Barclaycard (Hilton) call centre

[Jon]

Has anyone tried (let alone managed) to speak to anyone at Barclaycard by phone recently? Hilton Honors card specifically, but I imagine it may be the same for others. Possibly the best/worst example of an appalling voice menu system I’ve yet encountered. Mind-numbingly tedious, expletive-inducingly frustrating, and combined with some of the interstitial messaging, very much left me with the impression that the main thing they wanted to impress upon me was “We don’t value your custom, we don‘t want to speak to you, we hate you, get stuffed.” Icing on the cake was the message (after all that) asking if I might like to work for Barclaycard 😂 Because apparently “Better never rests” 🤦‍♂️ More like “Better never got out of bed in the first place.” Online chat was no better, with the added bonus of cutting me off. At least when I finally did reach an actual human, I’m pleased to say they were very helpful, but why on earth does it have to be so difficult to get through in the first place. Presumably they don’t actually want any customers? Sigh.

[NorthernLass]

My OH called them last year about his avios BC not turning up. He got through but it was an odd call, with them accusing him of not being who he said he was, and then insisting he had never applied for such a card. Online chat just gives you the same automated messages over and over again and the agents who answer emails tell you that they can’t discuss anything due to data protection. The only time I got complete sense out of them was when I wrote to head office but I’ve avoided having any kind of contact with them since then!

[NorthernLass]

*But thinking about this, we really shouldn’t be reminding them that the HH card still exists 😂

[AET]

Is there any good reason to keep the card anymore? I’m thinking of cancelling purely to see if I’ll be eligible for a Premier Avios MC signup bonus in 6 months time…

[Harrier25]

AET wrote:

Is there any good reason to keep the card anymore? I’m thinking of cancelling purely to see if I’ll be eligible for a Premier Avios MC signup bonus in 6 months time…

2x Hilton Honors points for every £1 spent and Gold tier for spending £10,000 per annum.

[NorthernLass]

Indeed. After trialling the avios Barclaycard via the OH, I have decided that the upgrade voucher is a lot of work to get decent value out of and I’m better off keeping my HH card for the time being. That said, we have used the 2 vouchers he has earned for DXB and AGP on dates when cash prices are just silly so feel like I’ve got value, but the issues with using it from regions and the inflexible RFS pricing outweigh the benefits, IMO.

[Peter K]

Personally, I value being able to earn Hilton points from a non-amex source.

I nearly moved to the BC Avios when you could get 0.8p per avios via nectar, and would have used the money saved on shopping for paying for hotels, but at 0.66p in nectar per avios I’d rather have the Hilton points.

[AET]

Think I’m equally unlikely to use the Barclaycard Avios card as the HH one for daily spend. A cancelation on the latter would be entirely predicated on hope for a high Premier / Barclaycard Avios sign-up bonus in the future.

[RussellH]

NorthernLass wrote:

My OH called them last year about his avios BC not turning up. He got through but it was an odd call, with them accusing him of not being who he said he was, and then insisting he had never applied for such a card. Online chat just gives you the same automated messages over and over again and the agents who answer emails tell you that they can’t discuss anything due to data protection. The only time I got complete sense out of them was when I wrote to head office but I’ve avoided having any kind of contact with them since then!

In my experience, writing, and using Royal Mail Signed For, so that they know that you can check if the letter arrived, is the only way to get a meaningful response out of Barclaycard CS. And if the matter is serious enough to warrant a formal complaint letter, demand financial compensation. £50 as a minimum.
I received 2×£50 last year, and my running total since 2013 must be approaching £500 by now
🙂

[Carlos]

I am having to write to Hilton to formally complain about not retaining Gold this year. I may as well include the late issue of points issue, is this what you refer to @RussellH?

[NorthernLass]

@Carlos, wait till March 31st, I’m betting it won’t happen!

[Harrier25]

Yep. It’ll all come out in the wash and us Barclaycard Hilton loyalists will have retained Gold by the 31st March.

[RussellH]

Carlos wrote:

I am having to write to Hilton to formally complain about not retaining Gold this year. I may as well include the late issue of points issue, is this what you refer to @RussellH?

Yes.

I seem to have got my Gold status for this year. Certainly there was a flag on my account yesterday stating “You’re keeping your Gold staus in 2023”

And I have now got my January points too.