Readers’ issues addressed

Return cheques
I have taken a personal loan without a salary transfer from Dunia in March 2010 and the loan tenure was four years with the EMI Dh587. I have issued 48 postdated cheques for deduction of this EMI and one blank cheque as a guarantee, without the amount written. At that time, I was holding the account with Emirates NBD hence the cheques issued were Emirates NBD cheques. Unfortunately I changed my bank because of personal reasons in April 2011 to Standard Chartered Bank. I informed Dunia about the change in bank and they asked me to remit my monthly instalment with one of their branches till I submit the new postdated cheques. The EMI for May and June had been deposited with their Sharjah branch and the receipt was taken. I submitted the 33 new postdated cheques and one blank cheque at end of June and also submitted the request to return my old postdated cheques, which were with Dunia.

Since that time initially every month and later every week I used to call them on their phone banking number and inquire about my old cheques. Every time I called them they informed me that they would advise the department concerned. Sometimes they generated a complaint number for me. After calling many times, in October 2011, I sent an email to their customer service describing all the details.

I received a call a week later saying they will solve my issue within a few days. But until now, even after sending some reminders, I got no answer at all. I am worried as my old cheques, including the blank one, are still with them. I don’t understand why they are keeping my old cheques when they are debiting money with my new cheques every month. I would like to request Gulf News to check this issue. I would be grateful if you could pursue this with Dunia to solve my problem.
From Mr Rajesh Pillai
Dubai

Ms Veena Viswanathan, Unit Head - Customer Services & Quality, Dunia Finance, responds: We have contacted Mr Pillai and would like to confirm that the matter has been resolved satisfactorily. As you are aware, we are unable to disclose specific resolution details in the interest of protecting and maintaining the confidentiality of our customers’ personal and account-related information. You could, however, contact Mr Pillai directly if required and seek his feedback to close the matter at your end.

Mr Pillai responds:
I received my cheques. I would like to thank Gulf News very much for their help. The help and support provided by Gulf News in this matter is really appreciated.

Late payment fee
I am holding a credit card from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). I handed over an amount of Dh520 (the previous month’s minimum payment) to one of my colleagues and went on leave in August 2011. He paid the money on September 1, without knowing the minimum amount due on September 4 was Dh571.58.
When I came back from leave, I came to know about a late payment fee of Dh189 from the statement and contacted the customer care on September 24. They told me to make a payment of Dh50 urgently and contact them back after I paid.
Again I contacted the customer care for the waiver of the late payment fee, but they refused to do the waiver. That means (Dh571.58 - Dh520 = Dh51.58) for Dh51.58 ADCB is taking a late payment fee of Dh189. The same thing happened with First Gulf Bank and they waived my late payment fee.
From Mr Matthew Carukakkalam Joseph
Dubai

The management of ADCB responds:
We would like to thank Gulf News for their enquiry, based on which we hope to resolve the situation for our customer as soon as possible. It is important to note that 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.
All ADCB customers can contact this unit 24/7 on 800 2030; or call collect +97126210090 from outside UAE; alternatively they can visit our website (www.adcb.com) from where they will be able to log their complaints, recommendations or suggestions.
Please be advised that all cases are investigated promptly and thoroughly to reach the best possible resolution for the customer. In the interests of customer confidentiality and information security, each case’s outcome will be communicated directly and only with the customer and not through mainstream media channels.

Editor’s note: If you have similar consumer complaints and wish to raise them with the newspaper, write to us via email at readers@gulfnews.com