HSBC Information as of 06/07/2007

danish

https://hsss.hsbc.co.uk/ukpersonal/contactforms/complain.jsp HSBC Complaints Form

You should receive a response from them within 2 days although a response is not guaranteed.

It is good that they have reverted your account back to a student account (it will give you time to move!), I was informed that they could not do that for me at the branch.

maniac886

I will be e-mailing the link above to as many graduates as possible then!

Bella_b

I so annoyed at HSBC for not giving warning about this! I am currently about £300 over my overdraft limit of £1750, I just read the letter this morning that my grad account has already been changed! I will now have to pay interest on my overdraft.. when I signed up to my student account 4 years ago, I was told that I would be informed with reasonable notice about my student account being changed into a graduate one. I had NO such notice.. and when I signed up I was told that a interest free overdraft facility would be available to me. It says in the white leaflet sent with the letter (about the T&C'S) that students who had their account changed to a graduate before May will still have the interest free overdraft facility but students who have just had their changed now in July, don't have an interest free one.. and have to pay rather a lot of interest! I am furious! I don't know what to do, as I have don't have a job yet as have only recently graduated.. and living with parents and no money. Bank keep calling up, asking for me. I don't know what to do! Please help! What are my options? Thanks, Bella

Bella_b

Can someone also tell me what EAR means when talking about interest rates? I'm totally confused! Many Thanks, Bella x

maniac886

Bella_b wrote: »

Can someone also tell me what EAR means when talking about interest rates? I'm totally confused! Many Thanks, Bella x

EAR is the abbreviation for "equivalent annual rate". It's used to illustrate the full percentage cost of overdrafts and any type of account that can be in credit and also go overdrawn.
The calculation shows you the true cost if you use the overdraft facility. In common with the APR calculation, EAR takes account of the basic rate of interest and when the interest is charged to the account plus any additional charges.

misskool

Clause 16.3 of their personal banking terms and conditions

We will always give you 30 days’
personal notice if we increase the charges. We may
introduce a new charge for any of the Additional Services
on your Bank Account by giving you 30 days' personal
notice of this.

Will try to knock up a formal letter of complaint to them.

edit: other ways of complaining
n the unlikely event that you are not entirely satisfied, you can:

* write to: The Manager, Service Quality Team, HSBC Bank plc, Arlington Business Centre, Millshaw Park Lane, Leeds, LS11 0PP.
* telephone: 0800 881 155* (+44 1226 261 020) (textphone 18001 0800 028 3516),
* e-mail: servicequality@hsbc.com or
* raise your concerns via an online form.

If we are unable to resolve matters on the spot, we will send you a letter of acknowledgement within five working days to confirm that we are investigating the matters you have raised.

* Lines are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Calls may be monitored or recorded for quality purposes.

maniac886

misskool wrote: »

Clause 16.3 of their personal banking terms and conditions

Will try to knock up a formal letter of complaint to them.

Cheers for that. Maybe if someone on the boards knocked up a template and posted it ?

Then all that have been affected can e-mail/ write to them?

danish

bella_b

As you are already £300 over you £1750 your best option in my opinion is to get an interest free overdraft to cover this. You may also need additional funds if you are starting work, if you’re anything like me there are many hidden costs of getting/finding a job.

Barclays offer up to £3000 interest free over draft. I just popped into my then local branch for a chat. I took with me some ID (I think I took driving ID), some bills (not sure if I needed them but I took them anyway) and some bank statements (if you have the 3 months sent through the post that’s great, otherwise ask HSBC for them as this held me up for a week).

The whole thing took around 30-50 mins and the assistance are very helpful. After that you should find out within a couple of days all your details and how much overdraft you get ( I applied for £2500 a got it, no one in my house moving account got declined which I found surprising).

Next, I would go into your branch and explain the situation about not receiving sufficient warning. Request that they turn your account back into a student for the mean time (they refused me but granted it for someone else on this bored no harm in asking anyway).

I hope this helps, it has helped me a little.

Good luck!

jazz_vendor

Yeah, agree with danish.... my experience:

When I went into NatWest they said that they would need to see evidence from HSBC that the account was closed, as it was in the terms and conditions that you can only have one student/graduate account and the manager phoned the operations people at NatWest and confirmed they needed a closing statement from The World's 'Local' Bank.

They were however, prepared to offer other ways to help out switching the account, i.e. increase overdraft on another NatWest account to allow paying off the HSBC overdraft etc.

So, my advice to people who already have a big overdraft and are about to be hit, go into NatWest, Barclays, BoS etc. and sit down with a customer services person or a manager tell them what's happening, and in my experience they will be happy to help you move accounts without penalties. Can't guarantee anything, but going into the branches (with the HSBC letter if possible) is the way to go I think.

3plus1

Just logged onto my internet banking because I had to wire some money. Noticed I now have a graduate A/C!

What's the difference between the graduate and the student accounts? Obviously the overdraft is less, but apart from that...? Interest rates, etc?

I hadn't actually been notified that my account was going to change. It's just a good thing I didn't have a huge overdraft there.