Ii's obvious that my wife and I have plenty of company, just as the several HSBC "customer service" representatives and "supervisors" I've screamed-at since last Friday (20 February '09) have told me. According to one of those supervisors, it seems we are all now members of HSBC's "90% club"!
Yes folks, we are in the same boat as you. I discovered only be chance (while checking the status of a transaction on the HSBC, or what some of you know as the "Account Central", website) that both of our credit limits were slashed, without warning, to the extent that neither of us could even pick-up the tab for an HSBC executive lunch with the amount of available credit left to us. I'm talking about going from almost $5,000 available down to $194, in the case of my wife. I guess they must like me; I still have $290 to spend.
I've heard all of the same scripted crap (from every HSBC person I attempted to speak with) that you have: "business decision", "nothing personal", "no reflection on your record with us, which is excellent", "because of the economy", and "you'll be receiving a letter".
Friends, HSBC has handed each of us a huge crate of lemons. My question to you is this: are you going to simply knash your teeth and vent your rage, or resolve yourselves to mixing-up a huge batch of lemonaide?
I would like to propose a course of action for each and every one of you to follow, without delay. I make no claim to this being "THE" course of action; I'm open to any different or additional ideas that will facilitate hitting this company from as many different directions as possible. It is "A" course of action, one that I have already initiated, and I could sure use as many allies as possible.
First, go to the "Federal Government" listings located near the front of your telephone book. Locate and record the names and telephone numbers for both of the U.S. Senators from your state and ALL of your state's Representatives. Call every one of them; obtain their mailing addresses and Fax numbers.
Be aware that the Representatives' staffers will probably ask where you live & direct you to contact only the Congressman/woman for your congressional district. Get the information for every one that you can, anyway.
Next, contact your state's Office of Consumer Protection (or whatever they might call it where you are). Tell them your story, find-out how to get their complaint form (s) and any specific instructions they might have to give you, and initiate action to get the forms.
At this point, the fun begins! You will again be contacting HSBC, but you will not be dealing with those people you've spoken-to up to this point. Address your correspondence as follows:
Mr. Brendan McDonagh
HSBC-CEO of North American Operations
26525 North Riverwoods Boulevard
Mettawa Lake, IL 60045
Telephone (224) 554-6676 or (224) 544-6677
Fax (224) 552-6677
It is critical that you WRITE to this guy; don't just try calling them. Even if he does talk to you, telephone calls are easy to deny later. Well-crafted paper trails are not, especially when there are plenty of them.
Describe the specific details of what HSBC has done to you. Oh yeah, he's already well-aware of what they've done to you, but tell your story, anyway. Remember: PAPER TRAIL. Along with those details of your situation, do not hesitate for one second to tell him exactly how you feel about it (My correspondence to him was six pages long).
Make sure that you include a "Cc" section at the end of your correspondence listing everyone else to whom you will be sending a copy of what he (or whomever he has reading his stuff for him) has just read. I will simply show you what mine looked like; EXCEPT FOR THAT FIRST NAME ON THE LIST, you will, of course, use the names/agencies specific to the state in which you live.
Example:
Cc:
President Barack H. Obama
Senator Daniel K. Akaka
Senator Daniel K.inouye
Congressman Neil Abercrombie
Congresswoman Mazie Hirono
Hawaii State Office of Consumer Protection
Next, making sure that you have sufficient copies of your letter for everyone on that "Cc" list, forward your letter to Mr. McDonagh. If you choose to fax it to the number provided above (assuming they don't turn it off), ensure you do so from a machine that can generate a fax transmission report. If you opt to mail it (or have to, due to the fax being unavailable), ensure that you send it with delivery confirmation, at a minimum. Whichever you choose, just remember: paper trail, paper trail, paper trail!
Next, you will be preparing another letter, to be addressed as follows:
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Fax (202) 456-2461
Note that the address above is correct, even though it does not include the street number/name. This is the address you will be given via recording if, by chance, you choose to try calling the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111. Be forewarned that you will be on hold for an extremely long time if you do.
In your letter to President Obama, summarize your situation, referencing the letter you sent to HSBC; the HSBC letter will be included as an attachment. Reitterate how you feel and specifically request investigations into the practices of HSBC, specifically, and the credit card industry in the U.S., in general.
Again, you will fax and/or mail your corresponce (letter to the President with your earlier letter to HSBC attached) to the White House, ensuring that you obtain a fax transmission report and/or use delivery confirmation.
The next several steps involve simply repeating what you did in the last one, in that you will prepare cover letters for each of the Senators and Representatives on your "Cc" list and forward them with copies of the HSBC letter included as attachments. The easiest method is to use the same cover letter sent to the President, simply editing each one for it's respective recipient, since you should be telling them the same things, and requesting the same things of them.
Finally, for the time being anyway, forward that complaint to your state's Office of Consumer Protection (or equivalent agency). You will again be attaching copies of the correspondence you sent to HSBC. Regardless of what you may think of your state agencies, you might be pleasantly surprised by the response you get once they see who else is on that "Cc" list along with them, as they will not want to be the ones caught with their knickers down!
Well, there you have it (for now, at least)! I hope I have provided information that will prove useful to each of you, and that each of you WILL use it. The people in charge of HSBC, and other companies of similar ilk, enjoy their power over us only because too many of us so often choose to remain silent.
Don't give them the satisfaction!
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