Noticeable Oddities of the Day:
Okay… I need to vent…
I’m getting utterly frustrated with Barclays bank… There seems to be such a difference between a current account and a business account in the way you get treated by Barclays. I have both and I have encountered nothing but frustrations over the last couple of months with the business account. As some of you know it’s really tough to open a bank account in the UK, most people don’t succeed in getting one if you don’t have a regular income, read steady job. I was extremely lucky when I applied for one, the woman that helped me out that day spent two hours to set up an account for me which was pretty amazing and I’m grateful for this, she was the most friendliest person in my tiny expat world at the time.
I also needed a business account so my accountant arranged a meeting at his office with one of his contacts who works for Barclays. All went well for a long time until November last year when the bank was supposed to notify me about certain things and they failed to do this. Because of the mistakes the bank made on their end I can’t solve the issues that have escalated since November. They keep charging me for a service I never asked for. I’ve been on the phone many times but the list of mistakes gets longer because of the total incompetence of the local business banking manager Mrs ABC and her ‘dedicated support team’.
Mrs ABC was supposed to call me -so I was told many times- but I really start to think she is just some imaginary brain fart because I haven’t heard from her over the last couple of months even though the helpdesk left notes on her computer. Yesterday was just another one of those days where I tried again, so did the ex (he works for Barclays) since he had a day off but we didn’t succeed. It seems the business end of Barclays doesn’t care about their clients at all, bad practice in my opinion. They all seem to have major attitude on the phone, are arrogant, not willing to help you out, accuse you of lying [I was told I never made the phone calls and never sent the recorded letter] and have an ego bigger than the London Eye.
I tried to arrange stuff at the local branch but the helpful guy couldn’t help me with the business account, he called some people and passed the phone on to me after a while. Again I had a very unsatisfying conversation with one of their people, she was manipulative and arrogant, I passed the phone on to the ex at some point who wasn’t as polite as I was, he told her things were outrageous, he even got her to admit that they did received my letter although earlier it was denied when I asked her. He managed to get the name of the manager of the imaginary Mrs ABC so I can write him and hopefully he’ll do something about the utter lack of service. And just to find some kind of justice I’ll send a letter about this issue to the Ombudsman.
I’ve closed the account or at least they promised me this time to close it, they failed the first time when I sent the recorded letter. I’ll have to see if it will be done, I don’t trust them any more. I still had to pay fees as a result of their mistakes but I’ll fight that once the account is closed, then I’d like to take my business to another bank, I want this sorted and I expect service. I miss the never failing service of the Dutch Postbank at times like these. No wonder there’s a credit crunch in the UK… I’m not surprised at all, if banks fail to treat their clients with respect: after all it is my! money and that of others that keeps them in business. Such arrogance…
In the current situation I feel I might be even better off keeping it all in a sock under the mattress, at least it will save me all the aggro… *now breathe, let go and be Zesty again*
Tag Archives: Calls
Heat Wave
It’s so warm, I’m having headaches because I don’t sleep well. Even with all the windows open it’s still 28°C in the house. Unbearable really. I had to get out of the house today to arrange all sorts of things that I was supposed to do yesterday. But because I wasn’t feeling too well I had to do it today. Sneezing is almost gone but the headaches are horrible, close to migraine and not improving the situation.
Again I had a busy day but organising stuff instead of packing boxes. I had to collect my passport, well… apply for it. I went to the city hall department and had to wait for half an hour. When it was finally my turn the guy at the counter told me I also had to bring an ID that was still in my possession in order to apply for the passport. It had been expired for years so therefore I’ve put it away and never used it again nor couldn’t be bothered to have it updated.
So the ID was at home and I had to go back to pick it up and hand it over to the guy. He was really nice though and told me if I could make it back on time that he wouldn’t let me wait in line again but squeeze me in. So again I went; cycling in the sun, getting completely soaked by the time I was home. Searching for the silly ID which I found after a while. I had a slight idea where it would be though so it didn’t really take me that long. Had a sip and hurried back to the city hall.
I was in time so I signed the guy that I had arrived by waving the ID as soon as he looked into my direction. He helped me straight away which was very kind of him. I was dripping with sweat and had to sign papers. Ever held a pen and sign papers while your hand is completely wet of sweat? I told him I might f*#$@ up the signature because I had no firm grip on the pen, he answered he could always print out a new form, but the first attempt was okay. We were done in five minutes.
I went home through the Vondelpark which was a much better idea then the route I took on my way to the city hall which was crowded and stuck with slow traffic. As soon as I got home I had to be prepared for a visit from the landlord who would inspect the house. They were right on time and showing them around took about half an hour. I spent the rest of the day making phone calls to all sorts of people and organisations just to end contracts or get info. I will have to make a few phone calls tomorrow and write some more letters and then I’ve done all the paperwork.
I didn’t realise that moving country would be so intense, draining energy from you just by organising stuff that you normally don’t even think off. Simple things that turn into endless stories. I keep writing letters to these people. I thought all these companies would be digitally organised by now but most of them still need signed and handwritten paperwork. It’s so time consuming… Again I feel like I haven’t done much but I’m only fooling myself. I guess I should be satisfied with all the work I did instead of being negative about myself. It’s just that it seems a never-ending list of things to do.
I will be so happy once this is over and I’m sitting at my new desk in our apartment sorting out my new G5 and installing all the applications… I’m so looking forward to that, just to be settled in our apartment and having a normal life again instead of hectic day after day. I think I should try to get some sleep now, my love is waiting for me. Good night and I hope you’ll sleep well!