Jul 16, 2015 06:17 PM
54038 Views
(Updated Jul 16, 2015 07:06 PM)
I invested Rs. 2 lacs each for my dad, mom & wife a few months back in their Elite Life Pro 2 plan. I was told by the sales rep that because this is Unit Linked I would be able to switch the funds online. And that people have made a lot of profit by using the online switch feature. I got carried away.
My first negative experience came after registering id's online for the policies of all 3 of the above. I was shocked to see about Rs. 190500 in the policy in a few days of opening. Since I had opted for Money Market(MM) fund at the opening of the account, there was no chance this amount could have reduced due to market fluctuations(MM NAV doesnt go down ever). Before opening, I was told by the sales rep that the Premium Allocation Charge would be 3%. When I confronted him with the opening fund value, he told me that this Charge had recently been hiked to 4%. Upon probing further, he gave details of the rest of the charges which had been deducted(which he should've ideally done before we handed him the check for opening the new policy). I was furious but didn't pursue my complaint further.
The sales rep had also claimed that I would be able to switch funds several times during the day. I tried this a few months back and was shocked to see that the website reported that only one switch per day was possible. I was angry but decided to let go.
The latest, and the most serious problem, has beset me since the beginning of this week. I made a switch before 3 PM for all 3 funds online. Got a "Gateway Timeout" error on 1 policy, but in the other 2 policies, I got a confirmation from the website that the switch request has been placed. Shortly afterwards, I got mail confirmation for all 3 switches(along with the transaction numbers). When I logged in next day, I was shocked to find that the switch had NOT been effected for all 3 policies. This despite the claim from ICICI that updated allocations can be viewed on the next working day(cannot recall where I saw this).
I immediately called up customer care(on Tuesday), they asked me to send a mail to their support id(I forwarded the switch confirmation mail containing the policy number and transaction number on Tuesday) and that I will get a response in 48 hours. As I had feared, I got no response; neither on mail or on call. I escalated to grievance redressal officer on Wednesday. On Thursday, I got a call from the so-called "Escalation Department". The guy claimed that in the mail I had not provided the policy number. I was furious and gave that person a dressing down. He hung up on me. That's it. No mail response, no further call back. And it has been over 48 hours since I first reported the matter to Customer Care.
I am in touch with another Prudential employee/agent who's been helping in escalating my issue with the company. He requested me to make a switch again on Wednesday, which I did. Again, the switch has NOT been reflected yet in all 3 policies. I made yet another switch today; once again in all 3 policies. And yet again, the switches today are in pending state, as the switches that were made on Wednesday and Monday.
As I write this piece, I'm feeling utterly hopeless. ICICI Prudential has managed to get me and parent's hard earned money out of our pockets(I'll admit, I was foolish to have trusted the smooth talk of their sales rep) and now does not even give a damn about our issue.
The worst part is that we are stuck with this horrible company for the next 4 years. I'd have been much better off investing the same money with FD's but I got carried away and now we'll have to pay a high price for our misadventure.
Really sad and hopeless with this company.
My advice: do NOT invest in ULIPs, go for ELSS or such other MFs. Do not get carried away by the smooth talk of sales reps. Demand offer documents and fully understand the charges and caveats before handing over your money to them.
