I would like to bring Gulf News’ notice the fact that, without my knowledge, Mashreq Bank has been charging me some credit shield fees, since November 2016, and they are demanding late payment charges every month, for not paying the credit card shield amount, which I had never requested in the first place.
I have sent so many emails to the bank and have spoken with customer care to reverse these amounts, but there has been no response yet.
I have taken easy cash from Mashreq and I am paying every month before the due date without delay. Please could Gulf News help in this issue?
From Mr Sybulla Hussain
Abu Dhabi
The management of Mashreq responds:
Thank you for sharing Mr Hussain’s complaint with us.
We have reviewed the concerns raised by Mr Hussain regarding Pay Protect charges on his credit card.
Our investigation reveals that the Pay Protect benefit was auto-enrolled on Mr Hussain’s card in August 10, 2016, and an SMS notification for the activation was sent twice on his registered mobile number on August 11 and September 7, along with the EDM to his registered email ID. The option for customers was to keep the benefit or cancel it by sending the ‘opt-out’ message given in the same SMS. Moreover, the above benefit was free for a trial period of the first two months. The charges were debited and subsequently reversed in the same month’s statement with a message to the customer that it’s a look-up period for them to ‘opt-out’ if not acceptable.
Mr Hussain had sent a request for the cancellation of Pay Protect in December 2016, which was actioned by Mashreq.
Pay Protect insurance was cancelled on December 26, 2016 as per our records. He has not been charged thereafter.
We would also like to confirm that Mr Hussain is subscribed for e-statement and monthly statements are being sent to his registered email ID. He has not logged any complaint on the Pay Protect enrolment or charges since December 2016.
As a goodwill gesture we have agreed to reverse the four of the six Late Payment Fee charges along with the entire Purchase Interest.
We have communicated our response to Mr Hussain who has agreed to pay the remaining amount on the card. The outstanding needs to be cleared by the next due date, failing which, regular purchase interest shall be levied.
We take this opportunity to thank Gulf News yet again for bringing a customer issue to our notice. Thank you.
Mr Hussain responds:
I received a call from Mashreq and they have agreed to reverse my last four months’ late payment charges.
I would like to thank Gulf News for assisting to solve my complaint as this issue has been resolved immediately.
(Process initiation: May 1. Response from organisation: May 2. Reader confirmation: May 3.)
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.
