Overcharged

I bought an iPhone 5 from etisalat on January 11, 2013 with an 18-month contract (expiry: July 10, 2014). On July 3, 2013, I received this message: “Dear customer, your contract will expire on July 10, 2014, your package will be automatically upgraded to 5GB data package with no additional charges and without annual commitment. To reject the renewal, send “C AR” in SMS to 1012.”

I sent the cancellation message on the same day and received two confirmation messages on the same day itself.

The first said: “Dear customer, your request to delete your package is under process. You will get an SMS confirmation once the request is completed.”

The second said: “Your request to stop auto-renewal has been accepted. Your Smart Phone plan will expire as scheduled.”

When I checked my July bill, dated August 1, 2014, I found that I had been charged for the complete month instead of just 10 days. I have made two complaints in this regard and they closed both of them saying there is no abnormality in the billing.

From Mr Shafeeque Mohammad

Abu Dhabi

The management of etisalat responds:

Kindly note that the customer’s issue was resolved. The customer activated postpaid iPhone 5 Data Plan Data Service on January 1, 2013 with an 18-month contract. The customer cancelled the service on July 14, 2014 but in the bill, he was charged for a full rental month of Dh249. We refunded the customer from July 15 to July 31, the amount of Dh132.

Mr Mohammad responds:

I have received a call from etisalat as a confirmation of refund of my overcharged amount. Thanks a lot Gulf News for your great support in resolving the issue.

(Process initiation: November 17, 2014. Response from organisation: November 18, 2014. Reader confirmation: November 19, 2014.)

Retroactive’s ineffective

I received an email from Emirates NBD on December 25, 2014, stating that the bank will start imposing charges (1.25 per cent) on foreign currency accounts, whenever I need to withdraw or deposit any amount of money. When I called customer care to ask when they are going to start applying the charges, surprisingly, they told me it was already in place since November 5, 2014. When I protested that I need to withdraw my money in foreign currency and close my account, they informed me that the charges will still apply. Is this reasonable? The bank is imposing a new fee without giving the customers the opportunity to accept or reject. I wish the newspaper could help me out of this dilemma.

From Mr Waleed Gabra

Dubai

The management of Emirates NBD responds:

We are pleased to inform you that our Group Customer Experience team has been in touch with Mr Gabra and resolved the matter to his satisfaction.

Further, we wish to clarify that the amendment in our policy regarding the foreign currency cash withdrawal fees has been communicated to our customers through the account statements sent to their registered address in our records in November 2014 as well as by email during December 2014. However, in appreciation of Mr Gabra’s relationship with the bank and as a service gesture, the Bank has waived off the foreign currency cash withdrawal fees for this particular transaction on exceptional basis.

We would like to thank you for your continuous support in offering us the opportunity to further assist our valued customers.

Mr Gabra responds:

I am really thankful to Gulf News for helping me resolve this matter. But I have to say that the implementation of fees was not communicated to me in November. Anyhow, the problem is resolved and I have withdrawn my money.

(Process initiation: January 12. Response from organisation: January 20. Reader confirmation: January 22.)

Charged again

I was given a credit card by a First Gulf Bank (FGB) representative, with information that it was totally free. The first statement I received was without any charges. I availed a loan from the bank and was surprised to see the next statement showing life insurance and credit shield charges. I called the bank and the customer care agent told me these were optional and I could go for a cancellation, which I accepted.

In the next statement, the charges were not reversed, so I called again and the customer service agent told me these charges were not reversible. I just want to ask — can any bank impose such charges without the consent of the customer and force them to pay?

I need Gulf News’ help, as many readers have got some relief through the newspaper.

From Mr Syed Ejaz Hussain

Sharjah

The management of FGB 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 Hussain, and the matter has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Mr Hussain responds:

Thank you for your interest in my complaint. I received a call from FGB and they informed me that the bank has agreed to reverse the charges. I later got an SMS confirming that the charges in fact have been reversed. So hopefully, the matter has been resolved.

(Process initiation: December 5, 2014. Response from organisation: December 14, 2014. Response from reader: December 15, 2014.)

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.