Single hen

[Cinnamon]

We have a business account with the HSBC,who we have been with as both personal & business customers for very many years.

We have always been happy with them & have had a good relationship with them.

I just had a phone call that has made me so angry

 

A girl from the Phillipines (I asked!) phoned me,then asked me various security questions.

She then informed me (after calling me by my name a half dozen times & asking if I was well) that we are £30 over our overdraft limit.

Now,we run a business,& we have a large overdraft limit,which I know we should not have breached,but we paid in a cheque yesterday to clear it ,& put us back in the black.

I did try to phone my Bank to tell them this might happen,but I can no longer just call my branch up like I used to be able.

I got fed up with waiting for someone in India or wherever to get round to taking my call,& rang off.

 

I know this is my mistake,& I know we shouldn't have gone over our limit,but it makes me so mad that I can no longer phone my bank & speak to a person whos accent I can actually understand & who isn't very obviously reading the HSBC standard customer greeting from a bit of paper.

 

I think I might change to the Nat West,I saw their ad on TV recently & they seem to have understood what cusomers want

[Guest]

I think I might change to the Nat West,I saw their ad on TV recently & they seem to have understood what cusomers want

 

 

that's frustrating - but... don't believe everything a bank tells you in its adverts....

 

(salesman cap on) - how about a bank that takes ethical investment more seriously - (whilst not being perfect - but trying as best it can...)

 

like... errr... the Coop Bank?

 

Phil

[Laura & CTB]

I think there are lots of companies who are now beginning to realise they've made a big mistake in handling customer services outside of the uk.

 

I have the same problems at work, we are a huge company who spends hundreds of thousands of pounds each year with various businesses who when I ring them up (in India, Czech etc) not only dont recognise the company name but cant even pronounce it ---very frustrating.

 

The only way we can reverse this trend is to keep our dealings within the uk based businees sector,

 

Start filling in those transfer details now, you deserve better!

[Cinnamon]

Do you know the most annoying thing - I want to phone my branch & tell them I am unhappy & that I am probably moving our account.

But I can't.........because I have to go through the darn call centre

 

I suppose I will have to write them a letter

 

The other thing they have done to get me thinking about moving is they have started opening my local branch at 10am rather than 9.30.

So now I have to wait in town for an hour for them to open, AND PAY FOR THE CARPARK

[The Dogmother]

I used to have that problem with Natwest, but you can now contact them directly at the branch, rather than a call centre thousands of miles away.

[ubereglu]

Here's some advice Cinnamon, don't bank with Natwest, Dad used to have the school treasurers account there and they could never find the right information. I think he called their filing cabinet, a cardboard box in the office!

 

Also here's another reason-My sister's friend banked with them when she was a student and she never got her loan payments on time, even though everyone else had got them.

 

Try Nationwide-Not a bank, but they offer a really good service, so do Brittania and Bradford and Bingley. It depends on what you want in kinds of services which bank you bank at though.

[One Man Banned]

Oh God

 

HSBC!

 

Had a nightmare with them this last 18 months and called and emailed and complained etc etc etc.

 

The indian call centre guy we got once had no idea what the Direct Debit Guarantee was - not helpful when a company is taking money out of my account.

 

I was supposed to have access rights to my folks joint account to sort their bills out etc. We filled out all the forms, I had been signing off cheques for well over £2000 of their money and when a problem giving money to my parents direct from My hsbc a/c to theirs it came to light that they had incorrectly filled in one section of the authority forms. The branch never told us!

 

I was frantic with worry as I had no right to be signing the cheques but then it hit me - the bank hadn't been even checking the signatures of the cheques that I had written and paid each and every one!

 

Big Complaint was started and the end of it was a threat to sue them for negligence and data protection (I had discussed lots of things at the branch with no trouble even though I legally didn't have the right to as the forms were incorrect)

 

They paid up £500 in compensation!

 

They have since upgraded my account for free and I have the branch contact number, they have also "blocked" my number being passed to the indian call centre, instead it will only route to uk centres.

 

They are on shakey ground with me now and I don't trust them as far as I could throw them!

[Martin B]

It does my head in when I have to phone T-Mobile and talk to some Indian bloke I can't understand and is certainly not interested in my problem! Grrr!

[theherd123]

I hate banks!

My granny had it right when she hid her money in her mattress!

 

Im currently suing HSBC bank for all the charges they have applied to my account over the last 6 years.

My OH is doing the same with LloydsTSB.

 

I found the following website really useful and you can download letter from the site and just fill in your own details its really easy.

www.penaltycharges.co.uk

 

You firstly have to send a cheque for £10 and in return they will send you your last 6 years worth of statements,(HSBC didnt charge me for this but LloydsTSB did charge the OH) you highlight all the charges they have applied to your account during that time period then send another letter telling them to refun said monies to your account within 14 days.

 

Court action can go ahead if they dont settle within this period however dont be put off cause thousands of people are doing this every day and no one has EVER had to go to court as whatever ruling the banks are given in a court of law will set a precedent and the banks are scared of this and will always settle with you.

[Guest]

It does my head in when I have to phone T-Mobile and talk to some Indian bloke I can't understand and is certainly not interested in my problem! Grrr!

 

 

just to be clear.. it isn't the fact that he's Indian that makes him disinterested in your problem.. it's the fact that he's working in a rubbish job and that he experiences daily (often racist) abuse over the phone from irritable (often racist) customers...

 

(I am not suggesting Martin is irritable or racist, )

 

see here, for instance:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2005/01/21/wcall21.xml

 

Phil

[Martin B]

Oh no I am not racist. I didn't mean it like that, it's just that he knows nothing about the company other than what is in the customer policy and agreement. I want to talk to someone in this country who can help me out!

[Guest]

Martin - I specifically said that I didn't think you were a racist... but it's always a good thing to have some understanding of both sides of the story.

 

 

Phil

[jess]

you know what, I have a dell laptop and as anyone who has a dell will know they have all asian call centers, and it can be stressful at times but every time i have ever phoned, they have always sorted out any query or problem perfectly, my dad isnt so paitient, i feel its all a question of paitience,

 

having said that if i get anyone scottish on the phone or in a restaurant or at a bar, i cant understand a word they say ever haaa!

[Guest]

I wasn't suggesting the working conditions or the pay were poor - just that it's a rubbish job (I've done it!)

 

and it is made worse for indian call-centre workers by the constant racist abuse that they get...

 

(see link)

 

British call-centre workers can be just as didinterested, though.... (because it's a rubbish job!)

 

that's all...

 

Phil