Hi,
I recently got a shock when my bank balance showed up as -1339 Rs. I then got a call from HDFC representative saying i had to deposit money or they would charge interest on the amount.
When i asked him for an explanation as to why my balance was negative he gave a very unconvincing reply saying my transaction on feb 20th didnt process through due to a network problem. Hence it happen a month later and they deducted the money.
My query is why should i get penalized for a transaction that didnt happen due to a network issue that HDFC had?
And even if the transaction didnt happen in 20th feb why wasnt i informed or when it eventually happened why wasnt i notified?
Why call after the balance goes negative and ask me to deposit money immediately or threaten to charge interest?
This is the 2nd time im having an issue with HDFC. They took 2 and half months to give e my welcome kit and account details when i opened this account. I was without a salary for 2 months.
And now they do this.
This is the kind of service i hate.
Kindly help. Is there any way i can book a case against the bank and teach them a lesson for being utter idiots.
this is my complain number and the mail i sent them today

HBL=009-102-142' Negative Bank Balance
"Hi,
It has come to my notice that I have a negative bank balance in my account.
Now the last time I checked my account I had a balance of 700 Rs in it.
When recently I swiped my card at a petrol bunk the transaction didn’t get through.
To my luck I wasn’t carrying any money with me. Not only was this embarrassing but I had to call
A friend of mine to pay for it.
Now can someone explain why I have a negative balance? Doesn’t it beat the purpose of having a debit card?
I did get a call from one of your executives who told me about a transaction that didn’t get processed feb 20th due to network issues.
And he demanded that I deposit some money to negate the negative balance or interest would be charged.
Even now I find it difficult to understand what your executive tried to explain, as he gave me 3 different dates trying to explain the debacle.

My question is why wasn’t I kept in the loop about a failed transaction? For some stupid network issue that you guys have is it right for you to
Put the customer in such a fix? Why didn’t you call and let me know when the transaction failed rather than wait until I have a negative balance and then call?
Now my pay cycle is on the 5th of every month and I am not willing to pay a pie on interest due to your lack of ability to keep me informed about my transactions,
And let me know only when its negative and then charge interest.

I still haven’t got my statement for the month of February so I’m still unclear about your reason given.

This is the 2nd time I’m facing issues with HDFC and your service till now has been absolutely pathetic and hopeless 'HBL=008-313-336' was the complaint number for the first issue I had.
All I have faced is embarrassment with you as my bank and I have never had this issue with my other account in ICICI. If you guys are not capable of handing a salary account kindly let me know."

Following is the reply i got from their customer service


"Dear Mr. Mithun P,

Thank you for writing to us.

This is with reference to your e-mail dated March 24, 2010 regarding negative balance

We would like to inform you that on March 16, 2010 you didn't had enough balance to make payment of POS transaction done on March 17, 2010. As the transaction done on March 17, 2010 was more then the existence balance in the account, the account balance gone in negative.

We would like to convey that as and when your account goes into negative balance, your account will be debited for the debit interest as per current regulations. This interest will be debited for the period the account was in negative balance."


Well thats a msg that didnt clear any of my questions.

Dear Mr Mithun,

We regret the inconvenience caused and would like to investigate your complaint further. Request you to please email us at talktous@hdfcbank.com with some additional information such as the account number and your contact details.

Please mention the id number TTU00008726032010 in the subject line of the email. Once we receive these details, a bank representative shall contact you.


Regards, Customer Assistance, HDFC Bank

Hello all,

I suppose many of us had a bad experience with this bank. So instead of sending complaints to the bank let us stop doing any business with HDFC. Tear off your credit cards, close your accounts with this bank. They dont even know how to treat a customer. They dont care about our money. Let us not give them any kind of profit out of our money. After receiving the worst treatment from an executive of HDFC, i ve closed all my accounts in HDFC, took out all my money from Mutual fund of HDFC. tore my credit card.
I just cant explain how annoyed i am!

Screw yourself HDFC!!

I agree with you as I got the same treatment from this pathetic bank. Since then I closed all my accounts in this bank.

My humble appeal to all of you is " Trash HDFC Bank "

Dear Customers,

We are extremely sorry you have had cause for complaint with our Bank’s services. We would also like to apologize if the Bank has so far not been able to address your particular concerns. If you wish to share your complaint with us, please write to us at talktous@hdfcbank.com with the details of the issue, as well as your account number and contact details. As soon as we receive this email, a bank representative will investigate the matter and respond to you as quickly as possible.

Once again, please accept our apologies.


Regards, Customer Assistance, HDFC Bank

Monday September 6, 2010 : on september 6th entire day HDFC BANK Netbanking not available. Whenever I call customer service I get answer "we apologise" this does not make sense to me as I had to make urgent payment to my credit card failing which I will have to pay 3.5% penalty ..if my credit card charge me extra 3.5% will HDFC Bank re-emberse me? HDFC Bank customer service does not exist on first working day of the week which is Monday! HDFC has become shameless bank..

Dear Naveen,

At the outset we regret the inconvenience caused to you. The site is currently under maintenance as we are upgrading our systems for quicker and easier access.

You can make your payments either through cheque or by using your debit card to transfer the amount from your account to your credit account through our ATMs.

We request you to kindly bear with us in the interim and apologize for the inconvenience. Looking forward to your continued patronage and support.


Regards, Customer Assistance, HDFC Bank

This being a whiner's forum, I have something to whine about too. HDFC was introduced to me by a friend manager who meticulously explained to me about a nice Gold Debit card with free insurance cover of Rs.2 lakhs and shit like that which everyone might say when they penetrate a market for the first time.

Now heaven only knows if the insurance and the gold card bull is still alive with regular savings accounts like mine, but looking into HDFC's website this feature seems to be a benefit only with the Savings Max scheme.
Does it still apply for us in regular Savings schemes way back from 2007-08?? because if it doesn't then that will be a breach of contract wouldn't it which HDFC prolly doesn't give a f**k anyway.

I was not given prior notice about the AQB being raised to Rs.10000 from Rs.5000 and about these new stupid fees of Rs.62 everytime I transact online even with my AQB maintained. The new rules about a charge for more than 5 cash deposits blah blah blah and all that were not even communicated to me and if I know the law correctly, "fair warning" and "prior notice" was not made by the bank, which is otherwise imperative.

Perhaps the bank hopes to capitalise on customer's ignorance, which is make new rules, don;t let customers know about them and f**k them so hard with fees and fines that they can spend the next few months and days shuttling between bank, office/business and home just to get answers. Amused as HDFC might be about this whole circus, customers like myself are full of rage because we don;t have time to run around and ask questions much less have the time or money to seek legal recourse.

Then there is this sweet talking b*tch at the front desk who smirks whenever I enter the bank premises, as if to gracefully welcome my getting effed in the a** by her bank so her HDFC bank could rape me more with these unknown fees that they cook up every other day or hour.

HDFC shouldn't be called a “Housing Development Finance Corporation” but rather a “Heaven to Dupe and F**k the Customer”

Period.

Regards,
A very very irate being f**ked in the a** customer.

PS:- Now that I have ended my catharsis, I'm sure Mr.Parekh or Kapoor would depute someone for a rejoinder on this with a ticket number. Well don't bother with taking up my complaints. There's a good ol saying that says "Old habits die hard" and if thugging a customer and hiding behind a politician's back is all that the likes of Parekh do for social clemency, then India is f**ked like everybody else, because my case may be solved only to open up in someone elses backyard.