I had gone to IDBI bank to renew my FD in 2009. The IDBI employee, very sweetly, suggested me to take this IDBI Fortis Policy instead. (IDBI Fortis Policy has now become IDBI Federal). She told me I will have to pay premiums for next three years and not touch my money. After that there is a good return. I told her FD amount is all the money that I have and I will not be able to pay further premiums.
She assured me that it was not a problem. She will still check mark that I will pay premiums. After that I may or may not pay them. I was convinced by her and so I applied for the policy.
After that I started receiving regular calls from IDBI Federal for further premiums. When I visited IDBI Bank and informed that lady, every time she would say that she would look into the matter and make the calls stopped. Well! that never happened and I was continuously harassed by IDBI Federal calls. When I would ask for the current value of my policy, it would turn out to be negligible (horrible is a better word).
I patiently waited for full three years to complete so that I could get my money back.
The day policy expired, I went to the bank. Concerned person, including that lady, not available. Come againyeah! Had I come to buy the policy, every bank employee would have known the procedure.
Then I was given phone no. to call IDBI Federal to know details. When I called, twice, the call got disconnected after 10 minutes wait. I got lucky third time. Hearing my case, he tells me that I have surrendered my policy, to which I had to correct that I never did anything and am asking for the procedure to redeem my money. Then he says ok you have not surrendered, policy has been automatically surrendered. Many times he would blabber some wrong information and I had to correct him.
In the end his reply was, "I tell you everything, you don’t stay quiet and listen."
I was aghast. It is my money that is at stake, it is my investment in his company that went bad because of ill advise & misguidance, I was unable to touch my money for full three years, he is giving me wrong details and then has the nerve to tell me to stay quiet?
Not only that, he said I would receive the policy money in my IDBI account within 10 days or so. But then I received the cheque at my home address, again wrong information provided by IDBI Federal Customer Care.
Had I renewed my FD 3 years ago, returns would have been much more handsome. But putting faith in advise by IDBI employees was a major mistake.
I even gave the feedback to IDBI Federal Policy website, but as if they care. They enjoyed my money for full three years, if their staff is ill knowledgeable, arrogant, misguides customers, that is not their problem......
What is even more interesting is that after this entire episode, I received a call from IDBI Bank as to what was I planning to do with my money in my account. I just had to tell them to not to touch my money & to leave me alone.....