Readers' issues raised

Bank charges

This is with regards to my complaint against Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). ADCB has their outbound campaigns where they call different people to sell their credit cards with attractive offers. I was disturbed by their agents who used to call me time and again for loans and credit cards. I refused many times and complained by telling them not to call me for such offers.

After continuous calls from the ADCB Outbound Team, I agreed to the request of one of the sales executives to get an ADCB credit card, on the condition that the credit card would be free of charge. The sales agent came to my office and also asked me to open a bank account with ADCB and that it was also free of charge and doesn’t require a minimum account balance to be maintained. I agreed to the sales agent’s request only after he requested me to help him to achieve his monthly target quota, and because he said it’s completely free. I told him I would not be using it.

I provided the required documents to the sales executive. They delivered the credit card and bank account debit card in a pack. I haven’t used them till date. I didn’t receive any bills from ADCB and suddenly the first bill I receive says I have to pay Dh300 to ADCB for not maintaining a minimum account balance. I called the same sales agent and he said that he never promised that the account would not have any charge.

Then I called ADCB’s customer care number 800 2030 and noticed that the call centre agents have no customer service skills at all. One agent registered a complaint for me and promised that someone would call me back. I didn’t receive any call. I waited for two weeks, but in vain. I called customer care again and wanted to speak to a manager, and then a team leader promised me a call back from the manager. After calling me, the manager confirmed the same; that he will arrange a call-back from the concerned department.

The result: even the manager was of no use to me. This complaint was closed without my notice. As per the feedback from the bank, the bank employees tried to contact me but I was not answering (I was out of town for a period of two weeks), but going back to the complaint process in any industry, a complaint cannot be closed without informing or notifying the customer.

I called again and opened another complaint. I received a call from ADCB’s Billing Department who seemed to be rude. I refused to speak to that person and asked for a manager. The complaint was again closed without my notice. I just got an SMS that said: “Thank you for your feedback”.

Last week I again registered a complaint for the same reason, and a similar promise was made by another manager. I waited for the bank’s response and called their customer service and spoke to the agent, who was rude, and then asked to speak with a manager.

The contact centre agent told me that there is no manager available (at 1pm), confirming that all managers went for lunch together. I cannot imagine that a reputed company has no rules in terms of customer service, no managerial responsibilities — none of the managers followed my complaint even though everyone gives the same words of taking the complaint and following it personally every time I interacted with them.

I am not going to pay any charges applied to my account, as I have been complaining and requesting the closure of my account and the cancellation of my credit card with ADCB (which I never used) for over six months now. Still, charges are being applied to my account, which has accumulated to Dh375.
From Mr Faheem Khan
Ajman

The management of  ADCB responds:
Many thanks for your enquiry, based on which we hope to resolve the situation for our customer as soon as possible. It is important to note that customer satisfaction is at the very top of our agenda, which is why we have an established Service Quality Unit that is dedicated to handling all customer enquiries and complaints.

All ADCB customers can contact this unit 24/7 on 800 2030; or call collect +97126210090 from outside UAE; alternatively they can visit our website (www.adcb.com) from where they will be able to log their complaints, recommendations or suggestions. Please be advised that all cases are investigated promptly and thoroughly to reach the best possible resolution for the customer. In the interests of customer confidentiality and information security, each case’s outcome will be communicated directly and only with the customer and not through mainstream media channels.

Hacked account

I have been a loyal customer of HSBC since 2003. My account has always been kept running clean and with cash. My credit cards were never over the limit or left unpaid for even one month and I assumed I was in safe hands until the day I received five text messages from the bank at 6am, notifying me of five transactions on my credit card done online and some in the UK for a total of Dh16,800.

I immediately called the bank and informed them of this fraudulant activity. The bank could hardly stop the last one that was $1, but told me they would do their best to retrieve the rest back.

Meanwhile I went to HSBC and filed a dispute claim. There, I was told that the amount will be reimbursed to me within a month and it was true. At the end of the month the amounts were reimbursed to my account. This was in March 2011.

Surprisingly after a month, one transaction was again debited from my account for an amount of Dh10,749. So I had to again file a claim with the bank asking for the reason. An investigation team was set and after so many follow-ups from my side, they answered me saying: “Sorry there is nothing the bank can do, the supplier has got your P.O. Box mentioned in the transaction and states that he has delivered vouchers to you”.
My next question to the bank was: If I have at any point purchased a big amount as such on the internet, there should be receipt vouchers presented by the supplier for these products, which were supposedly sold to me. But the bank said there is nothing available to prove by the supplier that such vouchers have been delivered to me. Only because my credit card was hacked online, there was nothing to be done. When I asked if the insurance can cover it, again, there was no response. I even sent a screenshot of my laptop’s IP address to the investigation team to help me on this, but so far, after nine months, no one from HSBC has been able to assist me and my case went in vain.
I am so unhappy with the way I was treated on my credit card’s case. I not only lost Dh10,749 but also for the first month that there was a dispute and I had not offset the amount from my account to the credit card account, the bank debited me with interest charges. My expectation from this bank was much higher than this. I would highly appreciate it if Gulf News helps me in letting HSBC hear my words.
From Ms Nazan Nobakht
Dubai

Ms Farah Farooq, Senior Manager, Regional Communications, HSBC, responds:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gulf News for bringing this matter to our attention.

Kindly be advised that we have contacted Ms Nobakht and her issues have been resolved. She has also consented to this response by the bank. We would like to thank Gulf News once again for bringing this matter to our attention and we assure you that we take customer’s feedback seriously and investigate all issues thoroughly to ensure a fair outcome for all our customers.

Ms Nobakht responds:
Many thanks for Gulf News’ quick action. I was contacted by HSBC and they have credited the amount back to my account. I am so thankful to Gulf News for this — brilliant work.