Again, there goes my favorite credit card company.
After a year of being a really good customer and paying my bills on time, they’ve increased my credit limit by 33%. Then, they de-activated it.
Apparently, an online transaction I did last week triggered their system so they had to verify it personally from me. Fine, I sometimes get them phone calls to check if I was really the one who made the transactions and they went without a hitch.
However this time, they called up using my old record (from my previous company) so obviously they weren’t able to talk to me. Besides, I have already asked them 6 months ago to expunge those contact information from their records since I am no longer connected with that company. I know my request for change of billing address and contact information was updated because I regularly get the billing statements at home. So why the hell do they still have that old record on file? It only means they did not delete it from my file even after I told them to remove it.
To make matters worse, since they must have realized I do not work for the previous company, they had to suspend my card until such time I have a new job. What??? Do I need to have a regular day job to be able to pay my credit card bills?
I asked the CSR to review my credit rating and payment history in the last 12 months if they’d see any evidence that I have been tardy in paying my close to 100k monthly transactions. Not a single spot.
If they don’t re-activate my card very soon, I’m switching.
hsbc was my first credit card at young age i was overwhelmed by the high credit limit they gave me. there was not much requirement except for my office id then. after using for 5 months, one bill was not sent on time. their collections called me and demanding for immediate payment of my purchase amounting to 10k. they said i was already 1 day late of my due. when i told them i did not get any billings they said it is still my responsibility to know when i need to pay and how much. and the courier’s fault is not the banks fault, for delayed mails. so as to avoid the possibility of lost mails, i did made sure to use my office as the billing address. ok point granted i should be responsible for my due date. when i told them i will pay the next day since i am busy at the office, the agent shouted at me and said ‘tanga ka pala eh! uutang utang ka di mo pala kaya magbayad!. i was so shocked at how unprofessional and rude they were. for such a small amount of 10K once dignity was lambasted just like that. i refused to pay for two months because of the incident. but they didn’t just stop from there. one day i just found out that my mom paid my bill for 35K. she said that HSBC was threatening to tarnish my NBI record if I will not pay and they can send me to jail. mom said she even bargained because for those two months they never got hold of me the bill totalled to 70K ( incl atty’s fee et al ). we received a receipt for the 35k but whenever i am seeking a bigger bank loan or opening up a dollar account banks refuse me because of the HSBC incident. twas 6 years ago and BAP said my HSBC credit card loan still shows unsettled. when i called HSBC they refuse to help. they said i should deal direct with the collection agency. HSBC really sucks :(
HI jlf,
It is indeed a bank to avoid contact with in relation to credit card transactions. Even me when I was a Premier account holder was not spared on their credit card tricks. Anyone reading this blog should try to avoid HSBC credit card due to their bad practice.
Last month, I missed by two days my credit card bill in BPI and they did not charged me a penny. With HSBC credit card, from my experience, they would lambast you for that no matter what your reasonings are. Their motto is: “The world’s local bank”. I think they have gone too far in localizing themselves by living from the misery of others.
magandang umaga everyone. this is is about hsbc but not the same topic.
well, my officemates forced me to join them in applying for a credit card. so i joined coz im planning to get a laptop this December and avail any promo (if there is).
1. my question is how long will it take for me to wait to have it if it is approved? we’ve applied last week of august i think and i received call (today was the last).
2. naguguluhan ako sa credit limit thing nayan. anyone who wants to explain how it goes. Before i thought, for example credit limit mo is 20K, akala ko monthly. so if may nakuha kang item for 25K 6 months to pay, so monthly is 4K+ monthly, so yun lang papasok sa limit that month, may 15K+ kapa, may nagsabi sakin di daw ganun. parang, kung ang limit mo ay 20K, hindi ka makakakuha ng item worth 25K kahit 6months to pay,,,pano ba? help naman.
last, pursue ka pa ba yung credit card? hahaha :D
Hi Angelo,
I wouldn’t advice you to go for HSBC. They victimized me already twice this past two months. They send bills very late, for me two days before due date and charged me because I paid late. According to them they have a “fine print” terms and condition that even if you have not received your bill you are still obliged to pay. What they did not realized is how can someone pay their bill if they do not know what they have to pay for. In my case, the bills arriving a few days before it is due already happened twice.
In the first instance that this occurred, I complained and they said it is a problem but will correct it next time. It happened again and I was charged on the previous bill with late payment. The second instance just this month, we were away for a week vacation during the children’s semestral break. When we came back, we found the statement bill from HSBC and the due date was during when we were away for 1 week vacation. If you want a peace of mind, I would not recommend them.
Great post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Appreciate it!
and yes i always waited for 2day exchange of communication.
what the heck…
hsbc sucks…..
from personal experienced, it happened to me twice.
their policies are obsolete
i have email them regularly for support and this is always i get from the auto reply email message:
“hank you for taking time to send us an e-mail. Allow us to look into your concern and we shall respond to you within 2 banking days.”
what the f*ck… 2 days????
Great post, really help me a lot. Thanks
Same here. I have a powervantage account with them and two time deposits. They still managed to say that my credit card application was declined. I was cursing at the CSR and threatened to withdraw my money right away. The manager called the next day to apologize. wahihi…
You think that’s bad? I had an account with them for over 13 years! NEVER 1 late payment. They closed my account for inactivity since November 07. That’s only 5 months! You kill a 13yr perfect customer for 5 months of not charging?
Just passing through…
I have been reading about credit cards recently because I’m planning to have my first one.
Your good credit rating is actually does not carry much weight to these credit companies, they profit more from you if you pay late..read “late payment fee.” Link this fact with what you experienced.
@ Branboy
Ahh yes, that’s practically the reaosn why I still want to stay with HSBC. I still haven’t used a single Mabuhay Miles credit though I think it’s more than enough for a round trip ticket to HK and Singapore.
Equitable PCI has Visa Electron but it can’t be used for online transactions.
Bryanboy, where can we get those debit cards and what banks offer them? I think I’d like that. Mas madaling i-control, no overspending beyond what you actually right now.
and to think, the only reason why I wanna get HSBC is because of the philippine airlines mabuhay miles.
i think i read on one of my statement inserts with unionbank that i can convert unionbank points to mabuhay miles but i haven’t really looked into it further.
HSBC declined me for a credit card inspite of sending all of the required documents. Tax returns. Business documents. Passport. Bank statement. Took them 3 weeks to process my application and they won’t tell me why I got declined. I think they got overwhelmed or something because of my age. If they only had an idea how much I spend on designer clothes each and every month…
Standard Chartered on the other hand, to this date, still owes me around P15,000. I made an overpayment prior to closing my account. It’s been OVERa year now. I closed my account early last year and the idiots don’t want to send me a refund check by the mail. HOW HARD IS IT? There’s a Standard Chartered branch in Alabang. Why on earth can’t THEY send a check there and I’ll have my driver pick it up? They simply won’t budge.
I’ve faxed multiple letters requesting a refund. The cunts told me I have to go their main office, IN PERSON, IN FRIGGIN MAKATI, DURING business hours, to pick up my refund check and it’s hard to do so because of my schedule (I’m a night owl).
I hate banks. I really do. Unionbank visa and my BPI Mastercard are the only good cards out there… In fact, I hate cards. I also like my Mastercard-branded debit card that’s linked to my checking account. It’s like an ATM card except you can use it anywhere where mastercard is accepted. Cash debited upfront. Walang utang. No interest charges. Etc.
And don’t get me started on Metrobank. Those retards CLOSED my account because I only made 1 transaction in span of 12 months. Apparently I’m not a profitable customer.
Hay nako. Welcome to the third world
Di sila naniniwala sa mga pro-bloggers, LOL! Stuck in the 20th century, I guess…
I still pay personal income tax pa rin naman but it’s a hassle since it’s with my accountant. Processing kase ngayon sa BIR right?
I have several backup credit cards – Metrobank, Citibank, BPI – but it’s HSBC which I have the highest credit limit and all of my regular recurring online transactions are done there.
Switched to Citibank most of them and maybe permanently.
sent an e-mail sa contact ko sa hsbc. tinulungan niya ako dati sa problema ko sa newsletter nila. baka matulungan ka rin niya ngayon.
That’s plain unfair. Unfortunately, I think you don’t have much choice right now. I hope you get it fixed, or try getting another card that’s tied to your savings account, one that doesn’t require an 8-to-5 job as a guarantee.
Di lang nila alam kung gaano ka kayaman sa mga web properties mo. ;)
I think the same thing is bound to happen to me. They want me to fax them an ITR from my freelance stints?
I told them to redirect my bill to our house instead of making them land to my old company. That’s like two months ago and to no avail.
I guess I just have to wait til they deactivate mine.
Goodness don’t they know that credit character matters as well? Yes better switch if they don’t activate it soon.
Curiously enough, you’re the fourth straight person I know who keeps encountering Bad Thingsâ„¢ with HSBC. What is it with their credit and customer support, anyway? And why, for that matter, do they seem no closer to resolving their problems?