Irishman,
You would think so wouldn't you, but i have an HSBC account, and a very similar thing to Peter has happened to me with that account. We now only use that account as a sort of emergencey slush fund ..haha!!
Peter,
Occasionally you do have problems such as you have experienced, and sometimes it's because we have forgotten something like a sort code, or branch code when transferring the money. Now if you are sure everything was done correctly, contact the head office of that bank and tell them that you expect the interest incurred during the time that these funds have been unavailable to you and in there care to be deposited in your account along with the initial sum. I can assure you it won't take 30 days to transfer that money back into your own account in Changsha!!!
We both have BOC accounts, and rarely do we have any problems with them, in fact in my experience, they are generally better than the HBSC in China, they certainly carry more weight over there. HSBC are the king in Hong Kong with branches on almost every street.
The thing to remember when dealing with banks, is to find the angle where it's them that is going to pay you when they don't get it right. This is a perfect example where you can make them pay for there blunder. Where you are perfectly within your rights to ask for interest to be paid to you, Yes! even in China!!! They are making interest on that money while in there care, so you are quite within your rights to ask for that interest to be repaid back to yourself.
David....