After 15 years, I am ready to end my Relationship with Barclays

Some of my friends claim that I complain a lot or make a lot of fuss about nothing, but then that’s what has made me. I hold myself to high standards and inevitably hold those I work with or who serve me to the same standards. So folks, give me an opportunity (will you) to let off another rant. Long-term relationships are usually very hard to end. You think about the good times you had together, the fun you shared and usually one finds comfort in reminiscing about the good times rather than go through the heartache of ending a relationship. Relationships can elevate you to new heights or drag you down into the dumps. Most people who find themselves in bad relationships almost end them as soon as they figure out that it is no good for them. However there are times when people put up with a bad relationship. Sometimes you are not sure if you will find anything better, in some cases, the good side of the relationship outweighs the ugly side – you are in a state of ambivalence. So you stay put. There are cases on the other hand, when you are in a bad relationship, you know it and everybody around you knows that you are mistreated but then you put up with it. I have always thought that it is stupid to find yourself in such a situation and yet that is where I have found myself. My relationship with Barclays Bank over the last 15 years has been tumultuous and retrogressive and yet for some reason I continued to stay put. Well, thank God that that is no more. I have decided to leave Barclays as my bankers and yes nothing is going to happen to me. This institution has gotten worse by the day. Nothing seems to be improving! A few months back, they debited my account and paid outstanding taxes to URA on behalf of another company. The only thing that looked similar on the statement is the amount to be paid, the PINs for the two companies are different and the company names were inevitably different. In a period spanning over 5 weeks, different members of my team and I went to Barclays to sort out this rather seemingly simple problem without being successful. What was even more interesting was that URA has asked them to produce the Agency Notice for the other company and they didn’t seem to have it or if they did, they did not know where it was. I had never encountered such levels of incompetence in my 20 yr professional life. That notwithstanding, they had earlier bungled up another URA agency notice by paying it late while all the time their official lied to both us and URA that the payment had already been made. Their insistence that they had paid without any evidence led to URA thinking that we were probably playing games with them. URA ordered for the attachment of our property and when eventually Barclays produced evidence (in form of a statement) to show that they had paid, it was found that our account was debited seven (7) days after the first day they told me that they had paid. These incidents did not help the fact that I had previously had several run-ins with this institution. In 2010 (after 8 years of banking with them), I entrusted them my 2-year Letter of Credit (LC) from the GoU, naively thinking that they will appreciate such a gesture. For starters, they charged me for trusting them with so much money (about Ugx 1bn) – up to now, I have never understood why my account was debited. Then I approached them for an overdraft of Ugx 100m to facilitate the production of the services that I was going to offer to my client. They did not only deny me the overdraft but claimed that they did not even know what I deal in or what services I offer. In brief, after 8 years, Barclays did not know what one of their business customers (in a corporate branch) does, the services he offers or where the business is based. They sent someone down to my office to check it out and confirm that it was actually existent. Fortunately (or so I thought) the guy they sent knew me personally because I had interacted with him over the counter previously. He actually spent 3 minutes in my office and said ‘I wish I knew it was you they were asking me to check out, I would have confirmed the existence of the business even before I left office’. It all sounded pretty obvious and I expected a very positive ‘YES’ after all in the last 8 yrs I only banked with these people and they have seen my business grow from the first million to almost a billion now (and all without ever asking for a loan or overdraft from them). This was not to be. They did not get back to me for over a week and when I followed up with the guy they sent to my office, all he could say was ‘I did my job, I made the report and the decision is now left to my bosses’. I followed up with the so-called bosses and spoke to a young lady (with all due respect) who had no idea what a business like mine does, even when the report had been presented to her. She bluntly told me that they had decided ‘not to offer me an overdraft’. I could not believe my ears. Frustrated and disappointed, I visited a number of banks around town and they declined for the simple - but very understandable reason - I was not banking with them. Besides even if I were, I had stupidly chosen to hand over my LC to their rivals. Later on I managed to convince one of the other bankers. I opened an account with them and told them that if they gave me an overdraft, I would commit all my future payments to go through them. They did and I also met my end of bargain. I am happy and I bet they are. Most importantly in the last 2 years, my business has grown by over 80% (with their support). In the last 2 yrs, I have managed to take on business that would otherwise have been impossible had I maintained my loyalty to Barclays. Their customer service is nothing to write home about, I tried frantically to get in touch with someone from customer service or someone in-charge of my account (they are usually called Relationship Managers in other banks), but I could not get passed their so protective receptionist (I think they are called Front Office Managers these days) at their Hannington Road offices. She made me feel like I am an unwanted interloper that has over presented himself to their rather pristine offices. I put my complaint in writing after someone I know within the bank recommended that I do so. Two weeks later, I had not received a response not even a call to try and establish what happened until I sent out a long complaining letter to one of the ‘big people’ in the bank. Within minutes, I had people looking for me on my mobile phone, e-mail and my office. When they eventually got hold of me, they started by apologizing (which I think they do most of the time) and asked me to send someone over to address my woes. In a matter of minutes, the URA issue was sorted and to my surprise, it was not even their mistake, but they had stubbornly refused to provide simple information that would put the matter to rest. In this most recent incident that has led to my departure, they bounced a cheque and even charged me Ush. 30,000 because I was not available in the country to confirm that I had issued a cheque. In other words, if you are a Barclays customer and you issue a cheque, you are not supposed to travel or do any other business, until these high and mighty people have contacted you and confirmed from you that you issued a cheque they are about to pay. If there is one thing, I have learnt from Barclays, it is that despite their association with the Premier League, I don’t have to keep loyal to their poor service like I am loyal to my football team. See you and I hope I never have to do business with you again.