Hi there, I applied for housing loan at DBS Toa Payoh Branch in January 2012.
To my disappointment, the process was slow and disorderly.
First of all, my case was handled by several different personals for understandable reasons (they were on leave due to CNY). However, the way the case was handed over from one DBS person to another has resulted in much trouble for me. For instance, I was only informed through email about my next contact at DBS but the email addresses were wrong. I was given contact numbers but no one answered my calls. I was given vague and mediocre reasons on why my loan cannot be processed and was asked for answers/documents without stating exactly what kind of answers/documents were needed.
For instance, this was the mail I received from a DBS personal.
I could hardly make out what the person was trying to say but worried, I went down to Citibank the next day (taking leave from office) and they told me my account was clean and that they know nothing about any over draft limits or whatsoever. They asked me to get back to DBS regarding exactly what kind of documents was needed. Citibank made alot of sense.
But at DBS, my case was pushed from one personal to another and soon, I was tired of been pushed around, having to explain my case from scratch again and again. At one point, I went down to the branch and requested to take my documents back and change to another bank. But the officer I met that day told me specifically that his manager will take over my case entirely and that I would not have to deal with the original officers.
However, to my disgust, it was just a one-off show. Soon after my loan was approved, paperwork settled and when I thought the worst was over, the original officer contacted me again and told me of more outstanding issues, more papers to sign and requested to me to go down to the branch repeatedly.
These requests were done through one liner emails and phone calls where the person over the phone speaks hastily without bothering to give proper explanation or even introduction.
Since it is my first home and first time applying for a housing loan with DBS, I would have enjoyed the process if the persons in charge were friendlier and more meticulous when handling the case.
I regret that I did not do a through research about DBS service standard before going ahead with accepting their loan. I hope that my post would help others think twice about the bank they choose to get their housing loan from. A pleasent experience with the bank goes a long way for a young couple embarking on their life journey together.
To my disappointment, the process was slow and disorderly.
First of all, my case was handled by several different personals for understandable reasons (they were on leave due to CNY). However, the way the case was handed over from one DBS person to another has resulted in much trouble for me. For instance, I was only informed through email about my next contact at DBS but the email addresses were wrong. I was given contact numbers but no one answered my calls. I was given vague and mediocre reasons on why my loan cannot be processed and was asked for answers/documents without stating exactly what kind of answers/documents were needed.
For instance, this was the mail I received from a DBS personal.
Hi *,
You have an unsecured OD with Citibank; could you pls furnish the O/S Amt, OD Limit and mthly installment ?
Warm Regards
*
Senior Relationship Manager
DBS Toa Payoh Branch
DBS Bank Ltd 星展银行有限公司,
DID: +65 *I could hardly make out what the person was trying to say but worried, I went down to Citibank the next day (taking leave from office) and they told me my account was clean and that they know nothing about any over draft limits or whatsoever. They asked me to get back to DBS regarding exactly what kind of documents was needed. Citibank made alot of sense.
But at DBS, my case was pushed from one personal to another and soon, I was tired of been pushed around, having to explain my case from scratch again and again. At one point, I went down to the branch and requested to take my documents back and change to another bank. But the officer I met that day told me specifically that his manager will take over my case entirely and that I would not have to deal with the original officers.
However, to my disgust, it was just a one-off show. Soon after my loan was approved, paperwork settled and when I thought the worst was over, the original officer contacted me again and told me of more outstanding issues, more papers to sign and requested to me to go down to the branch repeatedly.
These requests were done through one liner emails and phone calls where the person over the phone speaks hastily without bothering to give proper explanation or even introduction.
Since it is my first home and first time applying for a housing loan with DBS, I would have enjoyed the process if the persons in charge were friendlier and more meticulous when handling the case.
I regret that I did not do a through research about DBS service standard before going ahead with accepting their loan. I hope that my post would help others think twice about the bank they choose to get their housing loan from. A pleasent experience with the bank goes a long way for a young couple embarking on their life journey together.
I still experience poor services and customer experiences from DBS Bank this 28th November 2012.
ReplyDeleteEven companies experience poor services with DBS Bank.
I went down to DBS today for company's business. Wanted to set up an overdraft secured by OUR own money deposited in DBS. We are NOT borrowing 1 cent from DBS. DBS refused to open the OD account without seeing any documents, without taking in any application forms, without looking at what the client wants.
When asked for the exact reason, sales staff was vague, gave excuses such as "reason is confidential" & "bank decision". I went to 2 branches - same outcome, different excuses. At one branch, they blame the directors. At another branch, they blame the company.
Has DBS ever considered that the premise on which back office staff(s) made their decision is faulted, and the customer should be given an opportunity to response ?
DBS's corporate governance statement:
DBS is committed to achieving corporate fairness, transparency and accountability through a well-defined corporate governance structure. The board of DBS Group has adopted codes of conduct, as well as management systems to improve compliance to these codes, based on the regulations and guidelines issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
DBS's "Commitment to Fair Dealing"
Chairman, DBS Board and Senior Management are committed to deliver fair dealing outcomes for our customers.
As a bank born and bred in Asia, we believe in building relationships with our customers and doing the right thing by our customers. Applying these principles to our day to day business activities, we commit to:
only sell products and services that are suitable for our customers;
ensure our sales staff are thoroughly trained and equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide quality information to our customers;
be clear and transparent to our customers, keep them fully informed;
be responsive to our customers' needs and requests, attend to complaints promptly and effectively.
DBS has taken proactive steps to build towards delivering fair dealing outcomes for our consumer banking customers in Singapore. We have:
strengthened our sales process, putting in expanded fact finding process, enhanced risk disclosure and additional customer-product suitability checks;
stepped up staff training and testing our staff on their product knowledge and skills regularly;
continued to ensure that our staff remuneration is based on a balanced scorecard approach, taking into account quality of the fact find process and customer satisfaction.
DBS will continue to put in place best practices, so as to uphold the standards expected of a leading bank in Asia.
In reality, this bank is a 2-headed snake. Nice statement, nice codes of conduct, nice mangement systems ..... but not practiced by staff(s) ???