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

altyfc

katrose_uk... I'm in a similar position to you also. I went in on 22nd March, waited for half an hour, and walked out, and put it in the post instead. Nothing since, cheque not banked.

I have been trying to phone them all morning without success so today I went in and they've said to just go into the branch this afternoon with new forms, etc. and they guarantee that they will get it approved for 2006/7.

LankyMoneySaver

I went into my local branch (Beeston, Nottingham) yesterday to try and open one for this year. Was told that they didn't have anybody free at all to see me so the best they could do was to suggest I come back today at 4:30 (when they normally close) and they were going to get through as many as they could for this tax year but it could mean waiting for a few hours.

The other helpful(!) suggestion was to try some of the other local branches (bearing in mind this was my lunch hour and I had already been out for 30 mins to get to this one with a 15 min drive to get back to the office).
The conversation then proceeded as follows:

Me: Will any of those branches have anyone free to see me?
Customer service: I don't know.
Me: Can you tell me the phone number of the branch so I can phone and check then?
CS: No, I'm not allowed.
Me: :mad: (walk out)

Really not the customer service I was looking for from a bank I was about to give £3000 to.

Anyway though I'd give them another chance before I cut my losses and paid into last years A&L to avoid missing the end of tax year cut off. Went to another branch (West Bridgford, Nottingham) at lunch today. Had to wait for a few mins at the desk, they took my ID, copied it, put the details from the printed form off the website into the computer, took my cheque and I was done. In and out in under 20 mins including parking the car! No questions about income etc. and they didn't try and get me to open a current account with them either.

They said as they received it today it is "guaranteed" to go through for this tax year with the interest backdated although it will probably take a few weeks for them to clear the backlog. No receipt for the cheque so now I guess I cross my fingers and hope it all goes through ok.

I guess some branches are better than others. :T

dc74_2

For those of you experiencing Barclays' fantastic customer service (!), may I suggest you use the Woolwich. They are now owned/merged with Barclays - have just been in with my Barclays ISA application form and ID and I was dealt with straight away. No queuing and very helpful staff!

katrose_uk

Thanks for your suggestions!

I've been trying to call all day too, rings a few times and then turns to an engaged tone, but I've been told that as my cheque and application form are both dated March that it should go through this tax year...but we'll see. I'll give them a call when things have calmed down a bit and see what the crack is! Don't really want it to go in this year, as I might have another £3000 to put in later in the year.

Eck

My application has been away since 22nd March and only today did i get a phone call from the Woolwich asking me to come in with ID, i told them to stuff it and cancel my cheques, i cant be bothered with all this having to go into a branch etc etc, its like the bloody third degree, jesus h all i want to do is save some money from getting into Mr Browns grubby little mitts, so i ended up making a two minute phone call to NS&I, and hey presto, my direct ISA was set up and accepted for the tax year 2006/7, now why can't it be that simple with the rest of them?

Fred_Bear_2

Fred_Bear wrote: »

I advised my 18 year-old dd to open a Barclays ISA. Two weeks ago she applied on-line and printed the form, as required, and took it to the local branch. However today she has received her form back in the post with a letter from Barclays saying the date of birth on her application form is "different to the one we hold on our system" and that if she does not supply them with her correct date of birth they will cancel her ISA. She has never had an dealings with Barclays in the past so how can they already have her date of birth in their system? Any ideas? The date on the form is correct BTW.

Anna Bear phoned Barclays today and was told that it was a typing error at the branch - so no ID theft, panic over.

ED

Big sigh of relief, Fred Bear!

gelato_cat

I only bloody forgot to listen to it! :mad: any idea if I can get it from the BBC site?

Suze

MrChips wrote: »

Some BBC researchers are also money savers

ukdutypaid

Checked back today... Thursday... Now I'm on their system. Original form stamped for the 22nd, so it should be backdated to then for 06/07.

Suzey. I caught the item on Rad 4... Barclay's were going to put somebody on and then they changed their mind. The item was saying it's been chaos. Victim of their own success etc... No profit to be made though. Loss leader... Marketing data harvesting, or other products.. It doesn't seem that many of us have been sold to, so it is the insane Auto opt in on the application form, perhaps...?
Should be on the beeb site for 7 days.... Nothing really new on, just confirmation that our tales of it being chaos have been experienced all over the land...

MrChips

Suzey wrote: »

I only bloody forgot to listen to it! :mad: any idea if I can get it from the BBC site?

Suze

Here you go...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_business_20070405.ram

They cut most of the interview out, probably for the best - the accent is quite stong!