There’s a catch
Having failed to get a desired response from the customer care department of First Gulf Bank (FGB) credit cards, I write this complaint to Gulf News for its kind intervention.
I have a FGB Platinum credit card, which entitles me to three monthly ‘buy one get one free’ cinema tickets at Cine Royal cinemas. In September’s billing, I noticed that I had been denied this benefit and was charged Dh70 as “Cinema offer usage”. When I inquired, they gave an excuse mentioning that my monthly spend for July on this card was less than Dh500 and to avail the cinema offers, minimum spend should be Dh500 per month. This condition was never mentioned by the sales person or in the welcome kit I received from FGB. When I contested, it was mentioned that this catch is part of the terms and conditions on their website alone. Does FGB expect clients to visit their website and look for a catch while they hide these conditions in their explicit sources, such as sales persons and welcome kits? When I complained to reverse the charges, they asked me to spend Dh10,000 or avail their balance transfer or quick cash services for Dh15,000. Does this makes sense at all? I wish to inform all readers about this hidden condition of FGB and also seek assistance from Gulf News in reversal of these charges.
From Mr Amit Agarwal, Abu Dhabi
The management of First Gulf Bank responds:
FGB is grateful for all customer feedback to which we give careful consideration as we strive to consistently deliver the highest standards of service. FGB has been in contact with Mr Agarwal and explained the validity of the fee in detail, which has been charged as per the bank’s policies and regulations.
Mr Agarwal responds:
Thanks for the intervention but FGB declined to reverse the charges. A few of my friends too have been charged on an ad hoc basis.
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.
