I was approached by an executive in 2010 for a "FREE" manhattan platinum card from SCB. Told that the card was free, i went ahead and took inspite of having several other cards with much higher credit limits.
However, Nov'11 bill came with an annual fee of Rs.999 plus taxes. Shocked by this, i call up customer care and I am informed that the charges are for the 2nd yr in advance and only the 1st yr was free. Remembering clearly that the exec had told me that the card was free and no such charge was mentioned, I informed the customer care person of this. I also clarified that I would be happy to pay the due amount minus the annual fee and get the card cancelled rather than pay this hefty annual amount for a credit card that other banks are dying to give away for free. The executive informed me that I would first need to pay all due amounts and only then can I discuss cancellation and reversal of said fees with the respective team. My question is, what if i make the due payments in advance and then am refused the reversal of charges? Is SCB going to pay me interest on the advance paid?
Very dissapointed with this method of highway robbery used by a Reputable (atleast what I thought was reputable) bank like standard chartered. Give away the card for free for the 1st yr, not inform the customer before charging in advance for the 2nd yr and then not even be willing to reverse the fees and cancelling the card.

- Avnish Shah