Barnsley Building Society (Other Banks and Building Societies)

Member Name: wtwildcats

Product:	Other Banks and Building Societies
Date:	07/11/02 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Customer Service, Friendliness

Disadvantages: Not Many Branches

Well, I wrote a review of Abbey National's Current Account, but I also have an account with Barnsley Building Society. It is a savings account, with instant access available to my funds.

Barnsley Building Society offer various Affinity accounts, and mine is affiliated to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. 1% of the total balance of all WTW accounts is donated to the club every April. Its a good way to support the club, and the interest rates are generally competative.

However this op isn't about the aqccount, its about the society.

The main disadvantage with Barnsley Building Society is its lack of branches, with it only having 9 Branches and the Head Office, all except 1 in West and South Yorkshire - the exception being the Chesterfield Branch.

However I have found customer service to be second to none. The staff are always warm and friendly, and are more than happy to chat with you if thats what you want. The account I have is actually our tea fund account at work (yes it has a bank account!!!). I visit the branch at Chesterfield maybe once a month on average, and all the staff there know me by name (before I hand my passbook over) and are very friendly and efficient. They are professional and curteous at all times.

I don't have any other accounts with them, but when I have enquired about other accounts that they offer, I have never had to wait in the branch for more than a few minutes to be seen, and the first question they ask me is whether I would like a cup of tea or coffee.

Little things like that actually count.

Barnsley Building Society is committed to staying a society, if you believe their literature. They offer a wide range of services for its members such as: Savings and Investments, Buying a home, Borrowing Money, Insurance, Travellers Cheques and Foreign Currency and Credit Cards.

If you want to invest there is a wide choice of accounts available to you - instant access, ISAs
, regular savings and notice accounts for example. They also offer postal accounts for people who live too far away from branches.

The Society also operates out of agency offices, which aren't full branches and generally only offer a counter service, but there are more of those and can be found in North Yorkshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. I haven't had any experience of using agency offices because my branch is more convienient to me.

Barnsley Building Society is heavily involved in local community prjects. As a member you receive newsletters every few months which details news about the society as a whole. You can often read about projects that they are supporting. For the sport minded of you, they do offer Affinity accounts (as mentioned above) for supporters of 2 Rugby League teams and 3 Football teams.

The Society has its own webpage: http://www.barnsley-bs.co.uk which contains more details about the accounts offered, current interest rates, charges for mortgages etc. You are not able to apply online for any account though, which is one shortcoming in their website.

If ever I need any further financial services, then I would seriously contemplate Barnsley Building Society to supply any of my fiscal needs. The staff are polite, friendly, knowledgeable and don't hassle you. They are happy to et you make up your own mind about whats best for you. After all only you know that. Its good to find a financial institution that actually thinks that way too.

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