HSBC's New £120 Switch Offer

puk999

I applied online on the 10th September for an Advance account. At the end of the process the site said there was a backlog so they let me know the result in 7 days. It's now 13 days and nothing so need to ring them to see what's going on...

beefturnmail

Received first £10 Save Together bonus yesterday. Still awaiting £120 switch incentive... (account opened 29th July)

bonjan

puk999 wrote: »

I applied online on the 10th September for an Advance account. At the end of the process the site said there was a backlog so they let me know the result in 7 days. It's now 13 days and nothing so need to ring them to see what's going on...

Same thing here. We (joint account) rang HSBC just to learn that our application was nowhere to be found.
After such success we started a new application on the phone but we were told that:

• any phone application needs to be completed in branch (fine with that).
• the relevant date to qualify for the offer is the date of the completion of the application in branch (fine again).
• there were no appointments available in our branch until the 2nd of October so (should our application be successful, which is not a given after reading this thread) we wouldn't qualify for the offer :mad:.

I mentioned that we applied online 2 weeks ago and that I got a success page at the end confirming that the application had been submitted, but HSBC couldn't care less about that.

We submitted a second online application after the call, but admittedly we don't expect to hear back from HSBC at all.

Congratulations to those of you that were successful, but we're giving up on the endeavour of opening a bank account with HSBC (and we'll keep looking for alternative options to switch from the Santander 123 after learning about the upcoming fee increase from £2 to £5 a month).
I still find shocking that a bank that claims to be willing to attract new customers can be that incompetent in doing so.

jimjames

bonjan wrote: »

I still find shocking that a bank that claims to be willing to attract new customers can be that incompetent in doing so.

Same here. I've opened many bank accounts over the last few years and the HSBC one I would have expected to be the simplest and most efficient was the opposite. The whole process was incredibly slow, cumbersome and frustrating. It's no wonder they need to pay £120 for new customers, if they weren't paying I'd have given up a long time ago.

bonjan

Well, after giving up we decided to open a bank account with TSB.
4 minutes after having made our minds on that we were presented with the sort code and account number of the new current account, and we were able to login to online banking.
Quite a difference vs HSBC.

Funny, yesterday we got the letter from HSBC accepting our application, dated on 30th September (2 1/2 weeks later than the date we applied).

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

I think this offer is no longer active. No sign of a cash joining gift on the website.

The time limit on Halifax is since January 2012. I can't remember when I did the Halifax one I might call them and see if they can find my account.

It needs Barclays and NatWest to start offering switching incentives. I mean who would really switch to them? They offer nothing.

realaledrinker

Applied 19 Sept .. got the same 'very busy' message .. still waiting .. on line chat today confirmed continuing delays. Utter rubbish.

Wheres_My_Cashback

puk999 wrote: »

I applied online on the 10th September for an Advance account. At the end of the process the site said there was a backlog so they let me know the result in 7 days. It's now 13 days and nothing so need to ring them to see what's going on...

I applied 20/09 and finally received some acknowledgement today asking me to go into branch and provide proof of my salary...either P60 or wage slips + 3 months of bank statements. Is that normal ?

bonjan

Frank121 wrote: »

I complained via email because they lost my original online application (so I had to spend another 50 mins on the phone and re-apply)

They didn't loose it, it seems that when you phone them they can't find online applications and they don't seem to know so.

I phoned them more than 2 weeks after applying online and I was told my application was nowhere to be found.

Frank121 wrote: »

had to visit the branch for income verification despite the rep telling me I didn't need to vist the branch

I was told I could begin the application over the phone and that I'd need to go into branch to complete the application, but that there were no available appointments before the deadline for opening the advance account required by the £100 switching offer and consequently my switch would not qualify for it.
I replied that I didn't want to proceed with the phone application.

Two days later I got a letter from them acknowledging the original online application and requesting specimen signature.
The online application was there, but they couldn't find it anyway.
So I guess phoning to ask for the status of your application is pointless: they won't find your application regardless of it existing on their side or not.

Frank121

What a carry on Bonjan, HSBC are awful! I thought Yorkshire Bank had a long winded application system but they are quite straightforward compared to HSBC!

Reading your earlier post you said that they sent you a letter dated 30th September. Was the account therefore opened just before the deadline or it still wasn't opened until your signature was returned meaning the deadline was still missed?