HSBC Credit Card Interest Increase RIPOFF Salinas California

HSBC Bank sent me a "Change of Terms Notice" for my credit card on a little fold-out card.

It said the change would take effect November 1, 2005, and that their "decision was based in whole or in part on information by a consumer reporting agency." They then gave Equifax's address and phone number, and said that if I wanted to know the specific reasons that influenced their decision, I should call the phone number on the back of my credit card.

Their "decision" was to up my interest rate from 13% to 24%.

I called the number on the back of my credit card. The customer representative knew nothing about the card or the resons for the increase in my interest rate. She said she would have expected me to receive a letter, with the reasons stated therein. She turned me over to the Credit department.

The rep in Credit also did not know why I received a card instead of a letter, or why my interest rate had been raised. She found nothing from Equifax to justify the interest increase. In fact, I pointed out that I had a recent credit report from Equifax in hand that showed a clean credit record with no late payments or other "deliquencies." She turned me over to a supervisor.

Same result. This one hemmed and hawed about "internal accounting decisions." She also pointed out that I had only been making the minimum payments. I told her that the minimum payments were set by them, and that if they wanted to require me to pay more, they should raise the minimum. I said that I had honored my agreement with HSBC by paying the amount required on time for several years (since 2001) and that I could see no reason for "punishing" me by raising the interest rate.

I told her that the Credit Card Agreement said they could raise the interest rate if I defaulted on a payment, but that this hadn't happened. She said that they could raise the rate for no reason at all. This is true, but the provision in the agreement says that I have to either agree to the the change in writing, or, if I don't agree, stop using the card and pay off the remaining balance under the old terms.

She also said that her records showed that my interest rate would be raised October 1, not November 1 as stated in my card. I asked her to correct this, but she said that I would have to wait until the rate was raised on October 1, and then if I wanted to dispute it, call customer service and send them a fax of my card. I asked why it wouldn't make more sense to fix the problem now, and she said that they could "do nothing until the change actually takes place." This was about the stupidest remark in the whole conversation.

I asked for the address of the executive offices so I could write to the President of HSBC. She gave me a post office box number in Salinas, California. I asked for physical street address, and she refused to give it to me, saying I "would not be allowed into the building," which she said was "closed to the public." I said that I was not "the public," but a client in a contractual relationship with HSBC. Nevertheless, she refused to give me a physical address.

So I've been dealing with a company that arbitrarily decides that it can milk me for more money; that refuses to disclose its physical location; that has employees who are ignorant of the communications that it sends to me; that gives me one deadline date in writing but secretly imposes an earlier deadline in order to extract a higher interest for an extra month; and that refuses to even consider fixing the discrepancy between what they write to me and what they have in their system.

Anyone knowing all this in advance would have to be a moron to consider doing business with such a company.

Jerry
Brooklyn, New York
U.S.A.