Credit shield without approval
I have been a Mashreq Bank credit card holder since over a decade. During these years, I never defaulted in my payments. In the second week of February, 2015, a Mashreq Bank telesales person contacted me for credit shield. I showed no interest, but he continued telling me of the advantages. I told him to email me the details, along with the terms and conditions. He didn’t send me the email, but I got a text message thanking me for showing interest. I tried calling him, but it was in vain.
Finally, I got him on the phone and told him that I had not received the details and without seeing them, I cannot accept the credit shield. He sent me the details and I found that he had misguided me with wrong information. I responded immediately, telling him that I don’t accept it, since he has misguided me.
My credit card statement was generated on February 18. To my surprise, I saw that Dh166.69 was charged to me as credit shield. Without my acceptance, how can the bank charge me this amount?
I called the bank’s customer service and informed them of my dissatisfaction. Then, I got a call from someone from the credit shield department and the representative insisted that I had given the bank consent for the credit shield, which I strongly deny. Is this the way they generate funds?
From Mr Ashok Shetty
Dubai
The management of Mashreq Bank responded:
Mashreq enables Credit Shield insurance on credit cards only after a telephonic confirmation with the customer. In Mr Shetty’s case, we have investigated his concern and concluded that although the confirmation call was made to Mr Shetty, there was room for uncertainty. The Mashreq staff involved and named by Mr Shetty have been coached and warned.
We have agreed to reverse the Credit Shield premium of Dh166.69 into Mr Shetty’s account, taking into account the ambiguity of the call and do apologise for any inconvenience caused. We tried reaching him, but Mr Shetty is apparently travelling. We have conveyed the resolution and given him the good news of the reversal over an email and will contact him once he is back in the country. We would like to thank Gulf News once again to seek our clarification in this case.
Mr Shetty responds:
Thank you Gulf News for looking into the facts and taking up my complaint with the concerned authorities, and I thank Mashreq for the necessary action that was taken.
(Process initiation: June 10. Response from organisation: June 11. Reader confirmation: June 19.)
