Barclays slammed for offering mystery shoppers £45 to pretend to be blind or deaf
Share:
Barclays has been slammed for offering to pay mystery shoppers £45 to pretend to be blind or deaf. The popular bank has faced backlash from disability charities after it hired research company Ipsos to help assess staff across the country. As part of the task, the company carried out over 1,600 'vulnerable customer visits'.
The mystery shoppers were asked to attend a branch by using either real or fake disabilities such as visual impairments, hearing or mobility problems. They were then instructed to fill out a questionnaire about how the workers responded. According to the Barclays instruction paper, mystery shoppers must have a current account with the bank. The sheet says they can "fabricate a back-story" about having impairments if needed, reports Mail On Sunday. "Please note that for those using a fabricated back-story you must provide your feedback from the point-of-view of a customer with a real vulnerability," it said.
On the visual impairment advertisement, the instructions partly said: "You will speak to a member of staff to say your eyesight is becoming increasingly problematic and you are struggling to read statements and letters." For the deaf customer role, listed at £45 for a visit, it said: "To undertake this enquiry, you will ideally need to have a REAL 'hard of hearing impairment'... however, you can fabricate this if needed.".
However, the demands sparked fury from disability groups who branded the task sheets as "inappropriate". Andrew Hodgson, of the National Federation of the Blind UK, said: “This is totally inappropriate. Barclays’ move is an insult to all blind, deafblind and partially sighted people.”.
