Loan process
I have been one of the unfortunate customers of Dunia Finance. My horrific experience started from the day I first spoke to its loan agent who had advertised regarding the so-called fast approvals and easy documentation of Dunia Finance.
I told him that our company is not listed with banks and this is why we don't get loans from banks. His reply was [Dunia] would try and get this done without the company being listed. The requirement [from my side] was a mere Dh20,000, which is not even three times my salary.
The application, along with all the required documents, was given to him on November 20, 2010, at 8pm, so I knew the application would only be submitted the next day.
I received a verification call shortly after and then the nightmare began. My company was not listed and it became a problem (which I knew would happen). I was told that the Dunia people tried to call the HR department and the telephone number was not valid.
I replied saying there was a technical problem for three hours and the lines were now working and if only someone would call again we could resolve this.
That one single point of "phone number being busy" was highlighted to me by its agent throughout our three weeks of constant follow-up phone calls. I was made to feel like only if someone picked up the phone, you'd get your loan. This is where I got really upset and called up their call centre.
A girl picked up and verified my details and I told her about the whole situation. She repeated the loan application status four times and told me that the loan was rejected earlier and they were doing "something about it".
I replied that after two weeks [she could not] even put me on the line with someone in charge of listening to a customer complaint! She [responded by saying] that I [was not] understanding and [was not] listening.
She repeated the status as though she was speaking to a short-term memory-loss patient. I was disgruntled after the call and moreover the ordeal continued.
I got a call that evening from the person from Abu Dhabi saying he [would] be coming for a verification check the next day and this was also completed. I called up after two days to know about the status only to be told that the company listing had to be done and the person [would] be coming "today or tomorrow".
The phone conversations with the agent have been a complete waste of time and breath as he keeps saying it's not anyone's fault and refuses to take any responsibility for the whole situation.
He keeps blaming me saying that no one picked up the phone and I know for a fact that we receive over 200-300 calls a day. I have kept saying to let me know the date and time the person will come here to do the listing process and so far… I've only been given false promises. To sum it up, it has been exactly 45 days since I applied for a loan and I can safely say that within this time I could have arranged to get this money from my family and friends.
Ms Veena Viswanathan, Unit Head — Customer Services & Quality, Dunia Finance, responds:
We would like to advise you that, based on your mail, we reviewed the detailed facts in depth and have subsequently contacted Mr Ansari in this regard.
As you are aware, owing to customer confidentiality reasons, we cannot communicate specific account details to you, and we are therefore writing to thank you for bringing the issue to our attention and to assure you that we have reviewed it again based on your feedback.
We would also like to confirm to you that, based on this special review, we have appropriately communicated the details to Mr Ansari to help satisfactorily resolve his query.
Mr Ansari responds: Thank you very much for responding to my email and it shows the professionalism of Gulf News.
Unfortunately, Ms Viswanathan is lying because they have not contacted me to resolve the matter but rather sent me a letter to say they can't process my application.
They have not given me any reason for wasting months of my time and actually declining the loan.
I have no problems with the fact that a mere amount of Dh15,000 was declined but as I kept stating from the word go that it is the customer service or in this case, the lack of it, which has made me angry.
Three months it took, after visits from their team to verify my details and even asking me to get a cheque book which I did and even paid Dh100 for it. Then they blatantly tell me that "they are unable to process my application". They have not even given any valid reason for the rejection of my loan application and neither have they apologised for wasting my valuable time and resources.
I am still extremely disappointed at the way they have treated my case and they have lied time and again, which includes the latest lie that they have resolved the matter.
Ms Sheila Java, Customer Fulfillment Head, Dunia Finance, responds: As per Mr Ansari's email to you, he has attached our response which was sent to him on January 15, 2011 which clearly explained our decision to him.
However, in his email to you, he states that we have not contacted him. As advised to our customer, please be advised that all loan applications are reviewed and approved at the sole discretion of Dunia Finance LLC and are subject to the internal credit policies and applicable terms and conditions which is always available online at http://www.dunia.ae/termsandconditions. We thank you for your ongoing support.
Mr Ansari responds: Thank you Gulf News for trying.
Editor's note: If you would like to be heard and voice your opinions, log on to www.gulfnews.com or email us at readers@gulfnews.com
