Financial institutions address readers’ grievances

One customer says he was charged membership fee for a credit card that was supposed to be free for life, while another says his account remains frozen even after completing all documentation

Fee for a free card?

Iwas holding Dubai First credit cards, which were offered free for a lifetime, but I was surprised to receive the message on my mobile phone that Dh100 was due on my Dubai First credit card for annual membership fee. I first ignored it, but then again I got the message almost every day to pay at the earliest. I called the customer service and informed that I have already cancelled the card before three months and had a closure form as well and at the time of closing I went to their customer service centre in BurJuman Dubai and cancelled the card and destroyed it at the same time; even customer service counter representative informed me that my main card has been cancelled and gave me the closure form and all other supplementary cards would be cancelled automatically.

But now I was surprised to know that through customer service that one card was cancelled and the other supplementary card was not cancelled. I informed that I didn’t activate the card as well so how could they charge me for it.

The customer service representative told me that even if my card is not active I will be charged. The customer service representative asked me to pay and spend Dh1,000 then the annual membership fee and late payment fee would be reversed within 10 days.

I am feeling cheated. I have ben forcefully made liable to spend an amount of Dh1,000 and pay another Dh100 membership fee plus Dh240 late payment fee for a card that I never used and was not active and also for card issuance, to use it will be charged Dh120 as informed by customer service.

Please look into the matter Gulf News and raise the issue with the bank.

From Mr M. Gayyur Alias Nazim

Sharjah

The management of Dubai First responds:

At Dubai First, we are committed to provide the best of service to our card members and protect their interests. Mr Muslim Gayyur Alias Nazim has been contacted and his concern has been addressed immediately. The issue has been resolved to his satisfaction.

We thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Mr Nazim responds:

Thanks a lot for raising my concern to the bank. I got a call from Dubai First but they didn’t do anything; the same solution that I have to spend Dh1,000 first then only the annual fee and late payment fee will be reversed and till then they will charge for late payment fee, etc. It’s simply manipulating and trapping customers.

As a customer I am feeling cheated and forcefully being asked to use the credit card, which is a supplementary card. I have cancelled the primary card in March 2018, and as I was updated that if the primary card is cancelled, all other cards would be automatically cancelled. Please raise it further with Dubai First team. Thanks again for being a responsible social media channel.

Dubai First responds:

We appreciate the feedback and have reviewed the background of the case. Our offer was based on the customer acceptance. We will contact Mr Nazim to understand further. We thank you for bringing this to our attention.

(Process initiation: July 3. Response from organisation: July 5. Process completion: September 26)

Frozen account

Irecently had a change of job and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) froze my account saying it will be reactivated once I get my new visa. This is absolutely fine and normal. The moment I received my new visa, I updated the bank with the new visa, Emirates ID and salary transfer certificate. After this, the bank still wanted me to notify them once my new company credited my account with the first salary. I did this as well by visiting the branch.

But it’s been almost a month now and my account is still frozen. I have been visiting the FAB branch at Meadows Dubai on a daily basis and they always get back to me by saying it will be processed within a day, but nothing seems to be happening.

I also have been calling the call centre several times a day and they keep on saying everything is in order and they will send a reminder to the collections team.

The interesting part is that I had an National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) credit card with a credit balance and I requested the bank to cancel it. I got a call from the bank within 24 hours informing that if I want they could activate my credit card. I informed them that they should as a process activate my bank account first.

This shows that if the bank wants they can easily activate credit cards as they can make money but are not willing to activate my bank account.

This is extremely frustrating as in spite of getting paid by the company and submitting all the required documents the account cannot be activated.

Being an expatriate I have a family to support and with not being able to withdraw my own salary leaves me feeling handicapped.

From Ms Amber Kumar Dubai

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 Ms Kumar, and the matter has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

(Process initiation: July 16. Response from organisation: July 24. Process completion: September 26.)

■ 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

I am feeling cheated. I have been forcefully made liable to spend an amount of Dh1,000 and pay another Dh100 membership fee plus Dh240 late payment fee for a card that I never used.”

Mr M. Gayyur Alias Nazim | Sharjah