HSBC Advance

karie

horngkai wrote: »

£9.95 for a year?

I have just been to HSBC branch. Will be doing a switch as an existing customer to take advantage of the 6% interest. Was told that as I hold an old Advance account, it will be switch to the new advance account so that I will be eligible for £9.95 for the first year. Works out okay that way

hi again, £9.95 per month for a year. Instead of £12.95 per month.

I went in to take advantage of the 6% interest too. Seems silly you cant do it online!

karie

dawyldthing

Bloomberg wrote: »

The HSBC website is fantastic, in branch they have the express banking machines which are excellent. The staff are very friendly and polite and most countries which the average person is likely to visit have HSBC branches.

they do have branches all over the world but when i got blocked out of my card in America they wouldn't help at all, wouldn't even let me phone the telephone banking so i wouldn't say having it all over the world is an advantage

avstar

Bloomberg wrote: »

The HSBC website is fantastic, in branch they have the express banking machines which are excellent. The staff are very friendly and polite and most countries which the average person is likely to visit have HSBC branches.

Blimey what branch do you use?! The staff at mine are surly, always trying to push the Advance account on me and the queues are dreadful, seriously I've waited over half an hour in the queue many times.

The website is average, OK apart from the flimsy keycard thing.

Ringing HSBC with a query is awful, overseas customer service with people who can't understand my accent and I can't understand theirs. No flexibility when finances are tight. Stopped doing cashpoint card access for savings accounts.

Mis-sold my other half PPI.

Took my DD's loan payment twice in the same month by mistake and wanted to charge her for going over.....

Thats my experience of HSBC

Gromitt

I use the branches in Stoke On Trent and the queues are practically non-existent, you can normally always walk in and walk straight to a cashier who is pleased to see you and helpful. The first part of the bank contains the usual express services (including coin deposit :cool:) and one of the branches has the express services open 24 hours a day (just need to press a button to unlock the door).

I've never phoned them however, only ever phoned First Direct.

When I wanted to use the mortgages services, I did have to make an appointment, but thats only to be expected, as I don't think cashiers have that kind of knowledge.

horngkai

I always got greeted and dealt with relatively quickly when I go into a branch. If I have any queries, I normally send them a message through online banking and the person who reply or phone me are british. Mortgage arrangment was straight forward. Loan applied and dealt with quickly. Positive experience thus far for me over the last 9 years with them.

Hydromancer

Bloomberg wrote: »

The HSBC website is fantastic, in branch they have the express banking machines which are excellent. The staff are very friendly and polite and most countries which the average person is likely to visit have HSBC branches.

My experience has been similar. They are a very stingy bank (at least for me!). However, they have in my opinion the best online banking (except for the secure key) and are very prompt with replacement cards, PINs, additional statements etc. I've been with them for some time and they've never messed up anything. On the other hand, I find myself chasing Lloyds TSB and Natwest all the time...and Co-op are too slow with everything and their internet banking is not very good

rb10

Bloomberg wrote: »

The HSBC website is fantastic, in branch they have the express banking machines which are excellent. The staff are very friendly and polite and most countries which the average person is likely to visit have HSBC branches.

I find that their website does not stand out above others as being fantastic. It's average at best (but far more cluttered than the likes of Lloyds/Halifax and Nationwide).

The Immediate Deposit Machines that HSBC have are good ... although you can't use the same machine for cash and cheques, unlike elsewhere. Again though, I wouldn't say this lifts HSBC above the competition - since most banks have these sorts of machines.

Like with most other banks, staff friendliness seems to vary between branches. Some HSBC branches have very grumpy staff. Maybe you have been lucky.

What does foreign branches have to do with anything? You can't use foreign HSBC branches as though they were in the UK.

So I'd agree with most of the other posters on this thread who say that HSBC is 'average' on all of your points.

Bloomberg

avstar wrote: »

Blimey what branch do you use?! The staff at mine are surly, always trying to push the Advance account on me and the queues are dreadful, seriously I've waited over half an hour in the queue many times.

The website is average, OK apart from the flimsy keycard thing.

Ringing HSBC with a query is awful, overseas customer service with people who can't understand my accent and I can't understand theirs. No flexibility when finances are tight. Stopped doing cashpoint card access for savings accounts.

Mis-sold my other half PPI.

Took my DD's loan payment twice in the same month by mistake and wanted to charge her for going over.....

Thats my experience of HSBC

I use the Oxford, Cornmarket street branch.

Clearly your experiences have been very different to mine.

redmalc

Hi I can only comment on my dealings with HSBC,we have a Premier account and the service we have received over the last 10/12 years has been perfect.
We only keep enough in the account to keep the Premier benefits,the interest rates to savers are very poor but the internet banking and customer service is second to none.
I think their lending criteria is very tight,thank god for that,why not, if you are unable to pay it back they will decline your request,that may be the reason they are not in the same position as a number of other so called goverment owned institutions