HSBC Watch News Release Forum Index
Forum Name: - Best Buy
Topic Title: Phishing scheme or Best Buy telemarketing
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next
Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:24 pm
Granted people have an obligation to pay, but Household - HSBC customer service representatives and managers continue to tell customers they have no obligation to send a statement.
That is not true. I quote Regulation Z, Fair Credit Billing Act. I also know that Household- HSBC company policy is to credit back (refund) one late fee per year.
If you fail to get your statement, and you contact Household - HSBC, in theory they give you back your late fee, ensure they have your correct address, and no further problems occur.
In reality, however, when CSR's and supervisors tell you something that is not true, such as the age-old song and dance about not being required to send you a bill, there is one good alternative.
When you fail to get your bill from Household - HSBC, immediately write them a letter. In your letter somewhere, simply indicate that CSR's made statements to you that are in violation of Regulation Z, Fair Credit Billing Act, and therefore all future conversations with Household - HSBC will be recorded. Make a copy of your letter. Send one copy to Household - HSBC Corporate, and the other copy to your state attorney general. Send both letters with proof of delivery.
When you record your call (check your state regulations first) the message on Household - HSBC's end of the conversation which states "all calls may be monitored or recorded" is adequate for legal purposes.
For the final step, take your letter to the attorney general and your letter to Household - HSBC, and the proof of delivery receipts, and make copies. Write your overview of the case, which is usually that you were told by Household - HSBC that "your bills were returned to them" or "you provided a bad address on your application" or "you never submitted a change of address." File a mail fraud complaint with the ammo you now have.
This has been going on for years, and perhaps you were told something different, but those are the three Household - HSBC CSR's like to use to make you feel guilty.
Finally, If you send a change of address to Household - HSBC, send it with proof of delivery. It may cost $4 to do it but it may save you seven years of heartache later. I cannot stress this enough. For anybody that has an account with any of Household - HSBC's merchants, and there are about seventy merchants, send your change of address with a proof of delivery.
To those that have never had a problem, I think that is great, and sincerely hope it stays that way. But for the hundreds of thousands touched by Household's nationwide settlement, and thousands more arbitrarily harmed and hurt by Shea v Household, I personally want to know if there is a FICO score cutoff or some other criteria which decides who gets hurt and who doesn't.
There are insider reports that tell of entire trays of bills being put back into the postal system so they will be late. Are these bills sorted? Otherwise anybody can be a victim of Shea v. Household. Only through consumer reports like we see on this website will we get to the bottom of it. Is the zip code different for Best Buy than it is for Saks? Questions need to be answered!
Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:01 pm
I called this number back after I got five calls in one day from them. I told them if they cannot find an account connected to my cellular number then they are in violation of FCC rules for unsolicited calls on a cellular network. (I don't know if there are any, I was just blowing smoke back at them) I wouldn't give them my name, I told them if they can't find it with my cellular number, then I am not a customer of theirs and to cease all calls to my number or I will consider it harassment. (after all, if there is no name associated with the number, why are they calling it?) There are harassment laws out there that do cover this type of situation, so I guess if it doesn't stop, I will send a copy of my cell bill to the state att. general's office, that ought to stop 'em!
Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:17 pm
I too have been receiving calls from this 1800-280-5777 number. It is always automated and I have been receiving them daily. Finally, I jotted down the number the automated message gave me to call back (1-800-283-0510). After calling that number, I again got an automated message telling me to call yet another number (1-800-365-6538). I finally was able to speak with someone human. However, she would NOT give me any information whatsoever unless I gave her part of my SS#. I questioned what it was about and all the info she would give me was that it was an attempt to collect a debt and that they were from HSBC. We battled back and forth for a while but I still refused to give my SS#. I asked them to send me information in the mail and she stated that they cannot do that. She was very rude and stated the calls would continue unless I gave them my number. After getting off the phone with her, I called HSBC directly. The customer service rep. that I spoke with was very interested in this and she took the matter directly to HSBC security. They informed me that NONE of those numbers are from their company. Ultimately, they could not do much because I am not even a customer of theirs. They did tell me I could report it to www.ftc.gov (1-877-438-4338). I contacted them and they told me that if I request it, companies trying to collect a debt MUST send you information in the mail. There is more information on their website.
Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:59 pm
Jennybob wrote:
I again got an automated message telling me to call yet another number (1-800-365-6538). I finally was able to speak with someone human. However, she would NOT give me any information whatsoever unless I gave her part of my SS#. I questioned what it was about and all the info she would give me was that it was an attempt to collect a debt and that they were from HSBC. We battled back and forth for a while but I still refused to give my SS#. I asked them to send me information in the mail and she stated that they cannot do that. She was very rude and stated the calls would continue unless I gave them my number. After getting off the phone with her, I called HSBC directly. The customer service rep. that I spoke with was very interested in this and she took the matter directly to HSBC security. They informed me that NONE of those numbers are from their company. Ultimately, they could not do much because I am not even a customer of theirs.
1-800-365-6538 is answered as "HSBC Retail Services." This is the old Household Retail Services, aka HRS, aka HRSI. Either HSBC bankers do not recognize their predatory counterparts or there was a communication breakdown. At any rate, when you talk to someone at 1-800-365-6538 you are talking to the same predatory lending customer service rep's that tell you they don't need to send you a monthly statement, etc, etc...
They make it up as they go along sometimes, and your report adds another element to the legacy of predatory acts. Thanks for your report.
Mon Feb 14, 2005 11:14 am
Anonymous wrote:
I called this number back after I got five calls in one day from them. I told them if they cannot find an account connected to my cellular number then they are in violation of FCC rules for unsolicited calls on a cellular network. (I don't know if there are any, I was just blowing smoke back at them) I wouldn't give them my name, I told them if they can't find it with my cellular number, then I am not a customer of theirs and to cease all calls to my number or I will consider it harassment. (after all, if there is no name associated with the number, why are they calling it?) There are harassment laws out there that do cover this type of situation, so I guess if it doesn't stop, I will send a copy of my cell bill to the state att. general's office, that ought to stop 'em!
I have also been getting constant calls to my cell phone from the 800.280.5777 number. The one time I answered a call, I got an automated message asking me to wait for the next available CS rep. I was a bit disturbed to learn of the history of this company from this site after Googling the number. I don't have any credit accounts with retailers, but I will keeping a close eye on my credit report just in case. Whenever they call now, I immediately answer and put them on hold. With any luck, the CS rep will mark the number as dead.
I'm 90% sure that they got my number from a rebate sent to Best Buy or CompUSA (I sent rebates in from both in the past 2 months). Do they engage in cold calling, or are they trying to fool me into thinking I have a debt with them (and getting information from me in the process)? Has anyone had any luck getting off of their call list?
DP
We monitor customer trends for possible violations of Regulation Z and other possible illegal actions.