Barclays Bank (Recommended)

Pros This is a fairly big branch of Barclays Bank. It's based on Stockton High Street, near Woolworths. There is an ATM outside. As you walk through the entrance you are faced with an escalator and this is how you have to get to the bank itself, which is on the first floor. If you are disabled, or have a pram to push, there is a little lift to the left hand side of the escalator - but it's a bit cramped. I have used it, when the children were really little, but it was quite inconvenient, so I was glad when they were old enough to walk and could use the escalator.

This branch has business bankers, and quite a number of desks for personal bankers to help you. It tends to get quite busy. On the upside, I've always found the cashiers to be very friendly and helpful.

Cons The queues in this branch are ridiculous! I must always pick the wrong time to go because I've never gone in and not had to queue for ages before finally getting to the cashier.

Another negative - a couple of months ago I telephoned the telephone banking section of Barclays Bank to enquire about an overdraft. There was some problem on my account - some ancient link to a business account my husband had had over ten years ago. Because Barclays had never removed this link, they said they couldn't just go ahead and give me an overdraft but if I rang xxx on xxx then he was the man to get it sorted. When I rang the number I had been given, I got through to the voicemail of someone in this branch. I left him all my details, account numbers, name, telephone number etc., but he never bothered to return my call. Perhaps it isn't fair to list the failings of one employee as a 'con' for the branch as a whole, but I feel the behaviour of the employees is a reflection on the branch and I was extremely disappointed in this case.