Case Study (HSBC Bank) - Payment for HSBC Credit Card which was never received!

Customer Says:

Hi, I applied for HSBC credit card one year before and after some weeks I got call and letter from bank that they are not issuing any credit card and in case i got any credit card, dispatch it. No credit card and document i received.

After 6 month i got a call from HSBC recovery dept. to pay my due of 5000 otherwise they list my name in defaulter and blah blah. After that i called customer care who says my account is closed. After that i start ignoring them,but they continuously calling me .

Then they started bargaining with me to settle down.At the end i offered them, to pay 1000 rupees .Then they told me that their man will come at my place next day and pay him cash.As i heard from net that after that also they don't stop. Then i asked him to give me the letter of settlement i will pay that amount in the bank.And :D they refused. so the game continues...I would like to hear if there is any solution to get rid of it without paying any due to recovery dept and HSBC.

Ask Pranav Says

Yes, there is a way out. I am assuming that whatever you have stated is the truth.
If you have not even received a Credit Card from HSCB, there is no reason why you need to do any settlement with them. You just need to tell them to give you proof of delivery of the Credit Card and the Transactions that were done in your card, and wait for your response. There would mostly be some form of fraud on your Credit Card and you had never received it, there is no need to pay for the same.

You can collect all your communication with HSBC and share the same with the Head Customer Care at HSBC, the E-Mail will be updated on the website. If you do not get any response, then write to the Banking Ombudsman, the E-mail ID of which is updated on the HSBC Website, also keep a record of all the communication.

As you have not paid back the money (at least as far as their records are concerned) they would have reported your name to the Credit Bureau, once the case has been resolved you need to tell the HSBC guys to remove your name from the Credit Bureau, they can do it internally. Please do not leave them before they do this, else your changes of getting a loan subsequently may be affected.

If you have any further queries, do write into Ask.Pranav@gmail.com and I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Also do check http://www.simplybank.blogspot.com/ for articles on financial education that may be useful to you.

Case Study (Barclays Credit Card) - No Statements Sent but Charges Levied

Customer Says

I was holding Barclays credit card 4339481234567890 which was given on some promotion. I commited a mistake of using this card on 18-11-2007 for purchase of Rs 2174.00. I did not recieve any statement for this.Instead i recieved a call for payment. I was shocked but I was assured that any late payment charges shall be reveresed.Subsequently I sent payment of RS.2200 which was duly credited to my a/c on 28-12-2007.

But the bank kept on calling & sending statements inspite of card being suspended. Finally on 28-06-2008 AARTI came on line to inform that late payment charges can not be waived. I asked for supervisor & Mr Ranjit (Supervisor as told to me ) THAT HE CANNOT TAKE ANY REQUEST OR COMPLAINT ON A SUSPENDED CARD. I IMMEDIATELY ASKED HIM IF THEY CANNOT TAKE ANY COMPLAINT THEN HOW THE BANK CAN CHARGE INTREST OR OTHER CHARGES ON SUSPENDED CARD.i ASKED FOR MY COMPLAINT NO WHICH WAS 1897164 DT 28-06-2009.

Mr Ranjit told me to check status after few days. On 10-07-2009 Rashmi told me that this is not a complaint no but a REF>NO> ONLY. IT WAS SUCH A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE. Looking forward for early redressal.

Ask.Pranav Says:

This is a standard complaint received from most users of Barclaycards. The Statement Process is poor and the charge reversal policy is also not implemented properly. You need to do the following.

(1) Write to the E-Mail ID provided on the website which is service@brclays.com
(2) If you do not get a response write to the Nodal Officer which is Mrs.Meera Rawat and her Contact ID is provided on the website
(3) If she does not respond, write to the Banking Ombudsman for help \

It is very important that you remember the dates on which you spoke to the bank and all the written communication and have copies of the same. It is important that you submit the same to the Ombudsman when you do not receive a satisfactory response from the Bank for 45 days.

I suggest you do not waste any time reasoning out with the Barclaycard Contact Centre folks. It is an absolute waste of time. Just patiently make your point, record your call and hang-up
Also do visit the following website on http://www.simplybank.blogspot.com There are several articles on Credit Cards posted here which may be of use to you

Case Study (SBI Credit Cards) - Rs.500 Late Patyment Fees on Outstanding Less than 50 Paise

Customer Says: SBI Credit Card

HARRASSMENT BY APPLYING UNJUSTIFIED CHARGES: I was using the SBI GOLD card no. 431751234567890 from 2006 to JULY-2007. In one of the payment i made payment of the amount excluding the fractional amount, e.g. Billed Amount was 884.23Rs. & made payment of only 884Rs. to make it round figure. But in the next months statement the bank charged me late fees for the remaining 23 paisa.

When I requested their customer care executive for reversal of the same he refused to do so. I stopped making payment of that late fee, and repeatedly requested customer care to consider it, but all in vain. The same is going on and the latest amount due against the card in the month of June -09 is of 2476.90 Rs. Now I am fed up of talking with customer care department, as they are not at all ready to understand my issue. Sir, I want to bring it to your notice that if really I wanted to cheat the bank, I would have used the card further also as the credit limit over my card was of Rs 52,000, but I never did that. You can even verify my track record before this incidence. I hereby request you to please look into this matter kindly and give me the reversal of the amount whatever you charged me. Otherwise it will be a big injustice with me.

Ask.Pranav Says:

Hi, I faced a similar problem with my Barclaycard. The issue is that most Credi Cad issuers allow a short Payment of Rs.100 on the Total Amount Due. If you pay Rs.100 less than your Total Amount Due, you will still not be charged any Interest.

However Banks likeSBI Card and Barclays do not follow this practise. Hence all customers have to be very careful and ensure that the full amount de is paid to the nearest Paisa. I suggest you do the following.

(1) Register a Case with the Banking Ombudsman stating that you had not paid a few paise and the Late Payment Fee Charged has been Rs.500+ for a short Payment of 23 paisa.Word the letter saying that the Late payment Fee cannot be 1000% of the Payment Outstanding
(2) My bigger worry for you is that by now, they would have reported your name to the Credit Beureau completely ruining your Credit Card. Fo more details on what this means you can visit the following article which explains what a Credit Beureau is.
http://simplybank.blogspot.com/2009/04/what-is-cibil-credit-bureau-and-why-is.html

I suggest you pay off the amount and close the matter as it is very important to have a good Credit Record these days. For any further clarifications you can write to me at Ask.Pranav@Gmail.com or visit my Blogsite on http://www.simplybank.blogspot.com I am sure you will find some articles of use out here.

Case Study (Kotak Credit Cards) - Cheque Encashed but Payment not Received

Customer Says:

I have issued a cheque # 123456 (SBI, HPS Branch) for Rs 297.90 as payment towards my credit card dt 06/10/2009 & dropped it in Kotak ATM located at Begumpet, Hyderabad on 06/10/2009. However, I received a call from Kotak Cards call centre that the payment is outstanding. The debit of the referred cheque from my SBI account updated. I request you to kindly sort out the issue at the earliest

Ask.Pranav Says:

This is a very simple issue for resolution. You need to proceed as follows.

(1) Call the Kotak Contact Centre and fax them a copy of your Bank Statement which clear reflects the Charge Debit and Chequ Number. Also check that you had written the Card Number correctly
(2) They will have to reverse out all charges (Late payment as well as Interest)
(3) If they refuse write to Nodal Officer and then to Banking Ombudsman and keep all the documentation.

If what you are saying is correct, you have a very strong case and you cannot lose. Do let me know if you need any further clarifications. Feel free to write to me at Ask.Pranav@Gmail.Com
You can find very useful information on Credit Cards on the following Blogsite. Do go through and let me know your comments.

http://www.simplybank.blogspot.com/