Kafka has nothing on HSBC

The Natural Philosopher snipped-for-privacy@invalid.invalid posted

I don't doubt that their customer support phone service is s*it. In fact I'm sure of it. They all are.

But why would closure of a branch mean that a bank account would cease to exist? Thousands of bank branches have been closed in the past twenty years.

My barclays branch closed down* but that didn't mean my accounts closed, or changed sort code, or anything ...

Why not go into an existing HSBC branch armed with passport and paperwork relating to the trading and bank accounts, and ask a real person?

Indeed. My bank branch closed about 20 years ago; I continued to receive statements which gave a PO Box no as a contact address. Then about 2 years ago, I spotted a real address on the statement -it is 400 miles away, but Nevertheless I have somewheer to visit.

Your friend needs to find some old statenments or a cheque book.

The account doesn't diasppear, it just goes to another branch, neither the sort code nor the account number will change. This happened to me recently, 'my branch' where I opened my account many years ago has closed. Unless they had told me I wouldn't have known as I've not actually visited the branch for (not quite so many) years.

I had 6 months of this crap from HSBC. In the end I messaged them via their Facebook page and they gave me an email address for their "expedited" complaints department. Worth a try?

The sudden closure of the bank branch generally leaves you in a position where when you try to make an appointment and are asked for the branch sort code the droid on the other end says "branch does not exist".

You have to somehow figure out which branch they have moved your account to. They normally tell their customers this info but not always. Natwest did exactly the same thing to me when acting as an executor.

I rang up to make an appointment to see the branch manager only to be told "no such branch". I'd been in there to see them the month before and no mention of closure. Thank heavens for the Manchester Evening News which reported on their very sudden demise.

No branch at all in the city centre now (rents too expensive?).

That is very bad practice and *VERY* annoying if there is a safe deposit box held at the particular branch. Increasingly they no longer offer that service to new customers but legacy customers still have it.

Takes ages to chase down being passed from pillar to post.

TBH I have *never* been inside the physical branch where my personal current account is actually held (for peculiar internal bank IT reasons it wasn't my nearest one - which has since turned back into a TSB).

My business account doesn't have any physical branches at all.

for my account, it still shows the name of the location it physically used to be at, even though it is now 400 yards away at the opposite end of the high street, for some people it could be a different town.

Everything that my bank holds for me is fungible.

Yes my Lloyds one has been transferred twice on closure of branches. Also, this of course is where you have to have the actual person and the details. If you do not have these, nobody will talk to you, no matter what bank it is. The sad fact is that unless the person is unable to handle their own accounts only an Enduring power of attorney seems to be acceptable proof you are acting for them. Brian

It is maybe worth pushing for an alternative arrangement. There have been newspaper reports of banks sending representatives to people's homes when really pushed, as forcing a housebound person to attend a distant branch (local ones having been closed) can be considered discrimination under the disability laws.

Yes it is. I dug my heels in with HSBC and after 6 months arguing they agreed to do a telephone security check.

In message snipped-for-privacy@esprimo.zbmc.eu>, Chris Green snipped-for-privacy@isbd.net writes

My NatWest branch closed. I was notified by post. No changes other than their postal address. (Business account)

Slight worry was that some documents had been lodged with the original branch as security for a loan. The loan had been paid off but the new branch knows nothing about any documents:-(

The short ansermate is that I dont know. He appears to have another account whose sort code is a bank that doesn't exist anymore, instead.

I am hoping to go with his wife and him to a real bank with real people and try and sort this tomorrow

That is tommorow's happy day.

What is 'facebook?'

I have had an account with Midland Bank since 1970. I am currently on my fifth branch (all within about a mile of each other and all because of branches which were closed down), but the same account number and sort code.

You're lucky. Our TSB branch closed, followed in rapid succession by each "replacement" branch. My son, having turned 16 needs to attend a branch to prove his identity and have his frozen savings account unfrozen - but the only one we can get to is only available to us on a Saturday morning (when we are not ready to go) in a pedestrianised area at the centre of the city.