The good thing about HSBC relocating from Kitchener to Waterloo is that it's closer to my place there. The bad thing? In the three or so times I've been here, I've never been able to find the teller desk. I haven't had the need to use it yet, but it's really weird how a major bank such as HSBC would not have teller services in some of their branches. I know my grandma would not be pleased by that. Aside from lack of tellers, the bank machines do their job of quick, efficient deposit/withdrawal service. read more

Beware of this branch. Awful customer service. I am moving to another country from Canada and I thought that HSBC was the natural choice. My wife and I thought we would take the opportunity to consolidate all our savings and investments and we would be all set no matter where we went in the world. Don't believe HSBC's hype. First, it literally took 3 months to set up an overseas account. Nowadays, you can often do this in 20 minutes and $50. Moreover, internet banking and sites like xe.com let you deal with money transfers at a better rate than a bank like HSBC will ever give you. I wish I had researched this before. I have had to return to the bank multiple times to fill out forms that were incorrectly filled out the first time. Once or twice is understandable, but I cannot think of a single thing that has worked out without multiple trips to the bank. Moreover, their customer services reps are horrible. I have a Premier associate who regularly forgets to do things -- even if I create a list of things I need done and email it to them. And these are not big tasks (create account, get cheques, etc.) I signed up for a Premier account and the service has been abysmal. I am going back to TD (or any other bank) as soon as I can. My wife has seen what we've had to go through and she has decided not to use HSBC. I guess we will consolidate things at TD. All in all, four months later and multiple things are still not set up... at other banks much of this is an afternoon's work... I don't think this is an HSBC issue so much as it is a childish and toxic culture at that branch. Perhaps it is for the best, the poor service has forced me to research and I have found better alternatives. I am leaving them ASAP. read more

Just wasted an hour of my time by going to their branch for my appointment, which was confirmed before my arrival. However, there was nobody to meet me there, and I just waited in the lobby after informing the teller that I am here. Before leaving I asked the teller and she told me she informed the person with whom I have the appointment, but he still kept me waiting. It was already difficult to get that appointment because I had to explain twice that I know the qualifications requirement and that I qualify, and to add insult to injury those people with whom I talked were just gate keepers that didn't know anything about the investment products and couldn't answer anything about why I should be an HSBC client. It felt like they don't want my business, or that they acted as if entitled because they offer something nobody else offers. I have heard from several people that they are not good at customer service, and some of those people were premier in other countries but still didn't want to open an account with HSBC Canada because of that. I had to see for myself to believe, and this seems to be right. I have never been treated so dismissively by any establishment before. read more