No refund yet
I recently read about Gulf News’ role in resolving consumer complaints and now I am in need of such help.
I had booked a ticket for my friend on Air India Express. It was a return ticket from Kochi to Dubai. My friend used it to travel one way and failed to travel from Dubai to Kochi. I am eligible for a tax refund as the passenger didn’t travel on the flight.
I tried contacting their Dubai office and there was no response. I visited Air India Express offices and they told me I am eligible for tax refund of about Rs6,000 (Dh371.68), which would be credited back to my credit card. They asked me to e-mail their Mumbai office, as only that specific team could do the necessary.
I followed their advice, but received no response from the Mumbai office. I tried calling them but they never answer the phone. Please help me with this issue.
From Mr Sajin Sathyan
Dubai
Mr Sathyan updates: I received refund from Air India Express. Thanks for all the help.
Editor’s note: The complaint was forwarded to Air India Express for confirmation. However, despite repeated reminders, its management did not respond.
(Process initiation: May 3. Process completion: May 26.)
Simple refund
I seek Gulf News’ intervention and help in dealing with etisalat’s failure to do something very simple — to refund Dh174 that they acknowledge as incorrectly charged and which they confirmed they would refund.
The complaint for incorrect charge originates in September 2013. After four months of follow up, they admitted their error and it has been another three months wait for the refund, which is yet to materialise. It is a trivial amount really, considering the wastage of time at both ends. However, it is unfair for me to let go.
I now leave it to your good offices to exercise moral persuasion. Thank you for your assistance.
From Mr Kamlesh Manek
Dubai
The management of etisalat responds:
As per confirmation from the concerned team, the package was added on August 30, 2013. There are no logs that the account was deactivated and no record of deletion of package during the mentioned period of time. No issue was found, therefore the customer is not applicable for a refund. We tried calling the customer but he was not reachable, so a text message has been sent to him.
Mr Manek responds:
Thank you very much for the intervention.
Sadly, they are obfuscating. The decoder (and the subscription) I ordered on August 30, 2013, was not installed until November 25, 2013. etisalat’s customer care has at least once accepted that they have continued to work on my complaint as no money seems to have been credited. On February 22, 2014, they specifically said they are pursuing the credit and posting of refund.
Regrettably, I will request Gulf News to drop the pursuit. I think we both have better use of our time.
(Process initiation: May 3. Response from organisation: May 19. Process completion: May 20.)
Crossing the limit
I write about this incident, after reading a report in Gulf News on about a reader being unfairly charged. I too, had a similar experience with RAK BANK. I have a credit card, which initially had a credit limit of Dh5,000.
My last outstanding bill was around Dh35. I could not pay that amount before my due date since I was in India. But before the next billing date, I had made purchases through the same card for around Dh4,900.
I knew I would be getting a late payment fee for the earlier Dh35. But to my surprise, an extra amount was charged for overlimit fee, This meant Dh4,900 for purchases with a fine of Dh125 for late payment.
I contacted the customer care centre and tried to tell them what happened but sadly I was asked to pay the fine for overlimit by the bank.
From Mr Pious Collins
Dubai
Mr Ian Hodges, Head of Personal Banking, RAKBANK, responds:
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to justify our stance on the issues raised by Mr Collins, RAKBANK customer.
The overlimit fee is applicable to credit card accounts when the assigned card limit is exceeded. Mr Collin’s credit card exceeded the limit by a marginal amount in May 2012 and hence the overlimit fee was applied in June 2012.
We have contacted the customer and clarified the details. As a service gesture, the charge applied to his June 2012 statement has been reversed.
Mr Collins responds:
Thanks a lot for your kind intervention. It has helped a lot. The bank has contacted me and promised to reverse the overlimit fee. They have advised me to keep a balance of at least Dh500 in the credit card to accommodate any financial charges in the future so that I can avoid the overlimit fee.
Since I am now aware that the bank will charge the overlimit fee, I am never going to use my card to that extent, going forward.
Wishing Gulf News good luck in its future endeavours.
(Process initiation: June 4. Response from organisation: June 5. Reader confirmation: June 5.)
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
