Consumer complaint received 2020-01-29
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2019 I transferred a balance to HSBC to take advantage of a 0 % offer for 12 months on a balance transfer. I set up auto-pay on the HSBC website. I verified my first payment went through without an issue in XX/XX/XXXX. After receiving no letters, emails, calls, texts, or other notices from the company I received an email from XXXX  in XX/XX/XXXX telling me I had a 30 day late payment reported on an a credit card account. After reviewing accounts I realized I was unable to log in and review my HSBC account details and my auto pay details. I called HSBC to see what happened. They took no responsibility for the fact that the auto pay system failed, they also took no responsibility for not even telling me in any form or notice that I was late at all, however, they did agreed to credit me back the late fee, nonetheless that was a minuscule consolation considering the company was damaging my hard earned credit history. After several more communications with HSBC and numerous hours on the phone I realized they were not going to assist me with removing this 30 day notice because they claimed there was no bank error. But, in fact, there was a bank error and even worse zero communication from them about my auto pay not going through or that I was even late at all. It took over 30 days after that payment was due before I finally received a letter from them in late XX/XX/XXXX saying my account had been closed and I could no longer make payments online. I must say, I have worked with many financial companies and I rigorously keep track of my payments and credit score. The service and attention I have received as a customer from HSBC has been appalling and I hope that by filing this complaint HSBC tries harder and modernizes and corrects their auto pay system, establish safe guards and warnings to customers when payments are not received on time, and establish a clear protocol to assist customers in removing bank error late payments that show up on customers credit reports due to HSBCs failure to communicate adequately or assist their customers. I have not had a late payment on any debt for over 8 years and it is very frustrating to work so diligently to establish an XXXX score only to have it dismantled by a poorly run financial company like HSBC, now my score is in the mid 600s. Please note I am still paying this card and do expect it to be fully paid by the end of the 0 % promotional period. I hope the CFPB can assist me with this matter so not only I, but other customers of HSBC do not get fleeced in this manner in the future. If I were preparing to buy a car or take out a home mortgage this could have had huge financial implications for me, so for now I am sidelined from making any significant purchase with credit like a car or home until this matter gets resolved.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation