A woman was “frustrated” to be refused entry to her local Barclays branch on the grounds that she could not bring her dog, Skyler, inside.

Harleen Grover was visiting the Barclays branch situated at Market Square, Bromley, on November 7 on behalf of her elderly mother.

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She said: “My mum lives in west London; she is elderly and immobile and she doesn’t have a lift so I wanted to set it up to help her pay her carer and all sorts.

This Is Local London: Harleen Grover and her dog SkylerHarleen Grover and her dog Skyler (Image: Photo by Harleen Grover)

“They weren’t very accommodating at Barclays though.

“I felt a little bit like I was being blocked by a bouncer and I just thought ‘oh my gosh what is that? I don’t understand why I can’t just go in and speak to somebody.’

“They told me that no one was downstairs and that everyone upstairs was busy.

“I offered to go upstairs, but then, they said that they didn’t allow dogs."

This Is Local London: Skyler the dogSkyler the dog (Image: Photo by Harleen Grover)

Harleen said she was told dogs were not allowed in and that a member of staff made reference to Skyler's size. 

“Then, she said that some people are scared of dogs. It just felt like one excuse after another," she added.

“There was a lady with a baby and pram outside of the bank asking if her baby could touch my dog.

“It feels ironic that a mum with a little baby, not even a toddler yet, would be happy for them to stroke my dog but she can’t come into the bank with me.

 

“It’s a bit outrageous.”

Harleen was instead sent home with a phone number to call.

She said that after being on hold for around 40 minutes, she managed to get through to a person who could help, but that shortly afterwards the call was cut off.

She added: “I could not face calling back so instead, I was on the online chat for most of the day.

“I don’t even know if I was speaking to a human being."

On the online chatting service Harleen was told that it was not a company-wide rule that dogs were not allowed into Barclays, but that it was up to the discretion of each branch.

This Is Local London: Skyler the dog sat outside of Barclays in BromleySkyler the dog sat outside of Barclays in Bromley (Image: Photo by Harleen Grover)

Harleen said that while she could have left Skyler at home, she had a limited amount of time to run errands that day and takes Skyler with her everywhere.

She added: “They told me to do other things and those things didn’t work.

“And this was for my mum and she can’t do it herself.

“It’s 2022 now and I just think Barclays need to get over themselves.”

A spokesperson for Barclays, said: “Barclays welcomes guide and assistance dogs across our branch network. 

"However, other dogs accompanying their owners in the branch, particularly for a long period of time when attending a face to face appointment, is at the discretion of the branch manager. This is to ensure all of our customers feel comfortable when undertaking their banking needs.”

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