Barclays Credit Card Complaint

Barclays Credit card department,

Closing/Cancelling account Hawaii

I am writing to describe unfair and deceptive practices exhibited by Barclaycard and - in their handling of the - - -. My father, - - recently received his renewal notice informing him of the $89.00 annual fee. See attached. In -, he will be - years old, and no longer wishes to maintain his card. In fact, in -, he lost his card and his account is currently blocked to prevent possible fraud. The instructions on the letter is to call the - number if he wishes to cancel the card. Because he has difficulty in hearing, I assisted him in calling the number. I explained the situation to the agent who insisted on speaking with my father. Although he could communicate his desire to close the card, ID 'd him by name birthdate and zipcode, that was not sufficient. I told the agent that they could ask me the questions, and I could communicate with him and provide further authentication, but they refused. I then offered the following suggestions to no avail:1. My Father could write a letter to close the card ( The should have his signature on file to compare ) 2. I could have his signature notarized. 3. I also suggested that since this is a - card product, I could bring him into a - Branch to authenticate his request. ( he has ID ). They told me the ONLY way to cancel the card is through the phone. And if they can not identify him, they can not cancel his card. I sincerely believe that Barclaycard is purposely making it difficult to close the account simply to obtain the annual fee. I believe that there are many customers in this situation that are being held hostage, and end up paying the annual fee. Truly a deceptive practice.