My Experience with HSBC :(

Mark_In_Hampshire

rayoflight wrote: »

I wanted to write to make everyone aware of my poor experience with HSBC to help anyone who's considering which bank to bank with and indeed the 100 pounds + 45 pounds reward in Quidco for switching to Alliance and Leicester offer.

I have banked with HSBC since 1997 and have been a very good customer. I have a considerable amount of savings with them and am likely to prove more valuable in the future given my job circumstances.

Last month, I went overdrawn. This was not due to lack of money: I had plenty in my savings (several thousand). Rather, it was due to my own lack of organisation with regards to remembering to log in and transfer the money ready for this month with unusually high outgoings (like most moneysavers, I keep as much money as I can in savings to get the small amount of interest I can, transferring what I need into my current account when required). I was charged 75 pounds by HSBC for this. When I questioned a supervisor on how this would be representative of any charges the bank had incurred, he could not give me answer: rather, he simply reiterated the bank's policy on charging when you go overdrawn. They were not able to answer me clearly at all when I was simply asking to understand what exactly I was paying for in that specific amount charged to me.

When I explained that I stood to profit from the Alliance and Leicester offer and explained that it made good financial sense to shift to them since I stood to profit and since I didn't feel valued as an HSBC customer, the supervisor simply said, "It's up to you to decide which bank account would be best for yourself". This did not make me feel valued at all

This is the second time HSBC have upset me: the first time was when I was a Masters degree student: they claimed that they weren't prepared to give me a student account, despite the fact that I was a student and could prove it with my acceptance letter and student ID etc. They just simply kept saying that it was only first degrees that qualified. I explained that given that Masters students are not eligible for Student Loans and therefore I was in particular need of the benefits of a student account for this study, but they refused to help me as a customer.

I understand that it was my error for not having transferred the money from one of my HSBC accounts to another...it would have taken only 60 seconds. But I don't think this merited a charge of 75 pounds, or to be spoken to by the bank as though I was not of any value, despite my savings and decent, consistent salary being paid into them every month.

I have just applied to join Alliance and Leicester which friends tell me are always helpful and efficient. I will also gain 145 pounds which will help me offset the charges from HSBC. The financial incentive is a no-brainer, but when you take into account the way you are treated (and I have that on very good authority from a number of sources), Alliance and Leicester is a clear winner and with HSBC you as the customer are never right :mad:

Pretty well all banks work like this. You're correct to question how your error could have incurred those costs to the bank, and the bank won't be able to answer that, and simply point to their Ts & Cs.

The "make money from penalties" approach typifies much of the service (misnomer if ever there was one) culture in the UK.

It only works when there is one sector in which all companies do it. Banking is a good example. It leaves little or no choice for the customer who disgusted with the charges wants to move away, but finds it's the same all over.

I am not sure where you stand with regard to issuing a claim the court to recover the costs, since they are clearly a penalty charge which is unlawful and thus the charges are not enforceable.

The ruling in the Court in the OFT case left possibilities open for the OFT to pursue, but that doesn't preclude individuals - so far as I know - from sueing individually to recover the charges.

Likewise, credit card companies dropped their penalty charges to £12 following the ruling that "anything over £12 was likely to be unlawful". However that doesn't mean that £12 is lawful.

Inactive

The fact that A&L have to bribe people to join them should tell you something.

I have been with Midland Bank/HSBC for a lot longer than you, I have never had a single problem with them.

dlk

rayoflight wrote: »

Regarding your comment about them not having to provide me with a student account for doing a masters, NOWHERE did I state that they HAD to. What I was trying to suggest was they were not a good bank in that they were not working hard to meet my needs as the customer, and therefore in my opinion not a good bank.

P.S. do you work for HSBC?!?!

You also stated that you couldn't get a student loan whilst doing a masters so I guess the students loan company aren't good at meeting your needs either. I want a bank that pays me 20% credit interest but only charges me 2% debit interest, just because my bank won't meet those needs doesn't mean it isn't a good bank it just means I'm asking for something unreasonable!

onlypaddy

Lol, OP your arrogance amuses me. In a nutshell:

'I went overdrawn. It was my fault, cos I'm a numpty, but im going to try and divert attention away from this with a 500 word whinge about policy, and why I should be the exception to the student account rules. Now, i'm going to switch to a bank with a worse reputation. I'll show them'

I was charged £75

This is the sentence which makes the rest of your story insignificant - as its £25 a time with HSBC, this shows you didn't go overdrawn once, you did it 3 times.

As others have said, you will eventually see the reasons that A&L have to offer so much to tempt customers their way....

bengal-stripe

rayoflight wrote: »

……Last month, I went overdrawn.,,,,it was due to my own lack of organisation. When I questioned a supervisor …..since I didn't feel valued as an HSBC customer…..I understand that it was my error……..

If you had said: ”My error” apologized and asked sweetly for the charges to be refunded,
there was a good chance, the bank would have done that.

But you decided to come in all high-and-mighty as the big boss/madam. - Wrong tactic!!!
The supervisor, obviously, didn’t feel valued by you!

That very same thing will happen not only with every bank, but everywhere in life:
If you barge in with an attitude (particular if it is your fault), you get attitude back.

premierfella

The OP is clearly going to move from HSBC to A&L/Santander.

On that basis, best advice (already given I think) is to read the many threads relating to Santander/A&L, take their "no brainer" financial incentive and then transfer the account as quickly as humanly possible to a bank with a sound reputation and charges structure that will suit your needs (I won't recommend any particular one as there are plenty of threads that will point you in the right direction on that score).

Best of luck.

dzug1

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

I am not sure where you stand with regard to issuing a claim the court to recover the costs, since they are clearly a penalty charge which is unlawful and thus the charges are not enforceable.

.

Unfortunately they are not a penalty charge - the OFT ruled this fairly early on in the proceedings.

There may be other ways of approaching the subject but one based on the penalty clause issue would be bound to fail.

radox

What are the hsbc online transfer limits per day?

Bloomberg

radox wrote: »

What are the hsbc online transfer limits per day?

I was told by a member of staff that the Fast pay limit is five grand but you can transfer up to ten grand which takes three days to clear.

radox

Bloomberg wrote: »

I was told by a member of staff that the Fast pay limit is five grand but you can transfer up to ten grand which takes three days to clear.

even if i transfer to a HSBC account it will be 5k perday or 10k perday?