WANT TO LODGE CREDIT CARD COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMPANY FOR CHEATING YOU?

When you do a search on google insight on the term credit card complaint, you will see that there are mainly only 3 countries where this term is searched by net users, US, UK and India. And I was surprised to see that the maximum number of searches were from India, more than 4 times of searches in US and UK put together. This is a mere reflection of the bigger problem of mis-selling of credit cards by the companies/agents to the unsuspecting customers.
Almost all of us either have had bad at least one bad experience with credit card companies or at least know someone who has gone through that nightmare. Most of the time there are disputes regarding late payment,bundling of insurance along with the main credit card which the customer never asked for or disbursing loan on credit card to customers by luring him with some marketing gimmicks etc.
We all realise of this when we receive our monthly bills.When we see that bill is loaded with unnecessary charges we all get worried and baffled. Some of us call the call centre while some just don't know what to do. Here I am listing down the various measures that you can take in a step wise manner to ensure that your grievance is addressed by the concerned company.
Step 1- Call the company call centre and lodge and formal complaint
The first step is to call the call centre number of the respective credit card company and let them know about your problem. You can get the call centre number of various credit card companies in India here.They will try and explain their part of the story. if that convinces you , then its fine , otherwise lodge a complaint with officer. They will generally give you a reference number or complaint number. make a note of it.You need to follow up on this after a while.
Step 2- Email them your complaint
As a second step, you may email the respective card company your complaint. You may also mention that you already have called the call centre and nothing has been done as yet. Mention the reference number as well. Have a copy of this email saved for your future reference.
Step 3-Mail them your complaint by courier
If both the above steps don't get you desired result, then you must send them your complaint to the respective bank via courier. Have an acknowledgement of the receipt with you. This will act as a legal evidence against the bank that they have received the communication from you and hence the onus of taking the necessary step will be on them. This is a necessary step before proceeding any further.
Step 4-Approach Banking Ombudsman
If the company still does not resolve your issue to your satisfaction then you may approach RBI's Banking Ombudsman.It is a forum available to bank customers to seek redressal of their most common complaints against banks, including those relating to credit cards, service charges, promises given by the sales agents of banks, but not kept by banks, as also, delays in delivery of bank services. The addresses of various Banking Ombudsman in India is available here.
Step 5-Approach Ministry of Finance
After approaching Banking Ombudsman,chances are that you will have to go no further. But, in case you have to , then the next step should be to approach the Ministry Of Finance, Govt Of India. Write a letter to the ministry explaining your grievance and the steps that you have taken till now and the responses that you have got. Ask them for their interference. They take these things very seriously.
Step 6- Approach Media
If nothing works out, then best way is to go public with your grievance and build public opinion against it. Approach media and let them take up your issue. They will be more than willing to do so. In fact CNBC TV 18 has a program called Pehredar, which is meant for this only.You may contact Pehredar at pehredar@moneycontrol.com
Hopefully, after all this you will have your problem resolved fully and effectively by the concerned bank. The biggest thing in this is to not loose hope and be persistent with what you believe is right.
Stay wise n stay wealthy...

Comments

  1. Rick VaughnApril 26, 2009 at 2:29 PM

    I think the best idea you have here is approaching the media. Banks are definitely adverse to having bad press about them. If you have the contacts to use this avenue. USE IT!

    ReplyDelete

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