Hi everyone,
Just thought of sharing my recent experience dealing with reward point issues across three banks. Might be useful for anyone who’s sailing in the same boat.
1. HDFC Bank (Biz Black – Welcome Gift on ₹1.5L Spend in 3 Months)
I had completed the required spending, and the welcome gift option was showing on my dashboard for nearly 2 months. I decided to redeem it later. But one fine day, when I logged into SmartBuy to check my milestone, the gift option had just disappeared!
I mailed their customer care, and since I also hold an INFINIA card, the case was taken up by their premium team. But they kept telling me, “Please wait 10 days, our team is checking.” This happened at least three times. A whole month went by.
Then I escalated it to their grievance redressal team — again they asked for 10 more days. But finally, after that, I received the welcome gift vouchers via email. Though the status showed as ‘redeemed’, the vouchers had a 12-month validity — so thankfully, that ended well.
2. IDFC Bank (Tap & Pay Sticker Hack – Select Program)
As many of you know, there’s a trick where you apply for a RuPay Tap & Pay sticker card and receive another set of welcome reward points. I was part of the Select program and tried it myself. But to my surprise, not only did I not get the second welcome points, I didn’t get any reward points for the transactions either!
Some people suggested to wait for a month, so I waited for 45 days — still nothing. Then I wrote to their customer care. And yes, you guessed it — they said, “Please wait 10 working days.”
I thought, “Oh no, not again!” But surprisingly, within those 10 days, I received reward points worth ₹5,000. However, I didn’t get the welcome points twice like some others managed to.
3. RBL Bank – The Real Struggle Begins
As many of you know, RBL recently launched their IndianOil XtraRewards Credit Card. I applied for it, and they promptly charged the annual fee of ₹1500 + GST. The welcome reward points were credited to their portal as promised — but that’s where the headache started.
I’ve been trying to redeem those welcome points for over two months now. I reached out to their customer support multiple times, and the replies were simply ridiculous — “Clear your browser cache,” “Please contact IndianOil support,” and one person even sent instructions on how to redeem loyalty points via the IndianOil app instead of RBL’s own reward portal! I seriously doubt if even they know what they’re doing.
Earlier, they had asked for screenshots of the error. I sent them four neatly marked screenshots, showing everything from login to the actual issue — even highlighted the error areas for their convenience. In return, I got yet another mail with irrelevant steps to redeem points from the IndianOil website. Seriously?
I even escalated it to their Head of Customer Care. But after waiting 7 days, I got the same copy-paste reply as the base-level support team.
At this point, I decided to go public — tagged them on social media and explained the entire ordeal. To my surprise, I got a call from their support team the very next day. They created a proper case and, within 4 days, my issue was finally resolved. I managed to redeem the points on the IOCL XtraRewards portal successfully.
So these were the 3 battles I fought over the last 2 months — and thankfully, I got what I was eligible for from all three banks: HDFC, IDFC, and yes, even RBL (after a war).
Moral of the story? Don’t stay silent. Escalate, push, and if needed — tweet!
Just thought of sharing my recent experience dealing with reward point issues across three banks. Might be useful for anyone who’s sailing in the same boat.
1. HDFC Bank (Biz Black – Welcome Gift on ₹1.5L Spend in 3 Months)
I had completed the required spending, and the welcome gift option was showing on my dashboard for nearly 2 months. I decided to redeem it later. But one fine day, when I logged into SmartBuy to check my milestone, the gift option had just disappeared!
I mailed their customer care, and since I also hold an INFINIA card, the case was taken up by their premium team. But they kept telling me, “Please wait 10 days, our team is checking.” This happened at least three times. A whole month went by.
Then I escalated it to their grievance redressal team — again they asked for 10 more days. But finally, after that, I received the welcome gift vouchers via email. Though the status showed as ‘redeemed’, the vouchers had a 12-month validity — so thankfully, that ended well.
2. IDFC Bank (Tap & Pay Sticker Hack – Select Program)
As many of you know, there’s a trick where you apply for a RuPay Tap & Pay sticker card and receive another set of welcome reward points. I was part of the Select program and tried it myself. But to my surprise, not only did I not get the second welcome points, I didn’t get any reward points for the transactions either!
Some people suggested to wait for a month, so I waited for 45 days — still nothing. Then I wrote to their customer care. And yes, you guessed it — they said, “Please wait 10 working days.”
I thought, “Oh no, not again!” But surprisingly, within those 10 days, I received reward points worth ₹5,000. However, I didn’t get the welcome points twice like some others managed to.
3. RBL Bank – The Real Struggle Begins
As many of you know, RBL recently launched their IndianOil XtraRewards Credit Card. I applied for it, and they promptly charged the annual fee of ₹1500 + GST. The welcome reward points were credited to their portal as promised — but that’s where the headache started.
I’ve been trying to redeem those welcome points for over two months now. I reached out to their customer support multiple times, and the replies were simply ridiculous — “Clear your browser cache,” “Please contact IndianOil support,” and one person even sent instructions on how to redeem loyalty points via the IndianOil app instead of RBL’s own reward portal! I seriously doubt if even they know what they’re doing.
Earlier, they had asked for screenshots of the error. I sent them four neatly marked screenshots, showing everything from login to the actual issue — even highlighted the error areas for their convenience. In return, I got yet another mail with irrelevant steps to redeem points from the IndianOil website. Seriously?
I even escalated it to their Head of Customer Care. But after waiting 7 days, I got the same copy-paste reply as the base-level support team.
At this point, I decided to go public — tagged them on social media and explained the entire ordeal. To my surprise, I got a call from their support team the very next day. They created a proper case and, within 4 days, my issue was finally resolved. I managed to redeem the points on the IOCL XtraRewards portal successfully.
So these were the 3 battles I fought over the last 2 months — and thankfully, I got what I was eligible for from all three banks: HDFC, IDFC, and yes, even RBL (after a war).
Moral of the story? Don’t stay silent. Escalate, push, and if needed — tweet!
