Dishonoured cheque
I have an account with Mashreq bank from the past 12 years and during these years I have come across some small mistakes but recently I have encountered one of the worst customer service experiences from them.
Three months ago I had issued a cheque to Abu Dhabi Commerical Properties (ADCP) for Dh30,000 and this cheque came up for payment early in October.
Unfortunately, I got an SMS from ADCP that my cheque had bounced and that I need to see them as soon as possible. I immediately called Mashreq and was told that the cheque was dishonoured due to difference in signature and not due to insufficient funds.
I immediately went to the closest Mashreq branch, withdrew Dh30,000 and went to pay ADCP. To my surprise ADCP asked me to pay Dh1,000 as fine. There was no other go as I had signed an agreement with ADCP previously and I did not remember this clause.
What was very sad was that the people in Mashreq clearly understand that if anybody issues a cheque for Dh30,000 to ADCP it should definitely be rent and will not be something else. Knowingly they have allowed dishonouring the cheque of one of their oldest customers for a very minor reason. I thought if Mashreq calls and updates me about the difference in the signature and allows me to sign again they could have saved me Dh1,000.
If I had insufficient funds in my account I would have no face to show both to ADCP and Mashreq and I would not have the courage to question them for their poor service. I am disappointed and feel bad about losing Dh1,000 for a minor mistake from my side and that too in these difficult financial conditions. I would have not regretted if I helped a poor or needy person with this kind of money. Mashreq spends a lot of money in signages and visual material within the bank and outside to educate their customers on their customer service, but these are useless if the bank acts poorly in that regard at the end of the day and causes loss to their customers.
Through Gulf News, which is organising great communication between readers and banks and resolving many of the consumers’ issues, I would like to bring it to the notice of all fellow account-holders of Mashreq to take notice of what happened to me and be more alert.
From Mr Satyanarayana Divakar
Abu Dhabi
The management of Mashreq responds:
Thank you for sharing Mr Divakar’s letter with us. Our investigation revealed that Mr Divakar issued a Mashreq cheque of Dh30,000 and it was not processed due to signature mismatch. Please be informed that the signature provided in the cheque was completely different against the one provided in the customer’s account.
We constantly advice and encourage customers to maintain the same signature throughout their banking transactions or update the bank in case of any change or alterations in their signature to avoid any inconvenience.
Please be informed that we have communicated with Mr Divakar to share the outcome of our investigation and requested him to visit the nearest Mashreq branch to update his signature in the system. Thank you for seeking clarification.
Finance charges
I am holding a RAK Bank Master credit card and would like to register my complaint. I made a purchase using the card and paid 55 per cent of the full amount before due date (September 25, 2011) and the balance amount of 45 per cent before the statement date (at a four-day delay from the due date) due to the time span required as I needed to transfer funds from overseas, due to the local Eid holidays. I was surprised to see the financial charges of Dh1,580 in the e-statement, which is unfair, and also noticed they can redeem the cash back worth Dh1,568.
I used online chat to complain to RAK Bank customer service and they replied that I have to call them since this is a credit card issue. But they are not reachable on the given number. Then I posted my complaint on their website, but got no reply over the past week.
If I do not hear anything from them within this month, I will pay the unfairly imposed financial charges and cancel the credit card. In order to avoid the late charges as the financial charges were due on October 7, 2011, I paid a minimum amount of Dh100 as a reasonable customer. Will RAK Bank act in the same manner by waiving my financial charges and redeem my cash back points of Dh1,568?
From Mr Arumugam Chandramohan
Dubai
Mr Ian Hodges, Head of Personal Banking, RAK Bank, responds:
Please note that the customer had not settled his credit card outstanding of August 2011 in full by the payment due date and hence a finance charge was levied as per our published service and price guide.
Since the customer was not contactable despite several attempts to reach him, an email was sent requesting him to provide alternative contact details. Mr Chandramohan has responded to our email and we have explained the reason for the charge.
Furthermore, we have arranged to credit the customer’s credit card with cashback earned by him till date and the matter stands closed with him.
Mr Chandramohan responds:
I would like to thank Gulf News and I am sure without your support my request to reconsider the financial charges to RAK Bank would have been unattended. I used to be a prompt payer and used their cards heavily around the world. Surely they will lose customers like me.
Although I received an email from RAK Bank stating that I was not contactable, I replied explaining why I could not attend to their call (as I was in a business meeting) and they did not respond to my subsequent calls - this fact was not reflected in their letter.
My request about the payment made before the statement date (although it was a few days after the due date of payment) and my explanation regarding the one week bank holidays — due to Eid — were not considered by RAK Bank’s policies.
There is no solution for the difficulty faced by customers overseas when it comes to contacting them over the phone. In this case, Gulf News helped me. But it delayed my transfer of funds from overseas due to RAK Bank’s policies. To settle this issue and not waste my efforts and time I have agreed and paid Dh158 (last month’s minimum due).
This is not quality service from RAK Bank. The customer’s feedback is straight away turned down by some individuals who never think this reflects on the bank’s customer service strategy.
Mr Hodges, RAK Bank responds:
Please note that every effort was made by the bank to contact the customer by phone and email to address his queries. A message was left with his friend with a request to call us back as well.
A part of the payment to Mr Chandramohan’s credit card was received only on September 10 after his payment due date. As clarified in our earlier letter, finance charges are not applicable when full payment is received before the payment due date. In view of the above, the bank’s stance on the matter remains the same.
Mr Chandramohan responds:
Thank you for your support. The issue was highlighted to RAK Bank’s customer service officer and based on his advice I have paid Dh160 and all the outstanding will be nullified considering the cash redeemed points (for Dh1,568). Thank you for your time and effort.
Editor’s note: If you have similar consumer complaints and wish to raise them, write to us at readers@gulfnews.com
