Barclays suggested mystery shoppers could pretend to be blind or deaf
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Bank faces criticism over adverts saying people testing its services could ‘fabricate’ conditions for £45 a visit. Barclays is facing criticism over adverts for paid “mystery shoppers” which suggested that people could pretend to be blind or deaf to test the services at the British bank’s high street branches.
The bank hired market research firm Ipsos to carry out testing at branches. The Barclays-branded instructions said candidates for the roles would ideally be blind or deaf, but also suggested candidates could “fabricate” conditions if necessary, for £45 a visit, according to the Mail on Sunday (MoS).
The National Federation of the Blind UK (NFBUK) said the bank should recruit genuinely blind people to test its systems. Ipsos describes mystery shoppers on its website as “essentially an undercover agent posing as a regular customer to evaluate the quality of a service”. It offers small cash payments – generally between £5 and £40 – to customers to test the services of companies including NatWest, including under its Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank brands, and the Post Office.
While many of the adverts require some element of subterfuge – such as the mystery shoppers telling staff they were inquiring about a mortgage – Barclays went further with adverts for tests of services for blind and deaf customers. According to the MoS, an instruction sheet provided to potential applicants for the blind customer role said: “You would ideally have a REAL visual impairment. However, you can fabricate this if needed.”.
