SCB's service

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) is not professional. I have a fixed deposit at SCB and I was therefore offered a visa credit card as part of an SCB marketing program called "All in One", where customers who have savings at SCB were offered a credit card as an added bonus, free of any annual fees.

I didn't remember SCB's customer service staff telling me that the gratis annual fee is only for the first year. If I had known this, I would not have accepted the offer. If customers have to pay the annual fee in the second year, I don't see where the added bonus is.

Upon discovering that I have to pay Rp 250,000 in fees, I called the SCB card center at 5744334 to cancel my credit card. The card center's customer service officer told me that since my credit card was part of my fixed deposit account, I had to call phone banking first at 5730888. I then called phone banking. Phone banking's officer said since my request is the closure of my credit card, the appropriate number to call is 5744334, the credit card center which I had just called. Thinking that it was useless to argue over the phone, I decided to visit the bank.

At the bank I was directed by the receptionist toward one of the so-called Personal Financial Consultants (PFC) and I conveyed my intention to close my credit card. Without asking any questions or trying to understand my problem, the PFC asked me to go to the ninth floor of the bank where the credit card center is located, saying that the closure of a credit card was a task for the credit card center.

Not wanting to be ping-ponged like I was on the telephone, I insisted that the PFC check and coordinate everything internally first. Reluctantly, the PFC made several phone calls to the credit card center, making sure that the card center was the right place to go first. I then went up to the credit card center. Believe it or not, after the credit card's officer checked my account and found out that my credit card belongs to the "All in One" category, he, again without trying to understand my problem, asked me to see a PFC first.

Although I finally managed to close my credit card account, I think SCB should do something to improve its customer service, or at least make its front desk officers more knowledgeable and helpful.

ADRIANUS HIYUNG TJUNG

Jakarta