Well, this may come off more of a rant, but so be it as after a good 20 years with Midland and HSBC I have finally come to the end of my rope and moved banks.
I started with Midland Bank as a Griffin Saver when I was 7 and was very happy through the teenage years, University and Graduate accounts and for a few years as a 'grown up' but while Midland, and for a while, HSBC were good banks and were more than obliging the slow but steady curtailing of services and the closure of branch after branch locally has made it impossible for me to transact my business with them and that's it.
As a working person, first of all, it is impossible to get to the bank until a saturday but guess what? None of my local branches open on a saturday for cashiering, so no paying anything in then (don't trust the paying in machine as it's done me in before!). If one does try to go into a branch in a lunchtime because they've reduced the number of cashiers from about 15 down to - wait for it - three the queue is obviously massive.
I know all banks want you to do you thing over the phone and via the internet, which are both good services, there is no subsitute for having a face to face with a cashier once in a while. And I wouldn't mind them saving labour costs etc by not having so many staff if those savings were passed on to me, but the charges just seem to be going up and up., while the interest they offer on their in-credit accounts is pitiful.
The final straw for me really was being treated shoddily by customer services. I called, was lied to then after I complained about being lied to they claimed that they could find no trace of my call. As the situation at the time was very distressing I am insulted that I am effectively being called a liar when they are the ones that lied to me on no less than three occasions on the same day!
In summary, HSBC used to be a good bank, they used to offer excellent services and were convenient to use. Now, however, they suck.
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They are good for the school accounts but when my son moved to high school th eonly day he could pay money in was a Sat and like you, there's no cashiers on a Sat. The service I got when I closed his account was dreadful. Don't blame you for changing. x
rachvt 30.03.2006 02:49
I've very recently parted ways with HSBC after banking with them for 5 years. I've had more than my fair share of their less-than-satisfactory service, so I can sympathise with you right now. My father, on the other hand, has been with Midlands bank since the 70s...! !
Mar 29th, 2006
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