Do you get hounded by credit card sales representative?

“Yes, hello? Ah, the bank? Yes, you have called me at least five times this week. No, I do not want a credit card!”

“Well then, when can I call you again?”

“I will not change my mind.”

“Okay then, I will call you in a couple of days.”

This conversation is probably taking place a couple of time each day in the UAE. It did at least a couple of times a week for Nina Kramer, a Dutch resident in Dubai.

“The point is that I do not want a credit card. This is very difficult for the bank to understand. Every week I had to redo the whole conversation with the credit card sales representative. It’s very tiring!”

The credit card that Nina was offered is a free-for-life credit card, more reason for the bank to believe it is a must-have, which people simply cannot say no to.

“When I told them ‘no, thank you’, they told me that there aren’t any charges, and there will never be. They present it as if there is no reason not to accept the card. They do not accept ‘no’ as an answer!”

In an attempt to stop receiving the repeated phone calls, Nina asked the sales representative to take her name off the list of credit card eligible account holders. The answer was shocking.

“The person told me that would only be possible in one condition; if I took the credit card!

“He said I did not have to activate it. I did not even have to open the envelope. I just needed to take the credit card, so the sales representative would be able to cross off my name and receive his commission. That was literally what I was told.”

Upon contacting the bank, the incident was explained as a stray one. They said they have stringent processes and measures in place to adhere to the privacy requests of customers, which they claim to sincerely respect.

“They stated that they do not endorse or condone unethical sales activities, and that they will investigate the matter,” tells Nina.

After Nina contacted customer service the phone calls stopped.

I think it is ridiculous that I needed to go through all these efforts just to be able to say no to a credit card,” tells Nina. “It should be an offer, not a burden on my shoulder.”

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