HDFC Bank — extremely horrible banking experience, lost hefty amount

Address:

Bangalore, Karnataka

30th april, 2017

To hdfc bank and consumer forum,

It is a long one and happened in 2017 but please bear with me.

With due respect, i would like to tell you that hdfc bank has taken a toll over my financial health as well as mental health owing to a series of issues with the bank and misbehavior by the hdfc bank officials from various departments.
I have had 4 relationships with hdfc:-
Hdfc corporate salary account-opened last month
Hdfc personal loan[protected]ongoing-latest emi cleared
Hdfc personal loan (70000)-fully cleared
Hdfc platinum visa credit card (Credit limit 51k reduced from 65k by the bank in feb, 2017), later credit limit enhanced to 1.83l once my cibil improved
I have owned the hdfc platinum visa credit card since for 5 years and this was the only credit card which i held for a very long time and was my primary card for my expenses. I have always paid the minimum amount; and have paid the interests and made the late payments whenever i got delayed.in my approximation, i assume that i have paid more than 1.5 lacs only as interest which is 3 times the principle principal amount. However, i have still maintained the card and have had no complaints on this till february 2017. However, i quit my job in february 2017 and was jobless for the entire month due to which i couldn’t pay the minimum due amount in february. I got another job in march 2017 and was also awaiting the final settlement amount from my previous company and i informed the hdfc credit card department that i would make the payments as soon as i get any of these funds; and that i would be paying any subsequent interests and fees. I informed the same to the other banks (Sbi, amex and hsbc) as well, with whom i have loans and credit cards.
However, my salary account with my new company was supposed to be opened with hdfc and i submitted all the documents on 6th of march 2017, i. E. On my date of joining new company to hdfc. Please note that the hdfc bank personnel who came to open my account told me that the account will be opened soon and i will be receiving my first salary in this hdfc account itself. However, the account was not opened for more than a week and i had to follow up with my company’s hr for the same; after which i got a call from hdfc asking that the e-aadhar kyc is not done and they wanted to send someone to do the kyc. I gave my client location office address and a person came and did my kyc. Let me reiterate the fact that i was the one to follow up with the bank. Also, they could have done the kyc on the first day itself. They did not inform me on their own. Then the person told me that within 2 days the account would be opened. However, it was not opened and i consistently followed up with the prashant (Who collected my documents on the first day) and he used to tell me that it will be done. Later on, he started telling me that he is not the concerned authority and asked me to wait and told that i would receive the message once it is opened. However, the account was not opened till 27th of march 2017, due to which my company gave me a dd for the salary amount. The dd was an hdfc a/c payee demand draft. I had to go to my base company to collect the dd.
By this time the hdfc credit card officials were already on top of me to pay the amount and had been calling me. So, the first thing i did in the morning was ask them that how should i make the payment and i told them that i only had the dd. They told me that i can get cash on behalf of dd from any of the hdfc bank branches and i straightaway went to the hdfc bank, trinity circle branch, bangalore which was close to my office. However, the bank staff was not at all supportive and the lady rudely told me that i should have gone to marathalli branch. They told me that they couldn’t give me cash because of some new rule and told that my account is opened but still not personalized; hence they can’t accept the dd and deposit the amount in my account. On top of this, the hdfc credit card department kept on calling me and i told them that i am standing in hdfc trinity circle branch with the dd. I asked them whether they can ask the marathalli branch if they could do something and they were not supportive at all. Let me reiterate that this was the 2nd consecutive day; i was losing my office time because i had to clear my credit card bill. The dd amount and the credit card bill amount were almost same and i could have cleared the entire bill that day itself. I also asked them whether they can take my dd as a mode of payment towards my credit card and they straightaway denied. I told them i am ready to sign any authorization letter if permitted for the process. So there was a situation in the bank where i am talking to the bank staff in person, talking to the customer care on phone and parallely being called by the hdfc credit card guys. None of them could contribute anything meaningful towards my problem and help me pay my credit card bill although i had the entire amount in form of dd in my hand.

However, the credit card guys did offer me a solution and they asked me to go to lic office in corporation circle where they told that some agency operates and there would be people standing outside the office who would help me encash the dd. I first of all rejected this idea and told them to wait for couple of days but they insisted that it was year-end closing and that i should pay it. So, i finally went to corporation circle in the afternoon. Let me remind you that this was the first salary which i received after 3 months (From new company), while i was still awaiting the final settlement amount from my old company. I was so broke that i didn’t even have the money to travel. However, i talked to an auto guy and he told that he knows the way and also people outside lic office who would help me encash the dd. He told that i can pay him once my work is done. So i reached corporation circle and filled a form and i had to wait for 2 hours but the person gave me cash. He was asking me for a commission of rs. 2100 but bargained down to rs. 1800. After that i informed the credit card guys that i have received the money and where should i deposit it. They again sent me to the hdfc trinity circle branch and told that the branch is open till 8 pm and i can deposit it there. I reached there at about 5 pm and found that the bank was closed. I told them, whether i could come go to richmond circle and pay the cash but they told they can’t accept it. Then they asked me to transfer through paytm which i told i will go home and try. However, the auto guys rigged me up and stole my money in the evening (Rs. 50, 000 cash). Well the very next day, i got a message from hdfc that my account has been personalized.

I went to the ashok nagar police station and reported the issue after which i am was constantly working with sub-inspector of ashok nagar police station. The police have been tracing the thief. They have traced the call details and tower details of the thief. Well, it’s a secondary thing which is in progress.
I reported this incident to hdfc as well as other banks and told them to wait for a few more days as i was totally bankrupt and asked them to give me some more time to repay. American express not only waited but they even reverted my current month late payment charges owing to the loss.
I got my final settlement from previous company on 25th april 2017 and i paid all the credit card dues and loans; except hdfc credit card bill. I even paid the emi of rs. 5728 for my hdfc personal loan with an additional interest of rs. 633. (Totally rs. 6361). I asked the credit card guys to reverse just this that month’s charge owning owing to the bank’s delay of 25 days to open the account and my loss. They told that they couldn’t do it and i have to talk to customer care. But on the very same day (27th of april), an emi of rs. 5728 got was debited from my hsbc savings account which i had already paid although the person who was following up with me regarding hdfc personal loan payment had confirmed that it would not be debited. I called up the customer care and they asked me to write a mail to [protected]@hdfcbank.com. I immediately wrote a mail and i got a response next day that it would be refunded in my account within 7 working days. The amount was still not been refunded as i wrote this letter. However, the credit card guys kept on pressurizing me for the payment and on saturday (29th april 2017), they told me that i would be put in defaulters’ list and i would not get any future loans and that my hdfc salary account would be blocked. Let me tell you that this was my april’s month salary which was credited in my hdfc salary account. I immediately transferred the amount to my other savings account since i very much needed the money as i had other commitments; since i had incurred a huge financial loss and had been sustaining in bangalore since for 4 months with practically no money. However, i did make a payment of rs. 10000 that night towards my hdfc credit card through hsbc bill pay option. It usually takes 3 working days for the bill to be paid through this method. I also sent the transaction snapshot to the person who was asking me to pay the bill. Totally, 4 people have been calling me and messaging for this. But the next day, i again got call from richmond circle credit card department to immediately transfer money through imps. It was a sunday morning and the person kept on harassing me to make the payment and i told that i have made the transaction and sent the screenshot. He told he doesn’t understand the screenshot and i told him he can contact hsbc for the same. He immediately refused to talk to other bank and told me how is it possible to talk to other bank. I told him that i don’t have enough funds now and that he should wait for 3 days for amount to get credited. He finally told me to make the payment again and that i would be responsible for any consequences and head office would be blocking my salary account. Today i got a call again from hdfc and i told that i have paid the bill.
Now here are a few questions i would like to ask hdfc:-
How many days does it take to open a bank account?
If the documents were not complete, why didn’t the bank follow up with me?
Weren’t they aware on the first day itself that for e-aadhar, the kyc has to be done? Why didn’t they do the kyc on the first day?
Aren’t the credit card department officials aware that a salary payee dd can’t be cashed apart from depositing in the salary account? Why did they give me wrong information?
How did they send me to a third party agency although i had come to the hdfc bank itself to get my problem solved?
How was a third party agency able to give me cash while the hdfc couldn’t do anything about it?
What is the nature and legitimacy of the agency which runs outside lic office, corporation circle, bangalore?
Why did the person from loan department tell me that ecs would not be debited once payment is done? If he was so sure, why did this happen?
If i can wait for 25 days to get an account opened and 7 days to get my emi refunded, why couldn’t hdfc wait for just 3 more days (Till monday) so that i could have the entire dd amount in my account as the account got was opened on saturday (1st april)? I understand that it was year-end closing and that would impact my cibil as well but i had no such problem with any other bank and they waited patiently. If they could have just waited, i would have not lost my money. I was ready to pay the fine also. Waiting was better that than taking rash and hasty decisions and i just roamed around the city just to get my cash robbed stolen in the end.
In the present day scenario, where government is pushing everyone towards demonetization, why did hdfc credit card guys force me to withdraw such a big amount in cash? They couldn’t do any help in the bank either.
Why did 4 different people contact me from richmond circle office for the same reason and how were they aware of the funds in my salary account? Are they authorized to threaten me to block my salary account? Is this a way of harassing customers?
Why did they force (Harass) me again on a sunday morning to do imps although i had already initiated the bill payment from other bank (Hsbc) and also sent the screenshot?
Why can’t the different departments (Accounts, credit card and loans) co-ordinate among themselves to resolve customer issues faster and provide a smoother customer experience? Why does each department ask to contact the other department? Why can’t they do it themselves as it’s a single organization?
Why did the hdfc credit card person go to my company on a saturday to find me without even asking if i was there in office? Let me tell you that this address is still not updated with hdfc credit card. I have dropped a request in hdfc trinity circle drop box but still it has still not been updated. If it has been updated, i have not received any notification from the bank. This definitely means that the credit card department is coordinating with accounts department for customer details, account balance etc., then why can’t they do the same for customer grievances?
Does hdfc bank take any accountability for the loss i incurred and the harassment i have faced?
What is the advantage of core banking services? I am in it city bangalore and cbs was of no use

Let me tell you that i am a salaried individual working for an mnc, with a first class educational qualification. My salary is my only source of sustenance and if anyone threatens to block my salary account, i would very well not have an account with that bank. I will not tolerate it in the first place. I have always paid all the interest and dues and i am not running away without paying these, then why did the bank officials misbehave with me. Also regarding the credit card, i never went to the bank and asked for one, but there are many people standing outside software parks offering the same to the customers. I also got it through the same way. When the card can come to my doorstep even without me going to the bank at all, why couldn’t any of these problems be solved without me requiring to go to the bank in this age of internet. Forget about not going, even going to the bank didn’t help me. Furthermore, the bank officials were not at all helpful. I belong to a middle class family and rs. 50000 is a lot of money. There has been a tremendous damage to my financial health after the loss and i also incurred other expenses like auto charges, commission paid, lost my office working hours and talked to hdfc hdfc bank officials for numerous times explaining the same problem. My only request to hdfc was to revert the charge only for month of april but they couldn’t do so and furthermore kept on harassing me.

I want hdfc senior officials to look into the matter and do some damage control from their end? Furthermore, i would like to tell you that collection department is not supposed to harass people how much ever chronic the debt may be. I even read a complaint regarding hdfc in consumer forum online where hdfc credit card guys have harassed the mother of the customer. The incidents bring a shame to the organization and to the country. I am aware of all the dues i owe, and i take it as a responsibility and my duty to work hard and re-pay it; and i have been paying charges for every single day. Then why does hdfc behave in such a way with salaried personnel?

I can provide the credit card payment transaction details, account details and police complaint copy, whatsapp messages of hdfc hdfc credit dept debt as a proof of evidence to prove the above facts. Infact, i would help in all sorts of information required from me.

I request you to please answer all my questions and take some action. As a good customer, i am writing down to you guys as i want all this to be resolved at the organization level failing which i will have to take outside assistance. I understand process gaps and organizational issues do exist but we are here to make good organizations and better future which is in the best interest of the nation.

Eagerly awaiting your reply.

Thanks and regards,
Piyush kumar jha
[protected]
[protected]@gmail.com