I have been communication with Barclays for sometime now. I had followed-up with them for 2 years in 2008-2010 but they never seemed to be interested in resolving issue. In recent emails I have asked them to provide a copy of my application form or other documents to proove that they had my consent (as per RBI guidelines) for reporting my account information to CIBIL or other credit rating agencies.
Please see below the recent comunication from Barclays:
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To: "chief.operatingofficer@barclays.com" <chief.operatingofficer@barclays.com>
Sent: Saturday, 15 September 2012 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: Barclays Bank PLC India
Dear Mr. Arif,
Thank you for response however question 1 in my email has been ignored. I didn't give my consent to Barclays for sharing my information with CIBIL or any other credit rating agency.
Please check the rbi website link I provided in my previous email for reference. Barclays violated RBI guidelines by sharing my credit information with CIBIL without my consent.
***If you believe that I did agree, please share a scanned copy of the document or agreement or application form.***
Regarding intimation letter for reduing credit limit, I never received a letter until May 2009 (see attached, the letter is dated May 14, 2009) that too after several months and several emails. Also I wasn't given no reason to reduce the credit limit. It was my primary card untill the credit limit was reduced and I had paid all the bills on time. You recovery agents had called me over 100 times for dues without any intimation but your customer service couldn't call me or send an email.
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From: "chief.operatingofficer@barclays.com" <chief.operatingofficer@barclays.com>
Sent: Friday, 14 September 2012 6:25 PM
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC India
Ref no.: CAS-5873472-23EFND/CAS-5873468-7GXBVT/CAS-5873466-XEIRVX/CAS-5873464-K87HFX
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below e-mail regarding your credit card account issue. At the outset, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you.
We wish to inform you that we have inadvertently quoted the outstanding balance Rs. 4891.74, however we have share the details and correct outstanding balance amounting to Rs. 24340.14 out of which the principal usage is Rs. 9990.76. Please note that we have not received payment on your account since December 2008. Due to non receipt of the payment, your account is levied with finance charges and your account is transferred to Phoenix ARC Pvt Ltd (Kotak Bank) in April 2011. Hence for application form, you need liaise with the as the same is handed over to them.
In regards to the CIBIL reporting, we wish to inform you that bank is obligation to report all his account with CIBIL. The same is mentioned in our MITC, which was shared with you by our Grievance Team.
Further, we had delayed in our responses; however we have sent you interims about the status of your complaints. Please find attached the responses sent to you in past for your reference, where your issues were redressed by us.
As stated in our multiple interactions, that credit limit on your credit card account is revised as per internal bank policy and necessary intimation was sent to you. May we explain, that foreign exchange fee is applicable to every transaction processing on your account in foreign currency. You are required to liaise with VISA or merchant for the details.
Please note that your account has been transferred to Phoenix ARC Pvt Ltd (Kotak Bank) as stated above, we do not hold any rights to action on your account. We request you to kindly liaise with them for any further actionables.
You can contact Phoenix ARC Private Limited Company through:
Call – Contact # 022-6605 4043 or 42 (10:00 AM to 6:00 PM)
Email - customercare.retail@phoenixarc.co.in
Letter –
Customer Care Retail
Phoenix ARC Private Limited,
7th Floor, Dani Corporate Park,
158, C.S.T Road, Kalina,
Santacruz (E), Mumbai - 400 098
We thank you for your understanding in this regards.
Yours Sincerely,
Arif Khan
Office of Chief Operating Officer
Barclays Bank PLC, India
Confidentiality Notice: The documents herein contain information, belonging to Barclays Bank, which is confidential and privileged. Unless you are the intended recipient, you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the documents or any information contained in or attached to the documents.
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From: operatingofficer, chief : Barclays Corporate India
Sent: 10 September 2012 18:18
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC India
Ref no.: CAS-5873472-23EFND/CAS-5873468-7GXBVT/CAS-5873466-XEIRVX/CAS-5873464-K87HFX
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below e-mail regarding your credit card account issue. At the outset, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you.
We wish to inform you that we are looking into the matter and shall revert to you in next 5 working days.
We thank you for your patience in the interim.
Yours Sincerely,
Arif Khan
Office of Chief Operating Officer
Barclays Bank PLC, India
Confidentiality Notice: The documents herein contain information, belonging to Barclays Bank, which is confidential and privileged. Unless you are the intended recipient, you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the documents or any information contained in or attached to the documents.
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To: "grievanceredressal@barclays.com" <grievanceredressal@barclays.com>
Cc: chief.operatingofficer@barclays.com
Sent: Saturday, 8 September 2012 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: Barclays Bank PLC ( India )
Thank you,
You first told me amount was 4891.74 and now it's 9990.76.
And following questions still remain unanswered:
1. Please let me know why Barclays sent me no notice before reporting this account as defaulter with credit bureau (CIBIL).
Please visit below webpage for your information:
https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/English/scriptts/Notification.aspx?Id=361
Please read paragraph I.6:
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Explicit option to share customer information with other agencies
The banks should explicitly state and explain to the customer the full meaning of their disclosure clause. While reporting to Credit Information Companies/CIBIL is mandatory, all the other clauses added making the customer provide his consent to parting with his personal information and credit history to a host of agencies is purely voluntary and should not have any bearing on the issue of the card.
Instances have come to light where banks, as part of the MITCs, obtain the consent of the customer for sharing the information furnished by him while applying for the credit card, with other agencies. It is clarified that banks should give the customer the option to decide as to whether he is agreeable for the bank sharing with other agencies the information furnished by him at the time of applying credit card. The application forms for credit cards may be suitably modified to explicitly and clearly provide for the same. Further, in cases where the customer gives his consent for the bank sharing the information with other agencies, banks should explicitly state and explain clearly to the customer the full meaning/implications of the disclosure clause.
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With reference to above, I ask you to please send me a copy of my application form or documents where you took my consent for sharing my data with credit rating agencies (that too without notice)
2. Where is the bank policy which states that you levy foreign exchange fee on refund or cancelled transaction? I understood that when I make a transaction in dollars or gbps, I have to pay conversion charges, I didn't make refund then why was I charged. Please share bank or visa policy according to which you charged me for refund (a transaction which was initiated by merchant not me).
Also please see attached (email.pdf) regarding your claim for "TIMELY RESPONSE TO ALL MY QUERIES". After several emails to your customer service and no resolution (and 100s of unproffessional calls for recovery) for over a year, I sent an email to your headservice and grievanceredressal departments on September 24, 2009 at 4:34 pm. I received a response on January 8, 2011 where they denied all complaints without any explanation and proof. They didn't even inform about CIIBL thing.
I am copying this email to your CEO to let him that Barclays bank really need to work on Customer service department. If you would at look at my email history, you would find that I followed-up with your customer service regarding this issue for almost 2 years. They reduced my credit limit without any information, made a 1000 unprofessional calls, reported my account to CIBIL without my consent and finally sold this account to a third party. That's why your credit card business didn't work. You should hire people from Citibank. They are so good at customer service.
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From: "grievanceredressal@barclays.com" <grievanceredressal@barclays.com>
Sent: Saturday, 8 September 2012 3:32 PM
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC ( India )
Ref No: CAS-5871478-3CKN5W/ CAS-5871481-PP2LDY
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below email regarding your credit card account.
•We wish to inform you that the total principal outstanding balance on the card account is Rs.9990.74 which is pending since 2008.
•Attached is the summary of your transactions which explains how the balance has accumulated over a period of time.
•Attached is the MITC for your ready reference which clearly states that bank does report its customer’s details to cibil.
•As explained earlier reporting to cibil is done monthly and hence accordingly your account was also reported every month. Since payment not received since 2008 hence accordingly the same was reported.
•The foreign transaction fee details have been mentioned behind the statements as well. May we explain you that these charges are levied by Visa and hence the same is reflecting on your statements.
•Intimation through letters was sent to all customers stating the fact that the accounts would be transferred to Phoenix ARC as per banks policy.
•Cibil gets updated every month and collections executive’s role is just to collect dues from the customers.
•Since your account is a part of Phoenix ARC the application form also is with them, hence you need to contact Phoenix ARC for the same.
We trust this clarifies the matter.
Thanking You
Yours sincerely,
Priyadarshini Jadhav
Office of Grievance Redressal
Barclays Bank PLC, India
From: Grievanceredressal
Sent: 05 September 2012 17:40
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC (Ref.no:HSE/120905/25/29/PJ/CRD)
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below email dated 4 September 2012 addressed to the office of Grievanceredressal . At the outset, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you.
We wish to inform you that your query has been registered and the reference number allotted HSE/120905/25/29/PJ/CRD. Please refer to this number in your future communications.
We will respond to you in 5 working days. We request you to bear with us until then.
Yours sincerely,
Priyadarshini Jadhav
Office of Grievance Redressal
Barclays Bank PLC, India
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Sent: 04 September 2012 21:47
To: Grievanceredressal
Subject: Re: Barclays Bank PLC ( India )
As per you earlier email Rs.4891.74 was outstanding now you say Rs.5099. What was outstanding?
Also following questions have not been answered. Please review and answer each of these questions.
1. Please let me know the calculation based on which the amount reached Rs 24000+.
2. Please let me know why Barclays sent me no notice before reporting this account as defaulter with credit bureau (CIBIL).
3. Please let me know on what date my account was reported to CIBIL as defaulted.
Also I have one more question:
1. Where is the bank policy which states that you levy foreign exchange fee on refund or cancelled transaction?
2. You sold my account to Phoenix ARC without informing me. Why?
3. I looked at emails and remember that your recovery agents had called me dozen times a day but you didn't send a notice regarding report to CIBIL.
4. Please share a scanned copy of my credit card application. I want to see where I agreed to your bank policy regarding CIBIL reporting and foreign transaction fees on refund or cancelled transaction.
Please take your time and respond to all my questions.
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From: "grievanceredressal@barclays.com" <grievanceredressal@barclays.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 4 September 2012 5:15 PM
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC ( India )
Ref No: CAS-5868965-GSVU4U/ CAS-5868966-49HK77/ CAS-5868967-IGYJBO
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below email regarding your credit card account.
•We wish to inform you that as per statements of November and December 2008 the principal outstanding balances of Rs.4891.74 and Rs.5099 have not been paid hence finance charges have been built on the card account.
•May we explain that status of an account is shared with the credit bureau on a monthly basis as a process. Hence due to non-receipt of payment towards the outstanding balance on your card account, the same was also accordingly updated with the credit bureau.
•The foreign exchange fee has been levied on the card account as per banks policy. Hence the reversal of the charges would not be possible.
•For cibil related issues and for refund of the excess payment, you need to contact Phoenix ARC since your account belongs to them.
•Cibil gets updated on a monthly basis irrespective of the amount outstanding.
•Timely response was sent to all your queries when you had raised your concerns in the past.
We trust this clarifies the matter.
Thanking You
Yours sincerely,
Priyadarshini Jadhav
Office of Grievance Redressal
Barclays Bank PLC, India
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From: Grievanceredressal
Sent: 31 August 2012 18:05
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC (Ref.no:HSE/120831/198/201/202/PJ/CRD)
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below email dated 31 August 2012 addressed to the office of Grievanceredressal . At the outset, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you.
We wish to inform you that your query has been registered and the reference number allotted : HSE/120831/198/201/202/PJ/CRD. Please refer to this number in your future communications.
We will respond to you in 5 working days. We request you to bear with us until then.
Yours sincerely,
Priyadarshini Jadhav
Office of Grievance Redressal
Barclays Bank PLC, India
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Sent: 30 August 2012 21:46
To: Grievanceredressal
Subject: Re: Barclays Bank PLC ( India )
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am not satisfied with this response. Please reply to following:
1. Please let me know the calculation based on which the amount reached Rs 24000+.
2. Please let me know why Barclays sent me no notice before reporting this account as defaulter with credit bureau (CIBIL).
3. Please let me know on what date my account was reported to CIBIL as defaulted.
4. I had a dispute of approx Rs 2168 out of this Rs 4891.74 which was never addressed. Please see attached statements. I had made an online transaction in GBP which refelected in September 2008 statement with Currency coversion charges + service tax (Rs 948 approx). The order was cancelled and the refund reflected in October 2008 statement. However instead of reversing the currency conversion charges (because the transaction was cancelled), Barcalys again charged approx Rs 1219 for currency conversion + service tax for refund. I sent several emails to customer service and it was never resolved. Instead my credit limit was reduced Rs 10000 without prior notice. Charging currency conversion on refund is wrong and was a mistake on Barclays part.
All I owed to Barclays is Rs 2724 (Rs 4891.74 - Rs. 2168.00). Please recalcuate your dues on this amount and let me know the figure.
5. What's the process to remove WOFF status from CIBIL?
I have already paid Phoenix ARC Private Limited Company Rs 26000 to close (not settle) this account because you miscalculated. Please update your records, inform Phoenix ARC Private Limited and ask them to issue a refund for amount I overpaid.
Please note that I am very upset by discovering my name in CIBIL for an amount less that Rs 3000. If you look at emails from email id, you will find that I traced the status of my dispute for over a year and yet nobody bothered to resolve it. Instead your recovery agents kept on irritating me. Please research thoroughly and respond to all my questions at once. Please let me know if you need extra time to respond.
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From: "grievanceredressal@barclays.com" <grievanceredressal@barclays.com>
Sent: Thursday, 30 August 2012 6:00 PM
Subject: Barclays Bank PLC ( India )
Ref No: CAS-5866185-2IL4OL/ CAS-5866188-FDOZW1
Dear Mr. Tiwary,
We refer to your below email regarding your credit card account. At the outset, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you.
We wish to inform you that the card account has been transferred to Phoenix ARC as per banks internal policy and letter intimation was sent to the customers pertaining to the same.
Further we wish to inform you that the principal outstanding balance of Rs.4891.74 was unpaid since 2008 hence finance charges were levied on the account and status was changed to WOFF. May we explain that status of an account is shared with the credit bureau on a monthly basis as a process. Hence due to non-receipt of payment towards the outstanding balance on your card account, the same was also accordingly updated with the credit bureau.
Further we wish to inform you that your account is transferred to Phoenix ARC Company, we request you to please contact. You can contact Phoenix ARC Private Limited Company through:
Call – Contact # 022-6605 4043 or 42 (10:00 AM to 6:00 PM)
Email - customercare.retail@phoenixarc.co.in
Letter –
Customer Care Retail
Phoenix ARC Private Limited,
7th Floor, Dani Corporate Park,
158, C.S.T Road , Kalina,
Santacruz (E), Mumbai - 400 098
We thank you for your patience and support in this regard.
Thanking You
Yours sincerely,
Priyadarshini Jadhav
Office of Grievance Redressal
Barclays Bank PLC, India
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