Wrongfully charged
I cleared an outstanding amount with Barclays by paying an excess amount in November 2013, and closed the card. Barclays was then transferred to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), and I got an email of welcome in August 2014, and my actual card in September 2015. Meanwhile, ADIB had authorised an online payment without my knowledge and has been charging me for years with the additional amount that I paid. When that amount was exhausted with the charges, they started to send messages saying an amount of Dh252 is still due. When I called customer service they did not have the details, neither did the branch. Then, my card was blocked because of a suspicion of fraud.
It was activated on January 10, 2017, and I used the card for Dh21,000, and was repaid within one week with excess payment. Soon after receiving the payment of Dh22,800 against the outstanding amount of Dh21,000, the card was blocked again. I am complaining because I contacted their customer service representative to refer to my card as a case of fraud. There are online payments being authorised without my knowledge. I have been charged without being informed for many months with the additional payment I made. The issue was not resolved within 72 hours of the given complaint on January 24, 2017. The number of calls I made went by, without any solution. I received very little or no information and found inconsistent behaviour from the staff. It has created severe mental pressure and I am ending up with health issues.
They have blacklisted me with Al Etihad Credit Bureau and have not cleared the blacklist. The customer service department says they cannot do anything.
From Ms Lakshmi Rama Subramani
Dubai
The management of ADIB responds:
We have informed the customer that the delinquency status can’t be removed from our end since there were payments due on the card that were settled late. The customer has been contacted by ADIB again and we reiterated that we shall not be able to remove delinquency as per the standard policy.
Ms Subramani responds:
I had requested the ADIB representative to provide an email or letter where it explains the confusion occurred during the migration from Barclays to ADIB and without clear understanding from both sides. I just need that information from ADIB and I shall win my debate with Al Etihad Credit Bureau. I did not receive the card but ADIB has authorised the online annual subscription payment without my knowledge. I did call ADIB and the customer representative did not have any information on this, which is not my fault either. Would Gulf News be able to approach them for such documents?
The management of ADIB responds:
We regret to inform you that ADIB will not be able to provide any letter or email to Al Etihad Credit Bureau to remove the delinquency status as it needs to match our record, which clearly states that the there was a delay in settling the payments. The customer has been contacted by ADIB and we reiterated that as per the standard policy, we will not be able to issue any letter.
(Process initiation: September 28. Response from organisation: October 2. Process completion: October 18).
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