Online users took to social media to raise awareness on drug abuse.

One customer was charged due to erroneous date on a cheque, the second was not informed his card miles had expired and another was made to wait for a refund on cancelled air tickets

Check the date of cheque

As a long-standing Titanium card privileged account holder with RAKBank, I have a very good payment history. Over the years, I have always settled my dues every month, in full, and well before the due date.

While making a payment in January this year, I had erroneously dated a cheque as ‘2017’. By the time this was discovered, the statement for February was released and I was charged 1) Late payment fee 2) VAT on late payment fee and 3) Finance charges.

Considering that I had paid the cheque well before the due date, and had received no notification from RAKBank about the error in the cheque, nor was the cheque sent to the drawee bank for collection, I visited the RAKBank branch in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, and spoke with the customer service representatives. I was assured that this was a common mistake encountered at the start of every year, and in more than 90 per cent of the cases, all charges would be reversed. I was advised to pay in full, and then apply for reversal of the three charges through the customer service, which I did immediately. My request was initially rejected, after which, I reapplied. It was then that the interest and VAT on interest charges were reversed, but despite several appeals, the finance charges remain.

Given that the original fault of the wrong date is mine, I find it extremely strange that three charges were levied against a single missed payment, of which two charges are reversed for reasons that were taken into consideration, but the same reasons don’t hold good for the third charge against the same missed payment. It should also be noted that:

■ As is the norm, I received a message from RAKBank that a cheque had been received. However, I did not receive any message — as is also the norm — that the cheque had been sent for collection or returned.

■ The cheque was never presented to the drawee bank, otherwise, the error would have been discovered and rectified sooner.

■ The cheque was deposited into the bank much before the due date.

■ Despite calls to the customer service after being informed that a payment had been missed, I was never told what the problem was with the cheque, until I discovered the erroneous year on the date of the cheque. Till then, I was sure I had paid well before the due date.

■ Despite subsequently making full payment, the erroneous cheque, to date, has not been returned to me.

All the customer service personnel have spoken with agree with my reasoning. However, my requests for somebody from the credit card department to call me to discuss this issue have gone unheeded, though they have no problem calling customers at any time to offer all sorts of products.

I am hoping Gulf News will have better luck than I, as a ‘supposedly privileged customer’ in eliciting a positive response from RAKBank.

From Mr Supreeth Anand Attavar

Abu Dhabi

The management or RAKBANK responds:

Thank you for your email regarding concerns raised by Mr Attavar. Please note that as per banks’ standards and best practice in the UAE banking industry, the bank is limited with respect to disclosing or providing details and/or specific information about their customers to any third party to maintain the confidentiality of their data and personal information.

We have contacted the customer and clarified that finance charges as per our published service and price guide were levied since the credit card outstanding balance was not paid in full on the payment due date.

These charges have since been reversed as a service gesture and Mr Attavar has been informed about the same.

Mr Attavar responds:

A RAKBank representative called me and mentioned the finance charges were being reversed and it would reflect in my next statement. I can only personally verify it then, but am happy to take their word for it. The intervention of Gulf News has resulted in a favourable outcome, and I thank the newspaper for the same.

(Process initiation: May 27. Response from organisation: May 30. Process completion: June 3.)

When do miles expire?

Ihave a Standard Chartered Bank Master Titanium credit card, which I have been using for many years. In my card statement for May, I noticed that 300 points had expired. I called the bank’s phone banking number and requested that it be reversed but the bank refused, saying as per the card policy, the miles expire after one year and it mentions this somewhere on the bank’s website. This is fine, but my argument is — why can’t the bank clearly indicate that certain miles are going to expire on a certain date in the previous month’s statement? This would serve as a reminder to the customer to utilise the miles before they expire. Alternatively, an SMS or email could be sent to customer to serve as a reminder. I believe it is a normal thing to do and most banks/retail/airlines follow this policy of informing customers prior to miles expiring.

On other matters such as “new offers/ schemes”, which are not of much interest, I get calls from the bank almost daily. I believe my request to Standard Chartered is very reasonable, as I want them to credit back the expired miles to my account.

From Mr Pankaj Shrivastava Dubai

The management of Standard Chartered responds:

Upon receiving the complaint, Standard Chartered Customer Care Unit contacted the client, and informed him of the bank’s Terms and Conditions relating to the cashback mechanism, he was also advised to check his cashback balance regularly by visiting this link: https://www.sc.com/ae/credit-cards/titanium/. The issue stands closed from our end.

(Process initiation: May 27. Response from organisation: May 30. Process completion: June 3.)

Refund on tickets delayed

Ibooked a ticket from Abu Dhabi to Erie, US, on Cleartrip. We received an email from Cleartrip stating that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has cancelled the flight and there is no alternative flight to this destination. We spoke to a Cleartrip representative who advised us to cancel this trip and book another one. The cancellation was made on December 17, 2017, but we did not receive the refund, despite many calls. We are struggling with this company. I seek Gulf News’ help to sort out this case.

From Mr Khalid Lutfi Zaghaybeh

Dubai

The management of Cleartrip responds:

We investigated and closed the complaint yesterday. A full refund has been processed back to Mr Zaghaybeh’s card. The delay was caused due to awaiting approval from the airline, however we are not further waiting for the airline and have gone ahead with the refund to the customer. Also, we spoke with Mr Zaghaybeh this morning and informed him that the refund has been processed. Assured him that the amount has been refunded and regained his trust in Cleartrip. Also gave him our local support number for his further assistance in any matter. Please be advised, the complaint has been closed from our side and the customer is now satisfied with the resolution.

Mr Zaghaybeh responds:

I would like to express my gratitude to Gulf News. This is to confirm that I received the refund.

(Process initiation: April 17. Response from organisation: April 19. Process completion: June 12.)

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@ gulfnews.com.

Given that the original fault of the wrong date is mine, I find it extremely strange that three charges were levied against a single missed payment, of which two charges were reversed.”

Mr Supreeth Anand Attavar | Abu Dhabi

The cancellation was on December 17, 2017, and we did not receive the refund, despite many calls. There was no response. We are struggling with this company.”

Mr Khalid Lutfi Zaghaybeh | Dubai