www.hsbccreditcardsucks.c om (problems in US)

[idiotprogrammer]

Hi, there,

 

I'm an American who lives in Houston, Texas USA who recently filed a lawsuit against HSBC Bank NA.

 

I realize this forum is intended mainly for people in UK (although by the way, I have dual Irish citizenship).

 

However, I thought you might be interested in knowing about a complaint/gripe site I have set up.

 

HSBC Credit Card Sucks

 

I was going to add some more to this point, but the essential part is there already. Feel free to make suggestions (and also please link to it if you are so inclined).

 

I have also set up a web page to follow a lawsuit I filed against HSBC Bank Nevada NA.

WHY HSBC Sucks | Idiotprogrammer

 

The case goes to trial on April 28, 2009.

 

It is really encouraging to see how much resource pooling I see about HSBC in UK in this forum. For example, in the US I could never obtain a copy of the credit card agreement, and it took me a long time to find basic information for filing a lawsuit.

 

For example, in US, it is impractical to file a lawsuit against a national bank; on the other hand, we have an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and it's relatively easy to file a complaint with them which the credit card is obligated to address.

 

File a Complaint about a National Bank

 

I have dealt with maybe 15-20 credit cards over my lifetime, and this by far has been the least competent.

 

Anyway, feel free to make suggestions or provide information you think I should add to the complaint site. Also, if this forum has any subforum for US customers, let me know.

 

Robert Nagle

idiotprogrammer a-t- gmail.com

[idiotprogrammer]

Sorry, one other thing, I'll reprint from the gripe site. Note that several of these complaints are specific to my case:

 

10 Reasons Why HSBC is the world’s worst credit card

 

 

1. HSBC doesn’t responds to written correspondence sent to them by post.
   
2. HSBC will not provide a copy of the credit card agreement upon request, either on the website, or via post.
   
3. HSBC does not provide written information on their website about how to pay off a final balance and close the account for good.
   
4. HSBC is linked to Household International, a credit card issuer well-known for its predatory lending practices (It settled a $486 million lawsuit with 46 states in 2002). HSBC integrated with Household International in 2003, and some allege that the current HSBC uses many of HI’s unsavory business practices.
   
5. HSBC has a contact form which (in my experience) works rarely. Even when it does work, HSBC doesn’t allow you to have a record of emails you have sent to them (except by cutting-and-pasting onto a MS Word document).
   
6. HSBC disregards legal contracts. In my individual case, HSBC agreed to a written counteroffer I made to resolve our dispute, but then promptly disobeyed the terms of it.
   
7. When you dispute a charge in writing, instead of actually investigating the complaint, HSBC will send a generic reply which shows no evidence that it actually investigated the item being disputed.
   
8. HSBC will not investigate your account after you have complained to a credit-reporting agency. HSBC is legally obligated to take action and contact the customer. In my specific case, HSBC sent a generic reply refusing to take any action until I provided documentation (This was long after I had sent them lots of documentation already).
   
9. HSBC (like many other banks) gambled and lost billions of dollars on subprime mortgages.
   
10. Recent complaints have shown that HSBC has raised interest rates and lowered credit limits to a dollar amount dangerously close to a customer’s current balance. This practice may not be illegal (and other credit cards seem to be doing the same thing), but it increases the likelihood that HSBC will award itself over-the-limit fees which result from it.
    

[johnnymitch]

Hi idiotprogrammer , welcome to the forum

 

Thanks for your input on this - it just confirms that HSBC are global cretins , not just local bank ones .........

[Castlebest]

I wouldnt mind betting that they turn a blind eye to their statutory and moral responsibilities worldwide too

 

a couple of quotes that might interest you from both sides of the coin

 

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'

Thomas Jefferson 1802

 

"Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism"

 

Karl Marx, Das Kapital, 1867

 

Karl didnt forsee the failure of the comunist system but was on the right lines too

 

Pete

[johnnymitch]

That's interesting pete..... the same philosophy from two completely different social perspectives........ "bankers need to be watched , whether you're Communist or Capitalist ".......