Balance transfer trouble
I own a Najm Blue Credit Card. I opted for a balance transfer from Najm in February 2013. However, they made a mistake and paid much more than the amount requested, to my other credit card. The excess payment made by Najm was unplanned for and a burden to repay. I, therefore, requested Najm to convert the excess amount into monthly instalments, with interest amounting to over Dh400. Najm agreed to cover up the interest paid, with Magic Planet vouchers worth Dh500 with lifetime validity.
In 2014, I visited Magic Planet in Deira City Centre (DCC) and they informed me that the vouchers were not valid. I contacted Najm’s customer service centre and informed them accordingly.
They told me that currently, they did not have any tie-ups with Magic Planet and the vouchers they offered me were not valid. I followed up with customer service regularly, but they did not have any good vouchers.
I also spoke to their supervisor, who informed me that they might have a few good tie-ups in December 2014 and they would call me accordingly. Till date, I have not received any call from Najm Finance regarding the replacement of vouchers. Recently, they celebrated 20 years, but still they don’t have any answer regarding a good replacement for their unwanted vouchers.
Why should the customer suffer and pay for the mistakes done by Najm staff? It is a very sad and unfortunate circumstance. All my follow-ups are falling on deaf ears. I would like Gulf News to intervene and assist in getting these unwanted vouchers replaced with suitable vouchers.
From Mr Sydney Dias
Dubai
The management of Majid Al Futtaim Finance responds:
In this valuable customer’s case, we have met our commitment as per the terms and conditions of the said offer and the customer has availed his entitlement of his eligible Balance Transfer within the terms and conditions of this offer. During the offer, customer had requested for a Balance Transfer in January 2013, however it was processed with an excess amount credited erroneously. This amount was credited to customer’s competition card within desired time frame.
Customer reverted to us after a gap of 20 days claiming the actual requested amount was less than the credited amount. Customer mentioned to us his inability to make the payment towards his card payment within the tenure of three months. In order to facilitate the customer, we offered a loan on the phone, which was agreed to by customer. To compensate, we offered him Magic Planet vouchers, which are extended to other customers in such scenarios and does not carry any expiry information.
After a gap of nearly 16 months, the customer got back to us in 2014, informing that the Magic Planet vouchers were not valid anymore and were not accepted. Though the voucher had no expiry, due to internal policy, the tie-up with Magic Planet was terminated and the same information was displayed in front of all Magic Planet entrances, informing the customer very clearly about the non-acceptance of the vouchers with last date of redemption.
Customer was informed that we would not be able to compensate him with Magic Planet voucher and accordingly offered him Al Jaber Optics/Joy Alukkas jewellery vouchers, which the customer denied. He insisted only on accepting Carrefour vouchers. However, we informed the customer that we would not be in a position to offer him Carrefour vouchers and urged him to wait for us to revert to him whenever we had any other vouchers.
Post reviewing customer’s complaint and internal escalation, we offered VOX Cinemas vouchers, along with Carrefour voucher as an exception through management approval. Customer has continuously been noncooperative to adhere to the offers placed in front of him.
We would like to confirm that he was treated and offered beneficial vouchers through fair means. Please note, Customer reverted to us in May 2015 to seek information on his vouchers and we again offered him an iPod Nano 4GB, which was refused with a firm stand by the customer, as he wanted to only receive Carrefour vouchers, which couldn’t be honoured as per policy.
Please note that all the details mentioned above are documented and recorded but for confidentiality and protection of our customers, we are not allowed to disclose any details about any transactions or amounts without their prior permission.
Many thanks and please let us know how we can be of further help.
Mr Dias responds:
Thank you for the efforts put in by Gulf News in order to find a resolution to this issue.
The solution provided by Najm is unrealistic. They are offering vouchers, which I do not need.
Najm has made continuous mistakes. First, they made a mistake by crediting a greater amount than I had requested. It was their fault and not mine. I cooperated with them and agreed to take the loan by paying cash towards the interest.
The Magic Planet vouchers offered were supposed to have lifetime validity. Najm’s tie-up with Magic Planet was cancelled. This cancellation was not my fault.
Now, they are offering vouchers or gifts that I already possess or do not require. I informed them if they want to help, to either give me Carrefour vouchers or to give a Cashback towards the interest, which I paid in cash because of their fault.
My biggest mistake was that I agreed to pay cash. I should have just informed them that I would not be paying the extra amount, which they credited by mistake. From my end, the case is very much open, or rather, has just opened.
The management of Majid Al Futtaim Finance responds:
Please be advised that our previous communication is self-explanatory. We would also like to highlight that the age of this complaint relates to an issue that occurred in early 2013. We have done our best to compensate the client for a system error in every possible way within our remit, not to mention that we did not realise the system error till the customer raised it on February 17, 2013, while his request for the loan on phone service was placed on January 28, 2013, and the amount was credited to his account latest by the February 6, in the same year (which is 11 days after the service was processed). Ideally, account holders would know what is credited to their account on the spot and they can report it immediately if there is a noticeable error.
In this case, the customer never raised a request or showed interest, to actually return the additional amount credited to his account, which would have been accepted from our side. Yet, out of our good will and sense of responsibility, we still wanted to treat him for this glitch and accommodate him as much as we can. The customer has been enjoying similar benefits and services since then.
We hold our stance for what has been already communicated from our side in this case and we thank you for your kind efforts.
Mr Dias responds:
As soon as I realised that there was extra credit on my other credit card, I called the call centre and informed them. However, they did not realise what had happened. They need to check their phone records. Many of their call centre staff find it difficult to understand English and thus, do not understand the customers’ needs.
Further, their reply did not state any solution or compensation for their mistakes. In the end, customers like me have lost the interest paid for the loan taken due to Najm’s mistake.
(Process initiation: May 25. Response from organisation: May 27. Process completion: July 6.)
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.
