HSBC Bank Visa - Highly Unethical Practices!
We purchased a quad bike from a local cycle store but didn't have the cash to pay for it, so we accepted the invitation to apply for instore credit. The credit was with HSBC - I had never had an account with them prior to this so had no reason to doubt their ethical practices. We gratefully accepted a special deal of 3.99% over a two year period and was promised this special promotional rate would last the entire duration of the loan so long as we paid it off in total by the expiration date. A few months into the visa loan, we received a statement which was in a new format. I took the time to read the small print, as I always do and was shocked that it stated our promotional rate was due to expire in 6 weeks and after that, we would revert to a considerably higher rate. I could not believe that our promotional rate had changed from the two years we agreed to just four months so wrote a letter of complaint enclosing a copy of our original documents which clarified our agreement. They wrote back confirming our original agreement, but didn't apologise for the error on the statement. So this begs the quesiton - how many of you read the small print? If I hadn't notice their error, I would have ended up paying $800 more than we'd agreed at the outset of the loan. I will never do business with HSBC again.
Penwoir
USA