Orchard Bank / HSBC Services, Inc review: major credit card fee rip off! 12

It is too bad that so many people have been scammed by this bank/ fraudulent company.
My father is nearing 80 years of age and I always check his mail at his post office box for him and I have done so for over 15 years. My father never requested a card from Orchard Bank HSBC or anything similar. He has not had a credit card since he was 68 years old when he decided to close his credit card account with his bank that he has his regular checking and savings at. Well in mid September 2013 there was a bill from HSBC Orchard Bank demanding payment of $487.63 for overdue payment on account and the only current charge was $79 for annual fee and the $408.63 was for past due charges on the account.
I called the customer service department listed on the bill and it was out of service so I looked it up on YP.COM and there were several numbers provided. I called the first one and was told that I needed to contact the card services branch and the lady told me that she would get the number for me. Finally I had a number. I called and was assured that everything would be done to insure our complete satisfaction. Then I was put on hold for about two minutes then another rep came on the phone asking me to provide my fathers checking account number and a check number from his checkbook to make payment in full with a check by phone. I told this rep that my father never requested the card and had never received a card therefore he could not have made any charges with the card. He began arguing stating that the request for the card was made by him and it was a legally binding request that was honored by them and now he has charges and fees that are past due. Then he started requesting my father's ATM Debit card number and info. I told him that the charges are not legitimate and that I was contesting all charges on the card. He said the procedure to contest charges is to pay the amount in full then he would provide another phone number to call to file a dispute and if they find in your favor they will refund any amount due my father. He said twice that they had my father's written request for the card on his application. I asked them to please scan it and email it to us or if need be to make a copy and send it to us. He said that he could not do that. I told him that they were obligated to provide us with a copy of the application and to also provide us with copies of past due bills with itemized statement data included fully. He said that they had already mailed the bills and if we did not have them it was not their fault. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing and I felt it was some kind of mail scam and I told my father if they called to not provide them with any info and just hang up on them. Well in February of this year we received a letter from a collection agency on behalf of Seller: HSBC Card Services III Inc and then it says. Merchant: Orchard Bank Then it says Creditor To Whom Debt Is Owed: Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.
I would not be surprised to find out this Portfolio Associates jazz is probably another company tied in together and owned by Orchard Bank or HSBC.
Anyway, I began searching and trying to find out what recourse we had and not finding much except to try to get in touch with the California Attorney General's office.
I cannot believe that a company can just claim you requested a card and one was sent and it was used and all of it is a lie. The fact that they do not want to cooperate and provide a copy of the card application as well as charges on the card and copies of the original monthly statements showing when and where purchases were supposedly made. My father is strictly cash or ATM debit and has been that way for over 10 years. Nobody else has a key to the P O Box except me. The fact that they say he got the card in October of 2012, you would think that we would have received a monthly statement at some point if their claims were true. We have never received anything until September 2013. I'd like to see how they would try to pass off my father's signature by forging it. His is highly unique and has been all his life.
I get the feeling that this business is operating primarily out of the United States. They may have some addresses but most are probably those boxes at Mail Boxes Etc. LOL

I am on the phone with this joke of a company right now. It's unreal. They wont send me the credit they OWE ME and wont send a replacement card because my address changed and they are now saying that because they have no record of when i changed my address (one month ago) that I am wrong and I have always been at the new address. I told them i have bills that prove they mailed it to my old address as recently as last month! Also I have a lease from the landlord showing I just moved into the new address. NONE of it was good enough! Can you believe it!?!? Now I can't close the account or get my money they overdrew OR get a replacement card.
Next stop.. lawyers office

I wonder if Orchard Bank plans to stay in business. People are becoming more and more savvy. Watching their bills and wanting to know what they are paying for. I have had an account with Orchard bank for 10 years and I never really look at my bill (which is not recommended) I just trusted them. I used this account for minor purchases. This year I didn't owe a cent and I knew it, but I got a bill for $99.00 to renew my card. I was shocked...you could have blown me over. Probably for 10 years I have paid from $50 to $100 to use this card. Now why would I or anyone do that when there are a myriad of companies out there offering no annual fee cards? Why? Would anyone pay an exorbitant fee for something they can get free? Not me. No more. I think it would be a nice thing if we used word of mouth to tell everyone we know to stop paying an annual fee to Orchard Bank HSBC when you can get any or many credit cards with NO fee. Cancel your Orchard Bank credit card.

I have the phone number to the CEO's office. The number is [protected] (Orchard Bank) also [protected] (Orchard Bank). Pass these numbers around. They are 100% correct as of today 08/16/2011 as I just got off the phone with them. You may need a referance. Ask for ext.2881 and this will get you past the front desk. CALL, CALL, CALL!

When you talk to these people always ask heir name and record the conversation at all times, they record you so you can record them.

Same deal with me as the rest of you. My wife and I closed our card in may of 2008 and didn't think any more about them until July of 2009. We went to buy a house and when our final credit report was run it turns out that Orchard Bank did not close our account and had charged us a 50 dollar fee for having the card. The preceded to charge us late fees on top of that. Our card had $150.00 on it when I called in July of 2009. I talked to a customer service rep and told them I wanted to pay the card off and wanted my credit report fixed. She said she could do that ( a total lie) paid the card off. Logged into the orchard site the next day and a brand new $35.00 charge was on my card that I payed of the day before. At this point I am battling them trying to get them to fix my credit report because the late fee's reported to my credit report (for a card that I paid off and was closed) had destroyed my credit. They will not fix my credit nor waive the 35.00 fee. This bank is in my opinion no better then the mob and are clearly crooks. We were One week away from closing on a house when our final credit report was run and this showed up on my credit. One week away from getting a house that we are now not going to be able to get financed for...

I wish I had the CEO's address

I am scared to death now! I have had nothing but faults fee's and made up charges from this company. I found this page searching the internet in hopes to find an address for the CEO to cancel my account. Now I don't know what to do. If anyone reads this and knows the address and name of the CEO please post it here. Thanks, Mike

This certainly sounds familiar. I recently received a bill for an "annual fee" that I had never paid before. I contacted customer service via email and received the same message every email re: yearly fee charged every year on anniversary of the account. Well the yearly fee charged and sent my account over the limit and charged before my next payment due date which cahrged an additional fee to my account. I will finish paying them this month and will contact them via certified mail to close the account. Hope it works out okay!

What a scam! They are a predatory company. I wish I had never heard of them. If anyone out there is thinking about getting a card from Orchard, DON'T DO IT!

I have tried for a year to get Orchard/HSBC to close my account after I paid off my account. They won't record it as closed; I have given the same message to over 12 people. I tried to go to an HSBC Bank and was told they don't handle credit cards. I paid them a "settlement" I did not owe to get them off my back--they are still adding finance charges and asking for another "settlement." Now I have been turned over to a RedLine Credit Agency harassing me on a daily basis. I have given same story now 13 times. Last agent threatened me because I refused to send more money for what I don't owe.

I believe all complaints on this Orchard Bank company. I live with Buford Perkins. This 83 yr old man does not have nor ever has had a credit card with this Orchard Bank but he keeps receiving bills for an annual fee. As we've never seen, and do not want to see, an actual credit card from the Orchard Bank we didn't believe they really had them until I read these complaints on this site. They refuse to delete the info from their computers as they promise via phone calls. I have just sent this info along with their bills to our State Attorney General to investigate their shady dealings.

I just received my Orchard Bank Card which hasn't had any activity on it since Last October (2006). There is a Zero balance on it. My 'bill' this month informs me that my $79 annual fee (! I guess the fee went up in the past few weeks!) will be charged next month.

So realizing I never use the card anyway, I decided to call the company to close the account --Before the fee is even charged. They won't let me! I have called twice yesterday and once today. Every time the Customer Service Rep (In India, of course) 'transfers' me to their 'supervisor' to perform the cancellation, the line goes dead and I get a dial tone! On the third time I called, I asked the person to please not transfer me, but to have her supervisor come to HER desk to help me since I keep being disconnected, she says, "Ok Sir, One moment." and then transfers me anyway and guess what? I get hung up on again.

I don't mean to seem ungrateful... this company is one of the few that would extend me credit when I needed it, but the honeymoon is over. I want the thing cancelled. I guess I will write to them and try a few more times by phone and see if I can get any satisfaction.