Proof that foreign call centres are best

Barclays wants to keep its customers happy, so when its mortgage borrowers said they wanted British call centres, the bank agreed.

 

It closed its overseas sites and hired Brits to help customers instead.

 

Unfortunately, the new setup has not been as smooth as the bank hoped, and the local staff didn’t make customers more happy.

 

New numbers out today show Barclays got 2,949 complaints from mortgage customers in the first three months of this year, up 43 per cent on the same period of last year.

 

Overall the mortgage complaints are a drop in the ocean, as PPI complaints still make up the overwhelming majority of the 145,549 total in the quarter.

 

But problems over the payment protection insurance mis-selling are coming to an end, with monthly complaints down 46 per cent from their peak in May 2012.