I took a loan from the bank in 2006. The bank was ABN-AMRO then. It then became the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and now it is Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). In the year 2010, I was struggling with my payments and the agents from the bank were harassing me to pay. At that time, my colleague intervened in our communication and in the end the agent gave me a discount on the loan amount. My balance at that time was Dh4,757 and I was told I could pay Dh3,500 immediately and the loan would be considered settled.

On February 28, 2011, I went to the bank and paid Dh3,500. After paying the amount, I asked the bank if I could have my clearance letter. They told me that once it’s ready they would call me. Since I did not get my clearance letter, I kept chasing them, but I always got the same reply that it wasn’t ready.

When I got my Statement of Account from January 1 to March 31, 2011, my balance with them showed zero. I approached them again and asked for the clearance letter and the answer was still the same. But at the same time, they told me that since I had received the statement, there was nothing to worry about.

I received another statement dated April 1 to May 31, 2011 showing zero balance. Since they assured me that the statement was enough, I decided to stop asking for a clearance letter.

In November, 2014, I received a call from ADCB’s collection agent saying that I still have a balance with them for the amount of Dh2,360. I was shocked to hear this! I told the representative that I do not owe the bank anything and I have statements to prove it. I then visited the bank and once again asked for a clearance letter, but I was informed that their system was showing that I still have balance remaining.

They referred me to the person who was handling my case from ADCB Dubai Outsource Zone in Silicon Oasis. That person asked for the agreement letter for the discount. I told him that it was a verbal agreement and I have statements showing zero balance.

Is only a clearance letter acceptable as proof that you do not have any liability with the bank? Are the printed statements not valid? Why, after three years, are they contacting me and did not do so during 2011?

On February 12, 2015, my balance was Dh2,428, since they said it’s accumulating interest now. I received a call from another agent that in order to finalise this matter soon, they would give me another discount without any more interest and I would need to settle only Dh1,200. I asked if I can get any further discount and was told that it’s not possible since they need to pay legal fees as well. How do I have a legal case now even though I settled the loan amount and have statements in hand?

I hope Gulf News can help me with regards to this matter.

From Ms Jennet Hermoso Rozul, Dubai

The management of ADCB responds: Thank you for your cooperation and communication with us in the endeavour to best serve our customers and resolve their issues. 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. While we cannot comment on specific customer cases, we do take finding a solution for our customers very seriously and approach every situation with the best interest of the customer in mind.

With reference to Ms Rozul’s issue, please be advised that our Quality Unit has investigated the matter and noted that the customer was contacted in April 2011 post payment of Dh3,500 in March 2011. Ms Jennet was informed about a residual payment, which she had agreed to pay by April 27, 2011. We have also communicated to Ms Jennet that the reason behind her statement showing zero balance was not due to payments made by her but due to internal accounting of overdue accounts. Customer was in touch till August 2011, post which, attempts were made to contact her during 2012-14 with no success due to either ‘ringing, no response’ or ‘mobile switched off’. Only recently, the customer was contacted and reminded of the outstanding payment. We are currently in touch with Ms Jennet to enter into an agreement for a full and final settlement.

We continually urge all customers to contact our Service Quality Unit 24/7 by phone, email or web, should they need any further clarification regarding their issues. We would like to thank you for bringing this issue to our attention and hence giving us the opportunity to further our servicing to our valued customers.

Ms Rozul responds: I would like to inform Gulf News that after meeting with ADCB on April 5, I got my clearance letter, stating full settlement of my loan. I would like to thank Gulf News for the help and also ADCB, for their assistance and quick action with regards to the above subject.

(Process initiation: March 24. Response from organisation: April 5. Reader confirmation: April 12.)

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.