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Thread: HSBC online savings Warning

  1. #1
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    Default HSBC online savings Warning

    I recently opened an HSBC online savings account, which seemed like an awesome idea since it pays 5.05% and has no minimum balance and no fees to transfer money.

    Well, I initially deposited $10.00 to open the account, then over the next couple of weeks deposited a couple hundred dollars. On the same day that I opened the account and the ten dollars was transferred, I was also charged $2.00 by HSBC. At first, I wasn't going to waste my time due to the fact that it's only two dollars, but I'm well aware that in many scams, people are charged a small amount of money first to see if they notice, OR, everyone is charged 2.00 which adds up to millions.

    So I wrote an email to customer service. They informed me that they didn't charge me the 2 dollars and I should contact my bank. My bank informed me that they did not charge me 2 dollars, HSBC did. Which I tend to believe, since the charge looks exactly the same as the 10 dollar initial deposit. "Charge from HSBC internet banking." I write another email to HSBC. Same terse reply. I call their 1800 number. After being on hold for 15 minutes while the woman checks on the charge, she informs me that I will have to have my bank fax them a copy of my statement.

    As if I'm trying to rip them off for 2 dollars or something. My bank charges 5 dollars for this service, negating any benefit to me. They tell me I should print it and fax it myself as it will look the same. I just called my roommate and had him fax it from work.

    I'm freaking livid over this. I'd be even more pissed if it was a larger amount of money, but I'm also pissed I've wasted so much time, when I'm really only benefitting HSBC to find out what scammer is taking advantage of their poor security or internal practices.

    Part of me hopes this is a common error, thousands of people have been ripped off, they won't pay us, and we get to file a class action.

    So, if anyone else has an HSBC online savings account, please check to see if there have been any unauthorized charges to the account you transfer from, and if you don't have one, think twice, because it's probably not worth the headache.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: HSBC online savings Warning

    weird, because I was jsut reading in some sort of finance magazine (can't remember which, it was at the dentist's office) that HSBC online banking has the best customer service.

    FWIW, I've had no problems with emigrantdirect.com or capital one, both which offer similar rates.

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    Default Re: HSBC online savings Warning

    I can't say that their customer service is BAD, just ineffective. They can't "see" the charge from their end, so their first answer is to deny it exists. Well, they charged it to me, it came out of my account, and there are tracking/payment numbers, so the charge does in fact exist.

    Once they "see" it from my end, in my statement, then they can look into why they can't see it from their end. I'm guessing some employee is embezzling. I'm just going to assume that they won't apologize for being the cause of me wasting my time, which is what a good customer service company would do.

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    Default Re: HSBC online savings Warning

    Maybe you can ask your bank to reverse it as unauthorised, then wait for the squawking to come from HSBC... you'll then have your proof :-).

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    Default Re: HSBC online savings Warning

    So I just signed on, and my balance is 2.00 higher. It says "Reverse Service Fee", although they claim they never charged me a fee to begin with, so that's interesting. No apology. Of course.

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