Possible switch to HSBC

alleycat`

Bridlington1 said:

That's HSBC for you. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing most of the time. If the switch is going ahead then if I were you I'd just take the £175 and then switch elsewhere. Once you have your main account with another bank, then as @Daliah suggested start setting up a donor account, preferably another current account with your new bank, to hoover up the switching incentives.

Pretty much what I've decided to do. Take the money and then sort the mess out with someone else afterwards.

samtravel

Stay clear of HSBC their customer service is appalling. Currently advising on line chat customers to wait 17 weeks for a response. That is correct - 17 weeks 

Bridlington1

samtravel said:

Stay clear of HSBC their customer service is appalling. Currently advising on line chat customers to wait 17 weeks for a response. That is correct - 17 weeks 

I would agree. HSBC are the worst bank I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. 17 weeks is pretty optimistic for HSBC though. My list of complaints with them are as follows:
-I applied for a current account with them and it took them 3 weeks to even respond and then another week to open my account.
-When I opened a regular saver with them they set up a standing order to it twice, very nearly putting me into overdraft.
-Their secure key drove me round the twist, taking 2 weeks to even arrive and not having any way of changing the batteries so every few years, unless you download the app, you will get effectively locked out of online banking whilst you wait for a new one to show up. 
-They froze my account and every time I rang them, they told me to go into branch. Every time I went into branch, I was told to ring them. Can you spot the flaw in their logic here?
-They then proceeded to tell me to wait for a phone call, which took over 2 weeks to materialise and even then the bloke I spoke to didn't know my account had been frozen despite being from their fraud team and so put an urgent memo on their system
-I then rang them and was told that they would put another urgent memo on their system (to go alongside the other dozen or so ordinary memos that were already on their system)
-A week later I went to the branch to see what the hold up was and was kept waiting half an hour to be told they haven't got a clue who froze my account in the first place and to wait for the call I'd had a week ago
-Most of their staff don't seem to have a clue what is going on. I think there is only one or two at the most who are more use than a chocolate teapot.

Despite all this it is possible to get them to do something though. If you keep ringing them repeatedly saying the same thing each time they do eventually relent and get things resolved to get rid of you. It takes weeks but it can be done. I would therefore only use them to get £175 and then very quickly switch out again. Never under any circumstances use them for regular banking. By the time they pay up you will have certainly earned your £175.

Bea63

My query is do HSBC remind you of when you need to transfer the 1500..or is it down to self?  Then how long do you wait for the 175.00?  Thank you in advance for replies

PRAISETHESUN

Bea63 said:

My query is do HSBC remind you of when you need to transfer the 1500..or is it down to self?  Then how long do you wait for the 175.00?  Thank you in advance for replies

Completely down to you to remember to arrange the £1500 transfer and do anything else required to comply with the switch offer you're taking advantage of. The offer T&Cs will specify how long they have to pay out once you've met all the conditions. I think HSBC is usually within 30 days, but you might need to chase them/log a formal complaint if they don't do so.

Katiehound

and I was just going to add that if you experience the kind of hassle that is detailed in Bridlington1's post that you consistently say that you want to lodge a complaint.  Reason: it might get things moving & if not then the odd £25 compensation should come your way.

Marchitiello

As a counter balance, I have been a business customer for many years and I am also a Premier customer and HSBC CS from both departments has been excellent for me. I was briefly an advance customer and cannot remember really a terrible service, only issue was that I had to go in branch to confirm the upgrade but rather then that it was ok. As they are closing more and more branches, I guess they are moving those activities to back office and potentially they have not resources properly?