Third-party charge
I am holding a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Visa credit card which is now under migration to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). I have an insurance policy with them. Further, I was paying premiums regularly. Since there is no RBS in Al Ain, I used to pay through UAE Exchange for which they were charging Dh3 as third-party charge. Once, by mistake I paid only the premium, without the third-party charges of Dh3, which I got to know later from their representative, who called me for a promotional product. Immediately I paid Dh10.
The bank levied a penalty of late payment fee of Dh159, which I didn’t know. As per the bank, I had to pay the late payment fee before September 5. When I contacted the bank on September 13 [around 12am], the customer service representative said he would check, and then said it could not be waived. When I told him that I wanted to speak with his supervisor and also requested his email, he told me to call back in the morning and gave me the email address: adcbactive@adcb.com.
On September 13 I called the bank and explained to the officer on duty all the issues. He told me to pay the whole amount and then request for reversal of the late fee, which would be done. He said another Dh159 late fee would come in the next bill, since I had not paid the previous late fee on time, which would not be reversed.
I deposited Dh211, including the late fee on September 14, and requested the reversal. A different customer service officer who attended my call said it could not be reversed. When I requested to speak to the first officer, she did not connect me.
The customer service representative, after consulting with her supervisor, told me that the late fee couldn’t be reversed as the reversal criteria did not apply to me. When I asked her what my disqualification was, she said it was a bank secret.
I tried to contact the first officer many times, but they did not allow me to talk with him. Finally, one officer told that he would treat this as complaint and gave me a complaint number. I received a call on September 30 and was again told the charge could not be reversed.
Many customer service officers told me that there was no record of my initial conversation with the first officer. But how come that I know his name? It is a mystery why they did not allow me to talk to him after repeated requests.
I paid Dh165 again on October 2, with Dh3 extra fearing that they would penalise me again. I have not purchased anything using their card and I have taken their product (insurance). For Dh3, they have penalised me with a charge of Dh159 twice.
I hope that Gulf News can contact them to reverse the amount. Furthermore, I informed the ADCB customer service officer on October 5 to block the card (for safety reasons).
From Mr Ahmad Mousa Yousuf Ejudeen
Al Ain
The management of ADCB responds:
Please be advised that our customers are important to us and to enable problem solving for them, we have devoted a Service Quality Unit that handles all customers’ issues and complaints. Our customers are free to contact us on the toll-free number at 800 2030; or call collect +97126210090 from outside the UAE; or they can visit our website (www.adcb.com) from where they will be able to log their complaints, commendation or suggestions. Readers/complainants should contact us through these channels.
Please note that the issue has been investigated and resolved. The customer has been contacted and informed of our feedback and the case is closed now.
Mr Ejudeen responds:
I am pleased to inform Gulf News that ADCB has reversed the late fees. Now, the matter is resolved. It happened only due to Gulf News’ kind help. I am very thankful.
Fee waiver request
I have an Emirates NBD card and I had a balance of Dh2,173.87 as of September 2011, for which I had to pay the minimum due amount. I applied for a balance transfer from my other credit card to pay the entire balance, and the draft was supposed to be delivered to me on September 29, but the courier did not deliver due to the change of my post office box.
Due to non-payment on the due date I was levied a hefty charge of Dh170 and an additional charge of Dh63 as interest.
I deposited the banker’s cheque for the full amount of Dh2,173.87 on October 6 and after several follow-ups and complaints, the bank waived the charge of Dh170.
I’ve been an honest customer and never defaulted in payments till date. I request Gulf News to take up this issue and help me in getting the interest of Dh63 waived. If the bank is still bent on collecting the interest of Dh63 I will be forced to surrender the card to the bank and the bank will lose an honest customer.
From Mr Krishnan Srinivasan
Sharjah
The management of Emirates NBD responds:
We are pleased to inform Gulf News that the concerned department contacted Mr Srinivasan and resolved his complaint. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Gulf News and the customer for providing us with their feedback and regret the inconvenience caused. Many thanks for Gulf News’ continued support and valued efforts.
Mr Srinivasan responds:
I am thankful to Gulf News as Emirates NBD called me and reversed the charges. Please continue this good work.
Card cancellation
A RAK Bank credit card executive asked me to deposit an amount of Dh35,000 in order to take a credit card with a limit of Dh30,000, as I don’t have any salary account in any bank in the UAE. He promised that I would get the deposit amount at any time I wanted. I deposited Dh35,000 and they issued me a credit card with a Dh30,000 credit limit.
I used this card to the maximum credit limit. I tried my level best but couldn’t repay the amount. So I discussed with a RAK Bank executive the process to cancel the card by using the deposit amount. However, they were not ready to do that and asked me to repay the card amount and then I would get the deposit amount in 45 days after cancellation of the card. I request Gulf News to kindly help me in cancelling my credit card.
From Mr Narayanan Visalakshan
Ajman
Mr Ian Hodges, Head of Personal Banking, RAK Bank responds:
We would like to thank Gulf News for giving us an opportunity to explain our stance on the queries raised by the customer before they are published.
We contacted Mr Visalakshan to clarify the details and resolve his concerns to his satisfaction.
His credit card has been closed and the credit balance has been transferred to his account with us.
Mr Visalakshan responds:
I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Gulf News for the quick action. RAK Bank officials sent me a form to cancel the credit card. They cancelled the card after getting the signed form and the balance deposit amount has been credited to my account.
Once again I would like to thank Gulf News for solving this issue.
Editor’s note: If you have similar consumer complaints and wish to raise them with the newspaper, write to us via email at readers@gulfnews.com
