone

I understand your frustration but why do you feel you should get compensation? You could have planned ahead and got the money the day before, or like others said used a supermarket and got cash back.

If Barclays systems are unable to cope with a simple bank holiday then you have a genuine reason to complain. What compensation would you be happy with? £10, £100, a written gurantee their systems were changed so this wouldn't happen again?