HSBC - Up to their usual standard - used bog brush poor

SalveForOldSores

Went to make a Paypal donation to a medical charity yesterday - transaction didn't complete. 
Ditto, two further attempted transactions for Xmas with Amazon and E-Bay.
The value of each of these transactions was in the range £7 to £35.
Tried to contact HSBC on the phone last night to find out what was going on, after 20:00.
I spent 10 minutes going through their security procedures only to be told by recorded message that their offices were closed.
Tried to contact them using the HSBC website Chat service. Again, it was after 20:00 so all I got was the AI bot answering. This asked an extremely dumb question, even after I'd clearly and succintly posed the problem it then referred me on to a "Live" member of staff and guess what none were there, so the Chat session was left hanging. I signed-off !
Attempted to do the repeat the two  transactions today both failed to complete.
Contacted HSBC using their on-line chat facility again. after 10 minutes wait was told that my card had been blocked and to phone the security branch on the 0345 600 8050
On the first attempt to contact this number it rang for 17 minutes and then was transferred automatically to another number and rang-off (Somebody working from home ?)
Then, on the second attempt and after 18 minutes I got through. 
Obviously a sub-continental call centre. Line was bad and the guy  I was speaking so quickly that I couldn't understand, I had to tell him to slow down. Eventually go transferred to somebody working from home (In India ?). Line quality was a bit better, but still difficult to understand.
Call lasted in total 33 minutes. As a result of which I was promised a text/E-mail which I needed to reply to in order to re-activate my card.
An hour later, get an odd text from Amazon (Which I didn't action) and nothing from HSBC.
So  then tried to complete the transactions with Amazon and E-bay which had previously failed and they succeeded.
Only 2 and a half hours wasted. 

These security blocks happen regularly with HSBC - I don't get it with any other credit card.
I can only assumne that customer service staff in India are trying to make work for themselves.
Customer Service - absolute pants, especially the time you have to waste. IMHO HSBC ARE A  TOTALLY UNBUSINESS LIKE BUREAUCRATIC HEAP.  The sooner they get the customer service department back in the UK the better. It will be too late for me, 'cause I'll be spending the Xmas break looking for a new credit card provider in anticipation of dumping HSBC next year.
I hear from various media sources that some agencies of "Government" (Inverted commas are for Boris)  around the World are concerned that Global Debt is now 3.9 times Global GDP.
I think I've got the perfect answer just issue all consumers with an HSBC credit card and its guarenteed that nothing will get spent, particularly at Xmas.

N

cymruchris

So far in my HSBC experience it's all been very positive. You can certainly look at taking your business elsewhere - there are lots of options out there. Most companies are having difficulties due to the current pandemic though, so as much as it took you a while to get through to someone, and it sounded like they were working from home, at least they were working. Bringing call centres back to the UK wouldn't help much in the current situation, and the pandemic isn't going away any time soon. We all need to keep things in perspective a bit at the moment, that yes, in the 'normal world' that's not great service, but we aren't in the 'normal world' right now. If I experienced that a year ago - it might make me want to move banks - if I experienced that today - I'd give a bit of slack and say to myself, yep, it wasn't great, but I eventually got what I needed doing done. Yes it was a bit of a hassle, but I got there in the end. Then chalk it down to history and move on. 

Voyager2002

I use credit cards from Barclaycard and American Express. I simply don't have issues like this. The Barclaycard call centre is in India but staff there are knowledgeable and helpful. AmEx seem to have call centres around the world, and again they are all effective.

Incidentally, it might not be a good idea to use a credit card from the same institution where you do your banking.

tommyedinburgh

I joined HSBC in Feb/Mar time taking advantage of the £275 switch offer. I got a credit card at the same time. I’ve been really impressed with them, I’ve managed to make a bit of money on the back of the rewards CC and the monthly saver. I’d go as far as saying it has been 10/10 service so far. 

Maybe time for you you to switch provider? 

[Deleted User]

SalveForOldSores said:

Went to make a Paypal donation to a medical charity yesterday - transaction didn't complete. 
Ditto, two further attempted transactions for Xmas with Amazon and E-Bay.
The value of each of these transactions was in the range £7 to £35.
Tried to contact HSBC on the phone last night to find out what was going on, after 20:00.
I spent 10 minutes going through their security procedures only to be told by recorded message that their offices were closed.
Tried to contact them using the HSBC website Chat service. Again, it was after 20:00 so all I got was the AI bot answering. This asked an extremely dumb question, even after I'd clearly and succintly posed the problem it then referred me on to a "Live" member of staff and guess what none were there, so the Chat session was left hanging. I signed-off !
Attempted to do the repeat the two  transactions today both failed to complete.
Contacted HSBC using their on-line chat facility again. after 10 minutes wait was told that my card had been blocked and to phone the security branch on the 0345 600 8050
On the first attempt to contact this number it rang for 17 minutes and then was transferred automatically to another number and rang-off (Somebody working from home ?)
Then, on the second attempt and after 18 minutes I got through. 
Obviously a sub-continental call centre. Line was bad and the guy  I was speaking so quickly that I couldn't understand, I had to tell him to slow down. Eventually go transferred to somebody working from home (In India ?). Line quality was a bit better, but still difficult to understand.
Call lasted in total 33 minutes. As a result of which I was promised a text/E-mail which I needed to reply to in order to re-activate my card.
An hour later, get an odd text from Amazon (Which I didn't action) and nothing from HSBC.
So  then tried to complete the transactions with Amazon and E-bay which had previously failed and they succeeded.
Only 2 and a half hours wasted. 

These security blocks happen regularly with HSBC - I don't get it with any other credit card.
I can only assumne that customer service staff in India are trying to make work for themselves.
Customer Service - absolute pants, especially the time you have to waste. IMHO HSBC ARE A  TOTALLY UNBUSINESS LIKE BUREAUCRATIC HEAP.  The sooner they get the customer service department back in the UK the better. It will be too late for me, 'cause I'll be spending the Xmas break looking for a new credit card provider in anticipation of dumping HSBC next year.
I hear from various media sources that some agencies of "Government" (Inverted commas are for Boris)  around the World are concerned that Global Debt is now 3.9 times Global GDP.
I think I've got the perfect answer just issue all consumers with an HSBC credit card and its guarenteed that nothing will get spent, particularly at Xmas.

N

Do you think people on the Indian subcontinent are sitting manually reviewing every HSBC’s credit card accounts? I think it an automated algorithm would seem more likely. 

That said 33 minutes does seem like a long time to resolve the issue. You could put in a complain to HSBC and maybe get a few quid and/or vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere. 

Maybe a board guide could move this to the praise and vent board or credit cards as those would seem more appropriate places for this thread. 

IvanOpinion

Good to see a bank taking security seriously.