Ordeal of a retired man

KARACHI: Recently, I had to visit a local private hospital for a full diabetes check-up. Since these tests are very expensive and out of reach for an ordinary citizen like me, who is retired and highly bogged down by rising inflation, meeting my needs with a very poor income source is very difficult.

Since this hospital offers 20 per cent discount on a particular bank’s credit card, I had a ray of hope to still be able to manage the bills on my restricted budget, which eventually proved otherwise. When the bill came, I offered my card, upon which I was informed that my card is not being accepted by the machine due to a “transaction failure” error. Hence, I had to arrange a full cash payment and could not avail my due 20 per cent discount. I was asked to go to a distant automated teller machine and get cash in the scorching heat. On top of that, I had been fasting for 12 hours for the tests so the task seemed impossible. I called the bank’s helpline and the customer service representative said that there was no detected error on the bank’s part. My complaint was registered and I was told I would get a response within 24 hours. After 48 hours, I called the bank regarding my complaint to which I was told that seven to 10 working days were needed to work out the problem.

Eventually, I had to pay the full amount in addition to bearing the time loss and stress. Neither the hospital nor the respective bank, which are both well-known names in their industries, have any concern or sympathy in helping loyal customers in distress. I pay a heavy annual service charge and this is the quality of service I get. I request both managements to offer courteous solutions to the problem, rather than wasting patrons’ time. Otherwise, the 20 per cent discount claim is false advertising.

Jawed Ali

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2016.

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