Hsbc!!! Arghhhh

ollym_3

I wanted to add a trading name to my business account so I called in, passed all their security checks only to find out the only way I can do it is by letter to the branch.

So I waste my time writing and posting a letter for them to call me up and say because I didn't sign it they can't accept it.

Is this normal for everything then? I mean I never normally bother signing letters.

I told the woman that I can't be bothered to send another one.

I understand these sort of things are company policy - but they're so rigid it is infuriating.

the other day I asked for them to send me statements on my account for the last 20 months and he said I could have the first 12 months free but after that I had to pay per sheet up to £10 (I'm assuming this is under the data protection act). What happened to service..? I was told this was another one of their fabulous "policies".

Why do I have to be treated in such a rigid way. If they're prepared to tell me all my details after pushing a few keys on a touchpad then why can't I do things like my close my account or add a new trading name...

dixie06

I was with HSBC for over 10 years and have got the worst customer service ever both in the main branch (miserable gits) and over the phone. You get passed from pillar to post all the time. I've now changed banks and got no more hassle in my life, well bank hassle anyway!! I'm currently claiming back all my charges from them as wel ha ha. My advice to anyone is do not enter a HSBC building they WILL eventually drive you insane.

Hot_Fuzz

Not the HSBC but i went into my local Nationwide and asked for my last three months statements for my mortgage app, they told me as i could "view" them on line they would have to charge me £5 a month for a copy. I was over a barrel as i had to have them. Won't be with them much longer.

changkra

dixie06 wrote:

I was with HSBC for over 10 years and have got the worst customer service ever both in the main branch (miserable gits) and over the phone. You get passed from pillar to post all the time. I've now changed banks and got no more hassle in my life, well bank hassle anyway!! I'm currently claiming back all my charges from them as wel ha ha. My advice to anyone is do not enter a HSBC building they WILL eventually drive you insane.

Absolutely agree. I had a business account with them 5 years ago, i lasted 6 months with them and told them to shove it. Fortunately no bank charges.

fudgeukraine

ollym wrote:

So I waste my time writing and posting a letter for them to call me up and say because I didn't sign it they can't accept it.

Is this normal for everything then? I mean I never normally bother signing letters.QUOTE]



You don't normally sign letters, erm, were you never educated in how to write letters? Were you never told to put 'yours faithfully' or 'yours sincerely' and then sign it?

I really can't see your gripe that they refused it when you didn't sign it, it's a pretty stupid mistake to make and they are well within their rights to refuse to accept an unsigned letter.

You'd be the first to complain if someone wrote a bog-standard unsigned letter for information about your account or if someone managed to cash one of your unsigned cheques!

ollym_3

Are you serious? Do you think letters from the bank are personally signed these days.. it's a bloody scanned in signature. I typed the letter and typed my name. Like I said, if touching a few keys on a pad allows me to have all my details what is the problem with a fully typed letter.

I'm sorry, I guess I'm of the internet generation where people expect everything to be done by email / sms and phone. My letter-writing skills are rarely tested... I did google to find out how to structure the letter but to be honest I don't see why a pen signature matters that much, if they can phone me up and confirm it's from me, and my other details... why does a pen signature mean anything.

I'm assuming it calls back to some old legal thing where the whole point of the letter IS the pen signature at the bottom but to me, if they can do everything else on the phone or online, why not that?

surfcat

do you sign cheques as well? what about pin numbers? do you enter them or can you not be bothered?

ollym_3

The point I am making is, they called me up and confirmed my details and then told me that I need to resend the exact same letter with a signature. If I can pass all the security checks, move money, create and close direct debits etc etc over the phone, why do they have to be so rigid about a bloomin' signature!

fudgeukraine

Yes, you need to send a signature, it's standard practice, don't see why you don't realise that. As you have said, you may feel you're in the age of instant-verification with the Internet and Mobiles (just like me or anyone else alive today) but for 99.99% of things you need to sign a letter!

Morglin

I can't imagine why you would send any letter without signing it...........it's the usual thing to do.:rolleyes:

I wouldn't be very happy with any bank that acted on anything for me unless they had my signatuire to ensure that it was actually me that wanted them to do it.

Far from moaning, I think you should be grateful that the bank take security seriously.

Lin

Bossyboots

Agree with the others, signing a letter of this nature should be routine and the bank were right not to accept it.

What you do if the roles were reversed? If someone else sent a letter to your bank with "your" signature typed on and they added their name to you business account. I expect you would be on here beratting the bank for having done so and as you do usually type your signature, I very much doubt you would be able to prove it wasn't sent by you either as there would be no handwriting or signature to compare.