I am writing to this in sheer frustration of waiting for the last two months for a simple 3-in-1 ICICI Trading Account.

I had applied for a trading account on April 16th 2008. The agent who came to my office took all the necessary documents and promised that it would take 2 weeks post which the account would be activated.

I waited more than 3 weeks but received NO update on the same. On contacting the agent, he told me that the form was rejected because the company policy "suddenly changed" to the effect that a letter from the Company HR department no longer serves as valid proof.

He came to my office again in mid-May and collected copies of my passport as a valid address proof and this time promised that he would expedite the application. This time, he gave me ANOTHER application no.

Yet another month has passed and I still have NO UPDATE on what the status of the account is.

Everyone at ICICI Direct has been passing the buck -- the agent says there's no rejection now and the Call Centre says there's a signature mismatch somewhere!! I don't know who to believe. I have been making regular calls to the Call Centre only to be put on hold for long periods of time or transferred from one department to another.

In this entire drama, I have lost faith in their Company and the quality of their staff and service. I have heard numerous other stories of how customers are made to run from pillar to post for a simple process such as account opening.

I think they hire the MOST INCOMPETENT staff to be the face / voice of their company.