HSBC branch appointments (or lack of!)

Yellow_mango

I wanted to open an HSBC account for my son. The only way to do this is to make an appointment in branch.

No appointments were showing available for my local branch online, so I called and managed to make an appointment for around 3- 4 weeks later. The advisor was very clear on the date, time and location of the appointment I had made.

He told me to expect a confirmation message. This never arrived, but to be honest I didn’t think too much about it after making the appointment. I made a note of the time and carried on with my life.

Yesterday was the appointment. We arrived in the branch at the allotted time, to be told (after waiting around half an hour and being passed between several people) that we did not have an appointment. It was not possible to make another appointment at all (their books were full for the entire foreseeable future). We could join the queue as a walk in, but the wait was over an hour. The wait might be slightly less if we came first thing in the morning (not possible as I work). We could come and wait on a Saturday morning, but the wait would be even longer.

We walked out. I’ll open an account elsewhere. It’s a shame as I liked the HSBC child account offering (linked savings account with online access). But not enough to put up with that kind of service.

Is this normal for HSBC? My regular bank is Barclays, and I’ve never had any trouble speaking to someone in branch.

jonesMUFCforever

Normal for most banks I would suggest, Could you not open the account online?

Yellow_mango

Normal for most banks I would suggest, Could you not open the account online?

Whilst I was able to open my HSBC account online, the child account required a branch visit. Irritating enough in itself without the screw up over appointments.

We will be opening a Santander Mini account instead, which can be opened online.

jonesMUFCforever

Other banks let you open child accounts online - a branch visit is only to get the ID copied.