Don't use their cards abroad or go over your limit (Barclays Bank)

Member Name: Mr. Davis

Product:	Barclays Bank
Date:	14/10/08 (735 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Over any other card? .... none

Disadvantages: Appalling or non existent communications

I've had a Barclays' CONNECT debit card for perhaps 20 years. I noticed whilst checking online one of my CONNECT debit card statements recently a transaction had been erroneously charged twice to my card. I copied the transaction details to emails and sent one to Amneus Boghandel in Roros, Norway who'd charged me twice (their reply to my email ignored the reason for sending it and when I went back to the shop and told them all the hassle I'd had trying to get a refund, they were equally disinterested) and a copy to Barclays who replied saying I had to query the transaction by ringing the UK.

Now bearing in mind the only information I have on this transaction is what I took from my online statement and ALL that information was emailed to Barclays, I'm not prepared to spend who knows how much money waiting on the end of a phone making an international call to cancel a £5 "fraud" since I'll end up out of pocket. It seems it's beyond Barclays to send the information I sent internally to the people they think I should phone from Norway.

I just thought I'd let you know this and, another thing about Barclay's CONNECT debit cards, you perhaps thought you could only spend the amount of money you had in your account. Wrong. I thought I was protected by this feature of the card and that if insufficient funds were in my account to cover a transaction, the card would be refused by the vendor / system. Barclays have never answered any of my emails to them on this matter but once the money in your account is used up, Barclays continue to honour payments made with your CONNECT card and charge you £30 for each transaction.

I might add more to this as I think of further experiences I can relate.

Summary: Find a bank with whom you can communicate