Barclaycard Avios Plus, lot of Avios but the worst service and fraud

[neojago]

Just sharing my recent experience, I appreciate it may be isolated, but there are huge red flags for everyone else.
The fraud highlighted the poor customer service, the non existent ability to chat or contact by email (as the live chat doesn’t work on the app, neither on the MacBook) and overall the lack of assistance and action that you would expect with a premium product as this.

Fraud on the card with multiple transactions with no calls from Barclaycard to alert of the multiple thousands of GBP transaction in few minutes distance (Amex or HSBC would had blocked the card and contacted me immediately).

I eventually managed to get hold of the fraud team, that after a lengthy wait blocked the card and promised to deal with the fraud.
After few days, since the transaction kept being processed (and annoyingly paid to the fraudsters), I managed to get hold of the fraud team that patronised me and blamed me for not query the transactions one by one on the browser once they were not pending anymore.

Tried to explain that I was told differently but no success, I then tried to query transaction but the system crashes al the time and again, no chance of assistance.

Decided that I had enough and to place a complaint and close the account as too long and hard to deal with, being accustomed to better premium cards services. I then found out it was impossible to simply contact customer service online and again had to go through 20 minutes of option and wait to speak with the rudest customer service.

All I say, those avoid are not worth once you factor the poor service and time wasted and the fraud risk (they clearly have the worst fraud department -Outsourced btw- of any premium card).

I wish there was a disclaimer with this promotion, but I will not fall for these advises anymore.

[marshy11]

I can sort of sympathise as I posted here about a £996 fraud at a Mayfair restaurant the evening I dined with our ageing neighbours in the remote part of Cornwall we call home…

https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/fraud/

But, apart from the chap I called (in panic mode) who swore down the phone at me as I called to report it (I think he dropped his headset) then it has nearly gone ok.

The fraud has been removed from my statement by way of a credit. The last texts I had from Barclays were ‘the transaction has been reversed” followed by a ‘we are investigating’. The ‘we are investigating’ text came a few days after the text on reversal. And since then nothing.

However, the £996 has been credited.

I’ve not had any other conversation about it, so assume it is closed, despite the text telling me it is pending.

The 2 x 25K are pending, but as soon as they hit (2 Sept) I am downgrading and will probably rely on player 2 to keep rather than me. I just can’t be doing with the slapdash way they ‘looked after my account’. I couldn’t spend £50ish online without a text, yet they let some unknown male (I am female) go into a restaurant in Mayfair and spend £996 without a PIN.

[TooPoorToBeHere]

You should never be in “panic mode” about fradulent *credit* card transactions, they are not your problem.

Fully agree that service on this Barclaycard product is abominably poor though. I’m unable to ever get through on the phone, stuck in a circular “enter your card number” / “your card number is no good, enter your card number or GTFO” / “enter your card number” loop, and as you note the chat options don’t work.

I resorted to the “write them a letter on paper” last ditch – and even then they try hard to avoid giving out an address on the website. Good old “paper letter to the company secretary at the entity’s registered office address” will get you there in the end.

Service is better at any number of cheap mass-market cards. This one is not worth it even for poors like me whose time is relatively cheap…

[modestpointscollector]

Yup i’m outta here. Got my voucher and fed up with the most basic stuff not working regularly on this card app.

Balance not being displayed half the time I log into the app
App notifications not working, seemingly at all
No statements available, 95% of the time it just says there’s no statements.
Unable to pay off the balance through the app without attempting multiple times every few weeks, just get an error after putting in all the details and hitting the button to pay.

Amusingly the cancellation process was actually very easy through the app, but they did want me to put my credit card details into the chat window to pay off the balance (no thanks, i’ll take my chances paying it through the app after my Xth attempt finally proves successful!)

Anything that won’t go onto Amex will end up heading to v+ now