About me
A bachelor living in Delhi, a city he loves and loathes, documents his experiences on this page. He is erratic, opinionated and lazy, loves his women, wine and song - what more do you need to know?
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Thursday, January 22
I have had a most disturbing experience this week.
On saturday, we went to watch a movie at the Wave cineplex in Noida. They have recently started valet parking and so we left the key with the driver and sped off into the theatre. After the truly engaging movie ( "Ek hasina thi") got over and we came down, I noticed my wallet was missing... racking my brain, I realised I had left it in the car. When the valet brought in the vehicle, sure enough, the wallet was not there where I left it. My heart sank.
After putting in the mandatory complaint with the parking contractor, I went about calling up the banks to block my cards. At HDFC with whom I have my salary account, they told me I would have to go to the branch to do the paperwork and yes sir, we do not work sundays. I told myself its harmless anyways as debit cards are more secure than credit cards.
On sunday I was just checking my account balance when I saw four transactions on my debit card adding up to Rs. 27000 (~ USD 600). And they were surely not mine. So I called up HDFC again. This time they blocked my card to contain any further damage.
Now comes the most amazing part. The HDFC person tells me he cannot do anything as he has no record of me having called them to block the card. And, no, the merchant is not responsible to check the signature on the charge slip and match it with that on the card. But my Citibank Suvidha debit card works only with a PIN, I ask. That's because they have Maestro and your card was a Visa Electron. So why was I not given a Maestro? Why did no one ever tell me that anyone can borrow my card for a while and charge whatever amount he fancies and does not even have to bother about duplicating my signature?? What redressal do I have? Not much, Sir, but you can ask for a Charge-back. What is a Chargeback? We will pass on your request to Visa who will investigate and if they establish it wasn't you, you MIGHT get credit. How long will it take? 60 to 90 days Sir.
Lessons:
1. Do not use valet parking if you can avoid it. If not, make sure you have no belongings (I used to leave my laptop in the trunk, not any more) left in the car.
2. Make sure you immediately have your cards blocked if you lose them, even if it means you have to queue up at the only branch in the city that works sundays and that is 40 kms away.
3. If you hold a debit card, and its a Visa, cut it into pieces and ask for a Maestro.
Posted at 1/22/2004 3:14:15 pm by Ranjan
 | | | Sunny
March 7, 2005 10:47 AM PST
Has anyone got any phone number for an executive in HDFC, preferably in Delhi. | |
| | | ritika
January 26, 2004 09:41 PM PST
that's bad ...i hope something works out for u | |
| | | W-bug
January 23, 2004 07:44 PM PST
What a terrible experience, I hope your lessons will serve me in future!!! I too have Visa Electron!!! | |
| | | Jazz
January 23, 2004 05:33 PM PST
this is probably one of the most unprofessional attitude from a bank that I have heard of...the closest I've been to something like this was when a bank machine swallowed my debit card on Friday night..and I had to survive the whole weekend on $25 as my bank was unable to replace the card before the next working day...makes you wonder..how difficult it is to have a 24 hour complaint centre to address these problems promptly??..even if they could hav blocked your card temporarily on phone after asking your personal details...things could hav been different. | |
| | | Anu
January 23, 2004 03:46 PM PST
Hey,my friend had her 'credit card' for transactions and these dummies said we cannot do anything about it. But we did manage to fight with them and make them pay. You should have gone to a police station atleast and reported loss of card. Anyways, you CAN dispute and get your money. They say you can't do it but they have a seperate branch that deals with this misuse of cards. They just don't want to pay you. No records indeed! Don't let them get away with this. | |
| | | Patrix
January 23, 2004 06:14 AM PST
thatz really very strange...In the US, you are not liable for any charges that you dispute and usually you do get everything back...i had a similar experience but thankfully ended on a happy note | |
| | | crab
January 22, 2004 11:32 PM PST
get good legal advice asap.....u wont regret it! | |
| | | Kash
January 22, 2004 04:34 PM PST
As far as i knew, debit cards worked only with a PIN. Sue the bank, they are responsible. they can't get away with such a dumb excuse. Debit cards access ur account directly and without a pin and unless u authorize the transaction, how can the money move from ur account? | |
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