HSBC is beaten by incompetant UK bank

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  1. #1

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    HSBC is beaten by incompetant UK bank

    I will now admit it. HSBC is NOT the most idiotic bank I have ever come across. That title has now been taken up by the Nationwide in the UK.

    I recently sent them a letter with my change of address, giving them the full (residential) mailing address in Hong Kong.

    Their response is as follows:

    "Thank you for your recent change of address. In order to ensure the security of our members information and funds, the Society has taken the decision not to send any written correspondence to a PO Box Address. Additionally, as an organisation we have elected not to send any written correspondence to China for security reasons. If you would like to supply another address, we will be able to amend your details accordingly".

    Huh? Firstly, the address I supplied was NOT a PO Box. Secondly, China?????? Do they know we need a visa to visit China in this place? And finally - where the hell do they think I'm going to come up with "another" address from (that is not a PO Box?).

    Anyway, I rang them up and tried to get some sense. Nothing doing. Hong Kong is apparently on their "list of no mail areas". So I asked how to close my account.

    "Well, you have to write to us and we will send you a cheque. Oh but we can't do that because we cannot send any post to China. You can do it when you come back to the UK".

    I hung up at this point.

    Any suggestions anyone? I have a few thousand quid with these jokers and am not minded to leave it in their 'safe' hands for any longer than I have to!!!! No plans to go to the UK even for a holiday for at least 12 months!


  2. #2

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    transfer it to another bank and just leave a quid in there.

    Will cost them more in admin fees etc to look after the account when sending letters and statements etc then they'll eventually close it on there own accord.

    voila problem solved.


  3. #3

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    yes but how do i transfer?????


  4. #4

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    Don't they have online banking? You don't even need to leave a penny there.

    Then write to them and close the account (to protect you against anything going wrong in future).

    Last edited by PDLM; 22-07-2008 at 11:37 PM.

  5. #5

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    Ha ha. Sure. they have internet banking. To register for it you have to fill in a form with your address on it and they post out your password.... see the catch?! It was SO i could register for internet banking that I changed my address in the first place.


  6. #6

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    Will they let you send in a wire transfer request form by mail?

    I have always found it very useful to get mail forwarding exactly to cope with situations like this - the Royal Mail will do international redirection for a year for not that much money compared to the cost/hassle/stress of something like this. Then you can continue to use your old UK address for a year while you sort stuff like this out.

    Maybe HSBC isn't so bad after all.


  7. #7

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    Just a suggestion - I see nationwide has online banking. Get a friend to pick up an application ( or have them fax to you if they can ) and fill it in and post it back. Give a friends address for the log in details to go to and have them post the details. You can then TT onl ine your money into your HK account.


  8. #8

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    Hmm, I don't think this is just Nation Wide.

    When I was going to leave the UK, I inquired about the Lloyd's TSB offshore account. It only needed £100 to open it and it had a visa debit card (my biggest issue with HSBC is the crappy Maestro).

    Anyway, they said they could open the account, but when I moved to HK they'd have to close it because HK (along with Singapore) is on their list of evil places. They couldn't tell me why... :S


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Will they let you send in a wire transfer request form by mail?

    I have always found it very useful to get mail forwarding exactly to cope with situations like this - the Royal Mail will do international redirection for a year for not that much money compared

    Maybe HSBC isn't so bad after all.
    Indeed. If you are "inovative" you can get mail redirection for some years (and we did). But after twelve years out of the UK it starts getting tricky!

    re HSBC, after I tried to sort out my Nationwide issues last night I spent more time tackling my latest HSBC problem, Offshore HSBC this time rather than the HK version - I will wait until a calm quiet moment to post that horror story because if I do it now I will just get all frustrated all over again!

  10. #10

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    Hey I am going to the UK next week if I can help ??? pick up forms etc ??


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