Pioneer Electronics India Credit Card
Gross Mismanagement By Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered have been pioneers in the banking sector. They are one of the best banks in the world. I am going to talk about an incident I had with Standard Chartered, which would really make you think whether they are the best in the business.
I had a Standard Chartered (SCB) credit card for six years. I never had any problems what so ever. I paid my dues regularly and they kept increasing my credit limit to entice me to spend more! Luckily I am not one of those insane souls who would max out their credit cards. Everything was going pretty smoothly until the day I lost my credit card.
I was on a week long business tour across various cities in north India. I landed in Delhi and purchased a book named “What should I do with my life” at the airport and used my card. After that transaction I never used my card for that entire week. The following week, I was home and I was getting ready to go to work on Monday. At the petrol station, I realized that I don’t have my credit card with me. I rang my wife to check if the card was at home. She frantically searched the entire house but she could not find it. My credit card was missing. That realization suddenly hit me; I could feel the butterflies in the stomach! I some how managed to pay the petrol station and I called up the SCB customer care and asked them to freeze my account. I started working backwards to figure out where I used my card last. I could not exactly recollect. Therefore, I called SCB and asked them for my last ten transactions. I was shocked to hear transactions in electronic stores worth 15,000 rupees, and in an apparel store worth 10,000 rupees. There were many other transactions that I did not make! My card was stolen and somebody else has misused it. Thankfully, the guy who stole my card did not max it out! I immediately went to the SCB office to file a formal complaint and see what could be done. The people who handle such cases of stolen cards were not really forthcoming and helpful. They told me that I should have filed an FIR immediately after my card was stolen. But I realized only a week later that it was stolen. So, they told me that nothing could be done and I have to cough up the entire amount! I could not really agrue, since while issuing the card I signed a form where it was mentioned in fine print that in case of theft of the credit card I have to bear all the expenses. I was sure that the guys in the book shop ar the airport were the culprits. I told SCB that my last transaction was in the airport duty free book shop. They promised me that their team in Delhi will investigate into the matter and try to catch the culprit.
There is nothing I could really do, because it was due to my carelessness that I was faced with such a situation. I consulted my lawyer friend, who suggested that I ask SCB for the counter foils for all the transactions made by the guy who stole my card. He said that it is the responsibility of the merchant and the bank to verify the signature on the counter foil with the one on my credit card. The bank sent the copies of the counter foils to me. The signatures did not match at all and still the amount had been sanctioned by the bank to the merchant. I told the bank that, yes I have lost my card, its their responsibility to check the authenticity of the user. They completely dismissed my claim and just told me pay my dues and buzz off, literally!. They were not interested in listening to my argument.
Couple of months passed by and the issue was not solved. The SCB sent collection agents to house, they even went to the extent of sending “goondas” home to threaten me to pay my dues. I blew my top on hearing this since I was at work. I immediately filed a case of harassment and gross mismanagement of the issue with SCB. In the court the judge spoke to both the sides and we agreed for an out of court settlement. We agreed for a certain amount and the judge declared that the issue was solved. I had a court order with me which said that. I completely cut off my relationship with SCB. But the issue got bigger. When I applied for a credit card with another bank, my application was rejected on the grounds that my credit worthiness was not good enough for them to issue a credit to me. I later found out that SCB had blacklisted in CIBIL since I had not paid my dues. But once the court arranged an a settlement, they should have removed my name, but they did not do that.
This goes to show that companies like Standard Chartered have absolutely no ethics and do not care about their customers. I got that credit card which I applied for by showing them the court order. But, even after 3 years my name is still in the CIBIL backlist!!!
About the Author
I am Sriram Srinivas working for consumerdaddy website. We write many blogs and articles to create consumer awareness. Consumerdaddy is a leading consumer protection portal in India with consumer reports for over 40,000 companies and 200,000 products.
