Saturday, September 20, 2008

ICICI Direct's Pathetic Customer Service


I had only good things to say about ICICIDirect until I ran into a problem and had to contact their customer service! Well, the less said about my experience, the better! But that's what I'm here for, isn't it?
So here's the story. When I opened an account with ICICIDirect, I did so because their website is the most easy to use for starters. Everything is very well organised into different, relevant sections and adequate explanation is given. The speed is also decent.I had heard that their website loads very slowly (or doesn't load at all) in peak conditions, but that doesn't really matter to me since I don't indulge in day trading or BTST trading. I buy shares based on long term recommendations, take delivery and sell when my target is met, or when I don't see any potential in the company's future.I also know that their brokerage is probably the highest in the industry, and the ease of use doesn't entirely justify the excess charges. But I don't trade frequently or in large volumes, so this was fine too.So then what went wrong? ONE DAY i had to transfer my other account share to icici diresct but some people were unaware of the procedures or were casual in their work.But the guys at ICICIDirect just took the cake! No one - and I mean no one - knows exactly the procedure to transfer share of other existing account on a demat account. A new account has to be opened and the shares transferred to it. But the ICICIDirect folks didn't know the exact procedure to go about it. Specifically, I have the following questions:
account can't be transferred. Why is this so?Can someone (preferably from ICICIDirect) please clarify the procedure for me, and for others like me? Not that it matters anymore, because my patience ran out finally and I opened a new demat account with Sharekhan. I will be transferring all my shares to it in the next few days.Sorry ICICIDirect, but incompetence doesn't pay in the long run!

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