HSBC suprised me!

Last week, I wrote about a "bad profit" experience (for the full note: I went to the Lobby)...Guess what I was rewarded with a better experience, the same day! Not yet a "good profit" experience, but who knows, soon maybe (some of you may actually contribute to this, if you are a customer of HSBC, the bank).

Here is the story.

As I was walking towards the train station, my attention got caught by the new HSBC advertising campaign (below is a shot I took showing one of the posters they use).

The tag line says something like:

"to be open to the world is to understand people's different point of views"

The reasons the ad did get my attention:

1) it really tries to be people oriented through the words and the visual combination, implying that we are all different,

2) I fully relate to the "half empty/half full glass" visual, as I use this metaphor a lot when I explain how words are so important to truly get the message across: the same idea or message may be expressed differently and still mean the same thing, only the words used will make a message more or less impactful and persuasive (this is specifically important for WOM messaging and for advertising and communication in general although in my experience, the advertising testing industry does a pretty bad job at highlighting and measuring this).

The visual (for me), really speaks to HSBC point: "understanding people's different point of views" .

I then checked online to find out more, and I was really nicely surpised to see that HSBC was trying to expand the experience I got offline with a mini site:

YourPointofView.com

The site provides an ability to start the dialogue through a first set of questions about my point of views, and others' point of views on many topics (sports, food, etc.) . Upon registration, and after answering very short questions, you are then invited to freely comment further on a blog about the topic of interest (they state that they will not use my personal info for business purposes, I will let you know if they do, trust me!).

So, I am not a customer of HSBC, but:

• am positively inclined towards the brand thanks to its willingness to connect with me: they really made a difference in my mind!
• now, I am looking to get more info about HSBC and the way they treat customers, but guess what, not from HSBC itself, but from customers of HSBC, evangelists of HSBC.
• I will ask these HSBC customers two simple questions: 1) "How likely would you recommend me banking with HSBC?" (sounds like Net Promoter Score no?), and 2) "how true and real is HSBC campaign about making a difference with its customers (vs other branks you know)?"

I welcome any answers/insights to the above questions to either positively "close the loop" with my first initial impressions, and push me to try HSBC, or simply confirm indeed that, as Seth Godin states, "All Marketers Are Liars".

Please help me....:)

tags technorati : hsbc yourpointofview.com wom customer evangelist advertising branding listening customer listening all marketers are liars

Comments

[Juanita Severino]

HSBC has bad customer service. DO NOT USE THIS company.

[HSBC]

Developing a liasson with your bank (at least in my case) is not easy: no bank with the exception of HSBC has fulfilled my expectations. Why HSBC has? First of all, they don't hide any charges and what they charge is below the average (at least that is my experience). Lately though, they have increased the price of some services (like fund fees). HSBC has a very good service over the phone and on the Internet, they even reply to letters in writing with a good sense of customer care and promptly. I¡ve tried several banks and HSBC is definitely my 1st choice.

[t thiele]

after my promotional rate ran out hsbc/GM card raised my interest rate to 34.24 % I called them and was told there were no other options for me at this time and to call back later. I called a few months later and was told the same thing but also that i was not making more than my minimum payment and because a credit report indicated that I was a high risk ( this was an internal decision ) not from a bad credit report

I have had and used my card for over 5 years and have never missed a payment although I have been late a few times. I feel this is unfair and I am being taken advantage of by hsbc

then i e-mailed everyone that i could find that had an e-mail address listed on line with this message:

due to you were treating me as a high risk card member i am informing you that i will never use your card again and will treat you like i have been told that you are assuming i am, a high risk, so i can and will be one. I'm informing you that i will no longer make any payments on my balance. All i have asked is if my interest rate could be lowered to a more reasonable rate. yes i can afford to pay you but i will not so i can hold true to the high risk you have labeled me as

only a couple responded and said that they were not in a department that could help me .

Then at last, the office of the president for hsbc usa called me and i explained the situation to her and she said that she would call back in a couple of days. She did and thankfully the rate was reduced to 13.99% .But to get through to someone that would listen to what I had to say and try to help me, instead all i got was a hard nose tuff luck it's your problem not ours attitude took considerable doing and talking to the Philippines was totally useless so now as before I will continue to make my payments and the problem was resolved before a payment was due

[phil]

HSBC is a company out to screw as many people as they can. They lure you in with low rates and then hit you with unwarranted late fees. DO NOT cal customer service, they will NOT help you. Take your business elsewhere. I will continue to let everyone in the world know about these practices until I can no longer type or speak. HSBC should be ashamed of how they treat their "clients". one day you will not have any. If I can encourage just one person to close their account or bank elsewhere, I have won!

[Antonio Cruz]

Praising HSBC? You should be too naif or a masoquist. Their managers know nothing and they charge you even when you ask what time is it. Their ad agency did a great job, but the bank itself follows the kiss strategy: Keep It simple and Stupid.

[Judy Smith]

my goodness, sounds like a lot of sour grapes vs. educated, thoughtful opinions out there. Kudos to the author for being open minded and adventuresome for comment. Too bad more people, without personal agendas, can't contribute comment at the same level. Have a nice day! By the way I'd recommend HSBC...

[jimmy]

hsbc is bad news,,,shitloads of sub prime,,,the shares are crashing

[Tony]

I AM SELLING ALL MY HSBC SHARES,,THE COMPANY IS NOT GOING TO SURVIVE THIS SHAKEOUT

[Heidi]

Do not use HSBC their customer service is horrible! Diffrent points of view? They only see thiers as they find a way out of charging you 14.95 for a rush account payment which clearly states that it will post to the account but will take three days to show online and then when I call they tell me that it will post on the statement with that date but the monies will still take 3 business days to post in other words they are stealing your money a supervisor told me that NO WHERE ON THE SITE DOES IT PROMISE TO PLACE THE MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT IMEDIATELY!Not to mention being placed on hold for 34 minutes and speaking to a agent which uses the word UNFORTUNATELY like 30 times trying to blind you and not reimburse fees!

Do not use this bank their services are the worst Ive ever seen. Working for a well known company Ive made sure plenty of my share partners know so also.

Thank you dont make the same mistake!!!!!!

[Scott]

I have been fighting with HSBC since 2004; I just filed a complaint with the OCC with them after they sold my account to a collection agency. We are fighting over a $35.00 late charge that has escalated to over $300.00. They truly have no business ethics, are a predatory lender, and have NO customer service skills, nor care about their customers. If you write them a letter they refuse to reply. If you are a member of the ATU and have a Union Platinum Master card and have had problems with HSBC let them know. I wrote them and asked them to server their relationship with this company and choose one with a more professional business reputation. HSBC is very unethical--

[Frank Mackey]

HSBC, Beneficial, and HFC are the worst companies to work for and do business with. I know personally I worked for Beneficial Finance for 5 years and 2 of them as a branch manager. The company is a rip off and make us tell you that with your less than perfect credit no one else can help you. Buyer beware this is a classic trap they will bury you with their fees and predatory pre-payment penalties with outstanding interest rate. While everyone else is lowering rates they are raising them. Investors are killing them in the secondary market so they are making the consumers pay it up. HSBC Holdings LLC has said if HSBC Finance does not start making profits by 2010 they are going to sell or bankrupt the company here in the states.

[Heidi]

HSBC is quite simply, the devil. They purchased my mortgage nearly 4 years ago. In that time, my rate has risen to 10% and my payment is up $550 a month. Even when they send me a letter showing that the prime has dropped, they show that their rate has gone up. They are indeed a predatory lender. Their customer service is characterized by personnel who yell at you, hang up on you, threaten you, and tell you to be ashamed of yourself for calling to ask them to lower rates!!! That is a nearly direct quote - "you should be ashamed of yourself and get your finances in order". Customer service managers do not return voice mails, and emails result in nothing more than a canned letter saying that you need to call customer service. I will go to my grave telling everyone I know to avoid them at all costs and ruin them if you can. Icing on the cake...they have my last name incorrect and I have not been able to change it in the 4 years they have owned my loan. No matter what documentation I send them. They continue to call me Mrs. XXXXX, even though my divorce was final and that has not been my name for 7 years. They can do nothing correctly. Run away!!!

[Carol]

I have a HSBC credit card and I made a payment the other night and even paid a RUSH PAYMENT fee in order to have the payment post faster well guess what I paid that fee for nothing and when I called the customer service they handed me a bunch of bullarky about how all payments can take up to 14 days to post. So I paid them a fee to have my credit available to me sooner for nothing.

[Norman D Landings]

My wife has been a member of staff at HSBC (Midland Bank) for 25 years and has been sh*t on for years. Low wages, stolen pension ect.

Please take your money to another bank for God sake! Then she will be made redundant and have a big pay out on your money

Please Please help!

Norman

[Norman D Landings]

Oh! I forgot to say that HSBC only made 31 Billion (yes Billion) in profit this year.

Norman D Landings

Keep on helping them make more..!

[Luke Smith]

Is anyone else surprised that this company hasn't fully disclosed the risk it is facing going forward do to its substantial exposure to US real estate loans?

[ankit]

i think it is hell shit banking corporation.. as i ordered for a credit card .. but i haven't heard from them since ages .. even if the application is declined i should be informed and it was their cce wwho called me .. huh !! they understand nothing ..

[Ray Herbertson]

The title is "Shame on HSBC for not listening to customer."

Insiders have reported big changes inside HSBC, and specifically the old Household International side of the house, now called HSBC Finance. Your report gives insight into the banking side of HSBC and I thought they might actually act like bankers. Obviously not, so my thought is that they are taking management advice, direction, and leadership from HSBC USA. The chairman's position there is usually filled by someone from HSBC Finance. In my opinion that is a major problem, and I think your report reflects that.

> full_name: R.H.
> email: rayh@regencyfineart.com
> city_state: GA
> report: I closed a couple of accounts with ING recently to open
accounts with another bank... My experience ..What a nightmare it has been trying to open an account at HSBC, \\\"The friendly internet bank\\\" I have spent 5 or 6 hours on the telephone.. 7 or 8 emails later they finally opened my account one month later. Who\\\'s doing who a favor? I let them have my $2000.00, I asked for a $500.00 checking account and a $1500.00 C.D. I applied for a 7 month C.D.
because that was the only interest rate that was competitive with ING and Capitol One. They have denied all the letters I sent in and my application request and gave me what they wanted to give me. a 1.75% interest rate on a 6-9 month. What I wanted was a checking account and a seven month C.D. with comporable rates to ING (Offered on their website At least over 3%) (which is where I transfered the money from) Shame on you HSBC.. You never listened.. I am going to blog this experience My tears, my countleess hours on the phone with uncaring reps at your bank and my countless hours on emails. I am sending this to ING and Capital One who listened to me! O.K. HSBC You win keep my $2000.00 for your 6-9 months C.D. It won\\\'t be worth it as I am writing your Corporate.. and ING and Capital One and blogging it and I will keep on blogging it. HSBC won I lost! I did not get anything I asked for! and after all that I simply didn\\\'t want to do business with them they told me I would have to pay early penalty! Shame on HSBC
>
> Provided By: Household HSBC Watch
> http://householdwatch.com
>
>

[Jules Carney]

It is beneficial to read a post from someone that knows what they are talking about and has the ability to explain it so that a individual can understand it.

Thanks for the interesting read.

[Tom Bush]

Good to see this blog. Have been in dispair for years due to hsbc "customer care" treating me like a bad schoolboy every time the "listening, caring bank" makes another goof at my expense and then charges me on top of what has been lost.

I live overseas in less developed country, away from mine and so they shuttle the blame from here to there and totally avoid any responsibility.

As this is the first time blogging
I will reseach this and other blogs - come to some succinBt points and place them on the blogs.

Well done. Maybe we can also show hsbc staff what an inhuman monster they are working for and get them to, hopefully change!!

[j smith]

I am a personal AND commercial customer of HSBC in the UK and USA. This is all marketing hype. They don't understand the customers or the markets. A bulletin from them yesterday expressed surprise that the UK/US exchange rate had suffered when the UK reduced it's interest rates! DUH!!! They are incompetent and make numerous errors. Their credit policies are onerpous and VERY expensive. They are inflexible. Stay away!

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[jadavon]

For those customers who do not like HSBC I guess you all are prefect. Every company has problems just like the company you work for. For the customers who state HSBC do not listen maybe you do not want to hear what they are saying because it's not what you want to hear. Stop living beyond your means. Pay your DAMN bills and shut the HELL UP!!

[jadavon]

For those people that state HSBC fucked up their mortgage due to their adjustable rate mortgage payments going up. Hey dumb ass they can't change the terms of your loan once you've already signed it. Stop blaming other people for the choices you make. You sign the loan deal with it. By the way if would of have good credit you would not be in this situation. HSBC is a sub prime mortgage company. You're lucky to be in your home. The took a risk on you with your shity credit. When no other mortgage company would.

[DJ]

I work For HSBC for more than three years, they are the most arrogant people I have known and all collectors get paid based on fees they charge. if you have credit card with them and you are late in your payment. call and ask them to wave late fee possible over the limit fees and check by phone fee. if not then the collectors got all your money....