Bank BNI 46's service

I'm very disappointed with Bank BNI 46's customer service. It has failed to send me my credit card bills since I moved to a new address in October last year, although I informed them of the change through faxes, emails and phone calls to the bank's Teleplus service. They did not change my data, not until after I called to protest in early December. Still, not a single bill has arrived at my new office until today.

A bank employee called last month, reminding me that I haven't paid the bills. They later charged me for a "belated payment". Well, I would not have been late in making my payments if I received the bills correctly. BNI's staff also provided me with misleading information, which led me to another embarrassing situation. I called the bank's Phoneplus in early December for information to obtain a bank reference to be used for opening a savings account in a foreign currency, which unfortunately BNI doesn't provide. The staff said no documents but my account book was needed. No charges, no hassles, they said.

But I went to BNI Cabang in Central Jakarta just to find myself being insulted by a customer service employee, who sarcastically told me that I should've first sent a letter of request to BNI and there was a cost of Rp 75,000. I swallowed her cynical statement and wrote the letter of request. But after I finished writing it, she told me the bank could not give me the reference because my balance at that time was less than Rp 500,000. She said my previous overall positive record would not be of any help. I was very embarrassed and upset. I knew I could have done things properly if only the bank's staff had provided me with the correct information. It's very ironic that I used to advise friends and colleagues to choose BNI 46, because I believed it served customers professionally and properly. I guess I was totally wrong.

CHRIS TUMELAP

Jakarta