I understand that Best Buy and HSBC are separate companies, but I wanted to share my recent experiences with HSBC here and hopefully get some feedback. I’ve enjoyed shopping at Best Buy for many years, and recently became a Premier Silver Reward Zone member. I’ll continue to shop at Best Buy, it's the first place I think of for electronics and appliances, although I may have to close my Best Buy credit card account due to what I consider to be very poor customer service from HSBC.
Strike 1: I tried to order the same item from BestBuy.com three times, and all three times my order was canceled. During each of those transactions, Best Buy obtained a pre-authorization on my credit card for $3.17. I thought the total of $9.51 (removed from my available credit) would drop off after a certain amount of time when no charge was posted. Wrong. When I called HSBC and explained the situation (no charges are likely to appear when the orders have been canceled), the lady I spoke with told me that the $9.51 would be withheld indefinitely unless I called Best Buy and asked someone there to phone HSBC and cancel the authorizations. This may not be a big deal, Best Buy did make that call for me and the $9.51 instantly became available again, but it’s the first time I ever recall having to be involved in getting pre-authorizations dropped.
Strike 2: Trying to use our income tax refund wisely, we decided to pay down the balances on several credit cards and stop paying so much interest. As part of that effort, I made an online payment to my Best Buy credit card in the amount of $1,085.32 on February 18th. The payment was also posted on February 18th, and the balance shown is correct. However, my available credit continues to show only a small amount. I called HSBC twice about this; the first time I was told that a “check hold” had been placed on my account even though no check was involved. Our bank processed and paid the payment (as an electronic debit) on February 22nd. The second time I called (if you have seen the commercials where the guy answering the phone says his name is Peggy, you’ll understand who I felt like I was speaking with...lol) I was told that my payment had been “randomly selected for bank verification”. “Peggy” told me that the amount in question would be reflected in my available credit 12 days from the date it posted. Today is March 2nd, which is 12 days after the payment was posted on February 18th, and my available credit still has not changed! How could it possibly benefit HSBC (or Best Buy) to treat me like a suspect and not update my amount of available credit?
Strike 3: Hasn’t happened yet, but when it does I’ll certainly be closing this account.
Any suggestions or assistance with this would be appreciated. Thanks.
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iMac, iPhone 4S, iPod touch, and Apple TV user. Yes, an Apple fanatic.
