State Bank Of India [SBI] — Sbi sales agents intentionally lied about card charges while convincing me to subscribe

Address:	Mumbai City, Maharashtra
Website:	www.sbicard.com

I have lodged a formal complaint against the SBI sales agents who convinced me to enrol for the SBI Mumbai Metro Credit Card at Saki Naka Metro station by intentionally providing me with incorrect information on several counts. There has, however, been no response from SBI and their telephonic complaint helpline remains unreachable. The intentionally agent lied to me on 5 counts in order to trick me into subscribing to an SBI Credit Card.

1) The agent first informed me that there were absolutely no fees associated with the card whatsoever, either one time or recurring. It is only when I was asked to sign the application document that I noticed the registration fee of Rs. 499 on the form.

2) Upon questioning the sales agents regarding this amount, they replied that it would be rolled back completely if I made Rs. 2, 000 worth of purchases during the first 2 months. I was assured that the charge would be completely rolled back if this occurred. Today, after receiving the card, I was informed by a customer service executive via telephone that the amount can only be redeemed in the form of points used to make select purchases and that the amount of Rs. 499 would still be charged to me along with taxes. This is absolutely contradictory to what the sales agent informed me.

3) When I asked the sales agent whether there were any additional annual charges, he told me that there were none. It is only when I read the form carefully that I noticed that there was a Rs. 499 annual charge. Upon questioning him about this, the agent took the form away and told me that someone would call me to confirm whether I wanted the card and that I could cancel the application and say no. The agent was clearly trying to lie and cheat his way into making me apply for a card that I did not want in the first place.

4) The sales agent also informed me that there would be a flat 20% discount on all Mumbai Metro tickets. I clearly asked him whether this involved all routes and he said it did. Today, a telephonic customer care executive informed me that I only get a 10% discount and that the 20% discount was only valid for routes above a certain token value.

5) I was repeatedly told that I would receive all discounts as direct credits to my card in the form of a cash amount that could be used as hard cash for any purchase I wished. Today, a telephonic agent informed me that this is not the case and that I would only receive reward points, which can only be spent on particular offers. This was completely contradictory to what I was told.

6) I spoke to three separate agents (the sales agent at the station as well as two telephone executives) before applying for my card and asked that the limit be restricted to Rs. 10, 000. All three agreed but when I received the card, my limit was set to Rs. 1, 52, 000. I did, however, get this corrected after lodging two formal complaints with SBI.

However, although SBI corrected my credit card limit, they have not responded to the majority of my complaints listed above. Both complaints were sent on the same day but SBI has chosen to ignore those corresponding to the first 5 points above. It is a shame that India's largest bank, a government undertaking, resorts to such unethical and underhanded methods to grow their customer base. I received over 8 calls from SBI when they were chasing me and trying to get me to register. Now, a week later when I have a complaint, they are suddenly unreachable. I will never deal with SBI again, nor will I ever advise anyone I know of to do so.