Why leaving this investment service is a Smart idea...
N.W. writes: I read your recent article regarding transfers from Barclays Smart Investor and hope you can help us. My wife and I requested the transfer of our stocks and shares ISA to Hargreaves Lansdown months ago since when nothing has happened.
BARCLAYS has had serious problems with the running of its investment offshoot ever since it switched customers from its former stockbroking service which seemed to have far fewer problems. Investors found the new scheme was less efficient to the point that it refused to let them buy or sell shares, rendering it pretty much useless and leading to a queue to leave.
That is one of the problems Smart Investor has had. The number of people exiting generated a backlog, putting pressure on staff and leading to even more problems.
You have t old me you rang Barclays many times, waiting half an hour or more for an answer, only to find you could not speak to anyone who actually handled requests to switch to rival firms.
The closest Barclays came to giving a specific reason for the delay in handling transfers for you and your wife was when staff told you the National Insurance number it held for your wife was not the same as the number quoted by Hargreaves Lansdown. You checked and updated the details, but months later Barclays was still telling Hargreaves Lansdown the two records did not match.
Letters from Barclays provided a fresh layer of frustration. One acknowledged a complaint from you and promised an update a few weeks later. But what arrived was a further letter, itself promising an update a month from then.
I asked officials at the bank’s head office to look into all this. They accepted their systems had recorded an incorrect National Insurance number for your wife.
They told me: ‘The accounts have now been fully transferred and we have offered a gesture of goodwill.’
So far, so good. Except you told me you had received no such offer.
You added: ‘I will never deal with this company again.’ It turned out Barclays had sent £250 to your account, but nothing for your wife. You were told her complaint was being investigated separately.
At this point Barclays tried to refuse to speak to me because your wife had complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I had to point out the complaint had been made months ago since when Barclays had certainly discussed it with me in some detail. The bank then changed its mind, saying your wife’s ISA transfer had now been completed.
The bottom l i ne is t hat t he Ombudsman awarded your wife £250 on top of the same amount the bank had already offered.
The Ombudsman ruled that even if records showed an incorrect National Insurance number, this did not justify or explain a delay of six months in making the transfer which the bank’s own guidelines say should take six to eight weeks.
Something went horribly wrong last year in this department of the bank. I have had more complaints about this than other well known issues such as Payment Protection Insurance.
It will take a long time for Barclays to repair the damage to its reputation among customers who used its investment service.
If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.