HDFC Credit Card sucks. Review on HDFC Bank Visa Credit Card

Yet another sob story in dealing with a credit card company, this time HDFC credit cards.

Two separate issues that happened simultaneously are documented here. I have spent so much time on these people already, that much as I would like to, I don't have the energy to document the problems in detail, so just summarizing:

1.) Around 30, 000 Rs of fradulent charges were posted to my account in early May 2008 (I did not lose the card, it was with me at all times). Despite going through their standard procedure, they didn't resolve this -- after a huge number of complaints and phonecalls the charges were finally taken off in November 2008. They also refunded some amount for the finance charges though it is hard to verify if that was the right amount or not.

The period from May to November was a big time-drain and stress. What is a person supposed to do in this situation ? You are absolutely powerless. The company does not respond to your phone calls, the finance charges pile up for the fradulent charges, and a monthly bill promptly arrives. Finally in frustration I stopped paying the monthly amount.

After the fraudulent payments were taken off in November, I asked them to withdraw the heavy fines and finance charges that they levied but to no avail. What was really disillusioning was that at no point did they acknowledge any fault on their part, at no point did they say sorry for delayed the refund so long and not giving me any sort of status on it during all the time. In fact at two points, once in July and again in September they sent me a letter saying that the money would be refunded in the next cycle but that didn't happen, further adding to the tension.

2.) Separately, I had taken a personal loan from them earlier for which they had instituted direct withdrawal monthly from my bank account (with my permission, over the phone). Some time later I had paid off the loan in full.

Would you think that the direct withdrawal also would stop after that ? Silly me, I thought so. But not the case. The withdrawal continued, and since I did not keep any more money in that account, they starting applying fines. So I had to call them to cancel the direct withdrawal.

I had approved it over the phone, so I could cancel it over the phone right ? Silly Vijay, what world of rational thinking are you living in. You have to fax or write in for this. But wait -- their customer service says that you can do it online ! Good ! You try it ... and the instructions don' t work. You explain it to them and they call back later with detailed instructions how to do it .. the same as the previous time with the same result.

I took my complaints to the Banking Ombusdsman of RBI, but they ruled against me. I certainly don't think they were right , but it is important to use the avenues open.

So: what to learn from this ?

-- I won't use HDFC bank anymore, but I don't think that really solves anything as one hears as bad and much worse stories about most of the banks.

-- The customer complaint dept actually does function. Their normal customer service dept will be useless in any out-of-the-normal situation like this, so immediately escalate to this email address. They are more responsive and more polite.

-- Go to the Banking Ombudsman program of RBI. Although it didn't work in my case I am glad I did it. It makes RBI aware of the kind of problems people are having, it makes banks spend time on working with the RBI to investigate the complaint, so the incentive for bad customer service from the banks' side is reduced.

The following mail from me and the response from HDFC shows how they have completely avoided taking responsibility for abominable customer service:

Mr. Keerthi,

Really, I must say HDFC Customer Complaint representatives and managers seem to be highly trained in avoiding the substantive issues and deflecting complaints. None of the points I have raised have been addressed. So let me start with just one point and I would like the Banks' response to it:

To state the issue under dispute in the simplest terms: There were fradulent transactions on my credit card in early May 2008 and these transactions were credited back to my account in November 2008. I have the following questions regarding this:

1.) Does the Bank consider this an acceptable quality of service ? (I was told by the Bank representative that 45 days was the turnaround time for action on this. Clearly this was not met). If the Bank agrees that this is not acceptable quality of service, what then should the Bank do about it ?

2.) During the period from May to November, there was no proactive communication from the Bank's side at any point regarding the status of this matter (other than one written communication in July/August that said that the amount would be credited in the next cycle. This did not happen so this is worse than non-communication, this is a promise that was not followed through on).

Does the Bank consider this acceptable quality of service ? If not, what then should the Bank do about it ? I look forward to an honest answer to these two questions,

Best wishes,

Vijay Krishna G

Response (edited due to review size limitation but leaving out no relevant stuff)

Dear Mr. Guntur, This is further to your e-mail dated 12.02.09 regarding your HDFC Bank credit card account. It is disappointing to note that we are unable to convince you despite the best efforts taken by the bank. <> We are deeply concerned to note your feedback on the previous interactions with the Bank. We wish to reaffirm that it is our constant endeavor to ensure that each and every interaction of our customers are made pleasant and satisfactory. Your feedback has enabled us to introspect and reinforce our efforts further in this direction. We regret to note your concerns expressed with regard to the credit of disputed transactions on your card account We wish to clarify that post completion of the investigation at our end, we had credited your card account for the disputed transactions amounting to Rs.33376.00 along with the associated finance charges. Please be rest assured that your specific feedback has been shared with the concerned for appropriate review. <>. Mr. Guntur, please feel free to get in touch with our customer service representatives at the contact number: 080 – 66224332 or write to us at customerservices.cards@hdfcbank.com for any further assistance / clarification that you may require and we shall be glad to assist you. We trust we have addressed your grievance in a fair and equitable manner and that the issue has been resolved to your fullest satisfaction. As part of regulatory requirements, we also mention that if you are not satisfied with our response, you may approach the Banking Ombudsman appointed by Reserve Bank of India. Kindly log on to https://hdfcbank.com/common/customer_center.htm for details of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme - 2006 and procedure for lodging complaints. Assuring you of our best attention at all the times. Regards, Rajeswari Jayasekar Senior Manager - Service Quality