Jul 24, 2010 03:11 AM
7681 Views
(Updated Jul 24, 2010 09:03 PM)
HDFC was my first corporate account when I joined Wipro some 6 years back. Since it was my first corporate 0 balance account I just felt happy to have it for free! Everything was just great until faced some couple of issues with them.
First, Some 4 years back I was in need of money and applied for a personal loan from HDFC bank. The documentation was done and got a verification call too. All fine...but no money at all. I called them almost 8 times to get the status of the application but could not get through. WHY? The problem was that my credit history was not good in CIBIL. (If you folks remember my review on Citibank, they didn’t block the lost card of mine and the money kept flowing and I stopped the payments. Citi shifted me to a black list for no reason despite their fault. Finally settled for a payment of a lump sum amount and resolved the matter. But the intelligent Citibankers didn’t remove my name from the credit list...at all). HDFC people must have crossed checked the matter simply put the application on hold for almost a month and the funny part is that they never told me the actual reason behind this hypocrisy. The joke doesn’t here, they sent me the regret letter that the loan cannot be approved for unsaid reasons and that such reasons are not to be disclosed…LOL I came to know this only when a friend of mine (in HDFC then) told me the facts. It was HDFC’s responsibility to reveal such things or at least tell the waiting customer that the loan has been rejected, a least he can try somewhere else. Truly unprofessional!
Next, the same credit card was overused for 0.15 paisa and they charged me Rs.500 over limit charge plus taxes and interest on it. It’s good that they never miss such things (rather these are the areas where they make money) but just .15 paisa costing huge money is something that leaves a very bad taste in mouth.
Recently, my dad (also an HDFC account holder)got a call from their tele caller, that a platinum card has been issued in his name and it shall be sent to his Pune address through blah blah courier. My Dad informed me of such a call and I kept an eye for such a parcel. Nothing came over.... We inquired the banker and they told that nothing as a card had been issued. I gave them the phone nos we got a call from but they never give in. Fine....within a fortnight we got another call that the card has went back to Chennai (all cards come from Chennai only) and now its pushed back to the branch in Hingane - Pune. I got it checked over in that branch....SORRY SIR WE DONTHAVE ANY CARD OVER HERE! Truly idiots.
Next, is my Dad's account was recently charged with unknown charges for Rs.827. I contacted the banker through by email (tried calling them and waited for almost 32 minutes to get to a tele caller) on 6th of this month and till date there is no reply or any response from these crooks .My Dad was so furious on this episode that he decided to close the account at the next morning...and he did.
The above mentioned problems are on personal front and there are even more when we talk about the services that these people render as compared to others in business. The following are few to be mentioned:
To make a third party transfer you have fill a paper form and have to submit it in their offices. Can you believe that? In this internet world they seem to be 10 years back!
Even for an HDFC to HDFC transfer you have to fill the forms and submit it to the branch.
You have to change your password every 3 months! Though it’s more inclined towards security, but it’s very irritating. What if the customer doesn’t login for more than 3 months? There is possibility to revoke his password if he forgets it and tries 3 times in a go!
The last jolt was, I downloaded a form of account closure from their website and filled it duly. The next morning at the submission, the lady said "Sir, yeh form nahin chalega, aap yeh form bhar do" I looked at the form and it was the same form! I yelled, Maam, yeh toh same form hai? She gave me such a look as if I asked her to marry me. I filled the form again like a fool, not to mention that I wasted the stationary by printing that form from their website!
In this world of competition, how can HDFC be so lethargic and easy going? To get an account that too of corporate and senior citizens is difficult this time with many options available and yet they are too slow or without vision.
But what’s the point? It’s better to switch to some more professional banker than to be with these snails.
Thanks for reading and would be waiting for your comments.
Enjoy.
