So there's now only one branch in the immediate vicinity where you can actually talk to somebody with authority, the main branch on the high street, the University branch is just an outpost, with a couple of staff who know nothing other than what the computer screen displays to them.

Anyway....

I paid in my wage from work just before christmas, and the transaction failed to go through the electronic machine properly. It took them two weeks to find the cash, and credit my bank account. I then got told it was my fault, something to do with my debit card being replaced, I wasn't actually explained why it was my fault. It left me with no money over the run up to christmas to pay for presents, so they extended my overdraft temporarily, but charged me for the privilege and charged me interest.

I'd already decided at this point I wanted to leave HSBC, but didn't have the time, or that much of a kick up the ass to actually get around to doing it.

So when I paid a cheque over a week ago (on a Friday) the check cleared on the wednesday, but then on Friday (last friday!) got a call saying my account was over the overdraft limit by £100, it wasn't explained to me why this had happened, even when I questioned how that could be so. And they transferred money out of my savings account into my current account to cover it. It was only after I discovered the reason for the account being overdrawn was due to the check bouncing...

So I went into the branch to apologise and explain what happened, where Mr . X (I don't wanna publish his name!) said it was my fault, (despite the fact it was showing as cleared, not as "to clear" on my account on Wednesday) and that maybe I should get a new employer who could actually pay me. So now I'm moving to Natwest. At least they have branches open on Saturdays, and cashier staff.

Anyway, yeah they're losing my instant access savings account, my current account and my high interest savings around with rather a lot of money (certainly by student standards) and my custom for the rest of my life. Suckers.

The last few times I've tried to use the cash machine there its been faulty.

I was annoyed when they took away the counter where actual living people would deal with you. I wanted to pay a cheque in and I wanted a person to take my cheque and stamp my paying in book. Impossible now, you have to pay it into a machine using your cashcard (which I didn't have).
Thats progress - the time when machines will make everyone obsolete

thats exactly why I left HSBC same branch a year ago,now bank with A&Leic. where you can do all your banking at any post office.v satisfied.

At least you've still got a University branch; Lloyds closed theirs down altogether.

thats exactly why I left HSBC same branch a year ago,now bank with A&Leic. where you can do all your banking at any post office.v satisfied.

Whoah! I was not aware of that. I've just switched to A&L. That's fantastic. :D

[mbatey]

. It transpired that my cheque from work had bounced because of a muck-up at Barclays, and also my employer forgot to tell them to pay the cheque

How is the fact that your employer wrote a cheque when there were insufficient funds in the acount a muck up at Barclays? Please enlighten me.

I have had one of the exact same experiences with HSBC fashists! One poor example of their customer service (right hand don't know what the left hand is doing) - I was leaving my job which I got paid form on 15th of every month. I said that I would get half a wage in May for my last month but would not be able to pay my direct debits for the month out of this as it would not be enough. I wanted to protect my mortgage and though that by contacting their "specialist mortgage people" they would be able to help me. The advice I was given was to pay it or default on the mortgage for a month which they said would not go on my credit record. I thought about this overnight and decided not to do this and instead extend my overdraft to cover the payment. They did this at my branch in Barnsley and I called the Mortgage folks and spoke to a lady who said that everything would be OK and that the telephone calls were recorded anyway if anything went wrong. Then a couple of weeks after that I got a letter from the mortgage people saying that my request would show that i was in arrears for my mortgage. I was livid and called them back but of course ,they were not open on a Saturday to speak to. I called them a few more times and ended up in tears over this as they would not help me. I then got a letter from HSBC normal saying that they had noticed that I had not made a payment on my mortgage for the month (that they had cocked up) but not to worry as they had fixed it (when in fact it was me who had fixed it) and then offered me debt counselling!!! I went into the branch and had a go at one of the staff and said that I wanted the whole thing struck off the record and a written apology from them directly and how dare they assume that I could not manage my own finances! Got the apology and framed it!! Moral - make enough noise and they can here you right up the chain!!

i quite like hsbc. maybe thats just me.

How does this transpose itself to be the fault of HSBC?


I've never had any problems with them. If you put Yorkshire or Barclays or any other bank on you would inevitably end up with some form of whining complaint on the thread.

Jim
How is the fact that your employer wrote a cheque when there were insufficient funds in the acount a muck up at Barclays? Please enlighten me.

How does this transpose itself to be the fault of HSBC?


I've never had any problems with them. If you put Yorkshire or Barclays or any other bank on you would inevitably end up with some form of whining complaint on the thread.

Jim

(oops, I just reported your post rather quoted it.. I didn't mean too :()

I never said it was the fault of the bank, it's their attitude I'm more concerned with. There was no explanation of the problem with my account, and I was told to "get a new employer" by the guy at the bank. On top of that he couldn't actually explain anything to me other than what was on his computer screen, if I needed more information or help I had to visit the church street bank apparently.

Also, if you don't think the fact that they're reducing counter staff, cashier services, and general staff isn't their problem, or the fact that the machine lost my wages and then it took TWO weeks to get them back. They were also no help during that time, unable to offer me any status reports with what was going on. There've been times when they've just been downright rude. And whenever I call them to try and get new chequebooks, paying in books etc I get put through to a call center in India and they can never understand not to send them to my home address, but to my local branch (ie in this case Church Street) they always fail to understand.

I'm not soley blaming HSBC in this scenario, there were other factors at fault, but it's there general attitudes and service levels that mean I'm leaving them. At least I can talk to somebody at my local Natwest branch, my visit to them today proved that!

She also mentioned I was the second person to come through the door that day wanting to move their account from HSBC to NatWest and that she's seeing it happen more and more frequently, so it obviously isn't only me having problems.

All I want is a branch with people, not robots reading off a computer screen, or money swallowing machines (which incidentally means I can't pay any coins in).

I used to hate the University branch of HSBC, but the branch in town is far far better. I used to have similar problems with Halifax, they are a true case of 'computer says no'. HSBC themselves seem far more flexible and able to go out of their way to help you. Perhaps if enough people complain about that branch HSBC might be prompted to do something about it.

Hook

Rather than quote you, I'll respond here.

Fair does, you do make some pretty valid points. My main point was that all banks have there good points and bad points, be it one branch to the next.

If you were to try another branch of HSBC perhaps you'd find better customer service, rather than the info monkeys at Uni branch.

Sadly thats the way British banking is going, with the notable exception of Nat West. However, having once banked with NW, I won't be going back to them. Its all a matter of personal taste and experience.

Jim

Hook

Rather than quote you, I'll respond here.

Fair does, you do make some pretty valid points. My main point was that all banks have there good points and bad points, be it one branch to the next.

If you were to try another branch of HSBC perhaps you'd find better customer service, rather than the info monkeys at Uni branch.

Sadly thats the way British banking is going, with the notable exception of Nat West. However, having once banked with NW, I won't be going back to them. Its all a matter of personal taste and experience.

Jim

Yup, and that's the main reason I'm moving to Natwest. I just wanted to vent my anger somewhere!

I need a branch that's close and convenient to home, I've hardly got any time on my hands, and although I work near the Church Street bank I work evenings when the bank is should. There's a Natwest branch at the end of my street (it's on West Street ^_^) and there's one in the union also. It's handy convenient and they've got real people!

It's a shame it's the way it's going, because my HSBC branch at "home" in Yarm is fantastic. And I know for a fact if I dealt with them for my day to day banking I wouldn't have any problems, but it's not exactly possible to do that. So HSBC are losing me. I'm going to write a nice letter when I close my account, pointing out my concerns and reasons for doing so, and maybe if people really want counter staff and counter services they'll eventually have to change their ways.

If not, maybe Natwest will end up going the same way as HSBC, and then I'll have to move to the states until it happens over there too! ;)

Hook

I'm just old fashioned any way. I'm off to the Halifax to open a savings account for my daughter just because they still do accounts with books where you can see how much you've got!

Jim:thumbsup:

Hook

I'm just old fashioned any way. I'm off to the Halifax to open a savings account for my daughter just because they still do accounts with books where you can see how much you've got!

Jim:thumbsup:

I had one of those, until I moved it to Northern Rock... and that's where I keep my real savings! It's all online, but I've still got the old books... something nice about them!

Yes, you can whats yours... and normally there's no way for anyone to get money from them without you knowing (ie Direct Debits)

Jim:thumbsup:

So there's now only one branch in the immediate vicinity where you can actually talk to somebody with authority, the main branch on the high street, the University branch is just an outpost, with a couple of staff who know nothing other than what the computer screen displays to them.

Anyway....

I paid in my wage from work just before christmas, and the transaction failed to go through the electronic machine properly. It took them two weeks to find the cash, and credit my bank account. I then got told it was my fault, something to do with my debit card being replaced, I wasn't actually explained why it was my fault. It left me with no money over the run up to christmas to pay for presents, so they extended my overdraft temporarily, but charged me for the privilege and charged me interest.

I'd already decided at this point I wanted to leave HSBC, but didn't have the time, or that much of a kick up the ass to actually get around to doing it.

So when I paid a cheque over a week ago (on a Friday) the check cleared on the wednesday, but then on Friday (last friday!) got a call saying my account was over the overdraft limit by £100, it wasn't explained to me why this had happened, even when I questioned how that could be so. And they transferred money out of my savings account into my current account to cover it. It was only after I discovered the reason for the account being overdrawn was due to the check bouncing...

So I went into the branch to apologise and explain what happened, where Mr . X (I don't wanna publish his name!) said it was my fault, (despite the fact it was showing as cleared, not as "to clear" on my account on Wednesday) and that maybe I should get a new employer who could actually pay me. So now I'm moving to Natwest. At least they have branches open on Saturdays, and cashier staff.

Anyway, yeah they're losing my instant access savings account, my current account and my high interest savings around with rather a lot of money (certainly by student standards) and my custom for the rest of my life. Suckers.

Suckers? £12 billion profit?
Urm.......

Suckers? £12 billion profit?
Urm.......

As was pointed out to me yesterday the only reason the profits are so high is because they don't employ anybody anymore! (and the business banking sector)

They employ me. And i am doing very well thank you.

Me too, even as a customer I've never a problem. Natwest on the other hand..........

As Jim mentioned, once bitten twice shy and all that, its just not HSBC, in fact I believe they have the lowest complaints record of the UK banks.

Jim, I see you never got your avatar sorted!

I would go through their complaints procedure, it takes a few weeks but when I complained about a call centre agent giving me the incorrect info, I got £30 credited to my account. It took a few weeks but was worth it!

Gutted.
I like HSBC. all my accounts are with them.

however, i booked an appointment over the phone, to go in and speak with someone in my local branch (broomhill) about stocks and shares.
They told me to prepare my personal accounts and bring ID etc.
Fine.
I was really looking forward to going there on my ONLY afternoon off in the week.
I got there but they had no appointment and were not expecting me. After 5 or 10 mins of standing around, they concluded that it was their mistake and that they were sorry and that someone would ring me to ARRANGE a NEW appointment.
NOBODY RANG. Still, 4 weeks later, no one has rung me....

This really makes me pi**ed off. I like HSBC, but even through my rose coloured spectacles its annoyed me and made me think twice.
I am looking now at other banks. My regular saver account has matured, and has now free'd me up.

Lets hope that they get their act together..
They are safe in the knowledge that their reports out on the 6 march will prove record profits for a bank... however this is NO reason to neglect customers.

And whenever I call them to try and get new chequebooks, paying in books etc I get put through to a call center in India and they can never understand not to send them to my home address, but to my local branch (ie in this case Church Street) they always fail to understand.

I have had this exact same problem. They send me a letter to my "Sheffield" address asking me to pick up my debit card in "CORNWALL". When I phone to tell them this is not possible to the foreign chappie I spend five mins trying to explain the distance involved in doing this. So they then ask you if you would like to pick it up at an alternative branch. When I explain no as I work 9-5:30pm and I work nowhere near a HSBC and I am not going to lose a days work to pick up a card I would just like it posted to me. I then get told this is not possible, and after so many minutes of arguing they then give in and contact my local branch to post it to me. When I ask if I can change my local branch anyway I am informed this is not possible, your local branch stays as the one where you opened the account regardless of where you now live in the country.

Also to top it all off after all this I informed them in future I did not want this happening again and I would just like my card posted to me guess what happened 3 months later for another card. :rant: I got the same argument again to a person who again couldn't speak english probably and hadn't the foggiest about locations "Sorry Miss but we can not post your card to you, you will have to travel to your branch to pick it up" Yeah right, travel 8hrs each way just for a poxy debit card :loopy:

Hook

I'm just old fashioned any way. I'm off to the Halifax to open a savings account for my daughter just because they still do accounts with books where you can see how much you've got!

Jim:thumbsup:

DON'T DO IT!!

I have accounts with Halifax and HSBC, and halifax are FAR worse!

1) Halifax make unnecessary charges for their errors and are reluctant to refund them

2)HSBC have a introduced a lot of paying in machines to minimize queues in the counter service branches, whereas halifax always have a mile long queue.

3)Halifax ordered me a new debit card, but then failed to mention that I couldn't use my old one, and it got eaten by a cash point and left me with no money.

Halifax = :rant: HSBC = :thumbsup:

Oh and I also forgot to mention the lack of counter staff annoys me too, and the fact that even those places who do have counter staff now only open for a limted amount of hours aday.

I hate those paying in machines and refuse to use them, despite the obvious drawback that you can't pay coins in.

Jim, I see you never got your avatar sorted!


coops, its because I'm completely clueless.Good job I don't work in IT.:gag:


jim

What, I do work in IT! Holy s**t!.

I really am clueless!

Jim:help:

I had endless problems with HSBC - mainly card errors - the P.I.N would just screw up.

Not had a problem with the Lloyds (held at Lewisham.)

:)

I had endless problems with HSBC - mainly card errors - the P.I.N would just screw up.

Not had a problem with the Lloyds (held at Lewisham.)

:)


That's another problem I've had, is that over the last 12 months I've had 3 cards that the chips have failed on. I know I'm not alone because we get quite a few HSBC business staff in to the bar, and they've all got HSBC accounts, and a few of those have had the same problems I have. I'm sure it's a small minority of cards, it just seems to be my luck that all my cards fail after a short amount of time!

DON'T DO IT!!

I have accounts with Halifax and HSBC, and halifax are FAR worse!

1) Halifax make unnecessary charges for their errors and are reluctant to refund them

2)HSBC have a introduced a lot of paying in machines to minimize queues in the counter service branches, whereas halifax always have a mile long queue.

3)Halifax ordered me a new debit card, but then failed to mention that I couldn't use my old one, and it got eaten by a cash point and left me with no money.

Halifax = :rant: HSBC = :thumbsup:

Plus pay a cheque into the Halifax and it will take 10 days to clear! Unless they've changed this recently.

Plus pay a cheque into the Halifax and it will take 10 days to clear! Unless they've changed this recently.

I don't think its that long any more, perhaps 4 or 5 days, but I did pay some cash in last year and the stupid woman processed it as a cheque so I had to wait for my cash to clear! And when I went to complain that I needed to use my card but couldn't coz it hadn't gone through, I was told it was my fault it had been processed that way!
WTF?! How is it my fault the stupud cashier can't tell the difference between hard cash and a cheque!!

im also looking to ditch hsbc and move my student account elsewhere. Currently on a gap year from uni at the moment and will have my overdraft paid off in a couple of weeks.

Not sure where to go though, dont have a clue when it comes to banks.

What are the online banks like? When you bank online do you have to pay extra to use the majority of atm's?

I have banked with HSBC since the days of the Midland Bank and never had a problem,i have my credit card, high interest savings and mortgage with them which i moved from the rubbish that is Abbey and i have never had a problem.
Their Internet banking is 1st class, since i used it i have not been into a branch for at least two years which is a bonus.
My partner banks with the Halifax and hes had so many problems with them over the years that he's in the process of moving to First Direct which belongs to HSBC.

NAT WEST is not much better either. But the staff do seem to try and be helpful....its just when they cant help you, they still keep on smiling that horrid fake customer service smile, and if they are telling you they cannot help you, I think they should stop smiling and look apologetic at least. The Nat West corporate smile is somewhat dazzling!!!!!

I have banked with HSBC since the days of the Midland Bank and never had a problem,i have my credit card, high interest savings and mortgage with them which i moved from the rubbish that is Abbey and i have never had a problem.
Their Internet banking is 1st class, since i used it i have not been into a branch for at least two years which is a bonus.
My partner banks with the Halifax and hes had so many problems with them over the years that he's in the process of moving to First Direct which belongs to HSBC.

I'd echo the above as a customer but I hear there is much disenchantment amongst the staff!

i have banked with hsbc since i was 16 (i'm now 26). i had all my student stuff with them and now have a mortgage.
they have "lost" cheques from me on two occasions and i had to complain like hell to get them to sort it out.
i did stay with them however because they gave me a fantastic graduate mortgage deal.
also, HSBC online banking is the best i have used and also supports macs, my partner found out this week that yorkshire bank doesn't - doh!
i find that generally cashiers and even those people standing around in branches that are there to help are actually rubbish. nothing beats a letter to the complaints department. it's annoying having to wait ages but that all helps when negotiating compensation!
i tried taking a loan out after graduating to put off getting a full-time job for a bit and the lady i spoke to said no way it's time for you to start earning! she was great, although i didn't like her at the time!
another annoyance is foreign call centres. last time i called they had no idea what the direct debit guarantee was and said it was my job to contact the company that had taken more money then agreed - WRONG! i don't call 'em anymore.
most people have grumbles with their banks. it's inevitable because money is important to everybody and nobody likes it if they think they're being ripped off!

I think HSBC is a fantastic bank. I've had an account with them since i was 11 and never had one problem. My sister used to bank with NatWest and i couldn't tell you the amount of problems she had (including authorising a £2000 payment instead of £20 to the tsunami charity. She has now moved to HSBC and hasn't had a problem.