I am a RAK Bank credit cardholder since March 2011. Since the time I started using my card, I have not been receiving my statement at my mailing address.
I contact the call centre every month to ask about the minimum payment and pay the amount.
Recently, I received a statement and saw that Dh143.23 has been charged to my account towards "Credit Shield" — I have never signed such an application to avail insurance on my card. I called up the contact centre and raised an objection against this.
A woman was able to reverse the charges for the current month, but I want the full charges of credit shield to be reversed from the time I took the card and the billing was generated.
I received a call from the Resolution Department and the woman on the line was not helpful at all; she was trying to convince me to keep the insurance and refused to waive the charges, which is against my wish and I completely dishonour such charges.
I am current on my credit card account and no longer making purchases. I request the concerned authorities of RAK Bank to look into the matter and waive the charges.
I request Gulf News to support and publish this [letter] and hope that through your channel the authorities of RAK Bank may come up with the resolution.
From Mr Syed Arafat Ahmad
Al Ain
Mr Ian Hodges, Head of Personal Banking, RAK Bank responds:
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to justify our stance on the issues raised by Mr Syed Arafat Ahmad, RAK Bank customer.
Please note that Credit Shield is an insurance benefit that covers the cardholder's credit card outstanding balance for a nominal monthly charge. Mr Ahmad has enjoyed the benefit of the Credit Shield cover since issuance of the card. The customer's request for cancellation of Credit Shield was effective in December 2011 and as a service gesture, the charges for one month were also reversed to his card.
The bank has a record of monthly e-statements that were sent to Mr Ahmad, and as confirmed in his email, the last statement that reflects the reversal of the Credit Shield has also been received by him.
In view of the above, we regret our inability to accede to Mr Ahmad's request for reversal of all Credit Shield charges levied since issuance of his card.
Mr Ahmad responds:
Please be informed that the subject is closed with RAK Bank authorities. The dispute was partially negotiated and settled. I thank Gulf News for being so kind and helping me to amicably solve the subject matter.
Closing of account
I wanted to close my personal loan with Dunia and needed a clearance letter.
The total amount due on my personal loan was Dh6,790. I gave a cheque for Dh8,182 for closing out my loan. It has been nine days, and the loan is not yet closed.
I have not received a clearance letter from Dunia. I cannot contact the concerned department manager, as whenever I call the customer care department, they say it's not possible and whatever I request would only be processed through customer care phone banking. I didn't make any default on my payment. I need the clearance letter at the earliest.
From Mr Mahesh Mohan
Dubai
Ms Veena Viswanathan, Unit Head — Customer Services and Quality, Dunia Finance, responds:
We have contacted Mr Mohan and would like to confirm that the matter has been resolved satisfactorily.
As you are aware, we are unable to disclose specific resolution details in the interest of protecting and maintaining the confidentiality of our customers' personal and account-related information.
Mr Mohan responds:
Thank you Gulf News for the support. The loan is now closed.
Easy payment plan
In September 2011, a Mashreq bank telemarketing representative approached me to avail an Easy Payment Plan towards my card liabilities at that time. I mentioned that I was not interested since I was planning to settle the entire liabilities within the next couple of months, and then he convinced me that I need not lose interest for these periods, I could avail this scheme at a reduced interest rate; also I could settle the outstanding at any time without any additional charges or interest. I accepted the offer with repayment for 18 monthly instalments to save a little portion of interest towards my liabilities.
Since my acceptance, the bank has debited my card account with the future interest amount. I was under the impression that the bank will reverse the future interest once I pay out all the liabilities. My card liability was Dh16,078.03 on September 30, 2011 and the future interest debited was Dh4,312.12; so the total liability was Dh20,390.15.
I have paid Dh1,500 on October 30, 2011 and Dh15,000 on November 15, 2011 (total amount paid since September 2011 is Dh16,500, whereas the outstanding liability was Dh16,078.03) to my card account. I communicated with the bank to cancel the scheme and requested to reverse the future interest debited by the bank since the liabilities were paid. I was shocked when the bank refused to reverse future interest debited and they insisted that I pay the future interest if I want to settle the account.
With this regard, I communicated with the bank many times explaining the situation, but the bank repeatedly answered that I had accepted the terms and conditions. Of course I have accepted, this is my hard-earned money, I am not asking to reverse or waive the amount borrowed from the bank. All I am requesting the bank is to reverse the future interest debited to my card account since I paid all my liabilities. And I was misguided — the bank representative never mentioned transparently that I will be liable for future interest even if an early settlement is made, otherwise I wouldn't have accepted the Easy Payment Plan.
I seek Gulf News' help to have an amicable solution to solve this issue with Mashreq. Also, I would like to cancel the card immediately. Afterwards, the bank started debiting my card account with late payment fees as non-payment, whereas I have already paid the entire amount.
From Mr Buhary Maharoop Ali
Sharjah
The management of Mashreq responds:
We would like to thank Gulf News for sharing Mr Buhary Ali's letter with us.
We have investigated Mr Ali's concern and we would like to convey that the information about the Easy Payment Plan shared with him was not precise, hence his understanding was not clear on the product.
However, as we value Mr Ali's relationship with Mashreq, we would like to confirm that we have shared a satisfactory resolution, which he was pleased with.
Thank you for seeking clarification.
Mr Ali responds:
I would like to thank Gulf News for your help. I received a call from Mashreq Customer Care stating my issue has been resolved. Accordingly, they reversed the future interest charged. I am really thankful to Gulf News and its team. This wouldn't be possible without their help.
