Banks help resolve customers’ grievances

One person had accrued charges on his credit card despite having paid the outstanding in full, while another was charged VAT on a credit card transaction retrospectively, without clear notification

No outstanding

Ihave a complaint against ABN Amro, which got acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and later by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). Now the complaint is for the unsettled amount being claimed and reported by ADCB to Etihad Credit Bureau.

In 2008-2009, I had availed a credit card from ABN Amro and within a few months decided to close the card. At that moment, I had two cards with outstanding amounts of Dh150 and Dh50 on each card. I deposited Dh200 in one card and requested the bank to settle both outstanding cards and close them, as both were under the same customer ID.

But the same never happened and with multiple acquisitions of the bank, the liability went on moving from one bank to another and now I have been reported in Etihad Credit Bureau as a defaulter by ADCB.

At present, I am a customer of ADCB with auto loan availed in 2013 and till date all the payments have been on time (no defaults) and also I was given a Gold credit card, which I closed as I didn’t have any use for it.

Since December 20, 2008, I have been writing to banks and also visited their Collections team, but no one listened. Every executive is behind their collection targets irrespective of how it’s being taken and then, my issue got passed on from one bank (ABN Amro) to another bank (RBS) and to another (ADCB). No one is taking responsibility regarding the outstanding still being shown in my credit report.

From Mr Chandan Kumar

Dubai

The management of ADCB responds:

Thank you for your cooperation and communication with us in the endeavour to best serve our customers and resolve their issues.

Customer satisfaction is at the very top of our agenda, which is why we have an established Service Quality Unit that is dedicated to handling all customer enquiries and complaints. While we cannot comment on specific customer cases, we do take finding a solution for our customers very seriously and approach every situation with the best interest of the customer in mind.

With reference to Mr Kumar’s issue, please be advised that our Service Quality Unit has investigated the matter and confirmed that the customer’s issue has been resolved as his credit status is updated now with Etihad Credit Bureau. Mr Kumar has been contacted and advised of the same. Case is closed.

We continually urge all customers to contact our Service Quality Unit 24/7 by phone, email or web, should they need any further clarification regarding their issues.

We would like to thank you for bringing this issue to our attention and hence giving us the opportunity to further our servicing to our valued customers.

Mr Kumar responds:

Thank you Gulf News. This was a nine-year-old issue of Dh200, which increased to Dh7,000 for no mistake of mine, as I paid Dh200 as per due date. Finally, it got resolved with an apology letter from ADCB.

(Process initiation: June 10. Response from organisation: July 26. Reader confirmation: August 26.)

Wrong charges

Iam holding a credit card of Mashreq with the Novo Cinema package. During the month of May, I made no purchases with my card and my outstandings were cleared until May. However, in the bank statement, a charge was shown for Novo ticket tax. I enquired about the charge with the customer care, but they were not able to explain clearly about the charge and in the month of June statement I received a late payment charge for that statement. I am disappointed with the bank as they did not clearly explain the details of this charge, as I have not made any purchase with the card that month. Kindly help me solve the issue.

From Mr Mohzin Nazeemudeen

Abu Dhabi

The management of Mashreq responds:

Thank you for highlighting Mr Nazeemudeen’s concern to us.

Mr Nazeemudeen has raised a concern regarding the late payment fee levied on his credit card due to the VAT charges on his Novo Cinema tickets. We wish to confirm that Mashreq had sent SMS notifications to all its Novo Cinema package holders regarding the VAT charges, which were not debited for the transactions executed between January and March 2018. These charges were debited subsequently as Novo claimed them from Mashreq.

Our investigation reveals that an SMS was sent to Mr Nazeemudeen in the month of May 2018 along with the monthly credit card statement.

The payment was not made within the due date of the card, hence the late payment penalty was levied. As per our discussion with Mr Nazeemudeen, he acknowledged that he had not checked his card statement and does not recall receiving the SMS. As an exception we have decided to reverse the late payment fee of Dh395 as the VAT charges have now been recovered from the customer.

Mr Nazeemudeen has been contacted and informed of the same. He is much satisfied with the swift resolution.

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

Mr Nazeemudeen responds:

Mashreq credit card team contacted me and discussed the issue. I pointed out my problems and that no purchase was made in the month of May and

regarding the charges, they explained that the VAT amount was not debited during January-March and was charged in May. The bank has agreed to cancel the late payment fee.

Thanks to Gulf News for helping me solve the issue.

(Process initiation: July 11. Response from organisation: July 15. Reader confirmation: July 17.)

Since December 20, 2008, I have been writing to banks and also visited their Collections team, but no one listened.

Mr Chandan Kumar | Dubai