Aug 22, 2003 10:33 AM
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PROLOGUE
I am a customer of ICICI for the past two and half years. I am writing this revu to bring out the truth about ICICI Bank. Looking at the number of negative revus on ICICI on MS, I doubt that people need much convincing!
Any respectable bank would be ashamed of the negative feedback generated on ICICI! The bank is a magnet when it comes to garnering negative revus!
Chapter I
My travails with ICICI Bank, started about nearly two and half years back! On that fateful day, I went to the bank, and the personnel there grilled me(Gestapo would be proud) on the pluses of ICICI bank! I came away with stars in my eyes, and immediately opened a joint account.
Chapter II
Subsequently, I requested the bank’s personnel to open a demat account in my name. It is then, that I really started seeing stars! The CSR said that a demat account with a joint savings account was an absolute no, no case! All kinds of issues would crop up(for them!)! He asked me to close my present savings account and open a fresh one! And this new account should be an individual account only, else there would be technical issues(read, you won’t understand it! Dolt!)! I don’t pretend that I understood everything he said, but I went with him! I closed the joint savings account, and opened a fresh individual savings account along with demat account!
Obviously, one does not open a demat account just to stare it and repeat the mantra ’’I have got a demat account, I have got a demat account, I have got a demat account’’. So, I wanted to get on with it! I went to the bank to get to know how to transact, and etcetera. The CSR gave me the prep talk! Finally, she delivered the punch line! I wanted to trade from Visakhapatnam, and she said, ’’Sorry! No Way.’’ The CSR then informed me that my demat account had been activated at Hyderabad. I still didn’t understand the ramifications; fact is, I didn’t understand anything she was talking about! Here I was, a simple soul, who didn’t know much about how banks work(no longer so; ICICI educated me well; 1 plus for them!). I wanted to transact in stocks, and this smart lady with a pleasant smile(ya, they are very pleasant when delivering the poison; make good executioners!), was telling me that I could not! The lady told me that demat service was currently unavailable at Visakhapatnam, but would be available soon, very soon(read, don’t know, when)! Why were they then charging me for a service that was unavailable? The lady only gave me an automaton smile!
2 points here! I have no way of proving this to you, but once you are stuck with ICICI, you are like an insect in a spider’s web! However hard you try or whatever method you adopt, there is still no escape! This started sinking into me slowly! An ICICI customer would perhaps understand my plight. If you are not, be thankful for your good fortune, and do not smirk at others in misery:( Secondly, ever noticed ICICI? You will see that almost all the counters are manned by women! They have got pretty smart, and have introduced this defense mechanism that is actually a cloaked attack mechanism! Just think, how can you shout at women who look so innocent(I think, the looks go with the training they receive)! We are brought-up to respect women. If we were to shout at them, we would be looked upon as - huh! Villains, barbarians, et al! The only people who could get away by shouting would be the women themselves, and the elderly! I am neither!
Chapter III
For some time, it was so so! Miscellaneous incidents(read irritating, nuisance, et al) kept occurring! When dealing with ICICI, patience runs thin! CSRs from all other institutions should be made to open relationships with ICICI on lessons in patience(for other CSRs, not ICICI), and the depths of bad service, and to experience first-hand the plight of customers!
Well, to get on with it. One unfortunate day, I lost my ATM Card. I immediately reported the loss, and ICICI froze my ATM usage! Several days after, I received a debit card! It was nice of these people, I guess(but, of course, not really nice, if you care to think a little further! ATM Cards are free whereas Debit Cards are charged annual fee!) One instance, I had to use my debit card and draw money rather urgently well in to the mid-night! I set out using my debit card for the first time! Rude shock! Let alone access the ATM, I could not even get in to the room! Reason - ICICI ATMs have outside locks that are released only by using the card! And that card was not a debit card! Get the picture! I was effectively shut-out from the ATM machine! Doesn’t ICICI have the good sense to install a mechanism or upgrade their software to recognize debit cards? Fact is, at that point of time, they didn’t have it, and that too, at their own bank premises! Fortunately, a good samaritan helped me out by using his ATM card to release the lock!
Chapter IV
Another time. Recently when I checked my accounts online, I noticed a tiny entry ’’Wrong debit reversed’’. Oh! I was seeing the stars all right! The entry debited my account for a specific sum that I had no idea about! The debit itself did not upset me! What upset me was that they had neither intimated me nor explained that entry! Whatz that Nike caption - ’’Just did it!’’ When reversing a wrong debit, you should explain it! Okay, okay, ICICI does things different! Immediately I shot off an eMail on this! Non reponse! Another eMail! Again, non reponse! Another eMail! Ah! finally, a response! I read it, and what do you find; they ask my demat account number! Logic escapes me! I have integrated accounts in ICICI. They have all details, and they ask me for the demat account number? Did they send me the email just so that they could say they had responded to my earlier eMails? Very funny! So, the eMail war continued! Another eMail, and finally, a response! I looked in to the eMail. ’coz there was nothing to read! Goodness gracious! I had received a blank eMail with no matter in it! By God! These guys really do things differently!
MISCELLANEOUS
Other more pleasurable experiences(for ICICI!) kept occurring!
You send them eMails; no responses! You receive responses; they are always a class apart!
They make you run from pole-to-pole(good for your health! eh?)!
The premises of ICICI though spacious, yet appear congested, and not always with customers. Over-staffed?
Several instances of inexperienced staff.
Heard of the maxim ’’Customer is King’’. Learn a new one! ’’Security is King!’’ They really lord it out here!
Attitude - We are Ok, you are not ok! You are dirt! We are doing you a favour!
PSU attitude has not worn off yet! Will it ever for this bank?
ICICI Bank - We also bank on your woes!
EPILOGUE
None. A relationship with ICICI is almost always a ’’.never ending story.’’
Pros:-
Had a hard time mentioning these! There may be more! But it is like searching for a needle in a haystack!
Cons:-
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