Bank Horror Stories

Hi, I'm Jen and I'm here to help. Submit your complaint here or get help here

AL in Ohio said: “For three years now, I have paid a Schottenstien’s Credit Card, lately acquired by HSBC, on time or EARLY in the full, minimum amount due.

A few days ago [Jan, 2010] I received a curious “credit collection” letter from HSBC citing unpaid LATE fees to the tune of $80.

I phoned their customer credit card center immediately. An individual representing HSBC in India discerned that my EARLY payments were being credited to the previous billing cycle rather than to the billing cycle to which I had intended. My paying EARLY confused them.

The representatives in India [I spoke to two] basically said that this is the way it is, you now owe two late fees at $29 each. I assured them that I would never again make the mistake of paying early and tried to reason with them that they should waive the late fees erroneously assessed. They wanted nothing to do with human reasoning.

I then insisted on a contact number for HSBC based in the US. I spoke with a representative who understood the issue and purportedly placed a request for both of these “late” fees to be returned to me. She mentioned that I should check back two days later, which I did by going online.

There I found that the fees had NOT been refunded, rescinded nor reversed. I then sent an inquiry by email as to what had happened? The representative in the US guaranteed that one of the late fees would be returned but could not guarantee the other, she said. Well, I received an email from HSBC indicating that they would not refund EITHER of the “late” fees assessed due to my EARLY payments.

I think that this would be an interesting case in court. Any advice?”

This article, HSBC fees not refunded as rep promissed, is just one of our articles from Bank Horror Stories, HSBC Secrets

Bank Horror Stories monitors banking problems and customer complaints and has done so since 1999. Writers hold no stock positions. Some material is used under the fair use copyright act.

We use Thomson Reuters News Service Calais in all production material but are not associated with Thomson Reuters, banks, or financial institutions in any way.