(Updated 09.09.16) Got Scammed from Smart Partnership Moto by Ambank

So here I am again blogging about something that happened actually 2 months ago, where I was given a called by so called Ambank Marketing team stated that I was their VIP customers after being with them for numbers of years already.  I first posted my story here on lowyat forum :- ambank smart partnership moto, need help  , but decided to post a more detail scenario here instead.  So here is what they were offering

• Free car replacement for the first 8 days
• Discount voucher for hotel stay
• Ambank bonus point for the first year
• Insurance coverage for accidents and hospital stay

All this for the price of RM56/Month.  Whereby they told me it will auto deduct from my credit card.  I would normally turn this offer down, especially from phone calls.  But didn't know why I went and accepted the offer in the first place.  And if I have any question, just call back Ambank for further clarification about it.  So after everything was done and all, I didn't hear from this agent again.

  So after a few weeks I didn't hear from then, suddenly I got called by another agent telling repeating me the whole thing again to confirm that I will be purchasing their smart partnership moto plan.  But this time it cost RM66/Month.  I didn't checked with him, he said that it was an old plan and with this new RM66/Month my children would be covered as well along with what was mentioned with the initial benefits that was given.  Whereby he repeated the above, as well as all the furnished details of my particulars I gave during the first call.  And said I confirm I wanted to purchase this plan.  So that was that.  The following week the first agent called me up again, telling me that they will be processing my application, and asked me to confirmed if I wanted to sign up for that plan.  I agreed with her and to proceed with the application.

  So after over a month of waiting, just last week, I just received an sms that RM56 was being deducted from my credit card for the Smart Partnership Moto. So I thought it could be some mistaken thinking maybe I didn't hear clearly thinking it was RM66. So when I received my card statement few days ago I noticed the RM56 was being charged but they locked up RM672 + 6%GST (which they failed to mention). So from there, I didn't really bother much considering the protection I will be getting.

Then the drama only unfold yesterday(25th April 2016), when I was told that I was being charged RM66 for Smart Partnership Moto. So I went and directly called up Ambank Customer Service to check what's up with that. As I kept on emphasizing to see if I was paying for 1 policy or 2. Apparently the CS told me she does not know anything about this and will get the person in charge of this Smart Partnership Moto to contact me "As Urgent As Possible". So after waiting over 24 hours, I went and called up Ambank CS again. This time as I tried to check with them again, the CS gave me 2 numbers which are 03-62876638 (no one picked up the phone where I called from 12PM to 4.30PM in a spans of 45 mins) and another number which was some gallery. Also the CS informed me that, the 2nd charged was actually for the 2nd policy of RM792 + 6%GST. So basically confirmed that I purchased 2 policies instead of 1.

So the following day (27th April 2016) I went and called Ambank once again and asked them about this issue, and again they apologize for the matter whereby the previous CS gave me the wrong number.  So asked me to call directly to another phone number.  So when I tried calling again few times with no response, I went back and called the customer service and ask what gives.  Gave me wrong number, and I told them I wanted to cancel the policy for both of it.  All the CS could say is that they will expedite my case and will help me terminate both the policy and get a refund.  Then I ask the CS how long do I need to wait, and she said give her 1 week and she will get someone to contact me regarding the status of this case.

Not long after that, I received a call from someone by the name of Alice said that the bank gave my number to her.  And I asked which bank was it, she told me it was Ambank.  Then I thought that maybe it was from Smart Partnership Moto.  But lo and behold, she was asking me if I was from some Langkawi Resort. I told her no, and she said ok and hung up.

So this pretty much got me thinking, could it be that the CS at Ambank are giving out random phone numbers to those who calls them up regarding this issue?  And from the looks of things even when I call them back this coming Wednesday regarding this issue they would probably "play stupid" and give me the same excuse and probably divert me to another number which will probably fail.

Now something to think about for the next few days as I will probably bring this up to a few of my friends and probably get their opinion to see if they can help me pull some strings regarding this case.  So currently from the way I look at it, it's now Ambank-1, Alex Jong - 0.

Some other reference

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/aduanrakyatonline/ditipu_dengan_skim_amflexi_amassurance/

Screenshot from the following FB site

https://m.connect.facebook.com/comment/replies/?ctoken=839074686114766_884430131579221&count=2&pc=1&ft_ent_identifier=839074686114766&gfid=AQBrfFLfg88g1AHs

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06-06-2016

  Here's an update to what happen over the past few weeks after I wrote this issue here.  Anyway, after a week of not receiving any phone calls and etc. I've decided to transfer the remaining of whatever bills I was using to a different card and plan to cancel my card with them.  Then about 3 weeks ago, I kept getting this phone calls from Ambank.  Once I answered their call, first they introduced me they are calling on behalf of Ambank 3rd party Insurance.  First thing they asked me was my family details as this is for the Smart Partnership Moto thing, suddenly once they mentioned that I blasted them on the spot telling them they scammed me into purchasing the plan in the first place.

  The person calling me stated that, in their record I agreed to purchase their plans.  I told them yes, I only agree to purchase 1 policy and not 2.  And I asked them, why did they scammed me into purchasing 2 policy instead of 1?  And I said I've already requested to cancel the policy, why are you still calling me to update the details for this plan?  The lady apologize and gave me another phone number, saying it's really the direct phone number to cancel this policy.  When I tried calling, after she hung up you all pretty much get the same response where there was no one picking up the phone.

  The next day, again same number called again but this time different person asking for the same info. I explained to her that I cancelled the policy already why are you still calling me? Then she apologize and hung up the phone.  And this happened for the next few days, asking for my family details once again which I believe is for the 2nd policy.  So finally, they called me up again and I asked them why did they charged me in the first place without first getting all my particulars.  The "Loyar Buruk" in me suddenly started speaking stating that, if that's the case I can actually sue the bank for misleading their customer for charging them for a policy without them fulfilling their requirements in the first place.  And I told them there were 2 ways of settling this issue, first is that they cancel both my policy and refund me or I'll see you in court.  And here was when I became really annoying where I tried to get the full name of the person along with their IC number as I'm intending to send a letter to the bank.

  Anyway, long story short. She never gave me the full name and IC and will again "expedite" my case.  Never the less, I still think that I'm not going to get my refund in the coming statement.  And have decided to cancel the card.  As I'm extremely disappointed with Ambank especially, being their customer for years and yet treated me that way.  I'll probably leave this post here, hoping that others will learn from this experience.

09-09-2016
So back in July, when I checked my card statement I noticed that I was not being charged for the Smart Partnership Moto.  However I was not refunded the previous amount that was being charged to my card.  Never the less, I thought it will show up on my August Statement.  So when I got my August Statement, I saw that I was still being charged for the Smart Partnership Moto again.  This time I went and call up their Customer Service (02-09-2016) once again to see what's going on.  So after checking, the customer service noted that I requested the cancellation back in April and said will once again escalate this issue to have the insurance being cancelled. After that, they told me that it will take about 14 working days for them to process the request once again, and it SHOULD be cancelled by the time I received the next card statement.  So hopefully when my next card statement arrives I should not be charged for this Smart Partnership Moto again.

Moral of the story?

  If I intend to purchase any insurance in the future, I'll go through my friends or relatives that are selling them rather than through these promotional you are a VIP member from this bank or that bank.  Reason is because, based on this issue should anything ever happened to me.  And my family members would want to make claim I feel it's going to be impossible.  What's the purpose of having an insurance if things really happen, you decided to wash your hands and pass the buck around.  At least if you purchased insurance from an agent (especially friends or relatives) they'll ensure that you are really insured and help you keep track with all your policy and etc should anything happens.