Another complaint about BDO

Regular readers of Pinay and Money know my worst experience with a BDO manager. Recently, a friend posted a very frustrating experience with BDO. My friend gave me permission to repost this in Pinay and Money.

BDO sucks big time

Why?

Just a couple of days ago, a close friend made a cash advance on her BDO credit card. The ATM did not dispense any money even if it was online and it was just newly “fed” with bills. Yet, the money was deducted from her account. Sweet, ain’t it?

So, she made the necessary calls to the ever-so-nice and efficient (yes, I am being sarcastic) people at BDO. The first person my friend was able to talk to told her that it would take 7-10 banking days to get her money back and that she would just have to wait because it was “the process.” My friend obviously got pissed so she asked to talk to the supervisor, hoping for a better answer other than “because it is the process.”

The girl made my friend wait for a god 15 minutes and never got back to her again. To even make things worse, when my friend followed-up the following day, she finds out that her report was not logged in by the girl she talked to. AND SHE WAS GIVEN WRONG INFORMATION REGARDING THE PROCESS. BDO employs really efficient call center agents, no?

Wait. It gets better.

Apparently it doesn’t take 7-10 days to get the money back. It takes 75 BANKING DAYS TO GET THE MONEY BACK. You read that right. 75 BANKING DAYS to get your money back. That’s a good two and half months. Considering the many holidays that are coming, it will take my friend up to 2010 just to get her money back. Wow. Quite a lot of time considering she doesn’t even get to charge interest from BDO for each day she has to wait.

Now where is the fairness in that? Credit card companies charge you exorbitant penalties if you pay a day late. AND YOU CAN’T EVEN CHARGE THEM FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS!!! Tell me, where is the fairness in that?! And their excuse is because: it’s the process. What sort of banking process requires 75 banking days to do, when it takes them no less than a day to call and pester you to pay up your credit card bills when you are a day late in paying? Really sucky process if you ask me.

And their tag line goes, we find ways.

I say BDO sucks big time.

Get freebies when you pay online with BPI

Here’s another reason why you should pay your bills online.

BPI recently launched its “Pay Your Bills! Get Real Thrills!” program. You earn one point for every payment you make via http://www.bpiexpressonline.com. Just keep on paying online to accumulate more points. With just a minimum of five points, you can get free siomai or siopao from Chowking. The more bills you pay, the more points you accumulate, and the bigger the freebies.

 The program requires a separate registration so make sure you do so. I have already registered for the program and am happy to see that I already have six points since the promo started in July 1, 2009. I will make more online payments so I can accumulate more points.

According to its website, the program is open from July 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2009 only. You can know more about it by clicking here.

Double your money with AMA Bank

Just recently, I posted the time deposit rates for AMA Bank’s Premium Savings Account. Searching its website, I saw that it is also offering a double-your-money (DYM) program for depositors.

 

But do check with AMA Bank first before placing your money. Remember that, first and foremost, it is your responsibility to ensure that your money is safe and sound.

Time Deposit Rates of AMA Bank

I saw this published in the July 28, 2009 issue of Philippine Star. This is the time deposit table for AMA Bank’s (AMA Rural Bank of Mandaluyong, Inc.) Prime Savings Account (PSA).

PSA & TD	30 days	90 days	180 days	365 days	5 yrs & 1 day
50,000 – 99,999	3.25%	4.25%	4.75%	5.25%	7.50%
100K- 499,999	4.50%	4.75%	5.00%	5.50%	7.75%
500K- 999,999	5.00%	6.00%	6.25%	6.50%	8.00%
1M – 4,999,999	5.50%	6.25%	6.50%	7.00%	8.25%
5M and above	6.50%	7.00%	7.25%	8.00%	8.50%

 

You can also check www.amabank.com.ph.

One less way for BDO services

Two weeks ago, I deposited some money in BDO Pioneer Center Branch. My branch of account is Fairview Park, Quezon City, where I live, but I do deposit my money in BDO branches near my work. Since my account in BDO is for checking, I asked the teller for my outstanding balance.

I was surprised to find out that BDO no longer allows that. The teller said that I can only view my balance when I go to my branch of account. She said my balance will not appear if I check it from other branches.

This came as a disappointment to me because this is the only convenient way of checking the balance of my current account. Because I have a day job, it’s difficult for me to go to my branch of account just to check my balance. If I do, it would mean I need to come in late in the office as work starts at 7:30 AM.

Checking my balance in other BDO branches provided me the convenience and now, I’m left with no choice. Does anyone know if I can enroll my current account in BDO’s online banking? If it is allowed, does it mean I need to submit the documents to my branch of account? If yes, then that would leave me no choice but to come in late.

Or maybe I can transfer my current account to BPI? Hmmm….

BMS Bank’s latest TD offerings

BMS Bank Manager Lorecel Benitez emailed Pinay and Money to offer BMS Bank’s latest product offerings. Here’s the excerpt of her email.

BMS Bank offers you a safe way to dramatically improve the earning power of your savings. BMS Bank Inc. is a progressive rural bank with 12 branches in Cavite, Laguna and Rizal and its Head Office in Pasig City.

 Our deposit products are substantially higher-yielding than those being offered by other commercial banks. We can give you an interest rate of 7% p.a. for our short term (i.e. 30 days to 90 days) and up to 10% for a term of 6 months to 1 year. BMS Bank is completely safe as we are a member of PDIC and therefore afford all our depositors the maximum coverage of Php 500,000.00 per depositor.

 Experience unique banking convenience with our pick-up/delivery service. We would be glad to render personal servicing of your banking transactions by picking up checks for deposit, delivering deposit documents or check withdrawals, etc.,. No more queuing up… you’ll be able to complete your banking transaction without leaving the comfort of your home.

Take that first step towards vividly improving the earning power of your savings. Attached herewith is a sample computation of our Golden Savings Account and our Twin Emerald and Triple Diamond Savings Account. You may call us at 471-2033 or at 0915 716 8143 and we’ll be gladly address any further concerns/queries you might have.

For those interested, you can download the file to see how much BMS Bank is offering BMS bank (download here).

Note: Just a reminder to everyone to always diversify your money and make sure you research well about the bank or the investment product before placing your hard-earned money.

How to waive annual fee of BDO

Last week, I visited BDO to get the statement of account for my checking account. While waiting for the BDO personnel to get the document, I saw BDO’s flyer for its BDO Gold Credit Card.

Reading the Terms and Agreements of BDO Gold, I found that you only need an annual cumulative purchase of PhP180,000 to waive the annual fee. This also applies if the combined usage of the principal cardholder and the supplementary cardholder is PhP180,000.

However, this benefit only applies to the principal cardholder. If you are a supplementary cardholder, the annual membership fee is free for the first year only. You will charged for the succeeding years, irrespective of amount of card usage.

Why is this important? Because it is clearly stated in BDO flyers, BDO cardholders have the definite knowledge on how to waive its annual fee. Cardholders wouldn’t be given the runaround like what I experienced from BPI when I requested to have my annual fee waived (see story).

The PhP180,000 annual purchase is also not too bad. This is just about P15,000 a month. But always remember to pay in full after charging purchases to your credit card.