HSBC Advance Accepted - What Next?

2357

I managed to activate my card without telephone banking.
I agree it's the most frustrating account opening experience I've had so far.
Once I'd activated the card I tried to set up telephone and internet banking only to discover I couldn't without some security key.
Yet another letter arrived the next day requesting more details for this key which they said I would receive after 7 working days.
I gave up and made an appt in branch as I was running out of time to qualify for the switch bonus.
The branch did get everything sorted and even let me stay after they'd closed in order to set up the regular saver as well but I have to say if it wasn't for the £200 I'd have long since given up on bothering with this account.

Snakey

Still waiting for my telephone security number, without which I can't talk to anybody on the phone! I was able to activate my card because that was an automated line that didn't ask for security information, but what I'm looking to do is get the account switch started.

Since I don't know the date the account was opened I don't know whether I've run out of time yet, but with working days being lost due to Easter I suspect I'm cutting it fine.

I have returned everything they sent me (the signature form and then the security details form) on the same day as I received it, so if this doesn't get done in time it's all them. Which would be pretty shoddy - it's hardly sporting to offer a deal knowing that your systems are set up so that it's impossible for anybody to qualify for it.

drlabman

Quick update. I activated my debit card by phone. Then I called up to ask about telephone banking and this time the lady set it up for me. As a previous poster said, they transfer you temporarily to an automated system which you use to enter your security number, but they also ask for secret words. I then asked her if we could start the switching process so she tried to hand me off to the switching team but that was taking forever so I was advised to try again today. I was able to set up online banking myself, for which you need your telephone banking details and secret words. I've ordered a gizmo (like First Direct) but in the meantime you can use online banking for 30 days with just your secret credentials. I was able to set up a regular saver online. So almost there. Now I just need my to receive my debit card PIN and my gizmo, and to do the switch. And then hopefully get my £150. Phew.

2gorgeousgirls

I applied 27March, finally got word on7 April that account was open. Tried to get security number for internet bank but had to wait until card arrived. It came today so I have the number set up. Told the rep that I had asked to switch and was told I had to wait for them to call me with next 7-14 days. Told him I applied to get the £200 and am aware that the switch has to be completed within 30 days. He repeated I have to wait for them to call. Most frustrating bank to deal with. In comparison I applied for TSB classic on 3rd April (not switching obviously) and I was using it by 8th.

Snakey

Oh my GOD this bank are annoying!

So I got in from work and my security number has finally arrived (a mere thirteen days after the details went off in the post). Woohoo! Now I can register for online banking and then finally discover my account opening date and start my switch process, right?

Wrong.

I got all the way to "activate your device" (I would have much preferred one of those plastic widgets, but I can't afford to wait another week for it to arrive) at which point the screen promptly hangs on me. After fifteen minutes or so I click "refresh" because clearly it's not supposed to take a quarter of an hour to go on to the next page, at which point it kicks me back to Step One.

OK, fine, I'll do it again... except I can't because it's now got me down as already having registered for online banking and asks me to click a link (there is no link on the page) to access it. Clearly, no point trying to log in since I have neither a secure device key set up nor a plastic widget.

OK then, I'll call the phone number. Nope... experiencing what is apparently a totally unexpected volume of calls (I would love to see the stats of "calls they are experiencing" vs "calls they normally experience at this time on the day before a bank holiday") and so I have to sit there for "in excess of 25 minutes" or hang up.

At the moment, then, I have no idea what date my account was opened, the clock is ticking, and I have yet to start the switch.

Really, really annoyed.

Given their requirements for a high income and whatever else, you have to wonder why they think that their typical customer will put up with this crap service?

And breathe.

Thanks for reading while I vent. Feel better now. However, I am going to get whatever it is I chose to open this account for - which is fast paling into insignificance - and then closing it down. It's not the banking experience I'm looking for, that's for sure.

Snakey

I almost thought for a second it was going to be OK, because I could download the app and do it that way and it seemed to be letting me do it.

Got all the way to the bit where they will either e-mail or post your activation code to log in using the app. Hmm no, I don't think I want to wait two weeks for them to post it, so yes, please e-mail it... um hang on... that's not my complete e-mail address.

(This is in addition to the security feature of replacing some of the letters with asterisks, obviously. It's literally missed my first name off the firstname.surname format of my address. I clicked "send" in case it was just showing an incomplete version on the screen for the fun of getting people worried for no reason, but nope, nothing's come through.)

So they've managed to get my e-mail address wrong! !!!!!!? How is that even possible, given that I applied online (involving, IIRC, typing in that e-mail address, longhand, twice in a row with an automatic check to make sure it matched)? It's not as if somebody had to copy type it or something, nor am I in the habit of making massive and repeated mistakes in important data entry fields or forgetting my own e-mail address or anything like that.

So, now I really am stuck, although perhaps if I set my alarm for 3am I might be able to get through on the phone? Gah.

Right, I'm going to go and do something else now, before my blood pressure gets any higher.

The_Urbanite

Getting in is a painful, arduous process and I almost lost the will to live setting up the online banking. It's probably some sort of endurance test. Got there eventually, plain sailing ever since.

Snakey

Reminds me of the way I felt during the process of buying my flat. But this is just for a bank account!

I got through to somebody when I called later in the evening, but the switch team knocked off at six and won't be back in until Tuesday. They will, apparently, call me on Tuesday.

(My account was opened on 27 March, I now know, so they would literally have to have Tuesday be Day One of the 7-working-day switch process in order to get it finalised on 26 April. I try not to buy trouble, but I would not be at all surprised to find that this is going to present a difficulty.)

CC86

A word of warning that staff in some HSBC branches don't seem to be aware of the terms and conditions around the £200 Switching Offer.

I applied for the HSBC Advance account on 29th March but it was only opened on 13th April. I went to a branch to start the switching process and was told that I am not eligible for the offer as my account wasn't opened by 29th March. The adviser refused to believe that I had read otherwise in the T&Cs.

Alarmingly, the adviser also claimed that the system said I had applied for the account on 1st April, which is untrue. I know I applied on 29th March because I checked the T&Cs very carefully before applying, to make sure I was eligible for the bonus.

Here's what the T&Cs say:

Eligibility Criteria for Initial Offer Payment and access to 0% interest on overdraft for 6 months

4. We will make the Initial Offer Payment described at clause 5, and provide access to a 0% overdraft on your Eligible Account as described at clause 7, if you comply with all the following requirements, namely:
a. you apply for an Eligible Account from 28 December 2016 up to and including 29 March 2017 and such account is subsequently opened;
b. you are not an existing HSBC current account holder on the date of application (and have not been on or after 1 January 2015)*2. If you are opening a joint Eligible Account, this requirement must be met by at least one account holder;
c. you complete a full switch of a current account, including
at least two Direct Debits or Standing Orders, to your Eligible Account using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) within 30 days of the date of your Eligible Account being opened. Where your existing provider is not part of CASS we will accept a paper switch (available in branch only), where there is a clear instruction to close the existing current account, within 30 days of your Eligible Account being opened. If you are opening a joint Eligible Account both account holders must do this; and
d. you continue to hold an Eligible Account on the date we make the Initial Offer Payment.

The Initial Offer Payment

5. If you meet the requirements to qualify for the offer as described at clause 4, we will make an Initial Offer Payment of £150 within 70 days of your Eligible Account being opened. The payment will be made by a direct credit into your Eligible Account.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience talking to HSBC staff about the offer, either in branch or by phone?

EachPenny

CC86 wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience talking to HSBC staff about the offer, either in branch or by phone?

Not specifically about the offer, but my experience is HSBC staff seem to be the least aware of any of the high street banks when it comes to their T&C's. My nightmare was with the regular saving account and moving the SO date forward from near the end of the month to near the start to gain extra interest. Apparently in HSBC-land even if you bring the date forward, interest will only be paid on that month's payment starting from the day of the month the account was originally opened. Nothing in the T&C's says anything like that.

Also, I've noticed in online banking that it is impossible to see where a standing order payment is going to, unless the display name you chose for the SO contains the info. The destination sort code and account number are hidden "for security reasons". So to ensure my security I'm not allowed to see which account a standing order I set up is paying my money to :rotfl: