[Resolved]  Barclaycard — Being harassed and unjustly charged

Dear Ms. Meera Rawat,

I wish to draw your attention to a complaint I have which is of a rather serious nature. I am detailing the spefics of the anomaly below. Also, I'd like to apologize in advance for the somewhat harsh use of words I may be indulging in below, It's not my intention to insult you or anyone for that matter, I just need my complaint to be attended to ASAP as it's being going from pillar to post way too long and is causing me a LOT of frustration.

I used to hold a Barclaycard # [protected]. I use the term "used" because I have cleared ALL the outstanding balance on the said card more than 2 MONTHS ago. Allow me to explain it a bit further. On the 30th May 2008 I called barclays customer service line and asked to speak to a Supervisor. My call was then put forward to the Supervisor for that shift, Ms. Joy Salins. I told her I wanted to pay off ALL the current outstanding on the said card and requested her to let me know the total outstanding as ON DATE which was Rs. 39, 897.53 (As told by Ms. Joy Salins). I told, and re-told Ms. Joy Salins to verify the amount she mentioned to me and also added that if next month if barclays comes to me saying that "Oh, there is some more amount outstanding etc etc" I will NOT entertain that.

Ms. Joy Salins assured me that the amount she told me (Rs. 39, 897.53) was indeed the final amount and after I paid that amount I woiuld NO LONGER OWN ANYTHING TO BARCLAYS. So, with her assurance I went ahead and dropped a Cheque No. 263557 for Rs. 39, 897.53 dated 29/05/08 drawn on Andhra Bank in one of the Barclays drop box in Dombivli. This cheque was cleared on the 3rd June 2008 and the amount of Rs. 39, 897.53 was transferred to Barclays as FULL & FINAL payment towards my Barclaycard. I then called up the customer service line again for cancellation of my card upon which my request was taken on record and I was told the card would be cancelled in a few days. After that I had called once again to check if the card was cancelled or not but I was told that the cancellation is in progress and I will be informed about the same.

Now, fast forward to July 14 2008 where all of a sudden, out of the blue I receive a SMS telling me my barclaycard statement has been generated and the minimum amount payable is Rs. 1451.79. HUH? WHAT? I immediately called up the Barclay customer service line and I was told that there was an EMI which was not closed the last time. WHAT THE HELL?

In a couple of days I received the Barclaycard statement which shocked me even further. It contains not ONE but THREE emi's which are showing up as ongoing. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS?. An even bigger shock waited for me as I read one certain line in the statement, which was : "Credit Balance Refund - Rs. 18543.05 Debit" !!! WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD IS THIS??? I called up the customer service line again and I was told Barclays' sent me a Cheque for that amount!!! WHAT NONSENSE!! I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY CHEQUE FROM BARCLAYS!!! I told that to the agent taking my call and also asked why barclays decided to send me a cheque, and they were unable to provide me ANY reason why barclays' would send me a Cheque for that amount. Also, the date on the statement said "June 12 - July 12 2008" and the previous statement I had was "April 12 to May 12 2008".

I owed Barclays' Rs. 39, 897.53 and I PAID Barclays' Rs. 39, 897.53. MATTER CLOSED. Why the HELL would Barclays' send me a Cheque for 18, 543.05? Can someone PLEASE explain to me the Logic behind this? And to repeat what I've already typed a couple of lines above, I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY CHEQUE FROM BARCLAYS!!!

I need the following points clarified immediately :

1. What is all this EMI was not closed nonsense? Firstly, if any EMI was not closed, why was I NOT informed about it?? And it's not been just 1-2 days or a week, I was not informed for a WHOLE 2.5 months?? I refuse to accept any excuse on that part and I also refuse to accept that there is any payment due. If "according to Barclays" there is any payment due, then kindly recover that from Ms. Joy Salins as she was the one who assured me that the amount of Rs. 39, 897.53 was the FINAL amount and after paying that I do not owe a single paisa to Barclays. How dare Barclays' continue charging me for what I have already paid??? I see in the statement "EMI capital, EMI Interest etc etc".. What NONSENSE is this? I refuse to suffer for a mistake YOUR supervisor made. If this email is not enough, I need you to organise a face to face meeting of Me and Barclays' officials in which I NEED the recording of my call played back in the presence o[censored]s all where Ms. Joy Salins assures me that Rs. 39, 897.53 is the FINAL amount I need to pay after which I don't owe anything to Barclays'.

2. Kindly explain to me the logic behind Barclays sending me a Cheque for Rs.18543.05? I owed a certain amount and I paid off that certain amount (Rs. 39, 897.53) then WHY IN THE HELL would Barclays send me a Cheque for 18, 543.05?? I seriously fail to see any reason behind this. Moreover, even if you did send it I HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT!... and if Barclays' really did send it then Why has Barclays' not made any effort to check whether that Cheque was indeed delivered or not? Why was I not informed about it, no call, no letter, no email from Barclays' side?????????? Once again I repeat that I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY SUCH CHEQUE!!.

3. Lastly, Where is the statement from May 12 to June 12? I never received any statemenrt for that period and upon asking that to the agent from customer service, he blatantly LIED to me that It was generated and sent. Statements are sent via courier and its not possible that they would get lost somewhere. Also, when a statement is sent I used to receive an SMS which I never received in this case. When I asked the agent these questions, as usual.. he had NO ANSWER!!! After paying off what I owed to Barclays' (Rs. 39, 897.53) the next statement I received was dated "June 12 - July 12" and the previous one is "April 12 - May 12" so where in the hell is "May 12 - June 12"?? It shouldn't even be generated as I had already cleared off ALL of my dues, but still I'm mentioning this discrepancy.

I have called the Barclay customer support line multiple times and have spoken with multiple agents, the last 2 calls were taken by agents named Rahul and Mahadev in that order. Despire multiple calls there has been NO ACTION on Barclays' part and its causing me a LOT OF FRUSTRATION, TRAUMA and STRESS seeing and experiencing the mind boggling INCOMPETENCE Barclays' has been displaying. I see incompetence, irresponsibility, lack of commitment and a seriously lackadaisal attitude EVERYWHERE in Barclays... the Supervisors, the Agents... all INCOMPETENT!

I don't think you understand that you CANNOT treat a customer like that! I've given up calling the customer service line because calling there gets me nothing but greatly confused agents who place my call on hold multiple times and who havent been able to even escalate my queries upwards of the channel!!! I am being continually harassed by calls of recovery agents right from 7am in the morning asking for money that I don't owe!!.

It's a SHAME for barclays' that I'm having to put it across this way, in these words!

I am writing to you Ms. Rawat as a final venue and I request you to look into this matter urgently. I would appreciate if you could call me, I need this thing closed and FAST.

Would greatly appreciate some immediate and result oriented action in this case.


Sincerely,

An angry and frustrated Barclaycard ex-user,

Amit Deo.