Hsbc Credit Card Blocked - Very Frustrated!

the_kop

hey all!

My wife's HSBC credit card has been blocked...

basically one month ago, she was attempting to pay for some tesco's groceries online, and for some reason HSBC decided to block the card she used. At the time the transaction failed, and she, not knowing why, tried again, and of course failing again. She called Tesco over the phone and they informed her of the card being rejected, and that she should check with her bank regarding the issue

here come's the screw ups

1. This happened on a friday evening. She called HSBC credit card services over the phone, and the cretin she spoke to, misinformed her, telling her nothing could be done over the weekend, as the credit card section was closed....

yet

2. She then called the week after and they told her this just was not true and the service is available over the weekend. Frustrated she tried to unblock the card, and they told her this would be done in a few days, and apologies for the delay

BUT

3. Over a week later, no word, nothing. She then called again, and had to explain the whole problem. After 10 minutes of this, she was put on hold, and then cut off. This happened TWICE over, the third time, she started crying, and when I tried to speak for my wife, they point blank refused to chat to me. As much as I understand they cannot speak to anyone but the account holder, it was still very upsetting, and I was angry too. (Understatement of the year!)

So

She had to go away with work, and

4. She had to call again today as she could not wait any longer. For the 4th time she explained the problem from scratch, and this time was the worst. The employee was rude, basically blaming her for the problem, and even though at no point was my wife rude, the employee basically was narky and at times unhelpfull to say the least.

His response now is to write a letter to HSBC, "asking" them to unblock it. When she asked how long the card would then take to be unblocked after recieving the letter, his reply was he didnt know.

My wife has written a polite, but strongly worded letter today, and considering she owns 3 accounts, one a very big business account with them, I am shocked at their poor level of service,

I thought she could go in her local bank maybe?? Can anyone help? We urgently need to unblock her card, as she is going away again very soon, and the whole point of the card is back up whilst she is away. My poor wife works so hard, and is very upset as i write this, as our prescious free time has been wasted trying to sort this.

Any positive advice (other than changing banks!) to resolve this, much appreciated!

thanks!!

CLAPTON

she's done the right thing by writing a letter of complaint.
however, she needs to have at least three CC for situation just like this... carry two, keep one at home.

the_kop

On the case with that, she has her work credit card, but tries to not use it too much due to just being quite good with money!

We are setting up a joint account..not with HSBC... and are waiting for the cards now, as you say, as in these times, another card is what she needs.

Any ideas with how to resolve this thing asap? It's more the principle now!

Cranston_2

HSBC is not alone, no cc company is without its faults.

The only answer, as has been posted above is to have multiple cards and can I suggest an Amex card who offer great customer service.

I would be interested in what HSBC have to say for themselves.

the_kop

Cranston wrote: »

HSBC is not alone, no cc company is without its faults.

The only answer, as has been posted above is to have multiple cards and can I suggest an Amex card who offer great customer service.

I would be interested in what HSBC have to say for themselves.

I'll defo let you know. It's ok to be cautious as a company, after all, credit card fraud is a nasty thing when it happens, and it has happened to myself a few years ago. But I feel their overall service has just been pathetic. To tell my wife it's basically her fault for using her card online (£25 pounds too!) was what riled me.