TOT Barclay bank, crazy security

[Mark]

"404"

[Nightjar]

Which sort though? There are more than a dozen AmEx cards, with different charging methods, including conventional credit cards up to the Centurion, invitation only, card at £1,800 pa.

[Martin Brown]

You obviously haven't phoned a bank or utility company for some very long time. These days you get connected to a dalek and if you cannot answer all questions with your numeric keypad will be exterminated.

You can only get through to a human in a sensible amount of time by pretending to be "new business". Bank customer service - What's that?

[Mark]

True for most banks/businesses but FirstDirect actually employ humans. I've spoken to a few of them.

[Andy Burns]

The URL didn't seem to object to being shortened when I checked before posting, but probably relied on session cookies or something ...

[fred]

Like you think Barclays give a fiddlers flute whether they lose a customer or not

[Andy Burns]

Seems it just needs the trailing slash, so in case the long version wrapped

[Dave Liquorice]

The answer to any of those security questions doesn't *have* to be correct. B-)

[Martin Brown]

Instructing them to cancel an Amex card is sensible unless you want to be stung for their various monthly charges (or are obliged to have one for work). That doesn't work well these days as many restaurants make a point of not accepting Amex because of their high merchant charges.

You have to a be a little wary of new PINs or cards arriving unexpectedly - there is a scam doing the rounds where people with a mail box at the end of their drive have been targeted by thieves who request new cards using the genuine owners details and then follow the mail van around picking them up from unsecured mailboxes.

It has happened a few times now in a neighbouring village.

I'll agree that Barclaycard security is screwy though. The "best" unanswerable security question I ever got asked was: "Name the hotel where you stayed in Chester last November?"

We answered that we hadn't been to Chester for more than a decade.

They didn't like that answer. Consulting our statements later we found the correct answer was "Lumley Castle" in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. Unfortunately the critical "le-street" was truncated.

Next one was name a street that connects to your road. Answer A19 (they didn't like that either) No road names at all where I live. It took the best part of an hour to convince the droid we were genuine!

The unusually large purchase was the final instalment of a fitted kitchen to be installed at the cardholders address! The deposit to the vendor had also come off the same card two months earlier...

[Nightjar]

On 02/07/2014 13:32, Martin Brown wrote: ...

Depends upon your bank and type of account. I have a personal banker and a mobile number I can contact her on at almost any time.

[Andrew May]

But if it is not correct then it becomes yet one more 'password' to remember or to compromise security by writing down.

[Mark]

I suspect a nice fat compensation cheque will soon be on it's way to that customer.

[Andrew May]

The 'problem' with First Direct is that occasionally they are busy and don't answer within the first two rings. I then end up hanging up because I assume that I have rung the wrong number.

[Jabba]

"Nightjar scribbled...

It certainly wasn't that one.

[Jabba]

Andy Burns scribbled...

From what I've read, he is a knob.

[charles]

I have managed to talk to Barclay Business Centre and to find someone sensible at the other end of the phone. It seems to be the next layer up that can't cope.

[Huge]

On 2014-07-02, Nightjar

[Nightjar]

[Huge]

No shit. :o)

[Adam Aglionby]

bit like First Direct but with less questions asked then ;-)