Undercover reporter blows the whistle on Barclays

Offensive stereotyping, routine mis-selling, lying to customers. All in a day’s work for Barclays Bank staff, according to an undercover investigation by the BBC’s Whistleblower programme. The serious customer services failings were allegedly uncovered by BBC reporter Amanda Egbujo, who got a job at a Barclays Bank call centre in Sunderland, then a branch in Surrey.  

The nine-month undercover investigation was instigated by the BBC after it had received a tip-off from a former Barclays employee, who had been “disgusted” at what she had been asked to do when working at a Barclays' call centre. 

Barclays Bank says the programme's findings are not truly representative of how it treats its customers. 

So, endemic customer service failings or selective exposure of a couple of a bad apples? 

You decide. The programme airs tonight on BBC1 in the UK at 21.00. Here’s a taster from the BBC Website.