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I had an account with ABN AMRO. I opened it due to my company request as it dealt with this bank for a while.


First…

I HAD to obtain a credit card along with the account opening! And when I asked why, they said: “this is the package offered for your company. However, you can cancel it later on.” So I thought it is fine while I can cancel it with no hassle.

After I got that card and opened that account, I instructed the bank to cancel my credit card. Simply they requested a payment of Dhs. 200/- as cancellation fee although I never used the credit card. I didn’t even activate it!

When I called the complain department to at least express my anger of this stupid trap, the jerk on the other end asked me to hold on for very long while. I called again. Another jerk answered and again asked to hold on and vanished! I go tempered and thought this is my job today. I kept on calling till one of them forgot to put me on hold! I explained to him.

- He simply said: “this is what was written in the terms and conditions you signed on.”
- but I didn’t sigh on anything. You just gave me the credit card as I opened the account!
- Yah this is the package and if you read the terms and conditions…
- But I didn’t even receive terms and conditions except along with the card itself!
- Sorry sir it is just our policy!
- Policy!
- Yes sir!

Imagine somebody offers you something that you don’t want so you have to pay him his unwanted offer!!

The problem is not in paying those Dhs 200. It is in the way they have been literally stolen from me! It is so dirty when somebody get advantage on you this way.

I was forced to pay them and canceled the card.


Second…

One of my colleagues used his ABN AMRO credit card and was short in money so a payment was overdue. The bank collection department called him couple of times and he was shocked of their way of talking!

In the last time they called him he was in my car. He switched the phone to loud-speak interphone:

- I’m calling from ANB AMRO bank..
- ok
- your payment is due since few days and..
- yes but I said I wouldn’t be able to do it just now.. I am..
- but you have to do it otherwise we submit the file..
- sorry? Alright do what you find ok.. (with a bit of anger)
- (shouting!) you have to make the payment.. how do you use our service and don’t pay?..
- don’t use this accent otherwise I’ll complain against you to the bank..
- (shouting even louder!!) do it.. do it.. look.. I’ll switch now to the record.. (tec tec) ok.. now the conversation is recorded.. when you will come and make the payment?
- you really impolite… what’s your name?
- it is bla bla bla.. if you don’t make it today you will be called by police (shut the phone!!)

I have never seen or heard in my life more impudent or stupid than those collection staff and I really wished I see that jerk at that moment to give him a kick on his ass!


Third…

Another colleague used his credit card for short while and canceled it. You just can’t believe it if I tell you the collection department kept calling him constantly till six months after the cancellation asking for payments!!!

The last time happened he jumped over his desk and started yelling on the phone! We had a big laugh when he literally said:
“this f***ing card is already canceled six f**king months ago and you the f**k still calling?!... listen to me.. if you don’t forget this number I will sue you and your f**king bank do you understand??!!” and he put the phone down!

Eversince he got rid of them and they stopped calling!


Fourth…

Months after I canceled my credit card, I changed my job and shifted my account to another bank. I received a call from a stranger with Dubai code:

Me – hello
- yah.. hello sir
- yes
- it is.. . regarding.. mm (noise and sounds like chewing something!!!)
- Sorry?.. hello!..
- Yah it is regarding a credit card (he said it with a clearer voice!)
- Which credit card?
- ANB AMRO sir.. it is..
- Wait wait.. don’t tell me pending payment!! I have no card from your bank!!
- No sir… our bank offers credit card with good services and advantages.. we can give you low rate of…
- Look look.. wait.... you know had a credit card from your bank before and I canceled it don’t you?!
- But sir the rate we give you is..
- Ya ya look.. I know all about the rates and everything.. I’m telling you I had a bad experience with your bank and I’m not interested. Is that clear?
- No sir.. I mean I didn’t know that before!
- You don’t know?! How did you get my number then?
- I have it in database.. ok sir.. thank you! (he put the phone down!!)

Apart of unprofessionalism, stupid attitude and misuse of previous information, their sales staff just can’t even be polite enough to apologize!!


Las thing…

ABN AMRO became the talking story of everybody in my previous workplace. And later on I discovered there are many people who also frustrated from it before.

I know that ABN jerks will never be professional enough to seek info about their crab bank and will never read this.

Everything I said here is 100% true and I am ready to get all concerted x-colleagues to witness on what I said.

I have also heard simlar things about ABN. They also called me the other day to offer me their lousy credit card, they just ramble on like its pre-recorded. Totally useless.

Yep their services really suck!

Thanks for the entry.
My company deals also wıth ABN Amro. I have been a customer of ABN Amro for two difficult months.
1. Softwares on CHECK Deposit machines were not working properly, even the employee of the bank with an attemp to help me depositing the check, didnt manage for some reason and I had to deposit my check in a primitive way..
2. They came with an offer of digital camera for a credit card. I should get a Gold Card to get the digital camera. Asked for the model, they wouldnt know . So they picked out my company address from my account info by them and arranged a visit to me. I thought they want to explain about their offer of credit card and camera in detail but in contrary, the guy was holding out a paper for me to sign .. it was like a joke..

I sympathize with you.

I once had a credit card from the said bank because it was part of the package in order to secure a car loan.

I officially closed that card by going in person to the bank branch on bank street Bur Dubai.

I signed all the papers etc.

To my surprise they did not close the credite card.

I only found out when I got charge for the credit card annual service fee.

I again went to the branch and informed them that I have closed my credit card a year ago and I should not be charged for renewal fee.

They had the nerve to ask me why I wanted to close the card. duh!!!



With regards to rude collectors, all banks have them and I know why....

They are not official employees of the bank they collect for.

They are what you call as DSA's, they work for an Agency that provides manpower for banks.

They have targets to meet, and if they reach those targets they get a commission.

The bank they collect for does not give a rats A£$$ how they collect the money owed to the bank a long as they deliver at the end of the month.

With regards to complaining to the concerned bank about the attitude of the collectors, the bank has a defense.

They simply say that it is out of their hands as these individuals do not offcial work for them.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but why do banks chase customers for payment on time? Isn't it the purpose of credit cards to make money on interest from late payments?

Could be but not necessarily.

Hi guys, I haven't posted for ages...decided I could use the time to spend with family. Did sometimes visit, but never let myself get carried away.

I must comment on this post. I have an ABN Amro - Al Ameera Credit Card and am as happy a customer as can be.

Reasons:

I have paid even up to 5 days after due date (busy bee me!)...they have NEVER charged me late payment fees/interest or the like.

When I took the credit card it was free for first year and I took it up because of a lot of freebies came along the free credit card! I told him bluntly I would cancel at the end of one year - he assured and reassured that cards were NEVER renewed without permission. However, they did renew my card and charge annual fees. I called them up, spoke to a couple of people voiced how upset I was and VOILA! they made my card free for life. So something good turned out again.

The freebies... well they stopped sending me the monthly magazine, but still send the other stuff regularly.

I still pay late (that reminds me its due tomorrow) and no issues

I never used the free movies facility - but someone I know gets to watch the latest moves free for himself and his wife and he makes full use by going twice a month - I will try it out some day.

Again, the same guy has gone a couple of times to Wild Wadi free with his family!



I had a guy walk into my office trying to sign me on for this - I told him I had one already and was very happy..his reply "You are are the first person who's saying this". so I guess there are a lot of disatisfied customers out there.....

My husband went through the full hassle of opening an account there and closed it on the third day when they charged him for issuing a cheque book (they had said it was free)........

.......but I still remain a happy customer and am giving credit where it is due.

Then again, there was the time the machine jammed my card in for some reason (cannot recollect) it eventually said transaction cancelled and gave the 'new' screen...I tried doing a few things nothing happened and after about 10 minutes the machine simply spat out the card!!!!! (just as well I had waited)

gtmash wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but why do banks chase customers for payment on time? Isn't it the purpose of credit cards to make money on interest from late payments?

They follow-up when you have not made the min payment due..

They're the biggest bank in the world, you would atleast expect something better from them. I guess the bigger the worst. Thanks for the heads up.

I was just talking today to the ABN-AMRO bank in the Netherlands and they said that the ABN-AMRO in the UAE is a holding company and are completely independed. They do carry the name but they are not managed from the Netherlands. Maybe that why this bank sucks like any other bank, How many times I'm called for a credit card by so many banks. How the f..k do they get my number? I had at one moment three of these and cancelled one because I just don't need it. I paid as well a yearly fee while they said it was for free life time. When I threath to cancelled they agreed to change it to life time but they never refunded me. I'm forced to use HSBC and believe me they are as improfessional as others. Banks just sucks here in the UAE and there is a reason for this we might know if we think more deep about this.

goodluck!

They suck,

They just deducted all my airmiles (smart points) because I havent used them...

if you wanna deduct 70000 odd points at least tell me...they know to call you every month to offer you cash advances...biyatches....

Biyatches Im saving them up for later to get something bigger...

Some damn loyalty program that is...

and to top it off I got a parking fine when I went to get this sorted out with their Customer service

one pissed off ABN Amro customer...

Seraphim wrote:They suck,

They just deducted all my airmiles (smart points) because I havent used them...

if you wanna deduct 70000 odd points at least tell me...they know to call you every month to offer you cash advances...biyatches....

Biyatches Im saving them up for later to get something bigger...

Some damn loyalty program that is...

and to top it off I got a parking fine when I went to get this sorted out with their Customer service

one pissed off ABN Amro customer...

Don't worry its all gonna get better (not) now they are going to join up with Barclays UK, which was without a doubt the worst bank I have ever dealt with, years ago anyways.

I got the same experience, canceled my credit cards but they still charged me the annual fees

I am thinking to move all of my money to another bank. Would anyone please suggest one? I was thinking about Standard Chartered but then noticed that they charge a fee for almost anything.

All banks here are the same:

I once wanted to transfer money from HSBC to an account in Europe. I did it via telephone banking. What they did is transfer the money, but made a recurring transfer out of it. So I called them to stop the recurring transfer, and they said sure they will. A few days later, they stopped the recurring transfer, and instead made another one-off transfer. How incredibly stupid must one be?

Their service is appauling but so many people default on CC payments and thats what drives their "chase" in the first place - you can't make money off interest when people aren't paying it.

Hmmm dutch + UK = yikes!

Had the same experience.. ABN AMRO kept calling me even though Ive PAID OFF the balance. They had the gall to call my mother back home. When she told them I've paid it, they told her I'm lying! What gives?! Check your records! Someday they'd be sued.

ABN Amro really does suck. Alot of their employees lack basic customer service skills. I once tried to cancel my one of my ABN Amro credit cards. The service rep asked me a bunch of questions, asked for a passport copy and a copy of my employment contract which I provided. When i asked if the cancellation is now completed, she says.... "What? Who told you your card is being cancelled?" Pure genius, that lady was. Now, I will cancel both my credit cards, move my cash to another bank and the next time someone asks me which bank to go for, I'd suggest some other bank.

yeah i agree it is the worst bank ever!

1)When I first got my ATM card, it was delivered without a PIN. had to go to the branch to request one. Despite their claim that the PIN is already in the branch, I could only get it after 3 weeks (imagine how many times i had to visit the branch without luck)


2) Most beaureaucratic bank. My cheque bounced claiming the signature was different. On comparing my signature to the one stored on the system, I found it exactly the same. The incompetent clerk has said that there is a slight difference.

Hey. we are in the 21st century! I used this signature with other banks with no problems! what the hell is wrong with your system?
Because of their stupidity, I had to pay a fine of AED 500 to the benificiary for the bounced cheque. COme on guys!
IN addition, the benificiary was a well respected company, not an individual, one would not expect them to forge signature.



This bank does not deserve anyone's business.
Even with their offers( free wild wadi, free cinema etc..), I would not continue with them. There are other less horrible banks.

add my to the list guys...

ABN AMRO no way again.

Unfortunately, I had to take a personal loan followed by credit cards.

I had simply a nightmare with them (dont want to go in details) until I asked HSBC to buyout the loan from them. and cancel the cards for good

and guess what... after one year... I receive the bank statement asking to pay them the annual fees!!!!

I call them and inform the lady on the line that those cards got cancelled a year ago and I went by my self to the branch... cut the cards in half and signed all the cancellation papers as well. and finally (after one year) the cards where still active!!!!!!

useless bank indeed

ABN AMRO has a enviable reputation of cheating its Credit Card customers. I have a dispute with my credit card which I am still fighting for the past 3 months. I would suggest the following steps to resolve your disputes with this crooked bank:

1. Send an email or fax to the UAE Country Manager - Colin Macdonald explaining your dispute. He would most probably forward it to their "Service Quality Unit" who might call you to resolve the matter.

Most probably this should sort out the matter. If not, stop paying your monthly payments. They have no reason to settle if you continue to make timely payments. Most credit card companies only settle when they believe that if they don't make some kind of deal, they won't see a penny from you.

2. Meantime you can file a complaint against them with the UAE Central Bank [www(dot)centralbank(dot)ae/complaints/complaints.php]

3. Threaten them that you will write to Gulf News/Khaleej Times/7 Days newspapers

4. In case the above doesnt work, prepare yourself for legal action (although most probably wont come down to that)
You always want to have a paper trail:

Step 1: Visit their branch and ask the person you meet for their business card so you can send a courier. (They will certainly refuse and ask you to mail to their P.O.Box address! If you send to their P.O.Box there is no proof that sent them anything and they will simply deny receiving anything from you!)

Step 2: Note down their names from their badges, lookup their website for their branch address and send a letter to that person by courier. Even if it is a rough address, your courier company can still deliver as RBS is well known. For eg:
Mr.xxx,
ABN AMRO BANK CARDS DIVISION (ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND),
KHALID BIN WALEED STREET, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
TEL: +971-4-3512200
FAX: +971-4-3511555

Make sure you mention "to be delivered in person" and get signed acknowledgements. Your letter should clearly explain the dispute and how much you are willing to settle for. You still will not receive any reply from them.

Ignore threats. At some point, your account will be turned over to a collection agency that may call threatening to take legal action. Most agencies won't go to the effort and expense of actually filing a lawsuit. As per UAE law, if you want to sue someone for AED 10,000, you will have to first deposit AED 10,000 with the local courts. On top of that you will have to pay court fee and lawyer expenses and even then they cant be sure of recovering all their dues from you. So, they will not go to this step easily. Make an offer and expect that your first offer will be refused. Take your time. Dont show you are eager to settle. Every day you wait, your debt gets older and harder to collect, and your creditors are more likely to cut their losses. Banks are tough with those who want to pay and gentle with those who tell them to get lost! Tell them you are ready to fight it legally if they want to pursue this in that direction. Even if they bounce your security cheque, they cannot automatically arrest you. Read the interview with Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Head of the General Department of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at
[www(dot)xpress4me(dot)com/news/uae/dubai/20013055.html]

Hope this helps...if it does, tell me.

ABN AMRO/RBS are not only the worst in terms of customer care, but also in terms of ethics. I have had all of the following problems on 1 damn card:

First of all, I did the fatal mistake of applying for a credit card with ABN AMRO, mainly because the salesman was after my life and called me everyday to take it saying that it is free for life and low interest rates. Then I did an even worse thing by doing a balance transfer.

1. Flat rate trap

When I did the balance transfer, they quoted me a rate that seems quite low, so I thought I would consolidate my credit card bills all into one. The person on the phone told me it was a flat rate. Until recently, I didnt know what a 'flat rate' was. I'm an ex-Investment Banker but I have never come across this because in the developed world 'flat rate' interest calculation is banned and it is not taught in any business school nowadays. Due to the recent financial crisis, I thought it is better to not keep any credit card bills hanging around and I went to one of their branches to pay off the balance on my card. I was shocked to hear that I needed to pay more than the amount I borrowed to settle the account. And I have been paying the monthly payments regularly for the past 1 year.

Simply, the difference between this 'flat rate' and a 'declining balance' calculation are:

a. 'flat rate' is very misleading when compared to 'declining balance' as the effective rate on a 'flat rate' calculation is double the quoted rate.
b. even if you decide to prepay the loan, you still have to pay them the interest for the balance period in advance
c. And pay them a penalty for prepayment.
d. And it is prohibited in the U.A.E. as well!

Take a look at this webpage [en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/Flat_rate_(finance)] for more details on 'flat rate' calculation.

You can refer to the UAE Central Bank's Circular No:12/93 Dated 23/2/1993 and Notice No.41/2001 Dated:28/01/2001

Also Notice No. 2149/2003 (www(dot)centralbank(dot)ae/pdf/notices/2149-2003(dot)pdf), point no. 2 “Interest rate to be listed in the table expressed as a percentage, and interest to be calculated on the reducing balance of the loan.

Response to the Consolidation inquiries on Circular 12/03 (www(dot)centralbank(dot)ae/Circulars/1263-93(dot)php) Under INTEREST RATES: Q 6.: Can banks use the reducing balance method only ?
Ans.: Yes, if the method is the same as the one highlighted in the Circular.

Flat rate calculation is allowed on some Shariah complaint loans, but these loans are all asset based. A Credit card loan is no way an asset based loan or shariah complaint.

2. Why 2 Credit cards?

I had applied for only 1 credit card, why the hell did they give me 2? The split the balance transfer into two and gave me two separate cards to help me. Why? Answer is simple, so they can charge you double the late fees/preclosure penalty fees/extortion fees and the like, although you asked for only one!

3. Misleading info

On top of the above, I did a third mistake of taking a 'Smart Cash' loan on my credit card (this was before I realised what a flat rate calculation was and I ran into dispute with them) This was done entirely on the phone. The sales rep simply quoted the interest rate and nothing else. She said it was 0.5% and so it is very cheap, you can simply use this to maintain your minimum balance on you checking account with any bank as this would be cheaper that paying the bank charges blah blah blah. There is nothing in writing for this contract. So when I went to pay this off together with the above balance transfer, they told me this was a flat rate calculation as well and I dont have the option to prepay it.

4. Loan sharking

Every time I was late by 1 or 2 days to pay your monthly credit card bills, I immediatly get a call from the Customer service personal who remind me I am late on my payment but they can reverse the late fees if I take a further loan. This is pure loan sharking trying to force customers into debt and it is illegal.

I hope enough people report this to the press or the UAE Central Bank and force them to take action against these guys. Those of you who are British should tell your government that their tax money could be used for more productive purposes than to bail out these crooks!

I recently visited a credit collection department in another bank to sell my product. i was shocked by the conversations i heard. sooo aggresive. i thaught never even i will touch a credit card. anyway these credit cpllection people just doing there job.

without going into details - I've actually got a letter of apology from ABn Amro bank for the shit they've put me through and after a police case was registered against them. Must be one of the very few to have such a letter. Should frame it up some day.

What did you do to get the apology letter? Did you get any threatening calls from collections which you reported to Police?

no threatening calls. They transferred a loan to my account when they took my application for a credit card . I didnt apply for any loan and they said that I had signed an application form for it.

So probably they faked my signature??? which is fraud. Police can easily detect it. They realized they screwed up and wanted to get it settled outside. And they got really scared when i called up their offices asking for full names of their management.

So all you guys - the solution to your problems: dont give in to their nonsense. Whatever your issue - late fees, settlements, etc, they cannot threaten you.

and remember one thing - banks record all conversations with customers. So if they are being abusive, you have full right to go the cops and the bank would be asked to reproduce the tapes.

hey by the way, everyone's roamign around with cool nokia/sony/other phones. all have a cool voice recording feature. try recording the conversations if its face to face.

Another piece of info for you guys having trouble with ABN's collection dept. threatening to bounce your security cheque:

A security cheque could not be the basis for a criminal charge. If a security cheque bounces, it will be heard by the Civil Court only, not criminal court! In other words, it is not a criminal offence. If a cheque was expressively made as security for performance of obligations or as a trust, and it bounces, then it is a commercial dispute only!

Firstly, before filing a case for bouncing cheques, the Police try to resolve it amicably between the parties. so, if you show that it is a security cheque and you were trying to resolve the issue with the bank, the Police would not interfere.

I was worked in dubai for 2 years due to some reason comany as terminated. so i came back to india. i have not paid credit card payment. anyone know what bank will take action on me. presently i am in india.

There is nothing they can do against you in India, although they have collection agents in India as well. Their claim cannot be enforced in India. If someone calls threatening to taken action, you can report them to the police. But if you come back to Dubai, they might have bounced your cheque and informed the UAE Immigration to arrest you on arrival.