First of all, those who know me should know that I’m not a bad temper person nor can I get angry easily. BUT today, ICICI bank really pushed me to the limit. I have been a customer of this bank since 2005. Originally I opened a Savings account because of their high interest rate. After about a year or so, I got an letter from them saying that there would be two types of savings account HISave account versus premium savings account. The difference would be that the HISave account would be solely online – all transactions have to be conducted via the net. I was fine with that. I thought mine would be the HISave account until one day I checked online agained and actually it was Premium Savings account. The instruction was definitely not clear on the letter that they sent out. That was OK since it might be also because I overlooked something.
Then, one day, I tried to login my account and found that I need the CIF (Customer Identification Number). I wondered what the hell was going on. Usually, we could just login with the client card number. Why would they change that? Did someone hack into their system? I don’t mind logging in with CIF number but the problem is that I have only seen the CIF number on the sheet of paper that they gave to me when I first opened my account. If you have thrown that away, too bad, you would have to call them to get your CIF number. AND on the website they stated that because of this change, you should expect longer than usual wait (not exactly how it was phrased but that’s the meaning).
OK, so I could login. Despite the fact that their UI (user interface) sucks, very NOT user-friendly, as long as I can transfer money, it is still OK.
One day, I decided to move money out of the account. And I saw something like this…
**************
Dear Valued Customer:
We request you to verify the details of your external account registered with ICICI Bank Canada. If you notice a discrepancy in the information such as external account number or currency of the external account, please write to us using the “Communication” option available on the left panel. Please include the following information:
External Bank Name
External Bank transit ID
External Bank account number
Currency of your external account
Please allow us 4 business days to update your account profile with the updated information. We thank you for your cooperation.
**************
I hesitated and thought… should I verify my account even though it looked correct and I had been successfully moving my money before? So, to be on the safe side, I contacted them and verified the bank account info, but I never heard back from them. After about 4 days…Ya, I thought, it’s a bank and they should not let anything happen to this. So, I transferred a small amount. Three days have passed and I still didn’t see my money in my external account. Humm…. I waited til the fifth business day (since that was the max. time it would take to transfer money – as stated on their website), and I called them. They said they would look into that.
After about a week, I was determined to close my accounts with ICICI. So, I gave them a call and told them about my dissatisfaction and frustration and my decision of closing my account. The rep was a bit freaked out and he tried to explain to me that the bank was having a major system change/upgrade and that was why I was experiencing problem. However, he attempt was not a success. I don’t care about all the features that they would be adding to the website interface. The bottom line is that I can see my money and move my money. Agree? Yes. So, now that I’ve transferred my money out of the acocunt – it’s not showing up in the ICICI interface anymore, but I’m not getting the money in my external account. What happened?! What the hell did the money go? So, he passed the phone to his supervisor. They were asking me to give ICICI bank another chance since they are a relatively young bank in Canada. NO excuse! Anyhow, I was finally persuaded not to close the account because the supervisor agreed to take care of the transfer of the remaining balance to my external account. I received that portion in my external account after 3 days.
Today I called again since I’m not seeing the first “small portion of $” that I’ve transferred on Feb 2 (18 days ago!). Guess what that rep said? He told me that the problem has been passed on to the operation team and they are currently looking into it. A lot of other customers are also experiencing the same problem. (OMFG!) I asked when I should be able to see my money in my external account, and he couldn’t answer my question. Finally, after pushing and squeezing him, he gave me an answer – if I still don’t see it in external account after 4 days, give them a call.
It’s been a total waste of my time – each phone call took about at least 20 min. and the problem never got resolved. I’m glad that I didn’t transfer all my money or else I’d be in trouble. Where the hell is my money?! And, what if I need that money right now? How are they gonna be responsible for the costs/loss incurred?
I wonder what/if the bank would react if they see this post? Will they ever improve/change? Will their IT team get frustrated and hack into this blog and wipe everything out? I don’t know. I just wanted to share my experience with you and also vent. argh!
I give you credit for putting up with them for so long. They sound like idiots over there. If they can’t find a missing money problem after 18 days (they’re a bank for god sakes) , I doubt that they could ever be able to hack into your blog to erase this post. I feel for ya. if I had money missing from my bank account, I wouldn’t be able to eat! Give ’em hell!
Yeah! A bunch of idiots!!! :S
18 days to fix something? i don’t think they have that many customer that holds up the IT people for that long.
oh well, i guess if they don’t get it back to you in 4 days, call up the CBIC thing that’s recently on airing ad on TV? they said they would cover up to $100,000.00 of your money from any bank. or you can tell ICICI bank that you would do that and probably they will fix your account first and you would get your money back during the phone call.
i didn’t like the bank in the first place, because of it’s name, and compare to ING, i haven’t heard of ICICI bank before. (or what company is “behind” them.)
I know -_- I would file a formal complaint if I have time. I opened this account coz one of their branch is located quite close to my home, or else I wouldn’t bother. arghhh.
Yah some banks suck balls.. if you want high rates, PCFinancial actually has pretty good rates.. we’re with PCF, and quite happy with their services. You know, money showing up in the right places at the right times. I second what 蛋治 said.. go and get your money back from CBIC if ICICI doesn’t comply. Unless your savings were more than 100k of course..
I hope your case is settled now! you get all your money and go somewhere else!
ICICI… sounds like when you try to explain to those tellers at the counters your problem, they would response, i see i see i see i see……..
What a harsh experience. I’ve been taught how to complain. They say to be very calm about it and speak with extreme sarcasm. To be honest,
i don’t do that at all.
In this case, on the phone. I’d asking them what they are going to do, then I’d tell them unacceptable and tell them exactly what they are going to do.
geez, it’s scary how many crappy companies are out there.
Yah. Didn’t complain to the regulation body, but it was a hassle.
your kidding me? Their service suck! Period.
My Uncle who is resident in Saudi Arabia opened ICICI Bank Account in Brampton Branch in 2005. and the money been seating earrning him little interest because it was a US account. He was promised he would get his statment and check by mail. Guess what never happened. After repeated promised and inquiries he was finally promised again his blank check will be in mail. No Action. Even though he signed for tele-fax correspondance, he was not able to move his money via fax or phone. He physically has to come to the branch from oversean to close his account. To make matters worse he asked how he was able to open an account here in Canada since they are not mandated to open an Account for Non-Resident. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
He was outraged non the less he done with ICICI Bank.
You can have a bit of your two cents.
icici really sucks and I ell you why
hi! I can’t believe people have had such negative experiences. ICICI is the best bank in town. These guys will bring the money to your house if you ask them. I wanted some money from my account that day, but I didn’t have access to the internet. One simple call and someone from the bank hand delivered it to me within a half hour. Exceptional service.
-musta4
Now we know…
Mustafa has your money! 😛
icici bank has no clue what they are doing! do not trust them with your money.