Barclays Bank

First off, I want to preface this review by saying that the employees here are truly lovely people so don’t get me wrong in that respect. They’re all very kind and really seem to try their best to help you.
But holy shit, is it unprofessional.
Are these bankers or a group of people who managed to Jeff-​Winger themselves into these positions? I have no clue but after enduring 2 hours trying to get my bank account set up I really wish I could have just gone to Lloyds instead.
I’m international, but had working rights so I wanted to open a bank account and since I bank with Bank of America back home and they have a partnership, thought it would be a good idea. Well, the personal bankers here have NEVER dealt with an international before. Fair enough, it’s hard to be experienced in that sort of thing.
But the problem was… they made it known that they had no fucking idea what they were doing. At one point I had her keyboard and typing in my information for her and going through the Barclays program and trying to work it out. Then we got to a page that said «DO NOT SHOW THIS PAGE TO THE CUSTOMER» and I *still* had to try to help the personal banker work out what the issues were.
What the hell, right? I should have gotten paid for that. 2 hours worth of wages because I might as well have been a Barclays banker then since I was working their systems. I almost couldn’t believe what was happening myself. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.
If you’re unsure about how to open an international bank account, escalate the issue. Speak with a manager. Contact headquarters. SOMETHING besides asking the CUSTOMER TO WORK OUT HOW TO OPEN HER OWN BANK ACCOUNT. I feel like I’ve taken crazy pills and hallucinated that entire ordeal. Thankfully, at the end of the day I finally got my bank account sorted and I really hope I don’t have any issues popping up throughout my time with Barclays.
Like I said though, they were lovely nice people so I don’t think I can give 1 star. But like I said it was just far too unprofessional for me and it really broke that banker-​client trust where I’m supposed to be the one looking to THEM for information and guidance whereas what happened was more like the blind leading the blind.