‘I should be reimbursed’

Cash advance charges

I was recently reading your article about bank charges in the UAE (“Reversal of unauthorised charges”, Gulf News, November 7) and I would like to share my experience with you, hoping that my bank would at least acknowledge their mistake, and maybe reimburse me.

I am currently a customer of HSBC, since I arrived in Dubai, in February 2013. On August 31, I was in Ibn Battuta Mall and I urgently needed to take some cash. I tried around three ATM machines from three different banks, though none of them my own bank, and they all gave me the same error message “operation timed out, please contact your bank”. I tried calling my bank but there seemed to be something wrong with their lines as I was not able to connect. As a last resort I tried using my credit card, which worked out fine and I got the cash I needed.

Naturally I was charged a Dh100 fee, which is normal for cash advances on credit cards, but since there was a mistake from the bank’s side I considered that I should be reimbursed. I emailed the bank many a times asking for a reimbursement but they always replied that a Dh100 fee is normal and there were no issues with their ATM cards or phones on that day and that I am responsible to pay the fee. I tried calling them and complaining but then they said I should have used the option of cash advance, using my credit card but taking money from my bank account instead of my credit card as this would have been cheaper. In all cases my requests for refund were not accepted, even when I threatened to cancel my credit card.

I am considering canceling my card, maybe even my bank account, but considering the bureaucratic inconvenience I will have to go through, I am a bit hesitant and I chose to contact you, maybe you’ll be able to publish my story and get the bank to acknowledge their mistake. Thanking you in advance for your help.

From Mr Sami Oubari

Dubai

The management of HSBC responds:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Please note that we have contacted Mr Oubari and his case has been resolved. Thank you once again for bringing this matter to our attention. Please let me know if you need any further help.

Mr Oubari responds:

Thanks a lot Gulf News. It did help as it made the bank investigate the matter more thoroughly and they realised there was an issue from their side. The fees have been reimbursed.

No authorisation

I wish to raise my concern about First Gulf Bank’s (FGB) practice of activating products without any authorisation from its customers and charging us for the same. There was no mention of credit shield and accident insurance on the application form, nor was it highlighted to us. However, FGB have charged us for this and are not ready to reverse the charges, which I feel is unfair and unethical business practice. On calling the bank’s call centre, the representative stated: “It was under the terms and conditions of the credit card.” However, as mentioned above, the sales person never highlighted this to us or took specific consent for the same. Therefore, I request Gulf News intervention on the matter to not only seek reversal of the charges but also to highlight the same for public awareness and redressal.

From Mr Bharti J Sampat

Dubai

Editor’s note:

The complaint was forwarded to First Gulf Bank for comments. However, despite repeated reminders, FGB management did not respond.

Wrong billing

I had filed a complaint in March, 2013 for the wrong billing to my etisalat GSM mobile. After 10 months, I received a text message from them saying that the issue was resolved when the issue still remains the same. I do not understand why somebody from etisalat can’t even call me to check if the issue is in fact resolved or not. Now, I have been trying to report the issue again. But it takes more than 30 minutes to get someone to answer the call and even if they do answer they do not know how to solve the issue.

From Mr Pradeep Bhanndary

Dubai

Editor’s note:

The complaint was forwarded to the management of etisalat. However, despite repeated reminders, they failed to respond.

Editor’s note: Do have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com