Jul 18, 2010 05:43 PM
4622 Views
HDFC is one of the most competent financial organizations that has come up on the India finance horizon in the recent past. Which is why it does not give me tons of vengeful joy writing this negative review. But I think it's fair that potential customers be warned of what they are getting into before the sign up for a shiny new HDFC gold card.
I've had an HDFC gold credit card (visa) for a couple of years. And I've not been able to use it for nearly a year. Why? They don't know how to handle password lockouts. Sounds dumb, eh? It isn't. It's painfully pathetic.
I forgot my HDFC merchant secure code password and attempted the wrong password a few times. My mistake till this point. The account locks out. I try the 'Forgot Password' link on the page. The password I reset doesn't work on the next transaction. After few calls to the call center I am made to understand that I have to write a letter requesting the password to be reset. I post this in one of the drop boxes in an HDFC ATM. No response. I decide to pay off what I have due and terminate the card. But guess what, the online tab on the HDFC net banking site doesn't show my details now. No transaction, no statements, no nothing. Why? Sir, your account has been locked due to invalid login attempts. For gods sake, what has that got to do with the net banking account.
Any who. I get a nasty mail in two months informing me that I am not reachable (fair, I had moved) and that if I don't pay up 5k my details will be sent to recovery agents and RBI. Sweet. I've been a bank customer for five year with a sizeable corpus in their coffers.
I think common sense dictates that the bank look at open customer support tickets against a card before threatening action for non-payment of bills. The 5K I was being asked for was primarily interest charged on a much smaller transaction.
I did pay the amount. I also threatened to take legal action if I was charged any more interest or if I got any further stupid mails about late payment. It's surprising how diligent they suddenly become when it comes to recovering money.
As a condition for payment of the dues, I asked that the card be terminated 'without prejudice'. Thankfully, I now have confirmation that the card a/c has been closed. I am glad this relationship with the bank is over. But now I am going to keep a keen eye on the services I get on my savings a/c. I've always trusted HDFC for the quality of their service and integrity with money. Not any more.
