CONSUMERS in Pakistan are not valued by service providers. Be it retailers, banks or cellular networks, they hardly value customers.

On Nov 25, I was playing golf at Gymkhana when I got this message from my bank that my credit card had been used for Rs53,620 at some garments shop.

I checked my wallet and confirmed that card was still with me. I called the bank. After rigorous routine of security clearance, the customer care representative confirmed that the transaction was indeed made.

I immediately denied that I was in no way near any shop and had the card with me. I requested her to lodge a complaint of fraudulent transaction. She refused. Instead, she said that I had to write an application to the bank’s dispute resolution centre.

After all the security questions, she identified me as a valid customer. Then why did not she mark the transaction as fraudulent and start the investigation. Why do I have to write an application and go to the bank?

Realising that there is no other way, I wrote the application and dropped copies at not one but two branches. I never received a response and even an acknowledgement from the bank. This is the value of a Pakistani consumer.

And I am talking about private enterprises; government-owned departments are obviously worse.

Aamir Chaudhry
Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2017