Consumer’s concerns raised with bank
A purchase with forged signature and without generation of Pin
I am writing to complain about the distressful and disappointing action by Dunia Finance towards the a disputed transaction that occurred on my credit card last year.
On my trip to Istanbul, when I noticed that my wallet was missing, I contacted various banks and advised them to block my cards. Among my credit cards, only Dunia Finance claimed that there was a Dh1,050 transaction, which happened an hour before the call. Upon hearing this, I immediately told them to block the credit card. Later, I found my wallet in my shopping bag. I then informed them that the credit card was with me.
On the next day, when I landed in the UAE, I immediately sent them the required forms and documents to dispute the transaction. After a few days, I received a call from the customer representative, informing me that the merchant had claimed the money, and I would need to speak with them directly. Although it was Dunia Finance’s responsibility to take action, I tried to speak with the merchant. He did not entertain my request, as he knew I was a tourist and I could not do anything about it. I informed the bank about my conversation with the merchant.
The bank did not get back to me even after multiple reminders, while interest was incurring on disputed amount. Later, they kept on insisting that in the amount, a part of it came from a fraud transaction, the signature on the slip did not match and there was no generation of a pin number.
It has been more than a year now, I am intermittently receiving threatening emails from Dunia, while I am responding by contradicting what they want me to do. Also, it is strange that they never get back to me to resolve the disputed amount. I believe banks or finance institutions must have an issue resolved by a maximum of 180 days, while Dunia Finance seems to be more interested in getting paid the disputed amount. Current statement states that the outstanding amount is Dh7,171 from Dh1,200, due to the interest. A few days ago, to my surprise, they have deposited my cheque, indicating Dh100,000 as outstanding! This is ridiculous and so destructive!
I am trying to remain calm in spite of this unfortunate event. I emailed them to settle the issue amicably. However, as I believe what has happened is unjust, stressful and damaging to my reputation by giving me a bad credit standing, I would like to seek Gulf News’ intervention and to raise this issue with Dunia Finance. From Mr Imtiyaz Khan Abu Dhabi
The management of Dunia Finance responds:
Thank you for your email dated August 25, 2016, as part of which you have shared our customer Mr Khan’s query with us.
We are writing to share with you that we have already responded to Mr Khan directly with regard to his query, with the requested details and explanation, along with a fair and appropriate resolution.
As you are aware, we are unable to disclose specific resolution details with your publication, for regulatory reasons of confidentiality regarding any account related information of the customer or any account holder with Dunia Finance. You could, however, contact Mr Khan directly if required and seek his feedback to close the matter at your end.
We trust this closes and satisfactorily resolves the matter.
Mr Khan responds:
With their long replies, Dunia is just beating around the bush and till date, for more than a year, I have not received any clarification on the charged slip’s discrepancies. Is this Dunia’s way of validating a charge slip? By simply telling their customer that the transaction is valid and attaching a wrong charged slip, or should I say one that has been acquired from another source?
I want to know their answer on the following issues:
1) Why was the charged slip validated when my signature did not match? Do they have my signature on a card for validation?
2) Why was the charged slip validated when there was no generation of pin code?
3) Where is their proof, claiming they sent me an email notification of this international transaction?
4) Why have they allowed the merchant to take the disputed amount, when there is no clarity yet on the charged slip?
5) Is it lawful to deposit my cheque, while the investigation is ongoing, indicating 14 times the outstanding amount?
6) With regard to loan: Why was the loan penalty transferred to my credit card outstanding? Is there any written policy in the past and why was it not communicated to me?
7) Why do I have to be threatened with a police case numerous times?
I have been asking the first four questions for more than a year now, yet nothing has been provided. If they want a settlement to happen, they must know how to admit and give justifications on the things they have done wrong. Only once this has been clarified would I allow myself to settle the case.
Dunia Finance responds:
Thank you for your email dated September 3, 2016, as part of which you have shared Mr Khan’s response to our letter.
Please note, for confidentiality reasons as per UAE Central Bank, we are unable to share any account information and/or disclose specific resolution details with your publication. We thank you for sharing Mr Khan’s query with us and we confirm that we will investigate the matter based on the email shared with us and also contact Mr Khan directly in order to satisfactorily resolve the matter. However, you may reach out to Mr Khan and get a confirmation of the resolution directly, at his own discretion.
We do hope you understand our compulsions driven by our standards of governance that we are required to follow, and trust that this satisfactorily addresses the matter.
(Process initiation: August 25. Response from organisation: August 25. Process completion: September 14.)
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