No ATM card
I have an account with the United Arab Bank, at the Deira, Dubai Branch. I have been paying charges for the text messaging service to the bank.
In July, I was charged an amount as ‘ATM card renewal fee’ as my debit card had expired, but I wasn’t informed in advance. My online banking account was also blocked by the bank due to debit card expiry. So I was not able to check my account balance.
On August 5, I received a text message that a cheque that I had submitted had been returned due to insufficient balance. I immediately contacted the bank and they told me that I had been charged Dh100 as cheque return fee as well.
I filed a complaint with the bank, but till now I haven’t received any response from the bank and they have not provided me an ATM card as well.
I request Gulf News to help me out in this issue.
From Mr Imtiaz Ahmad, Dubai
The management of United Arab Bank responds:
United Arab Bank (UAB) is committed to serving its customers in the most efficient manner possible. We wish to highlight that the customer’s debit card was renewed as per the bank’s procedure.
UAB strives to be transparent, hence our published Schedule of Charges are accessible and clearly visible in all of our branches as well as on our website. This, in addition to the charges we impose, fully comply with the regulations stipulated by the UAE Central Bank.
However, we wish to confirm that despite this and as a gesture of goodwill, we will reverse the Dh100 charged due to the returned cheque and the customer has already been informed.
We would like to thank you for your continuous support in offering us the opportunity to further assist our valued customers.
Charged for unwanted policy
I received a call from a First Gulf Bank (FGB) representative on August 13. The conversation was not clear with the representative. She made me very confused with some remittance service offer and told me she would give me some 5,000 reward points since I am a valued customer of FGB and asked me my wife’s name. I asked her why do I need to give my wife’s name and she told me it would be fine. Due to confusion at the time, I didn’t understand and gave her my wife’s name.
On August 24, when I received mail from FGB, I was surprised to see a certificate of insurance remit protect policy schedule. I called their customer service and lodged a complaint and they told me they would call me back. After two days, somebody called me and asked about the complaint. I said I was cheated on the phone and charged for a policy, which had no signature from my side. She then said they had checked my recorded statement, and their colleague clearly mentioned it was a remit policy and that I had agreed. I told her the conversation was not clear and I needed them to refund Dh300 charges because I didn’t need this policy at all.
On September 1, the representative called and said they couldn’t reverse the amount for the current year and so, cancelled the policy for pending years. I told her this was cheating and ended the call. Within five minutes, I received a message saying my service request was closed.
Please clarify if they can issue the policy without the customer’s signature?
From Mr Syed Wasif Al Deen, Dubai
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 Wasif Al Deen, and the matter has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Mr Wasif Al Deen responds:
It is with sincere appreciation and gratitude that I write to Gulf News to thank the newspaper for the amazing help provided. Due to that, my issue with FGB has been resolved and they reversed Dh300 charges for remit insurance.
Unwelcome annual fee
Emirates Islamic Bank deducted Dh400 from my current account for a credit card without my consent. How it happened was that a bank representative wanted to give me a credit card so desperately that I said okay. But he never explained that there was an annual fee of Dh400. I was surprised when an amount of Dh400 was cut off from my current account. Now I have requested to close my credit card but the amount of Dh400 has gone in vain.
From Mr Malithi Arachchige, Dubai
The management of Emirates Islamic responds:
Thank you for bringing Mr Arachchige’s concerns to our attention. Please note that the annual membership fee of Dh400 has been reversed to the customer’s card since the customer had cancelled the card. Our customer care unit has been trying to contact the customer to advise her on next steps in the process, but her mobile phone has been continuously switched off. We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that Emirates Islamic is committed to providing the highest-level of customer service to our loyal clientele.
Mr Arachchige responds:
Thank you Gulf News. The bank representative contacted me and said the amount has been transferred back to the credit card. Since the card is cancelled already, I requested to transfer the money to my current account. I got an SMS that the money has been transferred back to my current account. In this case, the matter is resolved. I should thank you for all this, because if it is not for Gulf News I will never get my Dh400 back. I really appreciate the service you are doing to help people in troubles like this.
No activation
I bought two etisalat Sim cards from an electronic store on August 29. On the same day, I put the Sim cards into the phone and tried to make a call, but both the Sim cards were not activated. I waited patiently and then the next day (August 30) when the Sim cards were not working, I called up etisalat’s customer care centre.
The call centre registered the complaints and asked me to wait for two working days for the technical department to sort out the issue. I received one complaint number for each Sim.
After two working days, the Sim cards were still not working, so I called up etisalat again on September 2 and a follow-up request was submitted for the complaints. But this did not solve the issue either. I was told that I would be called up or notified by SMS on another number that I had given them, but until now, I have not received any call or SMS.
I tried to check up on the status on September 3 and the call centre representative suggested that I send an email to his supervisor to resolve the issue. I agreed to it but I have not received any reply.
It has been over a week since I bought the two Sim cards. Please contact etisalat regarding this issue and try to resolve it as soon as possible.
From Mr Ikhlas Mohammad Khan, Dubai
The management of etisalat responds:
Kindly note that the customer’s issue was resolved.
Mr Khan responds:
Yes, they were very helpful. The issue was resolved to my satisfaction.
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.
