HSBC Phone call

L4ur4_2

Yesterday I had a phone call from HSBC's collections dept demanding I pay money into a current account I have with them. They say the account has been dormant as I've not paid any money into it over the past 6 weeks. I've had the account for 8 years. My account is within my agreed overdraft of £1250 and has been in and out of it since I've had the account. Currently there is about £100 left on my overdraft. There have been periods where no money has been paid in for months when there has been an overdrawn balance. They say they have just changed their rules and there needs to be payments put in every month! They asked why I hadn't done that in March and April.

They demanded I make a payment there and then, I chose to put in £50 which I did online as I didn't want to give my details over the phone. They also wanted me to set up a standing order, which I have also done, I chose £20 a month to keep them off my back. They then started to fish for information about my other accounts which I didn't tell them about. I don't feel it's any of their business. If this is how they treat their customers who are within their credit limit that they've agreed with them I don't know what they say to their customers who exceed them! I also can't believe they rang me at lunchtime on a Sunday to discuss this with me.

I'm worried they'll demand the whole amount back at once and I cannot afford this at the moment. I would just pay the account off and close it but I have other more expensive debts which at the moment take priority.

Has anyone else had a call like this one?

maninthestreet

Are you sure this was really HSBC that called you, and not some scammer trying to extract information from you about your bank account?

katieowl_2

Yep Laura...we had one on Friday about OH's HSBC business account - he's £600 into an agreed (and PAID FOR might I add) £2000 overdraft, and they demanded 'immediate' repayment as he'd not made a transaction in 30 days.... (we've recently moved - he's relocating the business - all of this was told to our 'local' HSBC head office a few weeks ago)

She was very pushy and tried to make him make a payment on the spot which wasn't possible anyway. We made a tranfer on the internet Saturday morning which more than covered it...and he got another call this morning - basically demanding money with menaces, telling him that he'll get additional charges if it wasn't paid immediately, and that the facility would be withdrawn (!) He told her that we had MADE a transfer already on Saturday, and she said "but that's going to take five days to arrive!!!" DUH???? How much quicker would they like it than an internet transfer???

OH was :mad: He told them he's had that account for 30 years and insisted that she register his displeasure at being harassed (LOL) - he's probably going to close the account. We were pretty fed up with them anyway - His business really struggled last year - and the CHARGES they took out of his account were astronomical IMHO. It's not like we have the OD out of the goodness of their heart - they charge him £50 everytime they 'review' it - on top of everything else. Takes a lot to make my OH shout down the phone but Madame Call Centre managed it...she also spoke incredibly poor english....hope she understood enough to get the message :rotfl:

I'm just glad that at this moment in time we have the funds TO clear the OD, sorting it out was on the 'to do' list. We are just annoyed, not intimidated, which I feel was the object of the exercise!

Regards

Kate

Lokolo

They don't charge £50 to 'review it', they charge £25.

Could you just not ignore the phonecalls...?

However I am not surprised they are getting angry. A dormant account in its overdraft with very little left. It has its signs you know. Why don't you just put £50 a month in it to keep it active and to eat away the overdraft?

katieowl_2

maninthestreet wrote: »

Are you sure this was really HSBC that called you, and not some scammer trying to extract information from you about your bank account?

I don't know if Laura has a note of the telephone number - but I did a 1471 on ours. The Number was 0800 3897812.

If you search this on the net' it does come up as an HSBC call centre number in the Phillippines - lots of people are fed up with receiving the calls, they use one of those first answered systems, so lots of people get hang-up calls from them.

I couldn't believe how insistant they were on Friday that he pay ££ in on the spot? I heard him take the call, and I was telling him NO WAY!!! They also DIDN'T have our up to date address, despite him going into the bank to give it before we moved, it came through on his mobile. He gave them the new address details, and today's call came through on our new land line. Obviously they did have the details of what we owed though... The woman he spoke to Friday was an idiot! She wanted to know his Fax mumber and wouldn't accept that he didn't have business internet. He's a sole trader, not a multi national - perhaps that's why

Way to go HSBC - I've been trying to get him to switch banks for years...two phone calls succeeded in doing what I couldn't! :T

katieowl_2

Lokolo wrote: »

They don't charge £50 to 'review it', they charge £25.

Could you just not ignore the phonecalls...?

However I am not surprised they are getting angry. A dormant account in its overdraft with very little left. It has its signs you know. Why don't you just put £50 a month in it to keep it active and to eat away the overdraft?

Beg to differ Lokolo - I just went and double checked - April 09 they charged £50 "Renewal fee" on the OD facility.

Also a dormant account may well 'have signs' as we are of course in a recession, but if they want to charge for the facility, you need to be able to use it as you see fit. My OH has had increasing problems with HSBC over the years, as they withdrew managers from local branches, shut local branches, and made actually SEEING or SPEAKING to somebody who understood the nature of your business nigh on impossible. Not everyone draws a 'wage' as such. Self employed people need flexible banking facilities to tide them over the dips and humps. Doesn't necessarily make you a 'bad risk'

Regards

Lokolo

Why would the bank care that you're self employed? They care about you using the accounts and paying back money you owe. Simple as.

To them it looks as though you can't afford to and the bank worry you will default, go BR and then not pay the money back, hence the phonecalls. They want as much money back as possible so they don't lose it. So therefore you are high risk. You are £1150 (you said £100 before hitting the limit yes?) out of £1250. Not paying anything in so you're just leaving your debt. That is high risk. To you its just the norm but to everyone else is it high risk. No ifs or buts, it is. Hence why I then suggested if you just pay £50 a month into it, you won't be seen as such high risk, because you are doing something about it.

The fee I suspect was £50 because of business account. However its only charged to those that change their overdraft limit within the last 12 months (formally or unformally). If you didn't you could have got it removed.

Funnily enough you say that you are fed up with them removing branches and staff etc.etc. but isn't that all part of the recession...? My local branches haven't changed one bit though, weird

katieowl_2

Lokolo wrote: »

Why would the bank care that you're self employed? They care about you using the accounts and paying back money you owe. Simple as.

To them it looks as though you can't afford to and the bank worry you will default, go BR and then not pay the money back, hence the phonecalls. They want as much money back as possible so they don't lose it. So therefore you are high risk. You are £1150 (you said £100 before hitting the limit yes?) out of £1250. Not paying anything in so you're just leaving your debt. That is high risk. To you its just the norm but to everyone else is it high risk. No ifs or buts, it is. Hence why I then suggested if you just pay £50 a month into it, you won't be seen as such high risk, because you are doing something about it.

The fee I suspect was £50 because of business account. However its only charged to those that change their overdraft limit within the last 12 months (formally or unformally). If you didn't you could have got it removed.

Funnily enough you say that you are fed up with them removing branches and staff etc.etc. but isn't that all part of the recession...? My local branches haven't changed one bit though, weird

No it was the OP that was £100 off the OD Limit - we were £600 OD on a £2K limit.

They started closing the branches WAY BACK (we were in SE London) First the local one went, then the next local became 'counter service only' meaning a good expedition to the NEXT nearest...the customers in the counter service bank were all joking that they'd HAVE to go to Hong Kong eventually to pay a cheque in :rotfl:as apparently that branch was due for closure too...

Anyway - hopefully things will improve now we have moved - in many ways!

Regards

Kate

L4ur4_2

0800 3897812

This was the number they rang me on. My first thought as maninthestreet pointed out was that it could be someone trying to scam my details from me. I googled their number whilst on was on the phone to them and it came up as HSBC.

L4ur4_2

katieowl wrote: »

Yep Laura...we had one on Friday about OH's HSBC business account - he's £600 into an agreed (and PAID FOR might I add) £2000 overdraft, and they demanded 'immediate' repayment as he'd not made a transaction in 30 days.... (we've recently moved - he's relocating the business - all of this was told to our 'local' HSBC head office a few weeks ago)

Thanks for your reply. It would seem HSBC are in a bit of a panic about retrieving some of the money they've promised to lend to people! I wouldn't have minded if they'd sent me a polite letter saying I was near my overdraft and were there any problems, and would I be able to start paying some money in as this is required of me to have that account. It was the fact that they rang me on a Sunday at lunchtime to demand an immediate payment and fish for details of my other accounts that really got my back up.

My local branch has closed too which is a bit of a pain. I hope your difficulties with them are resolved soon.

Laura

L4ur4_2

Lokolo wrote: »

However I am not surprised they are getting angry. A dormant account in its overdraft with very little left. It has its signs you know. Why don't you just put £50 a month in it to keep it active and to eat away the overdraft?

I think you'll find that if you check my first post that I've set up a standing order for £20 to keep them off my back.

The point I am making is I do not expect to be rung on a Sunday at lunchtime by someone demanding payment there and then. I am within my agreed overdraft and have not exceeded it.