Waiting for refund
I have missed Air India Express flight on July 26, 2013. I have been requesting Air India Express since then – at least the tax amount. But they always say: “It’s with Finance department.”
From Mr Faizal Mohammad
Sharjah
The management of Air India Express responds:
This is to inform you that Dh229.64 has been refunded to the credit card on February 19. The amount will reflect to the credit card account with in four-five working dates. Kindly accept our sincere apology for the delay in processing refund and inconvenience caused to Mr Mohammad.
Mr Mohammad responds:
I really appreciate your efforts. Thank you Gulf News.
(Gulf News received this complaint on February 13. Process completed on February 19).
Disconnected line
I have had this telephone number for 10 years. Suddenly, from the last two hours, I am unable to make outgoing calls or receive incoming calls. I called Etisalat call centre and there was no help provided. I was asked to cancel the call forwarding settings even though I had never used this setting in the past 10 years. Anyway, I did as requested. The phone was still not working.
Then I was told to check my telephone settings, which I did - there is no call barring or call forwarding on my phone. Why would I put a call barring on my phone? In fact, the message I get when I tried to activate a “Call Forwarding” or a “Call Barring” option on my mobile phone device is that I should contact my telecom provider for these services. Then I was asked to switch the device on and off, which I did. The phone continued to show the same problem – I cannot make any outgoing calls and people who call my phone are getting a message that this phone is no longer in service.
Etisalat call centre staff then asked me to change the device and try calling from a new device. I cannot do this because this is my office phone device and has been configured accordingly. I am receiving SMS, e-mails and messages but cannot make any outgoing calls or receive any calls.
I was finally advised that a complaint has been logged and someone will call me within two working days. And within these two working days I am totally cut-off from the rest of the world because my mobile phone is not working.
This service is abysmal, but unfortunately I do not have any option as this phone number has been used by me for 10 years now and has been given for all my bank accounts, for my car service, to my family and friends, and so on as mobile phones are now as much as a identity proof as a utility.
From Mr Asim Kumar Shrivastava
Dubai
The management of Etisalat responds:
Kindly note that the customer’s issue was solved and confirmed with the customer.
(Gulf News received this complaint on February 17. Process completed on February 19).
Clear due dates
I hold an ADCB gold credit card. On October 19, 2013, I had taken a 90-day interest-free Balance Transfer from the bank. I made regular payments on the due dates as mentioned in my monthly ADCB credit card statements for November and December 2013. For January 2014, I checked the statement, which mentioned the due date as February 5. I paid the balance loan amount on February 4. In my February statement, I was surprised to see a finance charge debited to my credit card. On contacting the bank call centre on February 17, its representative informed me that since it was a 90-day Balance Transfer scheme, the payment should have been done by January 19. However, my argument is the bank should have mentioned the Balance Transfer payment due date on the bill so there is no confusion between the credit card due date and Balance Transfer due date. I did not have any problem to make the payment on January 19 had the Bank mentioned the same on the credit card statement. As a bank customer, I feel that relevant information has been kept hidden and all other irrelevant information is available on the credit card statement. I feel the bank should have mentioned this very important information in their statement.
I called the call centre on February 17, if they can reverse the finance charges. They, however, informed me that this was not possible.
I would like to make all the credit card customers aware of how banks try to misrepresent at the time of sales and hide relevant information so that charges can be levied. Also, I would like to close my credit card so there are no such misrepresentations in the future.
From Mr Gerson Sydney Dias
Dubai
The management of ADCB responds:
Thank you for your cooperation and communication with us in the endeavor to best serve our customers and resolve their issues.
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 we have directly communicated our feedback to the customer and this case has been closed from our end.
Mr Dias responds:
I am very happy to inform you ADCB has reversed the finance charges. Thank you very much for your prompt response and action, without which the finance charges would be irreversible.
Gulf News has been doing tremendous work over the years helping readers sort out their difficulties, which would be very difficult if Gulf News had not intervened.
(Gulf News received this complaint on February 18. Process completed on February 23).
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
