I just got a card from them, I will reconsider using it. Thanks for your input! I just got out of debt from other creditors. I considered trying it again but I am really rethinking all the hassles I'd forgotten about with my past creditors thanks to your posts! I ended up paying a few thousand extra to my previous creditors due to these crazy tactics some of them have. You really have to watch those deadlines for payments. Thanks again!

Let me educate a good number of you on how credit cards work:
-If you pay by check in the mail, you do so at your own risk. Payments are posted as they arrive.
-If you make a high $ payment, i.e. a $4000 payment, it may incur a payment hold. Payment holds are normal everyday occurences in the credit world. We need to wait for the payment to get to us from your bank. If we were in the business of trusting every $4000 check we received, we'd be out of business.
-That being said, if we receive your check for $4000 on March 1st, and your due date is March 3rd, and we hold the payment for a week, that payment is still considered received on March 1st. Hence, you are not late. Anyone chalking up a late payment to a payment hold is full of poop.
-Customer Service Reps are like mirrors. Almost. If you are nice to them, they will be nice to you. If you are rude to them, it is not likely they will reciprocate- they don't want to lose their jobs. But then again, they are free to practice discretion, and they might not go the full 9 for you if you treat them like crap.
-Occurences of fraud- especially identitity theft- are not the bank's fault. We did not give out your personal info to anyone, someone stole it from another source. Why did we allow a fraudulent application to be opened you ask? If the information on the application all belongs to you, it's pretty hard to determine that application is NOT yours. Often people are stealing your mail as it comes. Or your son/daughter/cousin/whatever who lives with you is a $&%#&* and opened the account.
-If your account is frozen due to perceived fraud, and it turns out to not be fraud, we do apologize for that. But we are trying to protect your interests as well as our own. If we let through every sale that came by (like $16000 worth of jewerly 3 states away from you when we see you were in your home area yesterday), we would again find ourselves out of business.
-I personally HATE automated systems. Especially the annoying ones that are voice activated (You said WOOOOOOOOO! Anyone get that reference =). But who doesn't use them? No one has enough reps to answer every question. So they are there to answer the really basic questions, and they provide SIMPLE instructions on how to get to a live person if needed.
-Please check your credit before complaining about why we won't give you an increase of your credit limit. Hearing someone rave about their credit score and stating how good it is is always amusing when you have a FICO of 620.
-If you want to use a card for business purposes, get a BUSINESS card. There is a difference. Using a personal card for business purposes is going to give you a headache. The fraud strategies in the computer for personal cards will go apepoop when they see all the exotic business purchases you make and they will tend to lock up the card often. Business cards are going to let you buy bulk rodent guano from Madagascar if that's what you need without a hitch.
-If you plan to travel. Let us know. We are not mindreaders, and if you are in Miami, and we see you live in California, that's odd. Anytime you travel to a major city definately let us know. That's where we see the most fraud out of. And certainly when you travel outside of the US. Fraud occurs at a greater frequency out of the US.
-Lastly, I see 22 opinions, about 20 are negative. Barclay's Bank Delaware has probably 6.5 million customers. 20 complaints out of that number in 2 1/2 years is somehow terrible?

Out of curiosity, what is wrong with New Mexico? Are the people there somehow less worthy of their UNITED STATES citizenship?

Banks DO NOT and CAN NOT report you as deceased. That is something the Social Security Administration does. We report the standings of your account. HOWEVER, when there is an error on your credit file, 99.99% of the time, the Credit Bureau made the mistake. Call them first.

Banks take payments as they come in from the account number that is given. This is never the fault of the bank that is taking the payment. It is ALWAYS the fault of the bank that is making the automated payment. It happens all the time. The reps at the paying bank entered the wrong account number (or were given the wrong number by the customer) and the payment hits a different account. Then, most often, YOUR bank tells you it was the other bank's fault to avoid taking heat. Why take responsibility when they can push it off on someone else?

Am fighting them at this moment over charging me a Late Payment Fee of $39 for this statement b/c I paid the card off on my due date. Always on time, always well over min payment. Good customer, eh? Asked to have fee waived this time. Instead was told by 3 that I did not need to speak with a SV b/c they would tell me the same thing and had to fight to get transfered, one lady yelled at me b/c she was trying to transfer me (delay me...they all "transfered me" and picked right back up a minute later) before I could get her name and ID PLEASE (Emma), and the last told me she was THE supervisor and the fee could not be waived. I told her I know for a fact that fees can be waived. She told me that it WOULD NOT be waived (very rudely) and even added that the over the limit fee I will be assessed for the next statement would not either.
DO NOT USE THIS CARD. IT HAS BEEN NORMAL UNTIL NOW, BUT WHEN THEY THINK THEY HAVE YOU THEY RUN WITH IT. I HAVE HAD THIS CARD FOR OVER 2 YEARS. SMOOTH UNTIL NOW. WELL, UNTIL THEY GET MY COMPLAINT FROM FDIC (the gov body for Barclays of Delaware, toll free 877-200-6625, 100 S. West Street, Wilmington, DE 19801). Oh, and BTW, if you go to barclays.com and click the US link, the website name is quietlyconquering.com. Hmmm...wonder what they are trying to conquer.

Good luck and keep fighting. I am going back to cash.

Oh, and btw, as a media student, customer complaints that are actually posted represent on average only 6-8% of those who are dissatisfied with service. The others just use word of mouth or drop the business quitely. And only 20 neg posts to this site...that doesn't count the thousands of other consumer complaint sites and bureaus. Sure, they are doing great. HA!

All of your complaints are valid.

Statements- When 50% of your calls say you did not receive a statement, it's believable. Of course they are not mailing them in an appropriate time frame and the great old United States Postal Services gets all the blame, it's 99% of the time a lie. It would be different if it were only a couple here and there, but such is not the case. Of course they will tell you there are laws that mandate a time frame for mailing, but any company can cook the books. If you receive e-mail alerts make sure your SPAM filters are lowered, or you will stop receiving alerts possibly default which leads to higher APR.

Fees- There are 2 tiers of card holders Prime (worldcard) and Middle market (platinum). If you are prime you may be given a one time courtesy fee adjustment, if you are middle market forget about it. Overlimit fees, again middle market customers will receive one at any time they go over their credit line within the statement cycle. There is NO grace period. Fees are profit for the bank, yes they've got to earn money.

Payments- If you have experienced a payment hold, think about it the longer the bank holds your money on the books, the more interest they earn (profit). Payments posting one day after the due date, to keep the processing low the payment processing center has up to 4 days to post your payment. Use the FREE payment options (web and auto phone system) by 7 pm EST (safest bet).

Complaints- The supervisors, managers, and executive office do not care, they will read you a scripted line of ear candy. The only complaints that get any attention are those filed with the BBB or FTC, they do not want the scrutiny of their business practices. But, the bank knows that 98% of those who threaten to contact these agencies do not follow through, they bank on it. So, follow through and you may get results.

Solicitations- for Account Protector, Vip and other CRAP, OPT OUT people. You can do so on the web site under the "Alerts and Profile" section, under "Profile"

As a personal consumer and credit card carrier for 10 years I have never had the problems with any of the 3 cards I carry that I have heard day in and out from my customers. We actually pity the fools who use our cards because we know at some point they will be burned. If your card is affilitated with one of our partners (Apple, US Airways, etc there are 61 partners) complaints to the partner will have them thinking twice about the company representing them. And it works Apple ended the contract with Barclays quietly switching to the Juniper Visa with iTune rewards because of the complaints that they received and not wanting the affiliation to tarnish their reputation.

Protect yourself, read the fine print. Always request promises made to you in writing (so you have proof, duh)

Barclaycards US is one of the worst companies I've ever done business with. They suddenly stopped sending email and when I asked them to start again, they said they would but didn't. Meanwhile, I had a bill coming up so I scheduled an online payment. After completing the form, I didn't get a confirmation email but chalked it up to their usual idiocy. Now I get a new bill with a late charge. I called them up and they say they can't tell if I logged onto their site on the day I said. Yeah, right! I logged on, put in all my personal information to get onto the page, and they have no record of it. Liars. So I guess they really need that $29 late fee. These scammers are probably doing this to millions of customers as well. After being told there was no one who could take off the charge I gave up in frustration. I had already been planning to cancel the card. Should have done it last month.

A few days ago I received an offer for a credit card - low interest rate, one year zero interest - from Barclays. After reading the reviews here, I will do what I usually do - shred this offer. The folks who took the time to post have probably saved me a lot of grief. Thank you for that. BTW, according to Clark Howard (radio consumer guru) there are a number of credit card issuers who are guilty of holding payments until they can claim a late payment fee. This seems to be a tactic used to generate lots of extra cash.

Please read excerpts below from a February 29 post written by "Riflemanax", who is clearly a Juniper manager or supervisor. (scroll back to read Rifleman's entire post in defense of Juniper)
"The fraud strategies in the computer for personal cards will go apepoop when they see all the exotic business purchases you make and they will tend to lock up the card often."
"Anyone chalking up a late payment to a payment hold is full of poop"
Simple observations:
1)What does it say about the professionalism of a financial institution when it's management uses words such as "apepoop" and customers being "full of poop".(!!!!!)
This in itself speaks volumes.
2) How about the manager of a "major" commercial bank going by the screen name "Rifle Man Ax". Are the rifle and ax directed towards the customers?
Thanks from me also to those that warned. I also just shredded their most recent offer.
Good website for consumers. However, this discussion should also be held in a more widely read forum so as to warn others.

Do not sign up for a card issued by this company. They frequently do affinity programs with airlines, colleges, and other organizations.
They are a UK based bank with a less than stellar financial performance. They operate out of Delaware in the US (no surprise there) and are just unscrupulous. I was charged over $350 in unauthorized charges by an appliance company and fully expected to be treated like the responsible consumer I am. Instead, I was told that I had to pay the unauthorized and fraudulent charges, was treated like I did something wrong and was informed by a snotty clerk that I had no "proof" that I didn't authorize the charges such as a receipt. DUH -- why would I have receipts for charges I didn't authorize. I couldn't get anywhere with either of the scripted robot representatives I spoke with and asked to escalate. Of course, the clerk I spoke with said she was the supervisor. Now, I'm going to be wasting precious time contacting their CEO, the CEO of Air Tran to advise them of the deadbeat credit card people they've selected and complaining to the BBB and FTC which according to a post of a former employee I found online, is the only thing they respond to. So, be warned. These people do not respond to problems the way American Express would. Don't use them. They're the worst and most unprofessional credit card operation I've even encountered.

What I want to know is how long you have worked for Juniper Bank?

Hey riflemanlax. How do you know how many customers Barclays has? Do you work for them also? This is about the 5th website I have been on where people have been warning others to stay away from Juniper/Barclays. Thats alot more than 20 people. I just recieved a Juniper credit card and had to talk to customer service about an issue. It was the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I was finally told at the end that there is nobody I can talk to that can answer my question. WHAT IS THAT? I was told that I would have to write in to the bank to get my questions answered. Sounds pretty unprofessional and shifty.

same deal with me - but only in the past few months.
only reason i have the card is for usair miles. believe me, when i hit the spending number (which would have been hit several weeks ago had they freed up my money that they received) which converts my mileage to "preferred mileage" in the frequent flier program, i'm done with that outfit. - by the way, i actually make the payments online before the charges even post - wind up with negative current balance most of the time, and still can't use the card.
pretty outrageous.

My wife and I have had an account for a little over 2 years. We were sorry to see the problems that everyone had. We fortunately have had absolutely no problem. If we pay in advance it still goes toward the next bill as long as it is after the pay period and my wife has a very low interest rate along with mine also. We do agree though that the customer service Does really Suck!!! But really other then that, it has been great. They even called me on my cellphone when we were suddenly making some large purchase. I appreciated that tremendously. Anyway good luck to all and we will keep our eyes open.

Barclays advised me on May 6 that there was potential fraud on my account. New user,changed my profile and had cards issued to new address in another state.They closed that account and transferred all info to a new acct#. Told me I would receive all new info & cards by mail. Never received, I called them on June 2 as I was concerned about pmnts. They transferred me to make a pmnt and said they would be sure to get cards and new info in the mail. June 10 I received statment with LATE FEE..still no new cards.Called them and they said pmnt was due May 28 and it was my responsibility to follow up when they did not mail new account info..will not credit late fee. Said they only do that for bank error, not Juniper error. Insist they Fed Ex the cards and they were signed for. I called Fed Ex who advise these were the cards to the fraudulent address.
Customer service was in the Philippines and just kept reciting policies.I wrote a letter to executive office with no response.
Worst customer service I have ever experienced

Actualy you are wrong Rifle, the bureaus update with the info provide by the creditors. We dont make the mistakes you report them wrong.

Juniper is a SCAM.

I originaly joined juniper because of a low APR of around 9 percent and just used to card for Emergencies.
the first month I got a statement it was 6 days from the due date of the bill, so i wrote a check and mailed it the next day. They held the check until the day after the due date and then charged me a $38 late fee and suddenly i had a 28% APR.
I started to pay my bills online at that point, and Set it up to be paid the day before my due date.
They then Held the E-Payments for two days and Charged me another $38 fee.
After a couple of these instances my low credit line had been maxed out (very low based on my Salary and Credit score), the whole while I am fighting with them over these BS charges

Finaly i close my account and go with another bank and pay off the Balance. the next month I get another bill from them, with a Late payment fee and an Over The limit fee. It Seems they held the Transfer check for 11 Days to charge me these fees! When i would get in touch with Customer Service they would only say that the amount of time they held the check was Normal and that the fees were not an Error, And then hung up on me!

Run as fast as you can, These are the scum of the earth!

Dear Responsible,

I am sending this letter to consumers, banks, support organization, banking industry organizations, government enforcement agencies, government monitoring organizations and government legislatures. Therefore you may find some of the information is not pertinent.

I recently was charged an effective interest rate in excess of 22% rather than the promised rate of 3.99% by Barclays Cards that is related in some corporate structure to Barclays Bank. I have tried to call Barclays to correct the issue many times. Each time I am referred to a different customer service agent who can do nothing. I have tried to escalate the issue to Barclays USA corporate headquarters but every number I have been given does not answer and the main corporate switchboard refers me to the same customer support individuals unless you know the name of an employee. Has Barclays made it difficult to correct issues?

I am being charged the excessive rate because I used a Barclays promotional check that said in large bold print “use this check before May 12” for 3.99% interest”. I used it before the 12th. They offered (see enclosed offering) me the options such as taking a vacation, paying my taxes, etc. with this check. Then on the back of the paper in very small type, they mentioned the check must clear by the 12th not just be used by the 12th. Many checks are used on one date and actually clear the bank a few days later. Barclays should say use by the 5th if they expect the check to clear by the 12th. Did they hope many customers would make the same mistake and use the check, not allowing time for the check to clear or post?

I notice many Banks and Credit Cards are offering attractive rates for balance transfer, special payments and loans. Governmental agencies have established many “truth in lending laws” to protect the customer. Should credit card companies and banks not be subject to the rules and regulations? Should they explain clearly in bold type, up front with the marketing hype, all the items that may catch the consumer and the potential cost? Is it not usury to alter the rate from 3.99% to over 22% for a loan that posts three days late?

According to statistics I have read 60% of the senior citizens cannot afford retirement and 40% of the citizens do not make enough money to pay taxes. Are these poor citizens who need financial help being SCAMED by offers of low interest rates that will turn to unreasonable rates?

I need your help. I cannot figure out how to contact Barclays, maybe you can. Or maybe you can warn others so they do not get trapped by high interest rates. Or maybe you can apply the “Truth in Lending” regulations to these special offers.

Thank you,

LL Bean, a company I've done business with for years, just changed it's cc from Bank of America (good experience there) to Barclays/Juniper Bank. I applied for the card since it would give me free shipping and other perks.

Just to be on the safe side I entered Barclays/Juniper in this site's search. Wow! I'm so glad I did! I have called and tried to cancel my "pending" account. So far I've talked to four customer service specialists who have each told me something different about cancelling an account which has not yet been opened.

I just want to withdraw the application. How difficult should that be? I have a great credit rating and after reading the posts here, I don't want to have anything to do with this financial institution.

I hope I'll be able to stop them before they issue the card. If not, I'll close the account before ever using it.

I did write to LL Bean and suggested that they had made a big mistake partnering with Barclays/Juniper...

Thanks everyone, for your input. You may have saved me a lot of grief and fury.