Unwelcome charges

I applied for a du connection for me, my wife and sister when there was a special corporate promotion for the then new iPhone 3GS. I was offered a great plan that had a fixed commitment for 12 months and I availed and enjoyed the services of both the iPhone and du.

After two years of usage when I changed jobs, my employer urged me to give up my corporate plan with du as it was offered specifically to the employees of my previous company. Hence, I changed my plan from a Business Plan to the Consumer Plan offered by du by completing all the formalities required for the same and enrolled into a fixed outgo plan. Within two months, I upgraded to a higher plan due to my high usage.

Around the same time, it came to my attention that du charged me disconnection charges of Dh2,000 on both my sister’s and my account. When I called them to explain that I had completed my contracted minimum 12 months fixed pay for the iPhone 3GS , the corporate help line could not recognise my number as I’d changed to a consumer plan, and the consumer call centre does not have access to my previous corporate account! I tried making several attempts to the call centre, but in vain.

Early August, I started receiving calls from recovery agents working in Al Wasel on behalf of du to recover my unpaid bill. I tried explaining to them but in vain again.

I sent an email to the Business care mail ID explaining my problem. I didn’t receive any response to my mail, however, I started getting more and more recovery calls and mails for the outstanding amount on my accounts! When I tried explaining to their helpline agent, they were not able to give me any solution.

Frustrated, I visited the du centre at Dubai Mall hoping that by meeting with the customer service executives, I would be able to resolve my situation, but I was strangely asked to write into another mail ID. I did so and have not received a response, only more calls from recovery agents!

From Mr Kishore Narayanan

Dubai

The management of du responds: With reference to the grievance of Mr Kishore Narayanan, we have investigated the matter and are pleased to say that we have issued a credit note to him. We would like to offer our since apologies for the misunderstanding, and assure him the best of our services going forward.

Lost credit card

I lost my credit card on July 17, 2012, unfortunately, I came to know about it only on July 23, when I was going to do a purchase. On reporting, I got a reply from RAK Bank that it is the responsibility of the customer to inform the bank immediately after missing the card. How can a customer know immediately after missing the card? Do all the customers check if the card is available with them every minute? Even if the amount swiped is very large (Dh7,000 plus Dh5,400) RAK Bank has not sent any SMS or telephone authorisation for the same. I came to know that RAK Bank will not do any support for their customers. I have approached the merchant, and he is ready to reverse the amount. He needs an enquiry from RAK Bank, and based on it the merchant is ready to authorise debiting his account.

Unfortunately, there is no single enquiry from RAK Bank to the merchant on these incidents. What was RAK Bank doing for the last 45 days? Just accepted my dispute form and after 30 days sent a letter to me stating all the transactions happened before submitting the dispute form.

From Mr Savad Choorathodu Kadavath Purayil

Dubai

Mr Ian Hodges, Head of Personal Banking, RAK Bank responds: Thank you for giving us an opportunity to justify our stance on the issues raised by Mr Purayil, RAK Bank customer.

As per our records, the customer contacted the Bank on July 23, 2012 to report that his Credit Card was lost and we immediately blocked the Card to prevent any misuse. Subsequently, on July 24, 2012, the customer raised a dispute on his transactions amounting to Dh12,230 dated July 17 and 19, 2012.

We were in touch with him and clarified through our letter dated July 29, 2012, that the Bank does not have rights to claim the disputed amounts from merchant bank, as per MasterCard International regulations, since the Card was active at the time of usage. However, in a bid to assist the customer, the dispute was taken up on a best effort basis with the merchant bank and we recovered Dh7,000 on August 17, 2012, for the purchase made at Al Mignas Jewellers.

It is our endeavour to offer our best services to all customers and we regret we were unable to recover the balance amount of Dh5,230. Since receipt of your email, we have again spoken to the customer and clarified the matter.

Mr Purayil responds: Thanks for your wonderful support.

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