Dance like no one's watching

this week has not been off to a good start. got into a mega fight with DBS yesterday over the replacement of my DBS ATM card. i shall let the letter i sent them do the talking…

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Salutation: Ms

Name: UptownGal

NRIC/Passport No: ___________

Email Address: __________

Country: Singapore

Home Tel: __________

Office Tel: __________

DBS Customer: Yes

I lost my wallet during the wee hours of 6 December 2007. I called DBS between 3-4am to report the loss of my ATM card. To date, I have received replacement credit and ATM cards from all the other bank, i.e. UOB, HSBC, Amex, Citibank, and even POSB, except DBS.

I called at approximately 10:30am today to check why my DBS ATM card has not been sent to me. After waiting for about 10min, I finally got to speak to someone called Anne. Anne tried to verify my particulars by asking me the following questions:
1) What is my account number.
2) What is the last account transaction I did
3) Do I have any GIRO on this account.

I told Anne that:
1) I do not remember my exact account no. but I know it starts with XXX-, and there is a “XXXXX” somewhere in it.
2) The last transaction I did was probably the transfer of $200 from my UOB account to my DBS account, of which it was about 3 weeks ago, and thus I cannot remember the details.
3) I believe I had an ez-link card linked to this account, but that has since been terminated.

Anne, despite my best attempts to explain the situation to her, said she could not disclose any account information to me, because she could not verify my details.

I told Anne that I did not need her to disclose any account information to me! I am clearly aware that this account probably has not more than $200 in it, and my question to her was – HAS A REPLACEMENT CARD BEEN SENT?

Unfortunately, Anne seemed to have difficulty answering this simple “yes or no” question. As we were getting nowhere, Anne decided to pass the buck by transferring me to your bank’s Lost Cards section.

Once again, I was put through the same 3 questions by your staff Kenix Yin, to which I gave the same 3 answers. Does DBS NOT have any other ways of verifying their customers’ identity? Whatever happened to other type of information that banks typically ask – e.g. mother’s maiden name, etc?

Kenix said she would go ahead to CANCEL the ATM card, but she could not arrange for a replacement card to be sent to me.

This is where I deplore DBS to use a little common sense in its replacement card procedures.

1) I am NOT asking for a replacement card to be sent to some new mailing address. I am asking for my ATM replacement card to be sent to the mailing address in DBS’ records.

2) If DBS is unable to verify my details, hence implying that this may be a fradulent call, then by terminating the card, isn’t DBS acting on wrong instructions? Moreover, if I really were a prankster, isn’t DBS going out of its way to inconvenience its real card holder by NOT sending a replacement card to THE ORIGINAL MAILING ADDRESS IN DBS’ RECORDS?

3) EVEN if I were the thief that stole my wallet, and I am making this call to DBS in an attempt to get hold of a new card and pin no., may I know why DBS cannot send a replacement card to THE MAILING ADDRESS in the bank’s records? Does DBS think that Singpost’s operations security are so lacking that a petty theft is able to hijack its mailbag and steal the replacement card & pin no.?

4) I have a police report with me that says I lost my wallet. Would it not suffice for me to fax in police report to DBS?

We are now coming to the end of the year, where many companies are having their financial close, and it is common knowledge that people are extra busy at work. If DBS can CANCEL my ATM card, I take that to mean that DBS believes the card was lost. Since DBS took my word when I said card was lost, why can’t DBS send me a replacement card as soon as reasonable practicable? Does DBS not see the simple logic here?

Also, since POSB and DBS are now considered 1 bank, and DBS can access my POSB records (which was what Anne revealed to me even though she claimed that she cannot reveal any information to me because my identity was unverified), then should’t DBS KNOW that my POSB supplementary card was cancelled last Monday and a replacement card was sent to my MAILING ADDRESS IN THE BANK’S RECORDS 2 days later?

I hope to get a sensible and satisfactory answer from DBS soon. And I expect a replacement card to be sent to my house. If you need a fax of my police report, I can do so immediately. But do not ask me to call in to DBS’ call centre again. There are only 24 hours a day. I cannot keep wasting my time being put on hold first, to speak to a call centre agent, and then repeatedly asked to wait because your staff was unable to “verify my details”.

Please also note that this complaint may appear in various online forums hence you may want to formulate your reply carefully. Thanks.

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I really don’t get what DBS is trying to do lor. Do they practise selective believing or something? I mean, they believe me when i say my ATM card is lost… but they don’t believe that i’m the real account holder and hence refuse to send me a replacement card? It’s just damn freaking ridiculous man!