Letters: June 6

No more points
I have had Mashreq bank credit card for four years. Mashreq did not reward me with etisalat ‘more' points. I had a promotional message from Mashreq for up to 7.5 per cent cash back in the form of ‘more' points until October 31, 2011.

I did some transactions within the promotional period, but even after four months of the promotion being over, I am unable to get my reward points.

The first answer from a senior customer care officer from Mashreq was: "The merchant posted your transactions after the promotion period, so you will not be rewarded the ‘more' points on your etisalat Mashreq gold credit card."

I am not responsible for when the merchant posted it to the bank. I did the transactions within the promotional period so the bank must honour their promotional campaign. Later on the same officer said: "You were charged with late payment charges once, so the reward points were not transferred to you." The bank actually reversed that amount on my complaint.

I feel that the bank doesn't want to reward me and is trying hard to look for reasons to justify it. I request Gulf News to raise the issue with the bank to satisfy the customer.
From Dr Zulfiqar Ali
Dubai

The management of Mashreq responds:
We would like to thank Gulf News for sharing Dr Ali's concern with us.

Please note that we had run the Shop & Talk promotion for targeted customers and Dr Ali was entitled to be a part of it.

One of the main terms and conditions of the promotion was that the customer's credit card must be active without any incident of late payment or over limit during the promotion period. Dr Ali did not make the payment against his card on his payment due date and was charged with Late Payment Fee, hence he is not eligible for the ‘more' points.

We would like to convey that as we value Dr Ali's banking with Mashreq and as a gesture of goodwill, we have previously reversed the Late Payment Fee. Thank you for seeking clarification.

Dr Ali responds:
Thank you for your concern about the reader's issues. I still feel unsatisfied.

Clearing cheque
I had one cheque for clearance in my account on January 17, 2012. As the balance in my account was not sufficient, I credited Dh9,000 in the morning and through online banking I transferred Dh3,500 to my Emirates NBD account, which was delayed for credit. I went to the bank and deposited Dh4,300 at 10.45 am.

That time no debit was showing in my account, so it meant that the cheque had not come for clearance yet. So I was relaxed, but to my surprise I received an SMS stating cheque return and a debit of Dh100 in my account due to insufficient funds.

I immediately wrote a complaint to the bank and sent it via e-mail, but I got no response. Two days later I called the call centre and registered a complaint, and the agent confirmed that within three working days my issue would be addressed.

But even after four working days nobody bothered to reply. I would like Gulf News to take up my issue with the bank and give me a proper response and resolution for my complaint.
From Mr Kashyap Dave
Dubai

The management of Emirates NBD responds:
We are pleased to inform you that the concerned department has provided Mr Dave with a detailed written explanation and necessary clarifications pertaining to the cheque return and the customer is satisfied with our response.

Furthermore, we wish to clarify that as part of the same day clearing process initiated by the Central Bank of the UAE, it is necessary for customers to ensure that a sufficient available balance is maintained in their account by the end of the banking day, which precedes the date of the issued cheque in order for the cheque to be paid.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Gulf News and the customer for providing us with feedback.
 
Mr Dave responds:
Thank you Gulf News. With your help and interest and support, the bank has addressed my complaint and I am satisfied with it.

Editor's note: If you have similar consumer complaints and wish to raise them with the newspaper, contact us via e-mail at readers@gulfnews.com