Dear Claudienne,

On August 3, 2015, while I was attempting to pay the last portion of my credit card bill of $10,000 at an NCB ABM machine at the Cross Roads branch, my credit card and the $10,000 cash was grabbed (confiscated) by the ABM machine.

Before I left the branch, the security guard advised me to report it immediately through the phone in the branch. I reported it through the branch phone and an agent gave me two case numbers.

The agent told me to check my account in two hours to see if the money had been received and advised me to call back and inform the branch if the transaction had not been processed.

Unfortunately when I checked my account I realised that the money had not been received. I called the agent and told her, and she promised to file a complaint with the Credit Card Team.

Through reconciliation of the funds in the ABM, the Credit Card Team would find the money, she said.

Although I made numerous calls and several visits to the bank, the problem remained unresolved for several months. The $10,000 was finally debited to my account on December 11, 2015.

However, throughout this waiting period the account has been accumulating interest and late fees. As I explained to the Customer Service Representative, this was no fault of mine. I told her that I would not be paying any more money when it was sitting in their system all this time. She advised me to write a letter to the credit card centre, and I delivered the letter to them on December 28, 2015.

I was off the island for a while and upon my return I received further letters about payment etc, but no communication about the reversal of the fees from August 2015 to December 2015.

I would appreciate your help, as I am at my wits’ end with NCB.

All I need to know is the true amount that I should pay minus the fees from August 2015 to December 2015.

I want to pay the true amount I owe and return their card, which has done me more harm than good.

GP

Dear GP,

Tell Claudienne asked NCB to investigate your complaint.

NCB has stated the following:

“Our investigation revealed that the interest that was generated for the four months (August-November) was $2,946.61, and the interest that should have been generated if the $10,000 was applied for the same period was $1,965.68. Therefore, the variance with the interest generated for the $10,000 was $980.93 .

Therefore, the reversal of $980.93 was applied to GP’s account on March 24, 2016.”

If you have any additional concerns, please let us know and we will ask NCB to clarify the matter for you.

NIS pension problems resolvedI am writing you on behalf of my mother who is 64 years of age. She was sent on early retirement in December 2014. She applied for her NIS pension in January 2015, having been told that she should have applied for it at the age of 60. She has been to the NIS head office at Heroes Circle three times since applying, but each time she was told that it was not ready. She was told in January 2016 that she should return at the end of March 2016. When she visited the office on April 4, she was given the same standard response: “It is not ready.” I am seeking your intervention as she is becoming frustrated. According to the NIS Accounts Department, your mother’s pension payment was set back as her file had to be returned to the claims department for certain matters to be clarified. The problems have been finally sorted out and they promised that your mother’s cheque would be ready by Friday, April 29. Please tell her to go to the NIS Heroes Circle office and collect the cheque.

Good luck.

NIS pension problems resolved

Dear Claudienne

I am writing you on behalf of my mother who is 64 years of age.

She was sent on early retirement in December 2014. She applied for her NIS pension in January 2015, having been told that she should have applied for it at the age of 60.

She has been to the NIS head office at Heroes Circle three times since applying, but each time she was told that it was not ready. She was told in January 2016 that she should return at the end of March 2016.

When she visited the office on April 4, she was given the same standard response: “It is not ready.”

I am seeking your intervention as she is becoming frustrated.

GP

Dear GP

According to the NIS Accounts Department, your mother’s pension payment was set back as her file had to be returned to the claims department for certain matters to be clarified. The problems have been finally sorted out and they promised that your mother’s cheque would be ready by Friday, April 29. Please tell her to go to the NIS Heroes Circle office and collect the cheque.

All the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.