My case is extremely simple and the amount involved is not very high but it has taught me a few things for life and I do not trust this bank at all now. I will also surrender my card as soon as my EMIs are over. So, here is my story-
Last month, I received a bill stating that my bill was in positive and hence, I was not required to pay any amount - plain and simple. I did the same and didn’t pay anything because the computations were all correct. Now, one month later, that is this month, I received my this months’ statement and I noticed that there has been a late payment fee charged on me because I didn’t pay my last month’s bill on time.
The pending amount mentioned in it was equivalent to an EMI that is now continuing. When I contacted the customer care executive, she informed me, that there was a second statement generated for my card last month which included the details of the EMI and EMI only. She said that it was sent to me and I didn’t pay it. But the same had never reached me and I had no clue that two separate statements could be generated for the same month; I have never experienced the same with any other bank in my life.
I wrote a mail to the bank telling them that I never received this second statement and hence, didn’t know that there was any pending amount on my card; why would I hold back the payment otherwise when I have never done the same before. The response was simple - I have failed to make the payment on time so, I should be paying the late payment fee; ridiculous.
I could’ve accepted my fault had I not received any of the statements at all. Because then, it would’ve been my responsibility to log into my account and download the latest statement. But why should I be held responsible for the late payment when I clearly was misguided by the statement sent to me by the bank itself.
This is the first time I am even coming to know that a bank can send two statements for the same credit card in a month. I am lucky that the amount involved is low and hence, I am paying it but I would like others to be beware. Think twice before going for their credit card; it’s not even a good product anyways. I never used it because it doesn’t provide much benefits like HDFC and Citi and I am glad that I never used it for large transactions.