Feb 18, 2005 01:26 PM
5695 Views
(Updated Aug 17, 2006 08:52 PM)
Unlike the West, Institutional Harassment is a reality in India. Ask me, I am a victim. And Ladies & gentlemen its none other than ''CITIBANK- Citi that never sleeps'' that tops the list for me. Harassment would certainly be an understatement for what they are doing to their clients. I would rather like to use stronger words but would avoid them for the time being considering the fact that this review would be accesible to users of all age groups. I just wonder, What a fool I have been all the while to bank with CITIBANK. They remind me of the soodkhors depicted in the bollywood movies who eventually suck the last drop of blood out of the poor peasants. The greedy & fraudulent MunimJi whose only dream is to collect as many Thumb Impressions of poor farmers on misleading stamp papers as possible. The correlations might not make sense to you if you havenot fallen into their trap so far but heed my words people, dont let the four letters C I T I creep into your wallet cos its a a virus .. a cancer.. It would sit silently in your pouch and empty it up even before you can say ouch. Its not about the Ready Credit facilty only but every bit of service that is being offered by this bank has a fishy odour associated with it.
Time to control the emotional outburst and get down to some facts. I am a suvidha card holder which is a salary account Debit card. I would like to point out various methodologies & tricks adopted by CITIBANK to dupe naive & credulous customers -:
CITIALERT - A redundant & sloppy service. Apparently, they promise to send text alerts to your subscribed mobile phone for each transaction that is performed on your account and in return deduct 25/- bucks every month directly from your account for this philanthropic service. I have a reliance phone. I dont remember receiving a single alert till date yet the deduction keeps on happening.
CITIBANK INTL CREDIT CARD - This is where CITIbank truly proves that they are the undisputed masters of fraud. They will inform you about an exciting card being totally free of cost to the suvidha account holders but as soon as you receive this card, your monthly statement will start showing alien entries. You will suddenly have policies in your name you never asked for and those policies will start claiming their dues from your account directly on a monthly basis. In my case, two esoteric policies used to claim 400/- each month from my account.
CITIPHONE - I have recently come across news articles talking about the verbal assault that the Indian call centre employees have to bear at times from the callers. Try to have a conversation with a CITIbank customer care rep and you will feel a strong urge to do the same. Period.
Ready Credit - O Lord! What in earth have I done to deserve this ?. Not that I voluntarily wanted to use this service but it happened one fateful day when I had to use my citibank debit card in an ICICI ATM. All I know is that My ready credit got activated on that day like the timer of time bomb waiting to explode. First blow came with the hefty activation charges again automagically deducted from my savings account followed by the monthly deductions for the outstanding amount. And then there is a service charge for maintaining the Ready Credit facility which is also claimed directly from your account. you will feel like smashing your head against the wall.
INDIASERVICE@CITIBANK.CO.IN - Its Not that I did not esacalate my woes to the citibank authorities. I was told by an executive to mail the issues to the specified address. I drafted the longest mail of my life and was expecting a prompt reply & redressal. two days passed and I was yet to receive an acknowledgement. I sent the mail again and this time marked a copy to the HR manager of my company. As was expected the ''ccing'' did the trick. I received a reply in less than a minute. ''Dear Customer. we are looking into the matter. We will get back to you in three working days.''. It has been more than 70 working days since then and seems like they are still looking into the matter.
Do you need more reasons to avoid CITIbank ? When I was asked to open my Salary account I insisted for CITIBANK despite having the option of HDFC & ICICI. I never expected a reputed Multinational bank to indulge in such unethical practices but 2 years down the line I have certainly learnt a few lessons.
Think about it. Its your hard earned money afterall.
Save it from these greedy vultures & salivating Hyena's[ :-)]
