My Experience with HSBC :(

rayoflight_2

Just wanted to write to thank everyone for your suggestions, and to let you know that in a second phone call with them today I recovered 25 pounds of the money - woop woop! :rotfl:

My '500 word winge' paid off: I felt so much better for making sure I'd let other moneysavers know my experience, (anyone who finds it a winge and isn't interested doesn't have to read it!) and recovered a good proportion of the money to boot, so thank you everyone for your helpful posts. It just goes to show that making your case and explaining your position in a polite but assertive manner can pay off: I'm as happy as Larry :rotfl:

Lavendyr

I used to bank with HSBC and left for poor customer service.

I then banked with A&L and had very good customer service (maybe I'm just lucky?). However I have heard several very negative things about Santander, so wanted to get away before they got their teeth into A&L!.

iereboy

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:

You are not that big a money saver if you bank with HSBC. They tend to have the worst rates. I used to be with HSBC. Never a single problem- only the rates.

I love a customer's reaction when you say, "its your choice to take your business where ever you like". What do people expect, do you think a call centre worker actually give a !!!!!!? ? Are they supposed to beg u to stay?