I will recount my recent experience (as well as my friend's) dealing with this bank in general and not write in detail, that's to say some dates may not be exact, other details are deliberately left out for privacy reasons etc.

On 27 Dec 2009 while reviewing my UOB credit card statements via internet banking I realised, to my horror (as to why I will come to that later), that the statement date of my credit card had been changed from the 18th to the 24th, WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT. After calling the customer service hotline in vain (it's almost midnight so I did not persist) I wrote an email to the bank demanding an explanation. The bank did not reply, I thought probably it's the festive year end so I decided to wait.

One week later, on 3 Jan 2010, I called customer service and related the whole incident, explaining that by changing the statement date from 18 to 24, I would be forced to make 2 repayments for my flexi-credit loan linked to the credit card account for the month, since the old cut-off date is 18 and the repayment debit date is 20th so the change of statement date would cause 2 repayments to be due for this month and in effect, the bank will collect the full repayment 1 month earlier than if the bank stuck with the old statement date. For example, if the first repayment was on 18 June 2009 (due 08 July) and final repayment would be on 18 May 2011 (due 08 June), the change of statement date from 18th to 24th Dec 2009 will cause me to make 2 repayments for the month which are due on 13 Jan 2010, and the bank will collect the final repayment by 13th May 2011, as opposed to 8 June 2011 under the old statement date of 18th. The bank has done me an injustice yet when I called the bank to seek advice/help all I was told is 'there's nothing that can be done by the bank'!

So after hanging up the phone, I immediately wrote a lengthy email to the bank demanding a full-on investigation and a satisfactory answer. The next day in the evening, I received a 66300 SMS "UOB: In order to better communicate to all VOX cardmembers, we have consolidated your statement date from 18th to 24th. TQ!" Seriously, I haven't got the faintest idea what that SMS was supposed to mean and how it had anything to do with better communication by means of a change of statement dates. The change only inconvenienced me as a client since I had to fork up more money to make one additional repayment. And it certainly looked like UOB was sending the SMS to me as a way to cover their arse (pardon the language) since I repeatedly asked why the bank did not formally inform me of the change beforehand.

And 2 days later on 6 Jan 2010 I finally received the scripted response from the bank acknowledging the receipt of my email dated 27 Dec 2009 and 3 Jan 2010, with the usual PR and politically correct stuff written in seeking my understanding, patience and whatnot. The Customer Communications Management officer even had the guts to promise to revert as soon as the investigation is completed.

To this date, after almost ONE FULL MONTH, at the time of writing i.e. 2 Feb 2010, the bank has not responded still, despite the fact that I wrote another email on 29 Jan 2010 checking on the status of the investigation.

What the hell is wrong with this bank? I only wanted a justification from the bank, perhaps a formal letter of apology will suffice. It's not about money and I did not even ask the bank to have the statement state reverted to 18th. It's about respect for customers' rights, about what's fair and right, that's it.