My credit card was stolen recently. As I didn't realise that my card was gone until a couple of hours after the fact, the thief managed to run up 9.3jt of unauthorised charges before I could report the card stolen and cancel it.
According to the lady from BCA, whom I spoke to to cancel the card, there were 15 unauthorised charges. 11 of these charges occurred over the course of 10 minutes at a single petrol station in Depok. Another 3 were made in different petrol stations in Bekasi. The final charge was at a tyre shop, also in Bekasi. They were all swipe and sign charges. I did not receive any SMS' confirming the transactions, as one does when the PIN is used.
So, to recap: My card was stolen and used to buy several million rupiah worth of petrol and some tyres at unusual times, with unusual frequency, and at locations 60KM from my billing address in Tangerang. The transactions were not PIN verified.
Now comes the fun bit!
As per Visa, cardholders can dispute any charge on their account within 30 days of receiving their billing statement. Cardholders have zero liability for fraudulent charges.
As per BCA, you may not dispute any charge on your bill if it happened before the card was reported stolen and / or cancelled. Cardholders are fully liable for all charges and BCA will not investigate on your behalf.
I called HaloBCA a number of times and sent numerous emails. Each call deteriorated into a one sided screaming match, as every single member of staff, agents and team leaders, stuck to the line that I cannot dispute any charges made before I cancelled the card, because...just...because. The emails were even worse. I firmly believe that HaloBCA's emails are answered by a word-salad algorithm of some kind; nothing will ever convince me otherwise, ever.
As a result of being stone-walled by BCA I contacted Visa's international help desk. They confirmed that all card issuers must follow Visa's dispute guidelines as part of their terms of service. The several that people I spoke to at Visa had never once come across an affiliated bank that refuses to let card holders open disputes, so they offered to call BCA with me on the line and explain the Visa's position and move it up the ladder within BCA. Unfortunately, they couldn't get through to HaloBCA, so we agreed that I should get back onto BCA one last time and tell them that I know my rights as a Visa card holder and that I expect the correct protocol to be followed.
"Ngaak bisa, mister...maaf, iya?"
It seems that if you shout at enough people for long enough you will finally get to speak to a manager. The manager, who clearly didn't fancy talking to me to begin with, relented and agreed to lodge a complaint with their fraud department for me. He requested that I send them a copy of my passport/KITAS, a copy of my most recent bill, a letter formally requesting the charges be investigated, a copy of a police report confirming that the card was stolen, and, and, and, a scan of the front of the stolen credit card...which I no longer have...because it was stolen.
So I shouted some more and the manager agreed that I could send a scan of the face of my replacement card along with the info sheet I received with my original card, which I kept.
As there were so many documents to send, I decided I best send them in two emails. No sooner had I sent the first email I received a reply saying that the complaint had been closed and I would receive verification of the outcome in writing in 7 - 14 working days.
"How odd, but not entirely surprising. I'd better give them a ring" I though.
When I eventually spoke to someone I was told that my complaint had been closed because BCA don't allow their customers to dispute charges that were made before a card was reported lost and / or stolen. There followed an unhealthy amount of effing and jeffing and a demand to speak to a manager. I was put on hold and left there for 45 minutes until I decided to hang up.
I got back on to Visa. Who reassured me that I am 10000% entitled to dispute the charges and that BCA cannot refuse a dispute. Visa, whose English Language help desk for Asia is based in Manila, again tried unsuccessfully to call HaloBCA, at which point it became apparent that the HaloBCA helpline cannot be accessed from outside of Indonesia, despite what their brochure and website say. I’ve since had people outside of Indonesia check if the number they supply is contactable from abroad. It cannot be reached from Ireland, The U.K., Australia, or New Zealand, as well as The Philippines.
I've lodged a formal complaint with Visa and they'll take it as far as the can with BCA. Hopefully I'll get my money back. I'm similarly hopeful that as a result of all of this being brought to light with Visa that BCA will have to change their policies and stop being such utter, utter, utter c*nts. I doubt it, though.
/RANTOFF
Can anyone with a working knowledge of Indonesian consumer finance offer any advice?
Cheers.
JD
According to the lady from BCA, whom I spoke to to cancel the card, there were 15 unauthorised charges. 11 of these charges occurred over the course of 10 minutes at a single petrol station in Depok. Another 3 were made in different petrol stations in Bekasi. The final charge was at a tyre shop, also in Bekasi. They were all swipe and sign charges. I did not receive any SMS' confirming the transactions, as one does when the PIN is used.
So, to recap: My card was stolen and used to buy several million rupiah worth of petrol and some tyres at unusual times, with unusual frequency, and at locations 60KM from my billing address in Tangerang. The transactions were not PIN verified.
Now comes the fun bit!
As per Visa, cardholders can dispute any charge on their account within 30 days of receiving their billing statement. Cardholders have zero liability for fraudulent charges.
As per BCA, you may not dispute any charge on your bill if it happened before the card was reported stolen and / or cancelled. Cardholders are fully liable for all charges and BCA will not investigate on your behalf.
I called HaloBCA a number of times and sent numerous emails. Each call deteriorated into a one sided screaming match, as every single member of staff, agents and team leaders, stuck to the line that I cannot dispute any charges made before I cancelled the card, because...just...because. The emails were even worse. I firmly believe that HaloBCA's emails are answered by a word-salad algorithm of some kind; nothing will ever convince me otherwise, ever.
As a result of being stone-walled by BCA I contacted Visa's international help desk. They confirmed that all card issuers must follow Visa's dispute guidelines as part of their terms of service. The several that people I spoke to at Visa had never once come across an affiliated bank that refuses to let card holders open disputes, so they offered to call BCA with me on the line and explain the Visa's position and move it up the ladder within BCA. Unfortunately, they couldn't get through to HaloBCA, so we agreed that I should get back onto BCA one last time and tell them that I know my rights as a Visa card holder and that I expect the correct protocol to be followed.
"Ngaak bisa, mister...maaf, iya?"
It seems that if you shout at enough people for long enough you will finally get to speak to a manager. The manager, who clearly didn't fancy talking to me to begin with, relented and agreed to lodge a complaint with their fraud department for me. He requested that I send them a copy of my passport/KITAS, a copy of my most recent bill, a letter formally requesting the charges be investigated, a copy of a police report confirming that the card was stolen, and, and, and, a scan of the front of the stolen credit card...which I no longer have...because it was stolen.
So I shouted some more and the manager agreed that I could send a scan of the face of my replacement card along with the info sheet I received with my original card, which I kept.
As there were so many documents to send, I decided I best send them in two emails. No sooner had I sent the first email I received a reply saying that the complaint had been closed and I would receive verification of the outcome in writing in 7 - 14 working days.
"How odd, but not entirely surprising. I'd better give them a ring" I though.
When I eventually spoke to someone I was told that my complaint had been closed because BCA don't allow their customers to dispute charges that were made before a card was reported lost and / or stolen. There followed an unhealthy amount of effing and jeffing and a demand to speak to a manager. I was put on hold and left there for 45 minutes until I decided to hang up.
I got back on to Visa. Who reassured me that I am 10000% entitled to dispute the charges and that BCA cannot refuse a dispute. Visa, whose English Language help desk for Asia is based in Manila, again tried unsuccessfully to call HaloBCA, at which point it became apparent that the HaloBCA helpline cannot be accessed from outside of Indonesia, despite what their brochure and website say. I’ve since had people outside of Indonesia check if the number they supply is contactable from abroad. It cannot be reached from Ireland, The U.K., Australia, or New Zealand, as well as The Philippines.
I've lodged a formal complaint with Visa and they'll take it as far as the can with BCA. Hopefully I'll get my money back. I'm similarly hopeful that as a result of all of this being brought to light with Visa that BCA will have to change their policies and stop being such utter, utter, utter c*nts. I doubt it, though.
/RANTOFF
Can anyone with a working knowledge of Indonesian consumer finance offer any advice?
Cheers.
JD