Jul 24, 2007 01:28 PM
5076 Views
(Updated Jan 03, 2008 12:59 PM)
Yesterday while going through various Reviews HDFC Credit Card reviews caught my attention and when I saw so many dismal reviews I was actually taken aback.
Nowadays Credit Companies and sales person are giving free cards to all company employees and that is the reason that I have almost 85% of credit cards in my purse(all free obviously). But it’s been good 4+ Years that I have been using HDFC CC. And till date I have no complains from them.
I have tried my hands on ICICI, Citibank, HSBC, ABN Amro, SBI, Standard Chartered etc etc. And there are some generic problems with each of them…I would list them…
Citibank: They keep sending you all kinds of cards(my city, Petroleum, MTV and God knows what not), they will suddenly charge you for some insurance for which you have not agreed to and have neither been asked whether you want it or not. And yes when u call the call center 2-3 times they reverse the charge but still calling is a pain & wastage of time.
ICICI:Getting through their Customer Care is a major task. You get irregular Statements. Their Reward programs is useless…and basically I dislike ICICI J
3. SBI: Not bothered once u r their customer, Customer Care…What’s that? I have wanted to change my address and haven’t been successful since last 2 years…Statement what’s that?
4. ABN Amro: The card is with me but has never used it.
5. Standard Chartered: I was given a free card for year and then suddenly after a year I get a card saying I have to pay this much annual fee and since I was never asked whether I wanted to continue with this card I was surprised to get it. When I didn’t pay them I started getting reminders and all. Then I looked out for their Customer Care no and Eureka! They only have a toll free no and u need to have a BSNL no to call them(trust me with mobiles in our hand who has BSNL Landline?). Anyways I wrote a mail to them and am yet to hear from them J
6. HSBC: It was strictly ok and then paying the bills was a problem.
And then comes my favorite HDFC….I’ll list down its benefit 1. Till date their have been no extra charges on my card.
Till date I have received all my statements by post on time(initially there was problem but now NONE)
They have a very Good rewards program(2 Points on every 100 Rs. spent)
They have a good collection of items in their catalogue for redemption. The only dampener is 75 Rs charged as Service tax.
They have been upgrading my credit limit automatically.
Yes it’s a no frill card but now I have learned “the simpler it, the better it is”.
I started with a silver card and they have themselves graduated me to a Gold card and that too with no hidden cost or charges.
Their customer care is good and easier to catch hold of. Yes there are no T Pins and all but when you go through that process in ICICI you see how much time it takes.
As soon as I make a big transaction(usually above 5K) I get a call from them checking whether the transaction is genuine or not.
Yes there are some negative alsoIf you are not an HDFC Bank customer online payment of bill isn’t possible. The waiver on petro surcharge is not available on all cards(on mine its there).
*~Updated on 3rd Jan 2008~
*My card has automatically been updated to a Platinum Card and teh credit limit too has been enhanced. What more do I nede from a card when they take care of their customers.
My overall banking experience with HDFC has been very good. I think I am one of their very loyal and happy customers. And somehow when I read such bad reviews about it I was thinking are talking about the same bank?
Everybody has a different experience to share…I had a good one…so I just wanted to share with everyone….
