[Brammofan]

Brian Wismann had reported last week that Enertia buyers were having problems getting the full amount of the bike financed through HSBC on the "two year, 0% interest" deal. A user on another forum, however, was able to get the deal, albeit after a couple of phone calls in which he "refused to take no for an answer."

I did a little searching on one of my favorite consumer sites, consumerist.com and found a couple articles that may be helpful.

"If regular HSBC customer service are being bitches (as they are wont to do) and you're not making any headway, try calling 877-472-2005 which is the number to reach HSBC executive customer service. Also, a number for card services is 831-755-6699." There are some reports that one of those numbers is no longer good, but it's worth a shot.

Also, the CEO's contact info, as of last week:

Having trouble with HSBC? Executive customer service no help? Here's where to contact the president and CEO of HSBC Bank USA.

paul.j.lawrence@us.hsbc.com

Paul J. Lawrence
President/CEO
HSBC Bank USA, N.A.
452 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018

Finally, try a search on consumerist.com for the tag hsbc.

[skadamo]

Great info, thanks!

[Phantom]

I just bought a Brammo Enertia   from a west coast Best Buy and used HSBC for the 2 year financing deal. I also read about another user not accepting no for an answer.

Here is how it went down:

I applied for the Best Buy card online that offered financing deals.

I was immediately approved for $3,000 credit.

I called  HSBC (who Best Buy uses for their credit card services) and asked for an increase to $8,000 to buy a motorcycle from them.

I was given a $600 increase, then I asked to be transferred to the supervisor after 10 minutes of explaining what I was trying to do.

Once I was transferred to the supervisor, I was rejected for any other increases due to my credit history (which happens to be better than average). I argued the point for 15 minutes and asked to speak to someone else.

I eventually ended up speaking to the loan underwriter. I asked him to review my credit and to specifically tell me what on my credit report made him feel uneasy about the credit I was requesting.  He asked me some more personal details about my work history, gross pay, etc. I also work in Finance, so I could speak to him using the jargon he also used. He seemed unaware of Brammo Enertia deal, and he said his company was restricting credit limits due to the current economic credit crisis.

I told him that I was using the credit for the motorcycle which has a serial number and would be titled and registered in a state vehicle database. I explained that if I decided to default on the loan, it would be easy to track me down.

I was about to offer a down payment as a show of good faith, but he approved me for the $8,000. I told him that I would post my experience online to help other people in the EV community.

[Brammofan]

Thanks for updating this thread, Phantom.  I'd heard that you had to be persistent...and it sounds like it didn't hurt that you're a finance guy.  But my personal favorite argument is the serial number one.  Gotta remember that gem.