I HAVE an account with a private commercial bank and recently had to pay a heavy price for just that. Regardless of the amount under dispute, it is the attitude of the bank and its staff that has deprived me of my peace of mind over the last few weeks. The bank wrongly deducted Rs675 from my savings account, which it was kind enough to concede as a mistake, but it has yet to return the amount even though I have been repeatedly told that it has been done. Every time I have pointed out the string of misinformation, I am asked to wait. And that I do till the bank lies again, in writing.

It all started on June 4 when I used the bank’s online facility to purchase a phone card. Although the transaction could not be completed due to some technical error, the amount of Rs675 was deducted from the account. I called the helpline, and the staff readily conceded that it was a mistake. I was told that the bank’s system was having some technical issues due to which the customers were unable to purchase mobile network bundle packages. I was issued a complaint number and assured that within the stipulated timeframe the matter shall be resolved. Fair enough, I thought.

On June 9, I received an SMS from the bank that my request had been closed even though the amount had not been reversed. Since then, I have been a frequent caller to the bank’s helpline and a frequent recipient of factually incorrect text messages from the bank. The entire matter was being shared with the bank’s customer care and customer complaint sections, but nothing worked. Indeed, nothing has worked to date.

My last call to the helpline was on July 4 when the whole exercise was repeated from A to Z. The only difference on this occasion was interaction with an amazingly ill-mannered staff member who had the audacity to make fun of the whole thing. I really wonder how come she was assigned the task of dealing with the customers.

It may sound like a small amount, which it is, but that is a secondary issue here. It is a matter of my right to have control over my money – every penny of it – and to recover what is rightfully mine and has been stolen by the said bank.

Also, it came as a surprise that even in these troubled times of a global pandemic, the bank does not provide a digital account statement. When I asked for one, the amazingly ill-mannered staff member asked me to visit the bank branch personally to have it.

I have filed a complaint against the said bank through email with the State Bank of Pakistan’s Banking Conduct and Consumer Protection Department, hoping that someone will come to my rescue.

Farida Nawaz Ali Khuwaja
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2021