Worst bank I've been with

“Worst bank I've been with”

Written on: 15/02/2012

This bank used to be fine, with a good service, but then it all slid downhill as they changed their service. Because we took out a mortgage with them whilst living abroad, we were told we had to open an account with them. I've never had to do this before but wasn't overly concerned; it was free banking. The team in Channel Islands were good, always contactable by phone or email, quick to respond, etc.
Then they moved their call centre to India. I don't have a problem with these call centres for some things, but every time I called them, they didn't really understand what I wanted -eg I needed a breakdown of interest for the tax man and finally they had to put me through to someone in Jersey who understood what I wanted. They always try to get me to join the Premier service, which you need to have £25,000 in the account for because they mistake my mortgage amount for a credit amount - EVERY time. If I did have a spare £25000 it wouldn't be in an account that pays such a tiny interest.
And then they tried to charge first £10 then £15 a month to have an account with them if you have less than £25000. I wrote to complain that I was made to have the account because of having a mortgage and they waived the charge for the year and said they would review it. I am very annoyed that they want to charge me for an account I need to pay the mortgage, an account I put more than £2000 into each month, and for a service which is LOUSY. I don't want the upheaval of transferring the mortgage again, but I will if they want to charge me. And I really don't understand how HSBC offshore can get it so wrong when HSBC First Direct is so excellent, constantly coming out top in customer reviews. I have a first direct account too and cannot fault them. The euro mortgage is a better rate than first direct, otherwise I would change.