Kotak Mahindra just refuses to give me my NOC!

[floyd]

Hello all,
My Ford Ikon was finanaced by Kotak Mahindra, and the loan got over in October 2008. In Jan 2009 I realized that I had still not got the NOC documents from them, so I called their customer service. It was a tiring process because all the time I called, gave my "agreement no.", and was told that someone from Bangalore office would get back to me. No one would call back, and I would have to go thru the whole process once more. Finally, I lost my patience, and emailed a complaint to their email address service.carfinance@kotak.com. I finally got a reply that the NOC had been incorrectly delivered to my old address (even though I had updated my new address with their customer service). I thought that this was not a big deal, as I know people living in my old apartment. I drove down there, only to find out that no such NOC had been delivered there. Then I started the email thread again, asking them about the courier company and the delivery receipt. The same calling/emailed kept going on and it was now February. On 10-Feb-2009, I got a scanned copy of the delivery receipt which showed that the NOC was delivered to someone else (the signature was not mine).

So the rest of Feb was spent trying to convince these fools that they have made a mistake, and that a sensitive document like the NOC should be only sent by a reputed courier company that verifies the identity of the person before delivering. In March, I wrote a strong worded email to them, asking someone senior to get in touch with me. This (surprise) actually helped, and I was contacted by a Ms. Vijayashree, who said that she was the regional head for South India. She told me that the courier company (Professional Couriers) has been sent a letter saying that they have made a mistake, and that they would have to pay for an indemnification bond, and then Kotak Mahindra can re-issue the NOC. She asked me to wait one week, and then would get back to me.

One week turned into 2, then 3, and still there was no reply, so around early April, I called Vijayshree again. She told me to wait for one more week. What could I do, I just told her that even a month back she had asked me to wait for a "week". Well, she apologized, so I thought anyways, let's see for one more week.

Now comes the most irritating part... it is 13-May-2009 today, more than 5 months from the day I started on this impossible quest. Do you know what is the status now. Forget about these guys calling me after "one week". Now when I call Vijayashree, she does not pick up the phone. The number is a Chennai number, 044 42245678 and 79. I dont know if the numbers got changed or something, but I doubt it. I think they have recognized my number and are not picking up my calls. So now I tried their Bangalore office, and got the number of another manager, a Mr. Suraj Anand. I called him 2 days back (11-May-2009). Again "Please give me some time, I'll find out about the case and get back to you immediately". 2 days later, no calls from him, and now I tried calling him at least 10 times, but he is not picking up.

It looks to me that now there is no way to get my NOC, but to go to the RBI ombudsman with this complaint. Before I do that I thought it would be nice to post this here, so that people know what kind of service to expect from this sorry excuse for a bank.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by floyd

I thought it would be nice to post this here, so that people know what kind of service to expect from this sorry excuse for a bank.

I have a loan from the same bank. Thus far, I've had no problems. But I shudder to think what will happen when my loan closes in a few months!!!

Cheers,
gpa

[benbsb29]

Looks like you arent the first person who has faced this issue. Sammyboy also went through an ordeal trying to get his NOC.

Scares me as my loan with them gets over in September. Already mailed them asking about the process, and they said i just need to inform them once he last EMI has been debited.

[GTO]

March straight to their Bangalore office, case history in hand, and meet with the manager in charge. Shocking experience. I have to add that my experience with Kotak has been nothing short of exemplary. Sometimes, it all boils down to the customer service exec handling your case.

[WanderNomad]

Just when I read the title of the thread I was so eager to post my reply but you already know about the way out called Banking Ombudsman. You dont need to worry at all, the internet will come to your rescue. Google the name and address, email and if possible the fax number of Kotak's MD, their customer service head and banking Ombudsman of RBI (its there on RBI site). Spend half an hour and draft a nice letter explaining everything. Courier / register post it to all of them as well as email it and CC to all Ms. Vijayshrees and Mr. Surajs. Trust me you will get your NOC in a week's time. And my dear brother you really have a lot of patience.

I wrote a letter to MTNL's CMD copying all heads and SDOs when my plan wasnt changed in time and it worked like a breeze. Recently when one of my customers was being harassed by PNB for issuance of cheques, I wrote a similar letter and when the customer handed the letter to the Branch Manager, he immediately issued the cheques and apologised for inconvenience.

[aka_iitd]

Yes try once more to Bangalore office if you still have that patience otherwise please put up an email to Banking Ombudsman and once it is logged with RBI they need to solve in 3 days !!
As old saying says if you are not able to pull out the ghee from straight finger you need to pull out with curved finger

[floyd]

Thank you guys! I'll try out visiting the Bangalore office (although not too sure if that would have any effect), and then send off my complaint to ombudsman. I'll update this post as necessary :-)

[floyd]

Well, the wonders of the world wide web! Someone from Kotak Mahindra probably saw my post, and 2 days after I posted this, I get a call that they are sending me the NOC immediately. I got the NOC last week, and have now started the RTO work for termination of hypothecation.

[greatpower]

Wow - great news floyd. Looks like lots of corporate houses regularly monitor this forum.

[gpa]

Floyd,

Been a while since I checked in on this thread. Glad to know that your posting on this site has helped resolve the problem.

I've had simlar experiences as well on car dealerships that I have posted about here and got a quick response.

Cheers,
gpa