I would like to refund the un-authorised bank charges that the bank has debited to my account without my knowledge or prior notice. The total amount was Dh1,400 debited monthly from March 24, 2015 to September 24, 2015. It all started when the bank decided to change my monthly payments for my bank loan to the 24th of every month. It was originally the first of the month. I discovered the charges when I was about to top up my loan, but they were unable to process my top up due to my late payments. I was shocked only to find out that they changed the date of my payments without my notice.
If the bank could have informed me prior to changing my monthly payment date, then at least I could have kept some money in my account on every 24th of the month to avoid the charges.
I raised the request to refund the bank charges on November 7, 2015 at the Dubai Mall branch. I was informed that I would get an update after four days of my request. But with regrets, there has been no development till date. On December 30, 2015 I received an email from the bank saying that my complaint was resolved and the following day I received a text message from the bank saying that they were trying to call me, but I was out of reach. First of all, I didn’t receive any call from the bank with regards to my complaint and, secondly, I always have my phone with me, and I didn’t see any missed call from the bank.
I even informed them that I am having emotional stress every day because of the situation. The bank however changed my monthly payment to the 28th of the month, which is the same date as my salary. I was also threatened by the person who assisted me that I will be having a problem with the bank if I am going to have a dispute and proceed with my complaint.
Please, Gulf News, I am begging for your help so I can get a refund of the bank charges, which are really not justified.
From Mr Erickson D. Barroga
Dubai
The management of Emirates Islamic Bank responds:
Thank you for bringing Mr. Barroga’s concerns to our attention.
Emirates Islamic would like to clarify that since the customer missed repayments on his personal finance from the bank, he was charged with late payment fees as per the bank’s schedule of charges.
Our customer experience team has contacted the customer to explain the breakup of charges and we would like to inform you that this matter has now been resolved.
(Process initiation: January 6. Response from organisation: January 12. Process completion: January 28.)
Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.
