I wish I could give them no stars. Here are the problems I've had with HSBC:
While I was told no minimum balance was needed in my checking account, I was charged $8 per month as an inactivity fee.
Overdrafted 4 transactions totalling less than $20. Recieved 4 overdraft fees, each for $35, for a grand total of $140. After meeting with a representative at the bank, they refunded one fee, so I still owed $105 in overdraft fees for overdrafting less than $20.
Recieved a phone call from their fraud prevention line. I had no way to confirm that the person on the line was HSBC, so I told them I would hand up and call the number on the back of my card. The person I got told me there were no problems with my card, and the phone call must have been fake. Turns out, it wasn't - my card number had been compromised online. How can they not have this internal communication down?
I have yet to call customer service and not wait at least 15 minutes for a representative, and even up to 40 minutes. When being helped, they will often put you on hold to check something with your account, and often for up to 5 minutes in the middle of helping you. Terrible customer service.
I am now banking with ING Direct, and I am a much happier customer.
I was involved w/HSBC thru Costco but no more. Ive had customer service reps just hang up on me and whats more the balance they show on thier bill does not cover the entire billing period so there's always a previous balance and they just nickle and dime youto death with thier fees and thier customer service people are no help when trying to get an explanation. There's more but forget it.HSBC...never again for me. Good bye forever!
I know things turned sour overseas with the Euro, but what happened with these guys? They were on the forefront of offering great yields, and then all of a sudden, their yields went into free-fall. The ACH transfers were always terrible with their savings accounts, since it took at least four days to transfer funds. It was very annoying that interest was lost on that money during the transfer period. Their customer was also suspect as it was outsourced overseas. All in all, not the best account and definitely not a great yield anymore.
Lou
If you are thinking about doing any business with HSBC, "DO NOT", "DO NOT", "DO NOT".
My long story short is I haved tried to bank to bank transfer to another bank. They froze my savings account saying that My last name is different (I got married). I'm ok with that security. But it went down hill when I call 800-975-4722 on 10/21/11. C/services 3way conference call with my another bank to verify it's me. Its verified. She said it will take a few hours to take effect. She said she will call me next day to confirm. Nothing Happend niether error fixed nor call.
The next 4 phone calls, I got asked the same questions, say the almost the same thing, I refered back to the reference person every time ( I always ask who am I speaking too and write down their ID). It was the loop. The last person said in order for him to fix the error, he has to call my another bank to verify. I told him that the first person did. He insisted the same thing.
Today is 11/01, I still don't get that money for me to pay my major credit card bill.
I HAD IT. I'm closing my both accounts and take my business elsewhere that has better customer services.
PS. the last guy said he will request closing the accounts for me and it will take 24-48 hours to effect. Guess what...He didn't even know what he's doing. HSBC wants the request in writing.
Opened a new account for my senior citizen parents and their checks too 3 months to arrive that they were not able to pay their bills from this bank. We called and they were tracked several times but teh checks ended up taking 4 months! We tried to get Power of Attorney and the run around they put us through made it impossible to stay with this bank.
Service is poorly trained and they are incompetent!!
Good on line service. Easy to open account. The usual 3-day wait for transfers.
But rates recently reduced to 0.9% and then to 0.8%. So that's when I decided to move elsewhere.
This is one messed up bank. I agreed to purchase a property they owned. After the closing, the lawyer could not register the deed because the bank had not properly foreclosed on the house. They probably cheated the prior owner of their hard earned money. Because of their fault, I lost almost $5,000 preparing the property for mortgage appraisal, getting permits and certifications with the city. Then they refused to reimburse me for all of those costs. They also refused to return my deposit money for more than 4 months and won't reply to requests. Don't do business with this messed up, blood sucking corporation. Nick, March, 2011.