My Gazprombank Nightmare: A Cautionary Tale of Poor Service
I'm still trying to figure out how I got myself into this mess with Gazprombank.
I've dealt with my fair share of banking headaches, but this one takes the cake. It all started when I fell for their promotional offer of a 16.3% annual interest rate on a savings account. I thought it was a great deal, especially since I also wanted to get a 2000 ruble certificate in the form of a golden apple, which they were supposed to send me via SMS.
But nothing ever arrived. I showed the offer to the bank's employee on their website, and they had no idea what I was talking about. They claimed it was something they didn't consult on. When I called their hotline, they told me to contact their partner, Golden Apple, or Gazprombank directly, so I couldn't get any help from the bank's office.
I followed the instructions to the letter, provided my phone number, and they called me back to explain the account conditions. The account was opened, and I was able to set up a new card, which I've done multiple times on my own.
But this time, I wanted to get a good interest rate as a new client, so I opened an account in my dad's name. They set up a power of attorney for me, and I thought, 'No big deal, I'm not putting in 5 million rubles, nothing bad can happen.'
They started pushing me for investments and all sorts of nonsense, but I came here for a specific product, and the card setup and convincing took over an hour! I opened the account myself in the app.
I've never had to wait that long in other banks, but in Gazprombank, it's always like this - I'm used to it, although I only visit once every six months and rarely remember these struggles.
I was showing the app to the customer support team when they mentioned my outdated version. But they didn't offer to update it. It wasn't until I tried to order cash that I realized I needed to update - the link to order just didn't work in the old version!
After chatting with them, they said they had ordered the cash, but then there was an issue with the fees. Apparently, if you leave the money in the account for less than a month, you have to pay 5% of the withdrawal amount!
I'm actually surprised anyone leaves their money in this bank. I would've loved to take advantage of the promotional rate, but it only applies for the first two months. My account was opened on November 18th, so the rate will only be active for a month and 12 days, until January 1st.
So, I'll have to handle some investments during the holiday season, and then wait for the first working days of the year to go to the bank office and find out they won't give me anything because my power of attorney isn't working, and the employee messed something up.
I was there when they filled out the power of attorney, and I've got to say, the process was pretty straightforward, but the paper version didn't work - some technical glitch, and to make matters worse, they wouldn't even call the dedicated line for employees, even though it was clearly marked.
So, I've got the money just sitting there, earning nothing, because I'm constantly withdrawing it and losing out on interest. I've already lost 1500 rubles in interest over the past two days, and now they're telling me to freeze the funds for another two days because they need to wait for the cash order to come through. I'm not impressed.
The staff were just trying to get rid of me, and they offered me a bunch of privileges for 300 rubles a month - I managed to cancel them, but they're still active, and I can't even use them because the limits on my card are outdated.
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My Gazprombank Experience Was a Disaster: I got a power of attorney that didn't work, and I was really counting on it. I'd just opened a new savings account that needed to be topped up urgently, but in the end, I was left without any money.
I tried to transfer the money, but the system failed. They put it on hold. I called the bank, and they told me I could try again in half an hour. I tried again two hours later, but it was still on hold. I had to wait another half an hour on the phone. It was really frustrating and annoying.
Since it was already late at night, I didn't want to keep calling to confirm, so I only managed to transfer the money the next day, which was December 3rd. As a result, I lost the interest for three days, which was over 2,000 rubles. It was really frustrating and annoying.
And It Got Even Worse because I couldn't withdraw the cash and had to transfer the money to my own account in another bank, which belonged to my dad. When I tried to transfer some of the money to my own card, my dad's card got blocked. We tried to unblock it for three days, and it wasn't until my dad came to see me that we were able to do it.
They just sent me a text message with an apology and that was it. I'll never use this bank again, and I'll never use their card, because they keep putting operations on hold, even when I try to withdraw 50,000 rubles from an ATM or in a bank branch. They only gave me around 250,000 rubles in total.
I called the customer support hotline to report the issue, but unfortunately, I didn't get any resolution.
Unreliable Service: The bank's service is completely unreliable. I've experienced multiple issues with their system, including failed transactions and operations being put on hold.Unhelpful Staff: The staff at Gazprombank are unhelpful and unresponsive. They seem to be more interested in getting rid of customers than in providing any actual assistance.Outdated Technology: The bank's technology is outdated and unreliable. I've experienced issues with their app and online banking system, including outdated versions and failed transactions.Hidden Fees: The bank has hidden fees that they don't disclose upfront. I was charged a 5% fee for withdrawing money from my account, which was not clearly explained to me.Lack of Transparency: The bank lacks transparency in their operations and fees. I was not clearly informed about the fees associated with my account, and I had to discover them through trial and error.I Wouldn't Recommend Gazprombank to Anyone. Their service is unreliable, their staff is unhelpful, and their technology is outdated. I've had enough of their excuses and lack of transparency, and I'll never use their bank again.