The most illogical reason to block the credit card
I am writing to complain about the blockage of my credit card from Dunia Finance.
I was approached by a Dunia Finance representative for a Club Apparel Titanium credit card in April, 2013. I was informed that there will be a Dh300 annual fee, and that I will receive a Dh20,000 plus credit limit and a voucher worth Dh300 from Club Apparel as soon as I pay the annual fee and receive my card. After providing the required documents requested by the bank, I received the card, but found out that the credit limit was only Dh10,000. Also, I did not get any voucher.
When I called Dunia Finance, they told me that my credit limit will be increased only after six months and I will receive the voucher after two months. After waiting for two months for the voucher, I was not able to redeem it in all Club Apparel stores as promised by Dunia Finance. I did, however, use it at a shoe store that was accepting the voucher.
The worst part of their service was that after four months, the bank disabled my card without bringing it to my notice, even though there was no outstanding balance or any other reason to block my card. After a continuous follow-up for a week, they told me that they will issue me a new card, but they need an approval from my company’s HR department.
Unfortunately, I had already resigned from the company at that point and I was on a notice period. When I followed up with Dunia Finance again, they told me that they cannot issue me a new card because I had resigned from my company – the most illogical reason to block my card without any reason and not issue me a new card for which I had already paid the annual fee and provided all the documents for.
In short, they charged me Dh300, blocked my card for no reason, gave me a voucher that I was not able to use in all stores as promised, and did not issue me a new card. They actually owe me some money since I overpaid my last bill.
I will appreciate it if Gulf News can help me to raise this issue with Dunia Finance.
From Mr Mohammad Rizwan Hanif
Dubai
The management of Dunia Finance responds:Thank you for your email dated December 28, 2013, as part of which you have shared our customer Mr Hanif’s query with us.
We have contacted Mr Hanif and would like to confirm that we have provided written clarification regarding his account, and the matter has been resolved satisfactorily. As you are aware, we are unable to disclose specific resolution details in the interest of protecting and maintaining the confidentiality of our customers’ personal and account-related information. You could, however, contact Mr Hanif directly if required and seek his feedback to close the matter at your end. We trust this has satisfactorily resolved the matter.
Mr Hanif responds: I received a call from a Dunia representative on December 30. She was totally unaware about my complaint, and only called me because of orders from her senior. She was trying to convince me, without hearing the recording, and that it was my fault that the card got cancelled. I told her to listen to the recording herself, and then call me back. I got a call back after a couple of hours. She told me that she listened to my 19-minute conversation with a Dunia Finance customer service representative, and that I had raised four issues at that time.
The management of Dunia Finance responds: Thank you for your email dated January 3, 2014, as part of which you have shared our customer Mr Hanif’s query with us. We would like to confirm that we have reviewed Mr Hanif’s account once again, and have provided detailed clarification regarding his card account held with us. As you are aware, we are unable to disclose specific resolution details in the interest of protecting and maintaining the confidentiality of our customers’ personal and account-related information. You could, however, contact Mr Hanif directly if required and seek his feedback to close the matter at your end.
Mr Hanif responds: I got a letter from Dunia Finance today (January 7), addressing my concerns and unlike what they wrote to you, the matter was not resolved successfully. I am still not satisfied from their reply and hope they will come up with valid reasons and improve their customer service instead of giving new and illogical reasons again and again.
In the first paragraph of the letter, the bank representative was trying to teach me Central Bank rules and regulations instead of resolving my issue.
In the second and third paragraphs, she finally admitted that card blockage has been done for regulatory reasons and mentioned when it was brought to their knowledge, I was no longer working with the same employer and they were by regulation, required to block my card immediately. Previously, they were saying that I requested to block my card and to clear this issue in a more efficient way; my card has been blocked since September 24 and I resigned from my company on October 1, with a month’s notice period. The reason mentioned by them is not valid since I resigned from the company a week after my card was blocked.
In the third paragraph, she mentioned that they cannot reverse the annual membership fee of Dh300. Remember that the voucher I got against that fee was not redeemable at all Club Apparel stores as per their promise. They got my complaint regarding this matter in May, 2013, so why didn’t they take any action till now?
The worst part is that they have not once apologised for the lack of good customer service since May, 2013, even after so many complaints from me – they keep blaming their customer instead.
The management of Dunia Finance responds: Thank you for your email dated January 8, 2014, as part of which you have shared our customer Mr Hanif’s query with us. We would like to confirm that we have reviewed Mr Hanif’s account once again, and have provided detailed clarification regarding his card account held with us. We trust this closes and satisfactorily resolves the matter.
