Since the introduction of the RM50 service fees chargeable on every credit card you own, most of us had cancelled some redundant credit cards.

As banks are losing their customer fast, they are coming up with different strategies to retain their customers, including this (email from a reader):

Chronology of event:

1. on 22-3-2010 I made a call to Citibank to request for cancelling my card, they told me i need to wait for 3 working days for their cancellation department to contact me to proceed.

2. on 25-3-2010, I finally got a call from their cancellation officer, and he was offering me some ‘promotion’ so I could consider not cancellation my card. I told him I need time to think.

3. on 27-3-2010, the office called me again and I told him I considered the promotion and decided to still cancel the card, and he said to proceed to do that he needs to ask me some ‘verification questions’. My reaction was ‘You are the one that called me, why do I need to be ‘verified’?‘; but he insisted, so I try to answer all questions. I could answer the first 2 questions, but the 3rd question
was ‘When/where was the last time you made the transaction with the card?’; I told him I don’t remember anymore since I have a few cards and I have not been using Citibank Card for a while. He insisted me to answer that question before he can proceed, and I insisted I that I don’t remember and suggested him to ask another verification question.

He didn’t, but finally said ok, he will proceed with the cancellation, and the procedure is that I have to go to Citibank website, and download a cancellation form, and fill that in, and fax it back to Citibank, and it will take 2 weeks to process that cancellation.

My complain for Citibank:
1. Their officer were the one that called me, yet he still needs to ask the 3 verification questions, and when I could not answer one, he insisted that he cannot proceed with the cancellation unless I go check and get back to him on the info he needs, eventhough I offer him to ask another question, he just was trying to delay my cancellation.

2. Given the situation when he finally said ‘ok lets proceed with the cancellation’, all he asked me to do was to go online, download a cancellation form, and then fax it back to them, and then wait for 2 weeks for them to process and get back to me! If this is the standard
‘cancellation procedure’ from Citibank, why can’t they tell me the first time when I called on 22-3-2010? After going through so many steps, and they told me all I need to do is to go through this cancellation process again and wait for 2 weeks?

3. This morning 29-3-2010, I called Citibank again and request to talk to their cancellation department supervisor to sort this out as I am really uncomfortable with this, they just keep telling me all of them are out and no one is available to talk, and just asked me to wait for 3 working days for them to call me back.

4. I am afraid with the long waiting to cancel the card, by time when it is being processed, we will be charged the government tax already. If that is the case, who will bear the tax?

When you are trying to trick your customers, you bear the risk to lose not just one customer’s trust, but all the prospects and customers who hear what she said, and read what she wrote. Especially when it is written on the web, it is indexed by Google and appear long enough on the Internet search result.

I am feeling that this blog is not just a place where you can search for personal finance information, it can also serve as a platform to voice out your concern, suggestions and dissatisfaction. If the big corporations don’t care about their customers, I can at least inform thousands of you who should be aware of it.

Do you have any story to share? Just email your story to me.

This article is posted at: KCLau's Money Tips

Citibank delay credit card cancellation