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The glitch I’ve added above looks like a major one. They are out to loot your money through whatever loop-holes the fine-print provides them with. Like, ’’you paid the primary card but you had balance in the secondary, so we have been charging you for the past 4 months and your purchase of Rs. 110 is at Rs. 2000 now’’. I’ve received at least some 50 promo mails and SMS messages in this period but not even one reminder regarding my bill which was growing on a technicality. This has happened to a friend too. So I’ve called up and cancelled the card. BAD ETHICS. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Added on 21 Mar 06
The request to cancel as above, made in Oct 05, is yet to be carried out. On top of it they charged ’Manhattan Experience Fee’ on both my primary and secondary cards in Jan 06 and are showing a charge of nearly Rs. 2000 on my card now! This despite the fact that I have requested a cancellation in October (after paying up) and followed up the request through mail and phone calls many times after that.
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Here is a card with a difference! And itz a safe bet to assume that StanChart is taking all care to make sure that this one stands apart, with some sort of individuality and attitude they are developing forthe brand.
Here are things that I liked about the card...
- Language
Right from the catalogue and rules booklet you get as an invite to the group to the executive who picks up your calls, you’re sure to be talked to in a language far more comfortable than the usual tight-lipped finance speak offered by others. Sometimes it gets too sweet to the level of phoney, but still much better than what credit card CSE used to be!
- Events
They are after developing brand-loyalty, but what the heck if you are invited to great weekend getaways at reasonable to low expense!
- Customer Support
How many times in the recent past did you call some customer support and hear a message that their people will be there to help us ’’in a jiffy’’! Well, as soon as you dial in (1600-333969 or 30301969) you get that message and hear and the CSE is with you! That indeed is a welcome change from ’’our menu has changed so mind you, don’t directly click the number which used to take you to the CSE. and ofcourse we intend to change it often so that brats like you don’t get to them without hearing the whole menu and some promos’’.
Some features that are nice but doesn’t quite appeal to me...
Interest @ 1.5% is significantly below the 2.95% that most cards offer. Since am not in the practise of carrying forward the credit, this hardly matters to me.
Good balance transfer offers. Again, am (thankfully) not in a position to be benefited.
And the only glitch so far...
- Not as humane as its parent (SCB) when it comes to errors the customer make. I made a card-to-card transfer from IDBI to Manhattan to pay my dues, a day before the due date. IDBI took 3 days to do that and the money reached two days after due date. However, a cheque dropped on due date would have taken just as much time for them! And it was there to see that the payment was initiated before due date. However, they are not ready to reverse the late payment fee. Talking pure terms and conditions, they are right. However, SCB used to understand when you pointed out something like this.
Overall, I would recommend this card from my limited experience of the past few months.