Consumer complaint received 2018-10-26
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
I am a US Citizen temporiraly living in XXXX, XXXX. 

Short story : My birthday is wrong in the HSBC system, and I can no longer log in to my account. I need my birthday changed. I have spent well over 4 and a half hours ( about 273 minutes by my count ) either talking to HSBC reps or on hold trying to fix this  problem. 

The way I see it, HSBC has stolen my money and time. 

Long story : 1 ) After coming back from vacation, I tried to check my account on Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX. Security features had been added which asked for my birthday. I put in all the correct details, and it would not let me log in. 

2 ) I called HSBC for the first time on XX/XX/XXXX. I told the representative what was wrong. I had not changed my password. He told me to change my password. I still couldn't log in. He told me to change my password again. I still couldn't log in. He said try again later. That phone call took 39 minutes and 50 seconds. 

3 ) I tried again later on XX/XX/XXXX. It did not work. I called again. They again asked me to change my password. After I explained that that wasn't the issue, I did it anyway, and it did not work. The representative did not know what to do. That phone call lasted 43 minutes and 45 seconds. 

4 ) At work Tuesday morning ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I tried to log in again, and it did not work. I tried talking with the online chat. After explaining the situation, they told me to call HSBC. The online chat took 30 minutes. 

5 ) I called HSBC three more times with the number the online chat person gave me. I got no response as it was not US business hours. 

6 ) The online chat person gave me a different number. I told the representative the entire story, she had me change my password again, again, it did not work. This representative noticed that my birthday was in the system wrong ( even though I asked the first rep if it was correct ), but told me I had to wait to call during US business hours. That call took 29 minutes and 2 seconds. 

7 ) I called again later that day, but it was no longer during US business hours. It took 7 minutes and 26 seconds to find that out. The representative took my number and said  they would call me back, they never did. 

8 ) I called again yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ), during US business hours, explained the situation, and was put on hold. I waited 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 22 seconds. I was not connected to anyone. 

9 ) I hung up and I called again, again I explained the situation, and the representative told me that she was putting me in a " priority queue '' and that this situation would be resolved today. I waited on the " priority queue '' for 39 minutes and 38 seconds.

10 ) I hung up and I called again, again I explained the situation, and again the representative tried to connect me to another department and I was put on hold. I waited 22 minutes and 42 seconds, and then HSBC disconnected the phone call. 

I still can not access my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation