‘Bank said charges can’t be reversed’

Bank charged a customer excess amount while closing his credit card

I am a physician working in Abu Dhabi. Recently, I had a terrible experience with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), at their Delma Mall branch. They have charged me an excess amount while closing my credit card.

I had an FAB credit card, which included an easy payment plan with a credit limit of Dh16,000. I applied for a buyout from Noor Bank, for which, they provided a liability letter that was dated May 18, 2017, showing an outstanding liability of Dh16,100 that was valid till May 24.

I went to the Delma Mall branch of FAB with Noor Bank representatives on May 24, with a cheque amount of Dh16,100. There, we met with a customer care executive who was initially reluctant to receive the cheque, as it was issued by the Mall of the Emirates branch, even though I was informed by the customer care representative at the latter branch, that the cheque would be acceptable in any branch in the UAE. After discussing with the Delma Mall branch manager, they accepted the cheque on May 24. However, they informed me that I would have to deposit another Dh500. I deposited the amount instantly and left the bank as they accepted the cheque and gave me the receipt.

After this, nothing was done for the following three to four weeks. Out of frustration, I had to lodge a complaint with FAB. The customer care representative called me during the third week of June and informed me that he was on vacation, so he couldn’t process the cheque at that point. He assured me that he would do it only if I deposited another Dh500 because of accrued interest. Finally, after repeated complaints they gave me a ‘no liability’ letter, but took the interest amount of Dh344.24 and refunded Dh191.11 after repeated calls.

My question is, I deposited the cheque on May 24, so why should I pay interest for the period after that? The cheque amount of Dh16,100 was cleared on June 13. So, they have charged the interest for days between May 24 and June 13. Why should I pay that?

I raised the complaint again, to which the bank’s reply was that no charges can be reversed.

Please look into the matter. Why should I pay interest if their employee was so negligent to delay the process for no reasons? From Mr Jaydip Niyogi Abu Dhabi

The management of FAB responds:

FAB supports the growth ambitions of its stakeholders and goes beyond financial products and services, and as such, we are grateful for all customer feedback as we strive to consistently deliver the highest standards of service. The bank has been in contact with Mr Niyogi, and the matter has been resolved.

Mr Niyogi responds:

The bank might say that the issue has been resolved, but they charged me extra interest for approximately two weeks. Why should I pay that?

The management of FAB responds:

FAB supports the growth ambitions of its stakeholders and goes beyond financial products and services, and as such, we are grateful for all customer feedback as we strive to consistently deliver the highest standards of service. The bank has been in contact with Mr Niyogi, and confirmed that the charges will be reversed.

Mr Niyogi responds:

My case is not yet solved. Please do understand that I have enough proof that shows the bank has charged interest after receiving the cheque. It was a delay on the part of the bank staff who dealt with it, not from my end. So I will escalate this issue to the Central Bank.

(Process initiation: September 13. Response from organisation: September 18. Process completion: November 12.)

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