Nov 28, 2003 05:43 PM
4858 Views
(Updated Dec 02, 2003 01:12 PM)
CitiBank credit cards (India)... I am not sure if it is actually the worst credit card system. But for me, they have done everything they could, to prove they are the undisputed master when it comes to mishandling customers. Never trust any of their ad campaigns.
Here are some interesting cases.
Case1: Indian Oil card
In late 2002, on their site, they had made statements and offers for existing CitiBank master card holders. It said, that for spending like 20000 Rs in a given span of time, the card holder would get some Gift Vouchers worth 2000.
I spent over 1,00,000 Rs. during that time. Was hoping I will get 10,000 Rs worth of vouchers. But what they did:
They smartly removed the offer from their site, so that not many people would ask for their vouchers.
So I mailed them (about 5 times) in Feb 2003 reminding them to send me the promised vouchers (I stay in Delhi).
Some smart brain sends me vouchers in May. The voucher had clearly printed expiry date of 10 Jan 2003, and was valid in Bombay, and NOT in Delhi.
I mailed again to tell them about this. They say ’’please send it to the following address….’’. I send to that address, and it would bounce back. They have given me three different addresses so far, and all have bounced back.
They have stopped responding to my mails.
Case 2: IndianOil card
They claim there will be no transaction fees on fuel purchased from any IndianOil outlet in Delhi.
In a particular month, I bought fuel from a new Indian oil petrol pump in (Delhi). And they charged me a good 2.5 % service charges, and did nor give me bonus points either.
I called up CitiBank: and they say sorry sir this petrol pump is not listed with us. How is the customer to figure that out?
Case 3: MTV CitiBank card
3 months back they promise that if I get a new MTV card, they will charge 250 annual fees, will give me 250 points, and a Bacardi blast CD.
I sent them a mail asking them to cancel the card if they are not going to send me the stuff.
They console me over mail, and say that I should pay for my fees etc, and I will receive the stuff soon.
I have purchased and paid 250 for the card, and it’s been 2 months. No sign of the reward points or the CD
This month I did not use the card, and I have received a statement asking me for 20 paisa (0.20 Rs). And I can bet, if I don’t pay that 20 paisa on time, they will charge me all kinds of late fee (I think it is 275 Rs). They will also charge me some interest on that 20 paisa. Interesting. Isn’t it? I would love to receive that statement.
Have you ever wondered, their entire site does not have even s single email ID of a particular person. All you can do is call up call center or email at indiaservice@citicorp.com, and probably both are outsourced. And any of these two services do NOT give you a complaint number. So every time you mail or call, you have to tell your story again, to a new person everytime.
I think I have had the undisputed extreme interaction with CitiBank.
If anyone has a better case of interaction with Citibank, please let me know.
