I had a question about a charge on my Barclay's account that had been pending for over a week. I wanted to know why it wasn't processed yet since I can't pay it off until it's actually processed through. Thus, I decided to call Barclay during my morning commute. You never know how long you will spend on hold, so I figured this was a good use of my time since I wasn't going to be doing anything else anyhow while I waited.
Once I called, an automated voice immediately answered and said, "Welcome to Barclays. Please hold on, this call may be monitored or recorded. What’s your credit card number?" Since I was driving I couldn't reach into my wallet and read it back, so I just said, "I don't have it." Luckily that didn't cause any problems, as it just told me then, "To handle your call, tell us in a few words how we can help you."
I said that I wanted to talk to someone and it repeated back, "Okay, speak to someone. For general account information, press 1. If you are calling to dispute a fraudulent charge, press 2. If this is about a fraudulent case, press 3. For all other callers, please stay on the line." I just stayed on the line since that seemed like the easiest and it said, "Thank you for calling. I'm going to transfer you now."
It only took seconds and Laurie picked up and asked me how she could help me. She was very friendly and easy to understand. We talked about the charge and how the vendor had to process their charges before it would show up as completed. While she couldn't change the process, she was helpful and I appreciated the quick service.