I'm sure the architecture and artwork of this tower is beautiful, but that's not what this review is about. This review is for people who are deciding which bank to use. Unless you're a horrible person, I recommend that you avoid HSBC.
I had thought that the HSBC on every street corner in Mexico was a good sign. Boy, was I wrong.
Below are the details of my neverending saga with HSBC. If you'd prefer the Cliff Notes, just read the rest of this paragraph. Let's say you open an account with HSBC. You do everything right and provide all documents they ask of you. Sooner or later, someone in some department will make an error, and your money will be inaccessible. Deposits to your account will bounce. You will spend dozens and dozens of hours waiting and following up. Some HSBC employees will endlessly tell you to contact another branch or department. Other HSBC employees will truly want to help you. They go out of their way to help you. Unfortunately, they're stuck in a gigantic, dysfunctional system. To call this big bank inefficient would be the understatement of the year.
Opening a checking account took a total of almost three hours. No problem, maybe the representative who helped me was new.
Later, I went to HSBC.com.mx to view my account online. I agreed to all the terms and conditions and provided all the requested information. Then, instead of being able to access my account, I received the following error message: "Tu cuenta require actualización. Por favor, acude a tu sucursal para poder continuar."
So I went to an HSCB branch (in Colonia Del Valle), wrote down my name in the 3-ring binder, sat down with a newspaper (since there was no WiFi), and waited about 45 minutes for my turn. When a representative finally called me to her desk, I told her the error message HSBC's website had given me. She then told me to call the 800 number. I patiently explained that their website didn't tell me to call the 800 number; it told me to come in to a branch. She explained to me that there was nothing she could do.
So I asked if she could do me the favor of looking into my account and seeing if there was some problem. How kind of her to oblige! (Sarcasm intended). I provided her with my account number and debit card. She typed it into her computer and informed me that my account had been closed ("cancelado," en español).
This was news to me. HSBC has my phone number and e-mail address and had never informed me that there was any problem with my account.
She imagined that the executive who opened my account probably hadn't submitted the proper documents. That's interesting because he had told me that my account had been successfully opened. It was sure open when I made my first deposit.
So how do I get back the money in my account? She insisted the only way was to return to the branch at which I opened the account. I explained that I opened the account at a branch in Hermosillo, Sonora. She insisted there was nothing she could do, that my only option was to travel 2000 kilometers.
A dear friend of mine in Hermosillo was kind enough to go to the branch at which I opened the account. She reported back that I didn't need to return to Hermosillo after all -- they just needed to get an authorization from the manager.
So I went to a different branch in Mexico City. They're doing their best to help me with this problem that appears to have been caused by the employee who opened my account. As of now, I've made five trips to this branch and spent hours waiting there. Due to what looks like internal bureaucracy, I still haven't gotten my money back. What's more, the SAT (the Mexican Treasury Department) sent a refund (devolución) to my account after HSBC closed it, so now I will have to go back to an equally dysfunctional and bureaucratic institution. In other words, HSBC has wasted an obscene amount of my life. Don't let them do the same to you. read more