HSBC balance transfer - no affiliation to MSE according to an HSBC agent.

KitTwigg

Regards HSBC balance transfer offer of 0% and NIL fee adverised in your last 2 weekly emails, I applied and was accepted for the credit card. However when I applied for the balance transfer I was told there would be a 2.75% fee. I have complained to HSBC and here below is an extract from the reply email from them. I have since send them the links to your offer and the subsequent HSBC offer:

"Our HSBC website shows the Balance Transfer Credit Card comes with an offer of 0% interest for 29 months on balance transfers made within 60 days of account opening. However, this comes with a fee of 2.75% (minimum £5). This is the same for all customers and is advertised prior to a customer applying.

We have no affiliation to the MSE or Martin Lewis website. As such, we’re unable to comment on what is being advertised on their site. If you are able to send me the link to the HSBC website you mentioned you have seen the £0 fee offer on, I’ll be happy to review this further. "

eskbanker

The affiliate link in the MSE email was https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/redir/24b6d5e8, which redirects to a dedicated HSBC offer page (stating 20 months at 0% and no fee) rather than the standard one accessible to all - if you applied for the card via the affiliate link, is this what you sent them?

MalMonroe

You're right. HSBC DOES have some affiliation with this very site. And you should send the link to the bank.

However, on the HSBC page in the mse link it says "Exclusive HSBC offer, get 0% for 20 months with no balance transfer fee1."

If you manage to notice and then click on that number '1' at the end, it says - 

"1 - Offer can be withdrawn at anytime. New cardholders only. Must not have held a credit card with HSBC Bank in the last 6 months."

which is most unfair. Despicable, really. And for HSBC to deny all knowledge. Well, it's underhanded.

I'd send that link to HSBC and tell them it's extremely misleading and unfair.

And I'd also send a message to the forum team here -

forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Misleading scams like that shouldn't be allowed. Not everyone will see or understand the significance of that number 1. Yet it is very important. 

ItsComingRome

MalMonroe said:

You're right. HSBC DOES have some affiliation with this very site. And you should send the link to the bank.

However, on the HSBC page in the mse link it says "Exclusive HSBC offer, get 0% for 20 months with no balance transfer fee1."

If you manage to notice and then click on that number '1' at the end, it says - 

"1 - Offer can be withdrawn at anytime. New cardholders only. Must not have held a credit card with HSBC Bank in the last 6 months."

which is most unfair. Despicable, really. And for HSBC to deny all knowledge. Well, it's underhanded.

I'd send that link to HSBC and tell them it's extremely misleading and unfair.

And I'd also send a message to the forum team here -

forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Misleading scams like that shouldn't be allowed. Not everyone will see or understand the significance of that number 1. Yet it is very important. 

Stop it.

It's not a "misleading scam" and the OP is free to reject the card if the offer has been withdrawn.

eskbanker

MalMonroe said:

You're right. HSBC DOES have some affiliation with this very site. And you should send the link to the bank.

However, on the HSBC page in the mse link it says "Exclusive HSBC offer, get 0% for 20 months with no balance transfer fee1."

If you manage to notice and then click on that number '1' at the end, it says - 

"1 - Offer can be withdrawn at anytime. New cardholders only. Must not have held a credit card with HSBC Bank in the last 6 months."

which is most unfair. Despicable, really. And for HSBC to deny all knowledge. Well, it's underhanded.

I'd send that link to HSBC and tell them it's extremely misleading and unfair.

And I'd also send a message to the forum team here -

forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Misleading scams like that shouldn't be allowed. Not everyone will see or understand the significance of that number 1. Yet it is very important. 

Calm down, all such deals have associated terms and the fact that the HSBC page states that this fee-free promotion can be withdrawn at any time doesn't mean that it has been withdrawn, especially with the page still being live!  If OP definitely (used and) sent the correct affiliate link and HSBC tried to deny its existence then that would be problematic, but I'm not convinced that's the situation here, and my suspicion would be that either OP or HSBC's customer service agent made a mistake, so I doubt there's any need for the hysteria, at least until the facts are clearer....

KitTwigg

I actually spoke to two different agents on two different days and both stated there would be a fee. The offer is still there today 28th Sept and it first appeared in the MSE weekly email of 14th Sept. I have since rec'd a response email after I forwarded the links to the offer as follows: Thanks for recently getting in touch, we’re really sorry you’ve faced problems. So we can investigate this further, a complaint has been raised and passed to our complaints team.  Your reference is xxxxx79. What happens next? We’re looking into your concerns, and will be in touch with a resolution as soon as we can. If our investigations are taking longer than we thought, we will let you know, and will give you an expected resolution date.If you have any questions or need to provide any additional information to support the complaint, please reply to this email.
Once the complaint is resolved
We’ll send you a Final Response by email, if you would prefer to receive this via post please let us know.How do I escalate my concerns?We have also included some additional details about how you can take your concerns further if you remain unhappy.Further information can be found below.Yours sincerely, Your Customer Service Team

born_again

KitTwigg said:

Regards HSBC balance transfer offer of 0% and NIL fee adverised in your last 2 weekly emails, I applied and was accepted for the credit card. However when I applied for the balance transfer I was told there would be a 2.75% fee. I have complained to HSBC and here below is an extract from the reply email from them. I have since send them the links to your offer and the subsequent HSBC offer:

"Our HSBC website shows the Balance Transfer Credit Card comes with an offer of 0% interest for 29 months on balance transfers made within 60 days of account opening. However, this comes with a fee of 2.75% (minimum £5). This is the same for all customers and is advertised prior to a customer applying.

We have no affiliation to the MSE or Martin Lewis website. As such, we’re unable to comment on what is being advertised on their site. If you are able to send me the link to the HSBC website you mentioned you have seen the £0 fee offer on, I’ll be happy to review this further. "

Did you apply via the MSE link?

HSBC is not affiliated with MSE in the way many seem to think it is. 
 When you click on the link on the MSE page it is an affiliated link through to HSBC that gives MSE a kickback for introducing you as a potential customer.
Do you have cookies enabled? Had you been looking at this before?

It could be that  you had an HSBC credit card in the last six months and won't be able to transfer a balance from an M&S Bank, First Direct, John Lewis or any other HSBC Group card.

KitTwigg

Thanks. No HSBC Group card ever. I can't answr the question about cookies but I had clicked on the MSE link previously before I actually applied via the MSE link the next day. During the application process there was an option to transfer a balnce during the process or apply later. I opted to apply later once I had received the card by post.

MSE_Helen_S

KitTwigg said:

Thanks. No HSBC Group card ever. I can't answr the question about cookies but I had clicked on the MSE link previously before I actually applied via the MSE link the next day. During the application process there was an option to transfer a balnce during the process or apply later. I opted to apply later once I had received the card by post.

Hi KitTwigg

Are you an existing HSBC customer (eg current account, mortgage)? As there was an issue a couple of weeks ago where HSBC mistakenly offered the 29 month card rather than the 20 month no fee card to people who had logged in to their online banking to apply. 

If this is the case, they're contacting people affected to replace the card with the right one so maybe haven't got to contacting you yet.

Feel free to PM me your details (if you're comfortable doing so) and I can ask our HSBC contact to look in to your case.

webchap22

Hi, I signed up for this card as an existing customer via the correct links. On the page it said 0% for 20 months and no balance transfer fees so I logged in and went through the application process. Card arrived a few days later. Last week I logged in online and set up a transfer from my Virgin Money card (which was 0% until Sep 2022) into this new HSBC card. Checked account on Friday and I have been charged 2.75% interest. 

Phoned and was on there for 30 minutes before being rudely cut off so went on live chat for 40 minutes who were no help either. At no point during the signing up process or indeed the balance transfer process did it mention any fees so looks to me that they put me on the wrong offer / deal also. 

Helen - can I PM you my details?

webchap22

webchap22 said:

Hi, I signed up for this card as an existing customer via the correct links. On the page it said 0% for 20 months and no balance transfer fees so I logged in and went through the application process. Card arrived a few days later. Last week I logged in online and set up a transfer from my Virgin Money card (which was 0% until Sep 2022) into this new HSBC card. Checked account on Friday and I have been charged 2.75% interest. 

Phoned and was on there for 30 minutes before being rudely cut off so went on live chat for 40 minutes who were no help either. At no point during the signing up process or indeed the balance transfer process did it mention any fees so looks to me that they put me on the wrong offer / deal also. 

Helen - can I PM you my details?

2.75% balance transfer fee I should have said. Over £200.