I am sure we all have been sick of crank calls that we get from direct selling agents of most of the popular Credit Card providers, and I am sure like me everyone would have a story of tall promises made at the time of selling the cards and how harasses we felt at different points in time in some way or the other.
The latest way these companies harass you is by not sending you the statements and then putting a late payment fees and interest charges. I use two credit cards, one from HDFC and another from ICICI. For last 3 months I had been fighting with HDFC that I am not receiving my statement, and every time I used to get the details on phone and pay from the net. But I was sure that this cannot continue and I stopped using HDFC Card after making the last payment. The interesting part of the story is that I had been receiving my statements on the same address for last two years and now they tell me that their courier guy can not find my address, I live in some in- accessible location, and I should change my address. Learning from my past experiences with these companies I have learnt to do all correspondence in writing as spoken work carries no meaning at all, especially when the people sitting in the call center do not even know whom they are talking to and know that the next time the call comes, they are not responsible.
Just when I decided to dump HDFC and started using ICICI card instead, ICICI is playing the same cards. I used to get my statement by e-mail, on the date of my statement, and I have not received it in last 10 days after repeated reminders also. The statement in mail has also not arrived. Now the answer will probably be the same that my address is not accessible, but I am amazed, how can it be accessible for all promotional material and not accessible for credit card statements only, that too when it was all the while working for statements as well.
Is this the new trick by credit card companies to levy charges on you and earn money or is this just a co-incidence that happened to me? Has anyone else also faced a similar problem? Any thoughts…
True. I want everyone in Indian to start using cards but i don't think so it is gona happen any sooner with the type of service they provide.. I know so many who have cancelled there cards just because of the dirty tricks these banks play...
ReplyDeleteDon't we have an organization where we can just make a complaint about the bad service we get and they advertise it to everyone... as well as sue that company?
you are not alone, exactly similar problem here too.
ReplyDeleteMissing monthly billing statements.
hmm thats very strange.. being a former senior officer with HDFC I can assure you that it most probably has got something to do with the postal/courier service. Anyways sorry to hear of your predicament.
ReplyDeleteInjinuity,
ReplyDeleteI would love to believe you , but this has continued for too long to be a goof up, and the attitude is just not there to improve the servive.
-Anu
Anuradha, you are not alone. I think almost everyone of us has had a bad experience atleast one - if not everytime. The only way to fight them is - not to compromise and raise the voices and take them to court. They should understand that the ppl are not going to accept their cheatful attitude!
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ReplyDeleteThis is so true.. I've had similar experiences.. A few months ago, I applied for a card from SBI. After about couple of months, I had got a few mails saying my credit card was issue & it would reach me within a week. Although I did not receive the card for more than a month, I did not worry. But then one fine day, I received a statement saying I had to pay a huge amount as annual fees. I was frustrated. First of all, I was told that the card was free - lifetime. Then, I still hadn't received the card. I called them up. It takes forever to get to them. After I spoke to them, they said that the courier had returned saying that they could not reach me at my office!! Actually, since mine is a desk job, I'm always at my desk. And, all the office mails are collected by the facilities dept. before giving it to us. Also, my office is at a central location. And the guy from SBI had found it without any problems when he had come to take my sign on the appication. Also, I had clearly mentioned that I wanted the correspondence at my house address & not the office address.. Inspite of all these, the card still did not reach me.. The courier guy couldn't get to my office!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to them changed nothing. I was told that the first year's fee would be waived off, but the card would not be free for life. This situation continued for about 3-4 months with me getting a statement for a huge annual fee everytime. But I NEVER received the card. Finally, I got frustrated & called them up one evening & told them to cancel my card. I was so frustrated that I yelled at them. The next day morning, I got my card delivered in no time. What a service! I finally got the card cancelled & returned it back to them.. But it was a horrible experience. These credit card companies do anything for money.
Just dropping by... Sunday afternoon and I'm searching for sites that mention beaches so I can learn which ones people think are the best for my Three Best Beaches blog. Thanks for the opportunity to comment here.
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