Readers’ grievances raised with banks and telecom service provider

Delay in issuing a Liability Letter, charges accrued on a dormant account, extra charges accrued on a telecomaccount that had been deactivated, delay in issuing a No Objection Certificate against an account and a credit card — readers raise a range of iss

Settling loan

Iapplied

for a loan with First Abu Dhabi Bank ( FAB) in April 2017. It was denied several times, due to a liability letter issue.

I then contacted the bank representative to cancel the processing of the loan on June 5, 2017.

I hoped that the said application had been stopped, unfortunately, I received a WhatsApp message stating that my FAB credit card had already been through a buyout by National Bank of Abu Dhabi ( NBAD, which latermerged with First Gulf Bank to form FAB), although I did not provide the bankwith any such permission.

Supposedly, there shouldn’t have been any buyouts, as I had already cancelledmy loan application.

I called NBAD’s customer service, and managed to speak to their team leaderwherein he advised that Iwould have to provide a liability letter to continue the processing of my loan application. I then told him that I was no longer willing to apply for a loan, as my visa was subject to renewal and I didn’t want to have any financial obligations with the bank, because I was

I then replied to them in an email that this was absurd. Why would they chargeme that much, when in the first place, I did not request themto buy out my liability?”

Ms Liberty Calma | Abu Dhabi

not sure if my visa would be renewed or not.

I then spoke to NBAD officials, telling them that I would pay the entire amount that they have paid to buy out my credit card liability from FAB, amounting to Dh17,000. Unfortunately, NBAD offered to settle the amount on instalment basis for eight months for Dh3,144, which would reach Dh25,152.00 at the end of the duration.

I then replied to them in an email that this was absurd. Why would they chargeme that much, when in the first place, I did not request them to buy out my liability?

I appeal to NBAD towaive all charges because I don’t have any standing instructions; I did not provide any permission to buy out my liabilities. I am willing to pay the total outstanding only.

From Ms Liberty Calma

Abu Dhabi

Themanagement 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 Ms Calma, and explained that the loan request was approved and processed based on the signed application submitted by the customer. FAB has informed Ms Calma that the loan cancellation request can be taken forward once the outstanding balance is cleared. The bank has provided a repayment plan and we are continuing to work with the customer to resolve the matter.

Ms Calma responds:

After I sent many emails to discuss with NBAD about my willingness to pay them in full, they then managed to reply to me, by offering a payment scheme. However, the payment scheme they have offered is a one- sided offer and I believe only the bank would benefit. It states that I need to pay the insurance and processing fee, which is an additional amount of Dh8,000 from my outstanding of Dh17,300 only, which is now totalling Dh25,000.

I immediately replied through email, to request from them to remove the processing and insurance fee and all accrued interest, as I had not requested for their services, and I repeatedly mentioned that I had requested to cancel the loan application since May 2017. I officially sent the email on June 5, 2017, as per their instructions to proceed with the cancellation of the loan at their office.

When I didn’t receive any response tomy email, I went to theirCollections Department, located in Al Mussaffah, to inform them that I was willing to pay the full amount of Dh17,300 on that day, but they declinedmy request for full payment and emailed me, insisting that I pay the entire Dh25,000, which included all charges.

Also, I am continuously receiving threats from NBAD agents about a travel ban and being blacklisted by Al Etihad Credit Bureau, which I believe is outrageous and inappropriate. Other agents from NBAD assured me that they would contact me to settle the issue and come upwith a solution but aftermonths of waiting, there has been no better solution that they can offer.

Now, I have come to know that NBAD managed to degrade my credit score with the Bureau, after all the coordination, the willingness, the support and being able to maintain an excellent credit score for almost 11 years in the UAE. They have ruined it for just Dh17,000, even though I am willing to pay them in full.

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 reached a settlement agreement with the customer and the customer has agreed to pay the amount to close the loan and release the blocked amount.

Ms Calma responds:

I already received my clearance documents from FAB. Thanks Gulf News, for your assistance.

( Process initiation: September 17, 2017. Response from organisation: December 7, 2017. Process completion: February 1, 2018.)

Charged for dormant account

Many

years ago, I had applied for an auto loan and in connection with that, also opened a current account with Mashreq Bank. I repaid the loan amount, however the account was not closed. I did notmake any other transaction through this account apart from transactions due to the purpose of my loan.

The bank usually sends a quarterly statement and suddenly, I noticed they had charged me Dh25 per month on this dormant account from 2012 onwards. It accumulated to a huge amount. When I approached the bank, they said this amount had to be paid to close the account. The bank was silent all these years and they did not even send me any communication related to this dormant account closure or any information about penalty charges. Could Gulf News please intervene and close this matter so that I don’t have to pay any charges?

From Mr Babu Muthiah Karthiyaini

Dubai

The management of Mashreq responds:

Thank you for sharingMr Karthiyaini’s concernwith us. We have reviewed the concerns raised by Mr Karthiyaini regarding the charges accumulated on his current account.

Our investigation reveals that Mr Karthiyaini has an account with us since June 6, 2012, and was not maintaining the minimum balance in his account due towhich the chargeswere levied on the account as per the schedule of charges. The charges went on hold as he did not have sufficient funds in his account.

We have recently amended our statements’ format and started showing these accumulated charges in the monthly statement. We have dropped the charges on hold as a goodwill gesture as Mr Karthiyaini wishes to close his account.

We have contacted Mr Karthiyaini and informed that he would need to visit the nearest Mashreq branch for the closure of account and he is satisfied with the prompt response.

We take this opportunity to thank Gulf News once again for bringing a customer issue to our notice.

Mr Karthiyaini responds:

Thank you very much for the effort and help. Much appreciated. I received the confirmation from the bank, saying that the account was closed without any penalty charges having been applied.

( Process initiation: January 29. Response from organisation: January 31. Reader confirmation: February 4.)

Overcharged

Ihad

an eLife connection contract with etisalat till August 2016. They deactivatedmy connection in September 2016.

During that period, my bill came up to Dh1,540. I didn’t pay because I had some financial issues for my daughter’s treatment and my contract was supposed to expire in August 2016. Then, I received a textmessage thatmy unpaid bill was Dh3,844.

I called the etisalat customer service to know why they changed the amount, since my contract and connection had been deactivated. They told me that my contract had been renewed and they charged me till the account froze.

I visited etisalat’s office, but they told me that I should send them my complaint through email. So I sent them my complaint. How can they charge me despite my contract being expired? How can they renew my contract without my knowledge? I requested them to amendmy bill.

They responded by stating that as per their policy, they had charged me and I had to pay. I informed them that I couldn’t pay and I wasn’t aware of such a policy. Additionally, no one had informed me.

I have now been receiving emails from their collections and legal department that if I don’t pay the bill, they will file a case and a travel ban will be implemented. I don’t know how to resolve this issue.

From Mr Vijayakumar Ennavarjala

Dubai

The management of etisalat responds:

Thank you for bringing Mr Ennavarjala’s concern to our attention. Etisalat customer service team would want to apologise for all the inconvenience he might have faced. We have already reached out to the customer and he has agreed to the resolution provided. Etisalat has considered the customer’s financial issues and decided to remove the charges for non- usage. We have informed him of the refund as well as his pending dues. The customer is satisfied and agreed to close the case.

( Process initiation: February 5. Response from organisation: February 12. Process completion: February 23.)

Waiting formy letter

Iwould

like to lodge a complaint against Emirates Islamic Bank’s poor customer service. In December 2017, I found a new job and received end of service benefits from my previous company.

For the bank to release the amount, they needed my original passport with the visa stamped on it. After two weeks, I provided themwith all the required documents and requested them to release the amount. The bank confirmed that it would take seven working days.

I patiently waited for two weeks and since I didn’t hear anything from them, I called and visited the bank’s branch in Abu Dhabi Mall and to my surprise, discovered there was a mistake fromthe bank’s agent upon submitting the request.

The branch manager urgently requested the release again and I received the amount the next day. Due to this incident, I decided to closemy account in Emirates Islamic and applied for a new account in another bank.

I recently requested to cancel my credit card and requested a no objection certificate ( NOC).

The bank’s agent was eager and pushed me not to cancel my account. He urged me to continue with my salary transfer to their bank.

I called the bank’s hotline number and cancelled my credit card and requested the NOC letter.

Even on requesting the NOC, they had terrible service. They are giving me a hard time to get the letter and say it will take 45 days from the day I cancelled my credit card. In order to have it issued, I would also need to pay the bank Dh100.

I’ve been a customer of the bank for five years and even settled my credit card liabilities on time and it is very disappointing that I am experiencing this kind of treatment.

From Mr Jeremie Jacobo

Abu Dhabi

Suddenly, I noticed that the bank had charged me Dh25 per month on a dormant account from 2012 onwards. It accumulated into a huge amount.”

Mr BabuMuthiah Karthiyaini | Dubai

The management of Emirates Islamic Bank responds:

Thank you for bringing Mr concerns to our attention.

Our Customer Experience team has been in touch with Mr Jacobo and the issue has been resolved to his satisfaction. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to him and take this Jacobo’s opportunity to reiterate that Emirates Islamic is committed to providing the best customer experience to all our clients.

( Process initiation: March 19. Response from organisation: March 21. Process completion: March 27.)

■ Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that youwould like to raise with us? Something you raised with an organisation, but couldn’t get resolved? You can write to us at readers@ gulfnews. com

Gulf News is not liable for any of the reader- delivered content on this page. It is a reflection of their individual opinion and not that of the newspaper. This page will always follow the principle of civil discourse.

I’ve been a customer of the bank for five years and even settledmy credit card liabilities on time. It is very disappointing that I am experiencing this kind of treatment.”

Mr Jeremie Jacobo | Abu Dhabi