Last year, a representative from Noor Bank pleaded with me and offered me two credit cards (which I never wanted) and the bank sales executive, who sold me the card, promised me that the cards would be free for life and no annual charges would be imposed.
When I received my statement in March 2018, I was surprised to observe charges for annual fees and then in April, I got another statement with late payment fees, which amounted to a total charge of Dh1,250 (annual fee of Dh1,000 and late payment fee of Dh250).
I would like to emphasise that both the credit cards were not used and there was no transaction whatsoever on the cards for one year.
As a goodwill gesture, I made this payment of Dh1,250 against these unethical charges and then lodged a complaint with the bank to reverse these charges so that they could refund the money, since this practice by the bank was unethical.
After continuous follow-ups and emails to customer service at Noor Bank, the bank informed me that they could not refund the money.
I would like to convey this to Noor Bank’s management, so they can reconsider practices being followed by their salespersons to sell cards, by misinforming/misleading and cheating clients, about free-for-life cards and the policy of enabling unwanted charged services without the consent of the cardholder.
I hope Gulf News will consider my complaint, which will not only help other readers but also help the bank in improving their services.
From Mr Christopher Noronha
Dubai
The management of Noor Bank responds:
Noor Bank is committed to finding an amicable and fair solution toward any customer complaints. We are always transparent with our customers. This starts with acknowledging the problem raised by the concerned individual and working towards a swift resolution.
Soon after we received Mr Noronha’s complaint from Gulf News, our Customer Experience Unit investigated this matter further.
After a further investigation, Noor Bank contacted Mr Noronha to resolve the situation. Mr Noronha raised a complaint stating he was not informed about the annual fee charges on the credit card by the sales team. When we investigated, we found that Mr Noronha has duly signed a letter of understanding, agreeing for all the fee and charges associated with the card. However, we still have reversed the annual fee of Dh1,000 charges as a one-off goodwill gesture and late fee of Dh250 charged due to annual fee. The same has been informed to the customer, he is happy with our resolution.
Noor Bank wishes to assure all customers of our best service and prompt response to any complaints and grievances they may have.
Mr Noronha responds:
I would like to thank Gulf News for their kind intervention to resolve the issue. Noor Bank has reversed the charges and the issue is resolved.
(Process initiation: April 30. Response from organisation: May 6. Reader confirmation: May 6.)
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.
