Reward redemption

I have been a customer of First Gulf Bank (FGB) for more than eight years. At the end of August 2014, I decided to cancel my credit card with them and cleared all my dues for August completely, in order to request for cancellation. I had a balance of more than 27,000 First reward points on my credit card and planned to redeem it before cancelling my card.

I called the bank on August 30 and asked them to send me the list of outlets registered with them for the redemption of reward points and to know where best I can use the points that I have earned by using my credit card on a regular basis. I received the required list the same day on my email, where I receive all my monthly credit card statements. As per the list, I was eligible for a reversal of Dh250 against 25,000 points out of the 27,000 that I earned, if I spent the same amount towards any of my etisalat bill payments.

Therefore, I waited for three days for my etisalat eLife account bill to be generated and I paid Dh250 towards my eLife account using my FGB credit card. As soon as I spent this amount, I called FGB phone banking to request for a reversal against my reward points. I was notified that the bank had revised its reward points policy on August 24, therefore I would be needing 32,000 plus points now to get a reversal of Dh250 with etisalat. I found this illogical as I received the list of reward points redemption outlets on August 30 and as per the information given by the bank representative, the policy was revised on August 24. Therefore I placed a complaint on September 3 and since then I am calling them every day to follow up but there is always a negative response. At first they declined my complaint and when I pushed them, they opened the same complaint again and asked me to wait for two days to receive a call from their representative. There has not been a single call from FGB. They do not even transfer my calls to their supervisor. I need Gulf News’ help in this regard.

From Mr Syed Ali Ahmad

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 Ahmad, and the matter has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

(Process initiation: September 25. Response from organisation: October 7.)

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.