Diners responds

I am answering the letter of complaint by D. Champel in The Jakarta Post. Through this letter, allow us to clarify the case as follows:

The woman has been a Cardmember of "Diners Club" since Oct. 17, 1994, with the credit limit of Rp 3 million.

After being given a certain tolerable period of delay in payment, the member didn't even bother to settle the minimum payment, and worst she continued to utilize the card by manipulating merchants' under floor limit's transactions. We took the precaution of canceling her card through a warning bulletin distributed to all merchants as well as stating in her monthly Statement of Account that the card was canceled. She continued to use the card through manipulation (under floor limit's transactions).

As the transactions continued, in order to avoid further losses to us and the merchants -- and in compliance with our procedures for severe delinquent -- we then put her card under our Special Notice Bulletin.

Below is the chronology of the sequences of the case:

1. Over Credit Limit amounting to Rp 4,098,210 in March 1995.

2. The card was canceled on July 31, 1995, with the total outstanding of Rp 17,271,250.

3. Total outstanding when caught (on Aug. 21, 1995) was Rp 19,502,669, (excluding unrecorded transactions to the amount of Rp 1,858,075).

4. Member's last outstanding position as of September 1995, is Rp 22,163,471.

The Bandung Indah Plaza case: Fortunately, due to the assistance of a very conscientious cashier, our staff managed to catch the member red handed at the Bandung Indah Plaza Shopping Center on Aug. 21, 1995. We respected her privacy by bringing her to our Bandung office. After two to three hours of discussion, she agreed to the following conditions:

1. She agreed to hand over her car as a financial guarantee until all her debts were settled.

2. Any transactions not yet recorded by us would be settled as soon as possible.

We do hope this short explanation will clarify the case. Should anyone have further questions, please contact our lawyer: Law Office, Siti Zaitin Noor S.H. & partners, Jl. Tanah Tinggi IV/68, Jakarta 10540; Phone: 4201751/4208716/4205253.

SOFIAN SUGIOKO

Customer Service

Diners Club Indonesia

Jakarta

Note: To be fair, we asked "Diners Club" to respond immediately.

-- Editor