The High Commission (Barclays Stockbrokers)

Member Name: cpf1993

Product:	Barclays Stockbrokers
Date:	26/10/00 (266 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use phone service, helpful operators.

Disadvantages: 1.5% commission on each transaction.

On the recommendation of others I have always used Barclays Stockbrokers for any share purchases or sales (normally sales, admittedly). I was tempted to go online for recent transactions, but given that share transactions normally involve a considerable amount of money I stuck with the phone lines for the moment.

Before you begin to trade with Barclays Stockbrokers you need to register. This is very simple and they will send you a welcome pack, although you can trade before that arrives as they will give you your reference number over the telephone, along with the telephone number to trade itself.

Upon using this number you can use a couple of voice activated menus to obtain a share price. Should this be to your liking you can take the option of speaking to an operator. On a recent occasion I did choose to speak to one and make a transaction.

The operator was very helpful. She was able to use their Price Improver to ensure I got a better price, but this only appeared to be for the time when I was on the phone with them. I was also quite taken aback by their commission rate, which is quite high in my opinion at 1.5%. If you add on transfer stamp duties on a purchase and you end up paying quite a lot on top of just your shares.

Finally they were very good in sending documents out to me quickly. My welcome pack arrived in the following day's post, as did the contract for my transaction. This was especially helpful, as I was able to return the necessary documents to them in plenty of time before the date they required them (I had nearly two full weeks to return documents to them, a very decent amount of time in my book).

In summary I found the helpfulness of the phone operator and the prompt manner in which I received my paperwork to be the plus points of dealing with them, although to be honest I really feel their commission rate is too high to consider using them all the time if you are just an occasional trader. Given
the wealth of online traders operating with smaller commission rates I will probably use one of those next time.

Summary: