I had the bitter experience of dealing with these ‘Icicidirect’ people. So long I am doing business online it is OK. But when some problem arises like freezing of your accounts due to non updation of PAN etc (even though you would have submitted it many times ‘updation’ is not their responsibility-looks strange, isn’t it?) then you will realize the foolishness of having account with these people.
There is absolutely no offline support. Your problem would never be resolved within time even you comply with all the legal formalities. Your account would not be updated and you would have to undergo all the ordeals. No one is accountable in their organization and you are like a ‘fly in the hands of wanton boys’. Dealing with them is like dealing with machines. If you contact their customer service ‘helpline’(a misnomer with respect to ‘icidirect’), it is possible only by spending a couple of 100 rupees on phone bill every time you call them and also at the cost of your hearing sense being impaired. By the time their customer support executive (an executive, who is incapable of putting his soul in the problem but who would have read ymade answers to ‘FAQ’ and is capable of repeating the same again and again) answer your calls your hearing efficiency would have been impaired to some extent by hearing prolonged advertisements of icidirect services and the piercing music accompanying their advertisements.
You should better have your loud speaker of your phone ‘on’ and keep the phone at a distance to save your sensory nerves of the ear from impairment. Don’t think that your problem will be solved quickly as soon as their executive attends your phone. He will give you a reference number and would tell you that you will be receiving a report from them on your mobile. You should have to remember that number but they will forget about it. Again you have to contact them and a new ‘executive’ would attend your call and you have to repeat your problem again from the scratch. The process will go on endlessly every time with new numbers or with some monotonous replies repeating the same words again and again. Your account will not be deefreezed even if you have complied with all the legal formalities and have solid records of filing them. ‘Icicidirect’ is a big organization and it is so big that menials like we (‘the customers’), should have to put up with them for all their inefficiencies. They are legally above law in this strange land. Because they know for sure that no investor would risk his hard earned money to get locked for a prolonged period in legal battles. You would soon realize that you are left in a desert without knowing whom to contact and what to do. No help will come to you even if you contact their demat offices at your locality. They will simply tell you to contact ‘for any help’, their customer service number and they will tell you that they are having clear directions by their H.O. to tell customers this and only this answer and nothing else. These demat offices are in your locality only to catch new ‘fishes’. By the time they resolve your problem you would have become some years older and would look more elderly than you would be because of increase in your BP level and other worries of your investments being put under market risks. You would have lost all your gains(if the market is unfavourable with respect to your investments) by the time your account is deefreezed and you would loose all your hope and will come to a conclusion that you should immediately close your account with ‘ICICIDIRECT’.