Inconsumercomplaints.com » Business & Finance » Review / complaint: HSBC Credit Card - Wrong Charges | News #280207

HSBC Credit Card
Wrong Charges

HSBC had levied wrong finance charges and late payment charges of Rs. 1360.60 on my card in November after making several requests on the phone and writing 4 letters to the bank over the last 2 years, till date they have not reversed the charges and they continue to levy more finance charges on these and have inflated the amount to 14702.87.

Earlier the bank did not respond to my letters sent in April & Junenor were they accpeting my card cancellation request.

However after writing to the nodal officer in December I did get a reply confirming that the card had been cancelled, but they have refused to reverse the charges.

The detailed trail of events is as under...

The problem dates back to October…

November 07: I received a call from HSBC inquiring if I have made the credit card payment and since I was traveling I had informed them that the cheque was handed over at my office and would be dropped at the drop box and subsequently I had confirmed with my office that the cheque was dropped on 07/11/07.

17/10/07 – 16/11/07 bill: I was charged undue finance charges of Rs. 1360.60 (incl. service tax) on supposedly delayed payment of credit card, as explained earlier the payment was dropped on time, hence I called up the customer service and explained the problem and requested for reversal of the wrong charges, but she insisted that the payment was dropped late and hence I requested for card cancellation.

12/12/07: Received a call from HSBC (from Chennai - 044 code) asking for reason of cancellation and when I explained them the above reason they said that the charges would be reversed and I should continue to use the card.

There was an outstanding payment of Rs 382.45 in the statement period 17/10/07 – 16/11/07 and I was assured I am not supposed to pay this, since the wrong charges in this statement of Rs. 1360.60 which had been reversed and the current outstanding was nil.

17/11/07 – 15/12/07 bill: Charges were not reversed as conveyed to me and to my surprise additional late payment finance charges of Rs. 662.20 (incl. service tax) were added.

24/12: I received a call from collection department, which was surprising since the last date of payment was on 07/01/08, when asked the reason for the call they informed that 2 bills were unpaid (17/10/07 – 16/11/07 bill & 17/11/07 – 15/12/07 bill), hence I discussed with them about the 17/10/07 – 16/11/07 bill which I was told has nil payment after adjustment of charges, they assured me both the bills charges would be reversed and I should make a payment of the actual spending on my card of Rs. 7476.85 immediately. They said they would send someone for collection and I should not drop the cheque at the drop-box.

By this time I was already fed-up of your false promises and told them I would make the payment only if the card would be cancelled, they said I should make the payment and the card cancellation request was accepted and would be processed after the cheque was cleared.

The payment of Rs. 7476.85 was collected on 30/12/07.

16/12/07 – 16/01/08 bill: To my utter surprise and frustration I received a bill showing o/s of Rs. 2092.92 (all of which was due to wrong charges)

Rs. 1360.60 17/10/07 – 16/11/07 bill

Plus Rs. 662.20 17/11/07 – 15/12/07 bill

Plus Rs. 182.48 added now in the 16/12/07 – 16/01/08 bill

Less Rs. 112.36 unexplainable credit of charges which is not corresponding to any given month

Total Rs. 2092.95

15/01/08: I used my card to check whether the card cancellation was atleast done or not. Again to my frustration the transaction got through.

22/02/08: I once again used my card to check whether the card cancellation was done or not. Again to my frustration the transaction got through.

06/03/08: Called customer service spoke to Mr. Nilesh and informed him of the entire above stated history and requested to accept request for card cancellation, he transferred to the card cancellation department and even after 7 mins of hold nobody came on the line. I disconnected and dialed again and after 20 mins of hold the call was disconnected by your customer service department.

17/12/08 – 15/03/08 bill: O/s was Rs. 6519.59, out of which the actual spend was only of Rs. 3203.33, the balance Rs. 3316.26 was the accumulation of wrong charges.

Rs. 1360.60 17/10/07 – 16/11/07 bill

Plus Rs. 662.20 17/11/07 – 15/12/07 bill

Plus Rs. 182.48 16/12/07 – 16/01/08 bill

Less Rs. 112.36 16/12/07 – 16/01/08 bill unexplainable credit

Plus Rs. 840.24 17/01/08 – 16/02/08 bill

Less Rs. 25.00 17/01/08 – 16/02/08 fuel surcharge credit

Plus Rs. 408.10 17/02/08 – 16/03/08 bill

Total Rs. 3316.26

16/04/08: Submitted a letter to the bank explaining the whole problem and requested for card cancellation. I had clearly stated in the letter that I would not pay any of the undue charges that had been levied and the actual amount due of Rs. 3203.33 was already paid.

10/06/08: Since the bills had still not stopped coming and every month finance charges were being piled up on the undue charges, I wrote a reminder letter to the bank for cancellation of card & requested for a reply.

2008 August 1st week: Since the bills and piling up of finance charges had still not stopped and no reply letter was received from the bank I once again called the customer service and was told to visit the branch and the issue would be resolved.

I visited the Andheri East branch in August 1st week but the executive at the branch told me that he can’t do anything about it and registered a feedback no. 2808070275 requesting for status confirmation letter. He also suggested that I speak to the call centre from the branch itself and they suggested to get in touch with the recovery agents to settle the issue. I had been given the following telephone numbers and contact persons 67115639 (Seema Shekhavat) / 67115687 (Gaurav Mehra), however I could never get through these numbers or these people were never available.

In between I did get a call or two for payment and I had requested for a reply to my earlier letters, but till date no reply has been received from the bank. However the bank diligently keeps sending me bills for a card which does not exist anymore levying finance charges month on month on an amount which was initially under dispute.

I believe I had tried enough to set the record straight with the bank but since there was no response to either letters or any satisfactory reply on calls I had dropped the matter choosing to ignore the wrong bills the way the bank had chosen to ignore my complaints.

2009 November 4th week: I was in for a rude shock when I started receiving obnoxious calls from your Delhi call centre for the payments. That is when I dug up all the previous paper work and give it one last try to get it settled with the bank and sent a letter on 07/12/09.

The bank has finally replied to my letters in December but has refused to reverse the charges.

The piling up of charges over the undue charges alone has lead to the current o/s of Rs. 14129.03, there is not a single paisa which I have actually spent and not paid to the bank. In view of the above trail of events I am not unjustified in asking for closure of this long trail and reversal of the entire amount of Rs. 14129.03.

I wish to lodge a complaint with Banking Ombudsman & the consumer court... could somebody please guide me to the detailed procedure of lodging complaints with the two.


Company: HSBC Credit Card

Country: India

Category: Business & Finance

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