HSBC Nightmare

pauldee

Registered User
Mar 5, 2017
31
0
My father recently died, and my mother has dementia. They had a joint HSBC account, and after my father died, I applied for POA for my mum's account. I then applied for access to the online services. They deregistered hers, and attempted to register me,, but there was an error registering me, which no one wants to fix. I am now completely locked out and unable to pay for her care. HSBC are completely useless and I feel like no one wants to help or care, and I've no idea what I'm going to do. I've raised a complaint with HSBC but apparently they can take up to eight weeks.
Has anyone had any experience of this? I would just close it and move it, but a lot of bills and payments are going in and out, and I'm sure opening a new account with POA will bring it's own complications.
Are there any banks that are actually set up for POA?
 

Buskitten

Registered User
Dec 10, 2018
143
0
Hi Paul - mum was with HSBC and I had PoA for her. I found the process to instate the PoA went well by making an appointment with a human person in branch. However, I made a right mess l registering myself ( electronically) and had to go to another branch ( as I was by now back at my home in Scotland) and another human helped me. Could you go to a branch and speak to someone in person rather than trying all the tech stuff? I found them to be really helpful and they got me sorted very quickly.

I hope this helps! ❤️
 

pauldee

Registered User
Mar 5, 2017
31
0
Hi Paul - mum was with HSBC and I had PoA for her. I found the process to instate the PoA went well by making an appointment with a human person in branch. However, I had made a right mess l registering myself ( electronically) and had to go to another branch ( as I was by now back at my home in Scotland) and another human helped me. Could you go to a branch and speak to someone in person rather than trying all the tech stuff? I found them to be really helpful and they got me sorted very quickly.

I hope this helps! ❤️
I've been into the branch and spoken to people there, but they're not techy so they can't fix the problem
 

Buskitten

Registered User
Dec 10, 2018
143
0
I've been into the branch and spoken to people there, but they're not techy so they can't fix the problem
Oh, sorry to hear that ? you’d think they would train their staff to be able to deal with situations like this, as they must happen quite a lot .

Sorry - it must be extremely stressful for you ?
 

pauldee

Registered User
Mar 5, 2017
31
0
Oh, sorry to hear that ? you’d think they would train their staff to be able to deal with situations like this, as they must happen quite a lot .

Sorry - it must be extremely stressful for you ?
I honestly don't know what to do
 

Buskitten

Registered User
Dec 10, 2018
143
0
Could you ask to speak to a manager or a more senior member of staff? I’m sure you’ve already tried though …..
how awful ?
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,072
0
Bury
Try a concise, factual, polite email to :
2022-05-20_162305 (Medium).png
 

Duggies-girl

Registered User
Sep 6, 2017
3,620
0
Not really related but when my dad died I was executor and needed to open an executor account with a well know high street bank that dad had been with for probably 70 years. I had the probate form in my hand with my name on it so it should have been simple. First they wanted to see the will but of course that had been sent off for the probate so they couldn't have that which took a lot of explaining. Then they gave me a link to download the form so I went home and downloaded a very long form that was not actually what I needed so back I went. Then they found another form which they kindly printed out for me and that was wrong too. I will add that these were all senior members of staff.

Finally a very junior member of staff (she looked about 18) poked her nose into the conversation and suggested a different document and hey presto I had it, the correct form that I could fill in on the spot yet none of the senior staff had a clue. The girl deserved a bonus and hopefully she will soon be in charge.

Try emailing as @nitram has suggested.
 

pauldee

Registered User
Mar 5, 2017
31
0
Not really related but when my dad died I was executor and needed to open an executor account with a well know high street bank that dad had been with for probably 70 years. I had the probate form in my hand with my name on it so it should have been simple. First they wanted to see the will but of course that had been sent off for the probate so they couldn't have that which took a lot of explaining. Then they gave me a link to download the form so I went home and downloaded a very long form that was not actually what I needed so back I went. Then they found another form which they kindly printed out for me and that was wrong too. I will add that these were all senior members of staff.

Finally a very junior member of staff (she looked about 18) poked her nose into the conversation and suggested a different document and hey presto I had it, the correct form that I could fill in on the spot yet none of the senior staff had a clue. The girl deserved a bonus and hopefully she will soon be in charge.

Try emailing as @nitram has suggested.
I have emailed him. I've found getting the CEO involved worked in the past but I've never tried it with a company as big as HSBC. I'm not expecting much from it.
 

Scarlet Lady

Registered User
Apr 6, 2021
573
0
To be honest, Paul, I doubt you’ll get a response to a tweet like this. It’s too vague and doesn’t really spell out the difficulties you’ve encountered. Good work in going to the top, but maybe follow up the tweet with a detailed email to the CEO outlining the whole picture of what has gone on.
 

Andy54

Registered User
Sep 24, 2020
241
0
I found that when I registered a poa for my wife with HSBC the online banking registration could not be done in branch (everything else could) and I had to deal with their call centre. A difficult and lengthy call but the the person on the other end was very helpful and talked me through changing the log in details. Not exactly a straightforward process but we did get there much to my relief.
 

MartinWL

Registered User
Jun 12, 2020
2,025
0
67
London
I have had other non-POA dealings with HSBC and let's just say I won't be opening an account with them. As POA I have had mainly good experiences. My parents banked with the largest building society and they have a dedicated POA team at their headquarters in Swindon. I think if you can, deal with a specialist unit, not with your local branch. I never once went to a branch but had a few conversations on the phone with the HQ specialists. I suspect that local branch staff don't deal with this often enough to get good at it. As Executor I opened an Executor account with a major high-street bank, the one I personally bank with. It sort of went OK but the guidance on the website made it seem much easier than it really was. Fortunately the local branch manager seems to have taken a personal interest and has been my guide through bank procedures, he has been exceptionally helpful. The bank froze the account whilst I awaited probate, which wasn't too helpful but I think is standard.
 

pauldee

Registered User
Mar 5, 2017
31
0
I found that when I registered a poa for my wife with HSBC the online banking registration could not be done in branch (everything else could) and I had to deal with their call centre. A difficult and lengthy call but the the person on the other end was very helpful and talked me through changing the log in details. Not exactly a straightforward process but we did get there much to my relief.
I'm being told I have to go into the branch but they can't solve the technical issue
 

Andy54

Registered User
Sep 24, 2020
241
0
I'm being told I have to go into the branch but they can't solve the technical issue
I was told (in HSBC Branch ) that the branch staff are not able to access online security details in order to change the log in to the attorney and that only the call centre that deals with online banking could do that.
 

Helly68

Registered User
Mar 12, 2018
1,685
0
I feel your pain, we had similar rubbish with Nat West, where it took four attempts to register POA ans access an account. All the usual stuff about things done centrally that cannot be fixed in branch. Useless service. Like Martin I will never use them.
 

MartinWL

Registered User
Jun 12, 2020
2,025
0
67
London
I feel your pain, we had similar rubbish with Nat West, where it took four attempts to register POA ans access an account. All the usual stuff about things done centrally that cannot be fixed in branch. Useless service. Like Martin I will never use them.
Bit of a banking mixup, my disdain was for HSBC, actually I have had a good experience with NatWest.
 

silkiest

Registered User
Feb 9, 2017
865
0
Hi @pauldee , my parents are with Llloyds. When I needed to set up a new POA account I took all the documents to the local branch for confirmation and then they arranged a specialist POA advisor to ring and it was all sorted by her very easily.