Consumer complaint received 2018-09-20
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
State: NM
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
This complaint is based on HSBC Bank USA, N.A. refusal to award a {$200.00} incentive bonus for a new checking account applied to on XX/XX/XXXX and funded XX/XX/XXXX. Terms state {$1500.00} in new funds must be kept in account for 3 months and processing of promotion takes 8 weeks. Secure chat, secure messaging, and phone calls to customer support centers ( including unanswered messages to customer retention department ) have been made regarding the missing {$200.00}. All phone calls and secure messaging responses from HSBC Bank USA, N.A. have been recorded. The offer page was saved as a PDF before the application was submitted in XX/XX/XXXX. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is  refusing to honor the terms and conditions of a checking account campaign widely disseminated across the United States. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. refuses to accept evidence proving eligibility of the promotion. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is stating the offer is invalidated because of a credit card that was opened in XX/XX/XXXX. This is not stated in the terms and condition, which explicitly define New Consumer Deposit Offers as checking accounts. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is refusing to furnish terms stating ineligibility of the promotion due to a previous banking relationship in the past year. No consumer deposit account has ever been opened besides the choice checking account on XX/XX/XXXX. Below is the entire complaint that includes secure messages from HSBC Bank USA, N.A., web history screenshots, and account terms from https : //www.us.hsbc.com. 

This complaint is based on HSBC Bank USA, N.A., hereafter HSBC, refusal to award a {$200.00} incentive bonus for a new checking account, which was applied to on XX/XX/XXXX and funded XX/XX/XXXX. 

Summary of terms saved on day of account application, XX/XX/XXXX : Open your new HSBC Choice Checking account online by XX/XX/XXXX ; and Deposit a minimum Qualifying Balance of {$1500.00} or more in New Money in combined checking and savings accounts within 30 calendar days of account opening ; and Maintain at least the minimum Qualifying Balance for 90 calendar days from the date you deposited the minimum Qualifying Balance. 

You will automatically receive the {$200.00} Welcome Deposit in your new HSBC Choice Checking account approximately eight weeks after completing all qualifying activities. It's that simple. 

Two transactions were made to the checking account : {$1500.00} was deposited XX/XX/XXXX and {$100.00} was deposited XX/XX/XXXX. All calls to HSBC were recorded and I would be happy to provide a link if necessary to corroborate what is written below. Secure message replies from HSBC sent through secure chat are copied below. 

A chat was initiated on XX/XX/XXXX inquiring about the bonus. The response is displayed below : XX/XX/XXXX Dear REDACTED : We are writing you in regard to the conversation you had with us via Live Chat. 

Upon review, we show that you did not qualify for the promotion when opening your account. The reason for this, was due to the account not being opened through the promotional page. If you have proof that you followed the account opening process correctly for the promotion, please either utilize our Live Chat feature or call our Premier Customer Service line at XXXX ( toll free at XXXX ) to provide this proof. 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us either via BankMail or Live Chat. 


For additional information on the products and services HSBC Bank offers, please visit us at us.hsbc.com Thank you, HSBC Digital Contact Center HSBC Bank USA, N.A. XX/XX/XXXX. All Rights Reserved. 


I called the number listed in the secure message from HSBC and told the representative I had proof in my search results of clicking the offer link in addition to a saved PDF of the offer page from XX/XX/XXXX. I was told there was no mechanism for me to submit this proof. I then initiated a secure chat was was told the same thing. Finally, I sent a reply to the secure message above stating I had the evidence requested, but no HSBC agent had the means to accept it. Each time after contacting customer support I was told to wait 5-7 business days for the marketing and promotions team to respond since this was not a customer facing team. 

The response from HSBC is below : XX/XX/XXXX Dear REDACTED : Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A. 

We understand your concern with regards to the promotional bonus offer for {$200.00} Please be informed that my colleague has forwarded the concern to the online team please allow 2-3 business days to investigate on this.

However the offer link has to be from HSBC link. 

We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us by calling XXXX, initiating a Live Chat on us.hsbc.com or by replying to this BankMail. 

For additional information on the products and services HSBC Bank offers, please visit us at us.hsbc.com Thank you, HSBC Digital Contact Center HSBC Bank USA, N.A. XX/XX/XXXX. All Rights Reserved. 

Ten days later, on XX/XX/XXXX I received a reply from secure messaging stating a new reason why HSBC was refusing to award the promotion -- a credit card application that was approved XX/XX/XXXX. I responded to the secure message quoting the terms below, which do not include opening a line of credit as an exclusion to the checking account offer : Customers who held an HSBC consumer deposit or investment account from XX/XX/XXXX through and including XX/XX/XXXX are not eligible for this offer. All qualifying activities must be completed within the stated time frames in order to be eligible for the Welcome Deposit ... Eligible customers who take advantage of this offer can not receive any other New Consumer Deposit Offers provided by HSBC Bank USA, N.A. New Consumer Deposit Offers are defined as incentives in a form of merchandise and/or cash bonus that are offered to customers who open an eligible checking account and satisfy qualifying activities. 


After no response through secure messaging I called the premier call center and asked to speak to a supervisor. Both I and the supervisor agreed that per the terms new consumer deposit offers clearly refer to checking accounts and not lines of credit. She made a new inquiry to the marketing and promotions department asking for clarification on what account was previously opened in the past year. She then said if the only previous account was a credit card I could expect to receive the {$200.00} bonus. The response via secure messaging was received XX/XX/XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX Dear REDACTED : Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A We thank you for your follow-up BankMail with regards to the account opening promotional bonus. 

We regret to inform you that the account did not qualify for the promotional bonus as you had previous relationship in the last 1 year of campaign start date. 

We regret for any inconvenience this may cause. 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Alternatively, you may contact our Customer Relationship Center at XXXX for further assistance. 

Thank you, HSBC Digital Contact Center HSBC Bank USA, N.A. XX/XX/XXXX. All Rights Reserved. 

After replying again and stating the terms do not define a line of credit as a new consumer account I received a response XX/XX/XXXX. 
Note the link to the offer page in the reply from HSBC is for the advance checking instead of the choice checking : XX/XX/XXXX Dear REDACTED : Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A We thank you for your follow-up BankMail with regards to the account opening promotional bonus. 

In order to get the bonus you have to be new to bank customer Upon review, we notice that your account did not qualify for the promotional bonus as you had previous relationship in the last 1 year of campaign start date. In order to know more details Please click on the below link. 

https : //www.us.hsbc.comXXXX # advance-checking-details We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to service your account via this mode of communication. We encourage you to continue to use this service for your banking related inquiries. 

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us by initiating a chat with us. Live Chat agents available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help with many of your banking needs. Log on to Personal Internet Banking and click the Live Chat button found on the right side of the screen to start chatting. or by replying to this Bank Mail. For additional information on the products and services HSBC Bank offers, please visit us at us.hsbc.com alternatively you may also call our customer care at XXXX - XXXX Monday - Sunday XXXXXXXX XXXX - XXXXXXXX XXXX EST. 

Thank you, HSBC Digital Contact Center HSBC Bank USA, N.A. XX/XX/XXXX. All Rights Reserved. 



New message from XX/XX/XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX Dear REDACTED : Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A. 

We understand your concern with regards to the promotional bonus offer for {$200.00} Please be informed as per the investigation done by our Marketing and Campaign Team, your account is not qualified for the promotional offer. 
As there was a past relationship with HSBC in last 1 year of campaign start date. However, please be informed we have forwarded your request again to the Campaign Team based on your BankMail to reconsider and consider your account. 

Thank you, HSBC Digital Contact Center HSBC Bank USA, N.A. XX/XX/XXXX. All Rights Reserved. 

New message from XX/XX/XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX Dear REDACTED : Greetings from HSBC USA N.A.!

Hope this BankMail finds you well. 
We are writing this BankMail with regards to the welcome bonus inquiry you had. 

As we mention in our earlier correspondence BankMail, we regert to inform you after our Marketing and Campaign Team has reviewed your account, it has been concluded that you do not qualify for the offer as we notice that your account did not qualify for the promotional bonus as you had previous relationship in the last 1 year of campaign start date. 
We regert any inconvinience this may have caused. However, as per the promotion offer of your account opening, customer who held any HSBC consumer account are not eligible for the offer. 

Please be informed, we have log a complain number XXXX on your behalf so that our Management Team can review it. 

We sincerely apologize for any inconvinience this may have caused. 


Thank you, HSBC Digital Contact Center HSBC Bank USA, N.A. XX/XX/XXXX. All Rights Reserved.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation