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die HSBC, die

T

thomsbrain

Lifer
since we at ATOT love to talk about these internet money market savings accounts, i thought i'd share my not-so-good experience with HSBC:

day 1: apply for account. site claims it "can't verify my identity." it claims i'll be contacted.

week 2: still haven't been contacted, either by email or phone, regarding my account. clearly these people don't have it together enough to be trusted with my money. i call to cancel my application. CSR assures me my application will be canceled.

2 days later: my account magically gets activated and funds are withdrawn from my bank account. i email CS, demand that my account be canceled immediately, and am told i can't cancel because the account has been activated. (WTF?). i can't get at my funds, because i can't log in until they snail-mail me my account info.

week 4: i am FINALLY mailed my account information so that i can log on to the account and withdraw my funds. oops. i still can't withdraw my funds, because i didn't opt for an ATM card, and without one, you can't "enroll" for the bank-bank transfer system. (WTF!?). i call CS and demand AGAIN that they cancel my account. CS refuses, and asks why i want to cancel. i tell him i'm not happy with the customer service, and he wants me to elaborate. i tell him it doesn't matter why, and to please just cancel it. now he says he can't cancel it because the department isn't open (this despite their big talk about how you can call 24 hours a day).

so now i'll have to somehow call them back during my own work hours, and demand for the fifth time that my account be canceled and my money be returned to me.

up yours, HSBC!

BTW, my experience opening a Capital One online savings account was utterly painless compared to this.
 
Originally posted by: Fritzo
I didn't have a problem signing up with HSBC either. Must be you.
Click to expand...

i didn't have a problem signing up with Capital One, and none of my information has changed since then. I've also signed up for checking accounts online, again with absolutely no problems, again with identical information. it's not like i'm an illegal immigrant, or have poor credit, or have moved recently, or have changed my name, or ANYTHING. HSBC are the only company to fvck this up. and since they eventually did activate my account, with no input from me, obviously there wasn't a problem on my end.

and regardless, should it really take 5 (and counting) attempts to cancel an account? it's not like i'm being rude or hard to deal with here. i just want to take my money elsewhere now that i see how they are being run. that very fact that it has been this hard to cancel should be evidence enough that they don't deserve my business. not to mention that they have made it impossible for me to make a withdrawl, without ever mentioning that the ATM card is required for bank-to-bank transfers.
 
Originally posted by: biggestmuff
so why did you sign up to begin with?
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i ask myself the same question every night as i lie awake, staring at the ceiling. 😉

no, seriously: they offer a good rate! i was looking to create a new account to save for a new purpose, so i gave them a try. 4.8% sounds great, and i'm sure they actually pay it out and no one has actually been swindled or anything, but the slim advantage in APR is not worth the time or aggravation of dealing with them.
 
After the hell I went through with Capital One customer service trying to get the title fixed on my car, I would never deal with them again. Consider yourself lucky that Capital One didn't screw up your banking application even worse than HSBC did.
 
Next time you call to cancel, simply say, the remainder of this phone call is going to be recorded. Are you listening, <state the name of the person on the other line>? I have called 3 times to have my account canceled. I called to cancel it several days before money was ever taken from my checking account into this account. I've called two times since. I <your name> have been trying for 1 month to have this canceled and you keep refusing. I wish to have it canceled immediately or I am going to refer this matter to my state's banking and finance commission.
 
I'm quit sure most banks won't accept any request to close account verbally. Every bank accounts I have closed were either by written mail or in person.
 
HSBC was certainly more painful to sign up for than ING, and it took about 4 weeks until I was able to get everything (including bank transfers) set up. ING took a couple of days if I remember correctly.

The money I put into these accounts, though, isn't money that I expect to live on and the time spent waiting for the account to be fully useable didn't bother me much.
 
Originally posted by: ultimatebob
After the hell I went through with Capital One customer service trying to get the title fixed on my car, I would never deal with them again. Consider yourself lucky that Capital One didn't screw up your banking application even worse than HSBC did.
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i definetely will! i know there are horror stories from every institution.
 
Originally posted by: thomsbrain

week 4: i am FINALLY mailed my account information so that i can log on to the account and withdraw my funds. oops. i still can't withdraw my funds, because i didn't opt for an ATM card, and without one, you can't "enroll" for the bank-bank transfer system. (WTF!?). i call CS and demand AGAIN that they cancel my account. CS refuses, and asks why i want to cancel. i tell him i'm not happy with the customer service, and he wants me to elaborate. i tell him it doesn't matter why, and to please just cancel it. now he says he can't cancel it because the department isn't open (this despite their big talk about how you can call 24 hours a day).
Click to expand...

I signed up for online savings with HSBC, have my checking with Bank Of America, and am able to use Bank 2 Bank transfers. Look in the snail mail they sent, they probably gave you an account number/pin to logon.

I'd give you this though, their CS has been extremely rude to me on one occasion. Their activation process is also extremely confusing. They send out your account info via snail mail without letting you know after you register, and they send your account info in 2 or 3 mails so you are very confused when you receive your account number and no pin in one letter, and then call to find out they will be sending out your pin on another letter a seperate day.
 
Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg
Originally posted by: thomsbrain

week 4: i am FINALLY mailed my account information so that i can log on to the account and withdraw my funds. oops. i still can't withdraw my funds, because i didn't opt for an ATM card, and without one, you can't "enroll" for the bank-bank transfer system. (WTF!?). i call CS and demand AGAIN that they cancel my account. CS refuses, and asks why i want to cancel. i tell him i'm not happy with the customer service, and he wants me to elaborate. i tell him it doesn't matter why, and to please just cancel it. now he says he can't cancel it because the department isn't open (this despite their big talk about how you can call 24 hours a day).
Click to expand...

SHENS on that. I signed up for online savings with HSBC, have my checking with Bank Of America, and am able to use Bank 2 Bank transfers.

I'd give you this though, their CS has been extremely rude to me on one occasion. Their activation process is also extremely confusing. They send out your account info via snail mail without letting you know after you register, and they send your account info in 2 or 3 mails so you are very confused when you receive your account number and no pin in one letter, and then call to find out they will be sending out your pin on another letter a seperate day.
Click to expand...

it may have been different when you enrolled.

you have to enroll in bank-bank transfers (they aren't set up automatically, like other institutions), and to do that you need to create a special "access code," and you can't create an access code without information that includes the PIN from your ATM/Debit card. when you say you don't have one, it boots you out of the enrollment process and tells you to call customer service because they can't enroll you without one. yeah, i'm calling customer service... to cancel my account.
 
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