Undercover investigation reveals scandal at Barclays

Following a recent undercover investigation carried out by a BBC reporter, a host of worrying trends and sales related scandals have been discovered at one of the UK's top banks.

Undercover reporter Amanda Egbujo managed to secure a job at the Barclay’s Bank call centre in Sunderland, where she stayed for four months, before going on to spend a month working at the Guildford branch of the high street bank. The reported revealed some shocking behaviour and trends from both management and some staff members whilst she was 'working' for the bank.

According to Egbujo the first thing she encountered at the training session at the call centre was the trainer informing new recruits how much he loved dealing with customers that called up and complained about extortionate charges.

The trainer allegedly told trainees: 'They'd phone up, start crying and blaming you - telling you that their kids are going to starve. And I'd be like: 'I don't know you - I don't care.' I was just thinking: 'You're not getting it back!' I was a right git.'

The undercover reporter also revealed how staff members were encouraged to lie and harass customers in order to sell them products that they didn't even want simply to make a sale and earn commission. According to Egbujo, the staff that did not reach their sales targets were made to feel low, told that they were letting the team down, and treated shoddily by management.

In her report she wrote: 'The emphasis was all on sales and commission. We were taught to trawl through customers' accounts looking for ways to sell them extra services. As soon as we contacted someone, we would look up their direct debits. If, for example, they paid a subscription to the AA, we tried to sell them accounts with breakdown insurance. Or, if they had a large overdraft, we would try to get them to sign up to a credit card.'

Following the investigation, after the reporter left Barclays, a bank spokesperson said: 'We are aware that the BBC has conducted an undercover investigation in two of our branches and one call centre. We take all allegations of wrongdoing very seriously; however, although we have requested it, we have not yet seen the programme.'

Tom Smith
03.04.07