I have been using HSL since 2005-06. Here’s the list of woes that I have faced with them:
1) Very difficult to file taxes because they provide no annual statement like in ICICI or other brokerages.
2) Pretty bad MIS/info systems
3) Invariably site is inaccessible during heavy trading periods
4) Telebroking numbers have too few extensions, so they are impossible to reach during peak times.
5) On 5th Sep 08, their entire derivatives segment was locked from trading. Since then, there has not even an apology or acknowledgement of the incident.
6) There is a lot of red tape. Quite a few times, queries are shuttled between "Customer Care" and Tele broking.
In contrast, there are some advantages also:
1) They dont hassle you to sell their products. In fact, you learn about new schemes only in case u visit their site .
2) They dont clog you inbox with "trading calls".