Job Discussion Forums

007 · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 1:49 pm Post subject:

What about Lloyds TSB bank, have they got any branches in UAE? If yes, how are their services compared to other banks?

DirectDebit · Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 9

I do not know where to begin in explaining how bad HSBC are. Their incompetence with my account has frequently bordered on professional negligence. Be prepared for mistakes galore, time wasted and eternal frustration (should you join them).

More to be revealed later.

Today, HSBC announced they will be charging customers 10Dhs a month to receive their bank statement, plus another 10Dhs a month for the Visa statement. This means extra dividends for shareholders and a further erosion of services for long-suffering customers.

(There is a fair amount of greenwash with the announcement - they're pretending it's because they want to be greener, rather than further fill shareholder pockets).

DesertStar · Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 80 Location: UAE Oasis

To make a deposit at an HSBC branch two days ago, I had to wait 50 minutes before my number was called.

Only one teller and about 25 people waiting. A guy with a briefcase full of cash (all was counted by the teller) had a transaction that took about 20 minutes to complete.

Very agonizing.

sliderama · Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 90 Location: al reef

The future of banking at HSBC?

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091005/BUSINESS/710059917

Most probably means many of the posters would not have these problems as they wouldn't even qualify to open an account!

DirectDebit · Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 9

HSBC has already started making things harder for "poorer" customers.

The bank has just taken away its toll-free number for poorer customers - this was pretty much the last element of customer service remaining.

The "call-us" number now on its home page is charged at regular rates. A call-centre worker tried to convince me there would be no decrease in the provision of customer service as a result of the axing of the toll-free number because we could still go to ATMs and we still had online banking!!! HSBC employ people with rather peculiar logic who are pretty good at insulting customer intelligence.

The call centre staff advised me that taking away the toll-free number had nothing to do with poorer and richer customers, BUT ... that there IS still a toll free number - for Premier (extremely rich) customers! - There's that peculiar logic again.

The same staff told me that making customers pay for their enquiries was absolutely nothing to do with the bank trying to save money.

Regardless, this continued squeezing of every last Dirham from customers does leave a bad taste.

mousette · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 21

I agree with the above postings about HSBC. Unfortunately, it is not easy to close dealings with HSBC either. I closed my HSBC Visa and Mastercard, had no balance on either for months, and it took me 9 months, endless phone calls, and 11 attempts on their part to send me a no liability letter. All 11 letters were totally incorrect (wrong customer name sent to me, incorrect account number, etc.). Finally, I collected all 11 letters, went to the branch in Deira Dubai, sat at the counter, showed them all 11 letters that were incorrect and informed them that I would not leave until I had a correct no liability letter and that I would NOT pay any fee. It took about 20 minutes of reiterating that I would not leave and that I would not pay and NO they cannot send it to me.

End result, I got my letter, it was correct, and no I did not pay for the letter. HSBC = complete and utter incompetence.

D. Merit · Joined: 02 May 2008 Posts: 203

Thanks for the link, sliderama.

Well I suppose that makes it official.

HSBC has two words for people earning less than 20,000 dh, and the second one is "OFF!"

I shall be conforming this week - so thanks for letting me know what I might be in for, mousette.

I suppose for HSBC's sake they better hope these wealthier customers have more patience for dealing with incompetence, corner cutting and dirham digging.

Somehow I doubt it.

DirectDebit · Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 9

I complained about the toll-free number being axed and got a 100-Dirham refund for the call I made to the new pay number. An HSBC call centre worker agreed I was mis-led into thinking there was still a toll-free number on the website and the humorously-titled Head of Customer Experience agreed and initiated the refund to my account all within 24 hours.

The call centre staffer told me that HSBC had advertised the fact they no longer provided a toll-free number. I pointed out their "advertisement" was a Flash-based animation in which the bit that says "you now have to pay to call us" disappears for half of the playing time! A genius stroke of misleading customers. The number I looked at was in the "Contact Us" list in a different part of the Home Page (I'm logical, so I looked at that rather than the pathetic web graphics). That number had no asterisks directing our attention to the small print. The humorously-titled Head of Customer Experience told me there was no asterisks there because there was "no space" for one!

HSBC is pretty good at making goodwill payments. I've had about five now - complain enough with even a case of average incompetence and you should get one.

Noor · Joined: 06 May 2009 Posts: 152

A reporter from the The National does the research for you, visiting half a dozen UAE banks.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091024/PERSONALFINANCE/710239880

DirectDebit · Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Posts: 9

HSBC continue to confuse customers with their change in telephone number. (The bank has decided to start charging lower-income customers for phone calls. Richer customers still get a freephone number.)

The confusion this time is that they have changed their advert for their change of telephone number and have completely removed the tiny letters that said "calls charged at standard rates" but have left the asterisk which previously referred to this. The asterisk is perhaps decoration as it refers to nothing on their page.

Now customers are now totally unaware the new number is not a freephone number (something you might expect a bank that values its customers should have ?!?!?).

When I called the new number, believing it to be a tollfree number, I got a 100-dirham goodwill refund for the call as it was so unclear that the new number was not a freephone number.

norwalkesl · Joined: 22 Oct 2009 Posts: 366 Location: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-China

This is similar to some of the stunts pulled in US banks last year.

Imagine a 2 day hold on pure cash deposits.

They stopped that after a few weeks, but the message was clear:

The banks are not your friends, and they will take money out of your account if they need it.

That money is theirs, they just let you have it, sometimes.

Should the banking crisis worsen, this behavior will only get worse.