I would like to share one of my worst banking experiences with HDFC bank, Wardha branch( Maharashtra) .
I applied for a 2-Wheeler loan in the Wardha branch of HDFC bank, as I got to know from the Bajaj showroom that the bank is linked with the showroom for financing, that is the bank was their finance partner. So, I filled the loan application form in the bank and asked for the necessary documents that were needed to be submitted for the loan processing. The 2-Wheeler loan incharge of the bank informed me to collect following documents:
1- My last 1 year’s bank account statement
2- Salary proof ( Salary Receipt as I was on a private Job)
3- An undertaking letter from the firm I was working with, on their letterhead.
4- Id proofs: ( i) Voter ID card ( ii) PAN card ( iii) RATION card
5- Electricity bill ( for address proof)
I submitted all these documents, about which the loan incharge Mr. Manjit Sharma informed me that my loan will be processed once my documents get verified from their Nagpur branch, which will take atleast a 2 days time. Before that, I will have to open a savings bank account in their branch. I followed his instructions and opened an account for which they handed me with my passbook and cheque book for my account. Mr. Manjit informed me that my loan term will be of 20 months, for which I will have to submit 20 signed blank cheques for each monthly installment. I submitted the cheques as per his instructions and he attached those cheques to my loan file.
So, I returned to the bank after 2 days and made an enquiry about my loan case. But the employee replied me that due to some internal issues, the processing will take some more time, atleast 2 days more. As to show patience, I agreed to wait for 2 more days. This time, instead of directly going to the bank for Enquiry, I contacted the bank customer care service, from where I got a shocking reply. The customer care representative informed me that there was no loan request made from my account number and there was no such request into processing. So, left with no option, I rushed to the bank branch to enquire my loan status. To my surprise, I received the same reply from Mr. Manjit that my loan request was into processing. But he was unaware of the fact that I fetched for my loan processing details from the customer care.
I straight went to the branch manager cabin and discussed with him all of this stuff. The manager called the incharge, and asked him about my case details. It was again shocking that my loan file went nowhere from the bank branch in last 1 week, and it was lying in the employee’s table drawer. And he was giving me an excuse of some technical issue in processing my loan request.
After all this, I was really frustrated with this kind of irresponsible approach from the bank.
The real harassment started from the bank after this. Actually, I wanted to buy this bike on my mom’s birthday, which was on 15th of January. I applied for the loan case on 2nd January, which was well before my date of purchase. But, the stupidity of the employee led to the waste of a week’s time. So, it was now 9th of January, and I had not much time left for my mother’s birthday.
I talked to the bank manager about the emergency situation I was in, and so asked him if he can get my loan processed as early as possible and he assured me about it. My file was then passed to the Nagpur branch for processing with no delay, but the processing took another 4 days time, after which there was another shock awaiting for me from the bank. They informed me that my income proofs were not sufficient for getting the loan sanctioned, that too at the time when I desperately needed the loan.
Frustrated, I had a fight with the manager and the employee Manjit, after which I decided to move out of the bank. It was already 13th of January after which I lost all hopes of getting a loan for my bike. But, like a blessing in disguise, one of my friend informed me that I can apply for an easy loan from IndusInd Bank, and with the same documents that I submitted in HDFC bank, I got my loan approved in just an hour. This was my luck that I got the bike right a day before my mother’s birthday, which was delivered to me right on the day, 15th January.
So, my experience with HDFC bank was a real nightmare as they took 12 days for the work they didn’t get done, and the same work was done in 2 days by IndusInd bank.