I have been offered amnesty program by Standard Chartered Bank. This should tell you that I am having problems paying that account. So what am I writing this blog for when I know I am the one at fault? Well I just want to tell my experience about this 'amnesty' offer of Standard Charter Bank.
I was given an offer for amnesty program. The caller said I need to pay a certain amount before I get the application form. The amount given was the minimum for that month. It's lower than the total overdue amount. So I paid that amount. The caller also said my next payment (with the fixed which was less than half the usual amount due) would be the following month. I was waiting for a call about the application for over a week. Nobody followed up. Then somebody called and talked to me in a sarcastic voice. She was asking why I did not pay. I said I was offered the amnesty program. She said it does not show in her record (she's probably in front of her computer looking for it as she was talking to me). She said things that implied I was lying about receiving an offer. I said it was Standard Chartered who offered, I didn't ask for it. Then all of a sudden she sounded as if she knew everything about the application (probably something popped up in her monitor). She said the offer lapsed on (she gave a date). She said I did not submit the application before the end of the offer. That date she gave was just a couple of days after the offer. I paid the day after the offer was given but I didn't get form which was supposed to be sent through email.
The following week I received a call from a male caller telling me that I have been sent a new application for amnesty. The amount I was supposed to pay monthly is now different from the previous offer. I downloaded the application and sent it back through them through fax. Then I got a call asking if I have already submitted the requirements. I said yes but the payslip was sent only the day after. He said it's okay. He'll just retrieve my application from where it was received. I paid what I was supposed to pay. I thought everything's fine already. Just a while ago, I again received a call from Standard Chartered Bank asking me to pay the minimum amount for the month. I said I have an application for amnesty. The caller, a girl again, was speechless for a while. Then she put me on hold (she probably had to do a quick search in the computer). When she came back she said it has probably voided because usually if its over a month already it means it is voided. Notice that her tone shows she is not sure of what she was saying. The use of probably and usually tells that she wasn't 100% sure of her facts. She was nicer than the first caller so I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I said I want to ask her something but I asked her not to take it personally. I asked if they really intend to give their clients amnesty program or do they just offer the program to them to 'force'/'entice' them to pay the minimum amount required for the offer to be officially given. I asked if this is a ploy they do to get at least the minimum. She said no. She said they really give genuine offers. If I were in a bad mood, my question would have been 'are you fooling us?'
I asked her again if there is really an official endorsement from Standard Chartered Bank that the application was voided. I said I want to really know because it was only a week after I received the email when a follow up was made and that's definitely not a month ago because if it were then I missed Christmas. She was again unsure of her words. Then she put me again on hold. When she came back she said they count from the time the offer was made.
My question now is "Does Standard Chartered Bank really offer amnesty program or they just make false offers to make people their 'required minimum amount'?"
