‘Debt collectors made me feel like a criminal’

Dubai: Banks and finance companies remind their clients to make their payments on time, but what they don’t quite prepare them for is the surprise that often awaits them when they miss a payment deadline.

Filipina Corazon Tarcena, 50, learnt this the hard way recently.

She claims she was publicly humiliated by a bunch of “rude loan recovery agents” for failing to pay her monthly loan instalment of Dh1,280.

Harassed

The receptionist at an Al Quoz garage who claims to have never missed a payment in her lifetime before says she was threatened, harassed and shamed by debt collectors who would turn up at her workplace for days.

“It was such a shock and embarrassment for me, especially in front of my colleagues who have known me for such a long time. I felt so low and like a criminal in front of everyone,” says the Filipina.

She alleges that she was bombarded with texts, emails and 20 calls per day on her mobile phone before the recovery officers came visiting her.

“It’s the manner in which they treated me that hurts me most. It was alright until they came calling at my workplace, first threatening me with a jail term and hurling insults at me in front of my colleagues,” adds the mum of three who earns Dh3,000 a month.

Low salary

Ineligible for a personal loan from most UAE banks owing to her low salary, she says she had no choice but to borrow Dh25,000 she needed for her child’s college fees from a private finance company.

“At 28.1 per cent per annum, their rate of interest was way more than what banks offered but I still took the three-year loan, paying its instalments on time for 18 months. The only time I wobbled was this month and see what I got in return,” rues Tarcena who eventually paid one of the collectors the default amount by borrowing from her friends and colleagues.

Yet, she recalls, she kept getting texts, calls and emails for days until her payment was formally registered in their system.

“The harassment I endured during that time was beyond just stressful. I hope no one has to go through this ever,” says the long-time Dubai resident.

No comment was available from the financing company at the time of posting this article, as it has no email address or telephone numbers for media queries.

XPRESS tried to get the financing company’s side for this story, but queries from non-customers are not entertained through the company’s existing feedback system.