HSBC teller sends Miel on a spin

Soon after I posted my gripe about DBS today, I read  this Facebook posting below by my friend and ex-colleague Dengcoy, popularly known by his  cartoon byline Miel....

"Dear HSBC, your service sucks! it's called Inconvenient Banking.

WHY? went to the Claymore branch this morning to make a transaction only to be told by the teller to call an 1800-number. But I told her that I am here and now ready to make that transaction. She insisted that I still have to call the 1800-number. Okay, fine. So, I called said number from the office only to be told by some call-center chap from Mordor that I have to go back to the bank to do my business! WT...! "

  I was really incensed after I read the post as I know Miel to be a mild-mannered and obliging guy and can easily be taken advantaged of by many people.   I am sure he was in this case because he obeyed what the teller told him to do!!!

Many of his friends have reacted to what had happened to him. One said he should have thumped the table and demanded service. Another  thought a better line of action would have been to curse the teller in  the Hokkien dialect.

Maybe Miel should do what he does best --- draw a cartoon to show up the bank for its mindless service and post it on social media. After all, he is  a world-class cartoonist. And a so-called global bank like HSBC surely does not deserve  anything less..

Inflexible DBS over a simple matter

The joy of getting a new credit card from DBS was short-lived for me.

Almost two months after I had the DBS Altitude card (see the last posting below), I discovered that the credit limit set for me was much too low to make any substantial payment. In this instance, I didn't have enough "credits" to pay for a cruise that our travel group has planned.

I also realised that being a Treasures member does not make things easy -- even for simple things. Worse still, if  you are a retiree with no employment income and income tax returns to back you up.

But what about all my hard-earned money that I have deposited with the bank over the years, earning pittance in terms of interest????

Apparently, that is not good enough for me to obtain a higher credit limit.

So I called my relationship manager (RM) Leonard yesterday to protest. He promised to ask the higher-ups for approval.

One day later, there was no word from him. His mobile was not answered. I left an SMS for him to call me back urgently.  Nothing happened.

Meanwhile, I decided to call the Treasures hotline and gave a sweet-sounding girl named Susie a earful (well, in a pleasant way).  She tried to fob me off with her usual line -- "I will ask the RM to call you back".

I wasn't in the mood to be taken in by a voice, sweet though it may be.  I asked to speak to the manager. She said the manager was not available. So I asked for the CEO.

When she realised that I meant business, she said she would put up my request for a credit limit increase. I told her it was urgent. She said she would get back to me in an hour.

And she did!  But, alas, it was only a temporary increase and there was a time limit, i.e. I had to use it by a certain date.

I asked why it was not a permanent one.  For that, she said, I had to fill a form to apply. 

And the form would require me, a retiree, to fill in my employment income or submit my income tax returns. Sigh! Back to square one!

This whole saga clearly shows up the inflexibility of the bank.  Why is it treating all retirees the same way, even those who are Treasures members?
The message I get is this:  "Yes, deposit all your cash with us, but don't expect us to be reasonable with you."

I would equate this inflexibility to pure laziness and a total lack of initiative. Surely a quick check of a retiree's history with the bank and his background will instantly allow any manager worth his salt to make a fairly accurate assessment of the risk factor.

All of which makes me wonder:  If a bank that makes its living from being able to assess risks, and it is obviously unable to do so for a simple credit card case, what are the chances of it making it big in Asia???

I hope I am not being unfair in coming to this conclusion, but this is how I feel at the moment.