HSBC closed my account due to inactivity

[Anonymous]

I received my letter today and immediately called to have the account reopened, "LOU" flat out told me it wasn't possible to reopen the account and that he would be happy to transfer me to someone that can help me apply for a new card.   I told him I wasn't happy with this account closure and he replied, "...the credit card companies own the cards and can do what they want..."  I told him I would remember that comment and hung up.  I regularly use 4 other cards, 2 w/BA and 2 w/AMX with zero balances.  The HSBC card was kept as a "for emergency only", but I guess I'll use a different card.

FYI:  As of 11/16/08 my score is over 800. I'll update this post if my score goes down due to this credit card account closure.

[Anonymous]

I will pay them back for you, I have 2 cards that are going to  close out as soon as my payment posts, and they report a 0 balance. That'll show em.

[Anonymous]

Of course it will hurt your score.  If you had a 7000 limit with no balance and now you suddenly lose that line of credit, your debt to available credit ratio goes up and your score goes DOWN. This happened to me. Then if you reapply, you have another inquiry which again can cause your score to go down..so being a good customer and not having a balance can SCREW you in the long run. They told me they were "concerned" that there might be fraud due to INACTIVITY ( complete nonsense)....

edited to remove reference to overseas call center

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-28-2008 02:54 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, welcome to the forums, and sorry it was under these circumstances.

HSBC is ridiculously quick to shut down accounts for inactivity. You don't have to carry balances, or even let them post, but they do want to see usage at least once every couple of months, or out you go, no warning, no appeal.

I did take out your reference to overseas call centers. Before people start yelling about politically correct thinking, I would like to point out that in almost every case, US banks that don't care about customer service send much of their CS overseas, and they tie the hands of the foreign CSR's, not allowing them to actually help. One of our CS members once posted that the overseas CSR's are timed on their calls, and if they take too long, as in trying to help, they're written up. After a few instances of this, they're fired.

So please save your anger for the cheapskates at HSBC, or whichever bank you're dealing with, who set up their CS in this manner.

PLEASE READ: Posting About Foreign Call Center Frustrations

And I do wish you luck, but it's happened to an awful lot of people, I'm afraid.

[Anonymous]

HSBC reduced my credit limit from $4000 to $905. I contacted HSBC and they basically stonewalled me. My initial credit limit was $4000 and I used approx $2000.   I made my payments on time and reduced my balance to $900. One day I got a notice from HSBC saying they were decreasing my credit limit to $905. I thought I did something wrong (missed a payment, sent a payment late, etc.) but I didn't.

The credit limit reduction I didnt care too much about because I wasnt making any charges on the account. I was more concerned about my utilization ratio that directly affects my credit score in that utilization accounts for 30 percent of your credit score. The lower it is, the better it is for your credit score.

When my limit was $4000, my utilization was 50 percent and dropping. When my limit was reduced to $905, my utilization maxed out to 99 percent. My balance is now $300 and waiting for my next statement...

[My2cents]

Hello everyone.  I have been considering closing my 1st orchard card because I called in to get the "new 3% cashback gas card/2% cashback on all other purchases card" on their website using a softpull and the results said "congradulations", so I applied(resulting in a hardpull) and then they declinded me due to my 1st card not being 18 months old.  So basically they hardpulled me for nonthing.  That's not the end of it.  My 1st card only missed the 18 month rule be 15 days and the first rep told me to just call back in 15 days and they would give me the card without a hardpull.  So I did.  The new rep said that the other rep did not have the power to tell me that, even though see saw where the 1st rep noted my declined acct that the customer will call back in 15 day to

get the card.   Wait for a second........Cant they circumvent a rule if the time is only off by 2 weeks?  Doesnt it takes about two weeks to get a card?  All this for a 500 dollar card.  All other cards 5k limit(2 cards) w no AF.  But this card has a 39 AF.   Fellow Forumers what should I do?  Should I cut up my 1st orchard card with the 1k limit and 0 balance before the 59 AF is due?  Oh I do have options   OHHHHHhh the last straw...

Those (edited) had the nerves to say would you like to reapply?  I politely said, "(edited)".

Enough said.  My2cents

edit: as on your other post

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-28-2008 08:03 PM

[Anonymous]

I'm resurrecting an old thread because HSBC is such a joke....use it or lose it...which I can understand but this bank's practices are lower than bottom gutter.

First I get a snail mail reviewing the changes due to upcoming changes in cc legislation.  Nothing said about opt out.

Second I get slammed or spammed (take your pick) on all kinds of 0 % opportunities.  No thanks.

Third I get a email regarding my account changing (one of those weird suspecting click this link emails) -- um, hello?  No way am I clicking an embedded link and putting my personal info like that. 

Fourth Go to Best Buy web site and try to logon that way to retrieve the "special notice" as indicated in the email.  Um, no can do.  Account is not accessible please call that godforsaken number.

Fifth Calling that godforsaken number.  I am sorry but the customer service rep had no idea what I was talking about. Had to put me on hold finally gets back and says your account is closed.  GOOD RIDDANCE.  I do not need their card or CL for my ratio or to look good.  The only reason I had the darn thing was to use one of their promotions that they pushed ..... its a lesson for me.... I never take these ... I pay cash, have no balances, have awesome credit and rating.  Who needs this  ---  for all who have this card and need/want to keep it, use it or lose it. 

(I feel better now.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I'm resurrecting an old thread because HSBC is such a joke....use it or lose it...which I can understand but this bank's practices are lower than bottom gutter.

First I get a snail mail reviewing the changes due to upcoming changes in cc legislation.  Nothing said about opt out.

Second I get slammed or spammed (take your pick) on all kinds of 0 % opportunities.  No thanks.

Third I get a email regarding my account changing (one of those weird suspecting click this link emails) -- um, hello?  No way am I clicking an embedded link and putting my personal info like that. 

Fourth Go to Best Buy web site and try to logon that way to retrieve the "special notice" as indicated in the email.  Um, no can do.  Account is not accessible please call that godforsaken number.

Fifth Calling that godforsaken number.  I am sorry but the customer service rep had no idea what I was talking about. Had to put me on hold finally gets back and says your account is closed.  GOOD RIDDANCE.  I do not need their card or CL for my ratio or to look good.  The only reason I had the darn thing was to use one of their promotions that they pushed ..... its a lesson for me.... I never take these ... I pay cash, have no balances, have awesome credit and rating.  Who needs this  ---  for all who have this card and need/want to keep it, use it or lose it. 

(I feel better now.

---

Did you have RZMC card?

[hyprble]

I just wanted to chime in on HSBC venting.  Here are my gripes:

- It takes 2-3 business days to make an online payment.  Of all my cards (and I have some with BoA, CUs, Citi, Discover) this is the only one that has such a long turnaround for payment.  Of course it's to get people that almost forgot to pay to pay the $15 "rush fee"

- Low credit limits - got a credit limit lowered from $600 to $350.  Really?

- Closing accounts if you don't use them right away - although this situation is similar to other CCC's, I just wanted to point out I forgot to use the $250 limit card and it was closed right away.  I'm just glad it was a low low limit, so my debt to credit wasn't negatively affected as much as it could've been.

I have 2 more HSBC cards - one is an "emergency card" that went from $1k to $650 that I use once every other month to keep open, and a 7.99% fixed balance transfer card with a balance that gets chased down for every $100 I pay.  While I won't close these cards because I need them to keep my debt to credit ratio, I will no longer be giving this company my business once I no longer need them.

Shady.

[Anonymous]

I am in the process of trying to streamline my bills. As a result, I recently got rid of my HSBC card because it had the worst interest rate. I just received a letter from them saying that my card was closed due to inactivity. "But wait," I thought, "Didn't I dump you first?"  I feel like I am breaking up with my 7th grade boyfriend, but I can't help but wonder why they are saying THEY closed the account instead of ME? Since the end result is the same, I don't know if it matters, but I just wanted to double check.  Any thoughts? Should I call them? It's such a pain...