Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[tlbright1266]

I have been carefully managing my credit and purchases for over 20 years and have never had such a horrible experience as I have had with my HSBC Best Buy Credit Card!  Their customer service personnel are not helpful at all and the hold times are horrendous!  I have called once a month for 4 months to try and get payments on my account allocated correctly and each time it is at least an hour!  I have no time for that nonsense!

I have taken advantage of the Best Buy promo plans for several years and have had no problems paying them off in time, until I had more than one purchase on my card at a time.  Best Buy has offered me a generous credit line of $7500, allowing me to purchase appliances for my new home, computer equipment for my business, etc.  I have had have 6 promo plan purchases on my card at a time.  I have always carefully budgeted and scheduled my payments as to satisfy the promo balance before the expiration date, often paying 3-4 times my minimum monthly payment amount. 

The first nightmare started in December when I knew I had some promo plans expiring and logged online to check my account.  That was when I noticed my payments were not being applied to the oldest and expiring promo plans first, as would be expected.  So, because of the allocation of my payments, I was short $14.16 and got hit with $205.77 in interest.  I called HSBC to see if they could reallocate my payment to apply to my expiring promos first.  I had to explain it 3 TIMES to the HSBC Rep.  Then, I asked to speak to a supervisor and she put me on hold for 15-20 minutes, spoke to the supervisor herself and then came back and had completely misunderstood me!  I got nowhere, and had been on the phone for 55 minutes!

The nightmare has continued every month since then with expiring promos not being paid off, even after working with a supervisor in calculating out what exactly should be paid to avoid the mess. I have called every month to get an exact amount and still it never seems to get paid properly. I even went in to my local Best Buy store and made an additional payment with cash. I have setup a spreadsheet just to calculate and track my Best Buy credit card payments. 

I honestly just want to pay off this card and NEVER use it again!  I can say that the Promotion Plans encouraged me to buy things that I didn't need at that particular moment but thought taking advantage of that benefit would allow me to do that with ease. Wow, was I WRONG!!

I just called HSBC again and said I am making a $1000 payment and wanted my 2 expired promos paid off first (which are NOW accruing interest) and the remainder to go to the next expiring promo. HSBC told me to go ahead and make the payment and then CALL BACK AGAIN to request the allocation. I asked, what if doesn't get allocated the correct way and you have my $1000 that just paid towards purchases that are NOT accruing interest and I am still in this position???  The HSBC Rep (Paula) said they would send me a refund check for my payment.  WHAT??!!?  I have never heard of that.

I have other cards with retailers that offer promo plans and it is never this difficult to make sure that my payments are allocated the right way to pay off my balances in time.

I made my $1000 payment today, I just hope that it gets handled with yet ANOTHER phone call to HSBC.

I really felt like a valued BEST BUY customer with my generous credit line, but actually now I just feel scammed!!!

[Jimmienomam]

What you are experiencing is due to the Credit Card Act of 2009. They have to apply payments this way as it is LAW.

As per section 104.164 of the Credit Card Act of 2009:

"‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of a payment from a card-
holder, the card issuer shall apply amounts in excess of the minimum payment amount first to the card balance bearing the highest rate of interest, and then to each successive balance bearing the next highest rate of interest, until the payment is exhausted.
‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION RELATING TO CERTAIN DEFERRED INTEREST ARRANGEMENTS.—A creditor shall allocate the entire amount paid by the consumer in excess of the minimum pay- ment amount to a balance on which interest is deferred during the last 2 billing cycles immediately preceding the expiration of the period during which interest is deferred."

Basically it goes first to a minimum payment on each item on the card. If any is left it then goes to high interest items. Then if any is left it goes to low interest items. Then if any is left it goes to promo (deferred/ no interest items).

The second part stipulates in the last 2 months before an expiring promo the minimum is paid to each item then the rest of the payment will go straight to the promo purchase(s).

If you believe they applied it in any other manner than the above then you need to contact local judicial system, BBB etc as they are breaking laws.

[tlbright1266]

Thanks for your comments.  I have read the law.  I undertand the law.

However, when you have 6 different purchases at one time on a card that is earning DEFERRED interest, thus no interest is being charged at that time, the payments should be allocated to the oldest (or expiring promos) first. If we were to apply the highest interest rate principle as stated in the law, all my purchases were accruing interest (deferred or not) at the same rate. 

That is the entire reason I contacted HSBC...to prove to me that they were following the law.  When I make payments, I would expect that after the required minimum payment allocation, the oldest purchases (or the ones with the closest expiration date) would be paid accordingly.  That is not the case in my situation.  My payments were being allocated based on a % of each promo balance calculated against my total account balance, regardless of purchase date.  So, a purchase from 15 months ago was being allocated at a rate of 15% of my payment amount, and a purchase from 3 months ago was allocated 18% of my payment amount.  So with each subsequent purchase, the allocation to my oldest purchase dwindled.

My opinion is that HSBC is using the gray area of the law, since the promo balances are not incurring interest monthly, but are being deferred.  It is rather interesting to me that I can specify to other major retailers' credit providers that my payments be applied to my oldest promos first and that is exactly what happens!  It also states that the card issuer "shall", but if a consumer specifically requests his payment to be allocated to the oldest deferred interest purchase first after the minimum payment, then they should abide by that request.  I would have never even gotten within 2 months of my expiration date with a balance left. 

With HSBC, I get within 2 months of a promo expiration date and have my purchase from 4 months ago almost paid off, but still owe $600 on a purchase I have paid on for 16 months.  They may be "following" the law, but they certainly found a big loophole for accounts with deferred interest. 

This is one of those "Live and Learn" experiences.  I know that I will never do business with HSBC again.  I will never again take advantage of a Best Buy promotional plan either.  I should have had the foresight to log in to this forum and read the experiences of other consumers before accepting that card.  I trusted Best Buy would make a decision to use a company that reflected the values of the company and would act in a way that was responsible to the consumer.

[tlbright1266]

WOW!  Just logged on to my Best Buy HSBC online account access and noticed that I got a late fee posted to my account on the DUE DATE, not a day after or when my billing cycle flips, but on the due date. 

I called HSBC prior to making the online payment to discuss the allocation issues and the Rep told me if I make my payment by 5pm PST that it would be credited to my account on that date.  I made it at 4:02pm CST (that is 2:02pm PST).  I am surprised to be assessed a late fee on the same date as the due date.  I know that the policy on the website states that I will not see the payment for 2 days online, but to have a late fee appear on that same date...

Just another thing I will deal with when I call HSBC...again.

[Ryan-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello tlbright1266  -

Jesse from our Social Media team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern. Thank you for your continued patience!

[Jesse-BBY Community Connector]

Hello tlbright1266-

Welcome to the Forums!  I hope this finds you doing well and having a great week.  I apologize for the delay in this response and I appreciate your patience with us.

I can only imagine your level of frustration in dealing with HSBC and trying to get your payments applied the way you would like.  I know that I am not a fan of sitting on the phone waiting to speak with someone or being put on an endless hold cycle.  I truly am sorry this if this is what you have been going through and I wish there was something that could be done on our end.

Payments to your account should be applied in the following order:

1. All Minimum Payments that are due
2. Plans with finance charges due
3. Same as Cash credit plans in the order in which they are due to expire

This means that when a payment is made, the funds within the payment will first be distributed to all the minimum payments that are due for each promotional financing purchase.  If there is a payment made that is greater than the minimum payments due for each promotional financing purchase, the additional funds will then go towards the plans with the financing charges due (if applicable) and then will be distributed to the balance of the plan that is set to expire soonest.

I am not 100% sure if your payments can be applied differently at your request, and that is something you would have to work with HSBC on.  I wish there was more that we could do from our end, but unfortunately there is not.

Respectfully,

[tlbright1266]

Unfortunately, that was not the response I have been waiting so patiently to receive.  I did expect it however.

I have spent nearly $15,000 at Best Buy stores in the last 3 years.  The fact that Best Buy would choose to contract with a credit company that is so difficult to deal with has now made me reconsider ever making purchases at Best Buy again.  The fact that you state "I wish there is something that could be done on our end" is disheartening.  Of course, there is something that can be done!  Put pressure on and demand that HSBC treat your consumers with more respect...or find a more reputable company to offer Best Buy credit services. 

It is funny because, an HSBC supervisor recommended I write Best Buy to ask for their help with this matter.  He said that more may be done at the corporate level.  And now, you are telling me that only HSBC can help me. Both companies "Passing the buck"....NOT A GOOD PRACTICE in customer service!

Maybe this problem has gotten so big between Best Buy consumers and their HSBC accounts, that Best Buy is no longer able to keep up or offer any assistance or remedies.  Your community forum is filled with similar complaints!  

I recently bought new home appliances with a major home improvement store and found the experience from purchase to financing to delivery to be stress-free...just the way it should be. 

No worries, I will pay off my account in the next couple of months, close my account and say good riddance to HSBC and BEST BUY!  Lots of other retailers and online venues are competing for my business.