tuhin
TF Premier
***Long Post***
I'm sharing my recent experience with a Bank of Baroda (BOB) Max Savings Home Loan application. Last year, I was looking for a home loan and initially approached SBI. However, I wasn't satisfied with their legal and documentation charges, so I decided to switch my application to BOB. This time, I went to my base branch where I have my savings account. I was happy with the service there and felt confident in my decision to move forward.
Initially, my conversation with the Branch Manager (BM) was good, although they showed tremendous arrogance during their sales pitches. Still, I preferred BOB due to the good service and my existing relationship with them. Sadly, this turned out to be the worst financial decision I've made.
The BM asked for my Aadhaar and PAN for an initial CIBIL inquiry for the loan processing. They ran the check without getting any written authorization from me. Later, the BM scheduled an appointment with a guy who was supposed to pick up my documents from home. My initial request was for a 30-year home loan with a 1.5-year moratorium period, and they agreed to it. Here, I made another mistake: I didn't get any written confirmation—via email or on a letterhead—before the loan process began.
Up to this point, everything was moving smoothly and quickly. The BM and the BOB sales person promised me that I'd get approval within 15 days, as I needed to pay my promoter by a specific deadline. But as time passed, there was no response from BOB. I kept calling and emailing them, but I didn't get any useful answers. I had already given a check for Rs 6,000 for upfront fees to the sales person. I continuously chased them, but the BOB team created various roadblocks and legal issues during the legal verification process, which was the main point of contention. Almost a month went by, and I lost all hope, but I still hadn't canceled the check.
Suddenly, I received a message that Rs 6,000 had been debited for a BOB mortgage, and I was shocked. I called the BM, but as usual, they ignored my calls. I then raised a complaint against the branch, and the next day, the BM called me back.
The actual trouble began now. The BM was suddenly introducing new clauses, stating that I needed to register my property in advance since it was under construction. I asked them to skip this pre-registration phase since they hadn't informed me about it at the very beginning. I also needed to register my agreement with the promoter. I refused this new requirement because it was all new to me, and they hadn't informed me well in advance. I asked if a notary-signed agreement would be acceptable, but the BM was very firm. By this point, I had already spent Rs 6,000 on the loan processing, but they still weren't giving me final approval.
Later, I received a call from BOB RACPC (Retail Assets Credit Processing Centre), stating that they couldn't process a 30-year loan for me since I wasn't a government employee. This is where the real fight started. They had already spent nearly two months on a single home loan application, and I was under pressure to pay my promoter. I didn't agree with the BOB team and realized they weren't going to approve the loan easily. I raised a grievance to get my Rs 6,000 back, but unfortunately, the grievance department didn't help much. They replied that the fee was non-refundable. I then complained to the Nodal and Principal Nodal officers, but I received the same response: the fee was non-refundable. I lost hope and even contacted the RBI, but they simply sent me the same copy-pasted response I had already received from BOB. I felt completely cheated by my own bank.
I wrote this long message to make you aware of my experience with BOB. I learned a crucial lesson: don't trust your bank completely. Whatever you negotiate, get it in writing. Otherwise, you might lose your money like I did. I trusted the branch employees blindly and faced the consequences. I couldn't provide enough valid written proof to sue BOB because all of our communication was verbal. Please, don't make the same mistake.
Additionally, I've found many other cases with BOB where people lost money with their liability products like Home Loans, Car Loans, Personal Loans, and Gold Loans. BOB is, in my opinion, one of the worst among all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in India. Beware of them. Basic banking services like savings accounts, current accounts, credit cards, and debit cards are good enough, but try to avoid any loan products. My experience has taught me to skip BOB for any loan in the future, under any circumstances.
Thanks
I'm sharing my recent experience with a Bank of Baroda (BOB) Max Savings Home Loan application. Last year, I was looking for a home loan and initially approached SBI. However, I wasn't satisfied with their legal and documentation charges, so I decided to switch my application to BOB. This time, I went to my base branch where I have my savings account. I was happy with the service there and felt confident in my decision to move forward.
Initially, my conversation with the Branch Manager (BM) was good, although they showed tremendous arrogance during their sales pitches. Still, I preferred BOB due to the good service and my existing relationship with them. Sadly, this turned out to be the worst financial decision I've made.
The BM asked for my Aadhaar and PAN for an initial CIBIL inquiry for the loan processing. They ran the check without getting any written authorization from me. Later, the BM scheduled an appointment with a guy who was supposed to pick up my documents from home. My initial request was for a 30-year home loan with a 1.5-year moratorium period, and they agreed to it. Here, I made another mistake: I didn't get any written confirmation—via email or on a letterhead—before the loan process began.
Up to this point, everything was moving smoothly and quickly. The BM and the BOB sales person promised me that I'd get approval within 15 days, as I needed to pay my promoter by a specific deadline. But as time passed, there was no response from BOB. I kept calling and emailing them, but I didn't get any useful answers. I had already given a check for Rs 6,000 for upfront fees to the sales person. I continuously chased them, but the BOB team created various roadblocks and legal issues during the legal verification process, which was the main point of contention. Almost a month went by, and I lost all hope, but I still hadn't canceled the check.
Suddenly, I received a message that Rs 6,000 had been debited for a BOB mortgage, and I was shocked. I called the BM, but as usual, they ignored my calls. I then raised a complaint against the branch, and the next day, the BM called me back.
The actual trouble began now. The BM was suddenly introducing new clauses, stating that I needed to register my property in advance since it was under construction. I asked them to skip this pre-registration phase since they hadn't informed me about it at the very beginning. I also needed to register my agreement with the promoter. I refused this new requirement because it was all new to me, and they hadn't informed me well in advance. I asked if a notary-signed agreement would be acceptable, but the BM was very firm. By this point, I had already spent Rs 6,000 on the loan processing, but they still weren't giving me final approval.
Later, I received a call from BOB RACPC (Retail Assets Credit Processing Centre), stating that they couldn't process a 30-year loan for me since I wasn't a government employee. This is where the real fight started. They had already spent nearly two months on a single home loan application, and I was under pressure to pay my promoter. I didn't agree with the BOB team and realized they weren't going to approve the loan easily. I raised a grievance to get my Rs 6,000 back, but unfortunately, the grievance department didn't help much. They replied that the fee was non-refundable. I then complained to the Nodal and Principal Nodal officers, but I received the same response: the fee was non-refundable. I lost hope and even contacted the RBI, but they simply sent me the same copy-pasted response I had already received from BOB. I felt completely cheated by my own bank.
I wrote this long message to make you aware of my experience with BOB. I learned a crucial lesson: don't trust your bank completely. Whatever you negotiate, get it in writing. Otherwise, you might lose your money like I did. I trusted the branch employees blindly and faced the consequences. I couldn't provide enough valid written proof to sue BOB because all of our communication was verbal. Please, don't make the same mistake.
Additionally, I've found many other cases with BOB where people lost money with their liability products like Home Loans, Car Loans, Personal Loans, and Gold Loans. BOB is, in my opinion, one of the worst among all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in India. Beware of them. Basic banking services like savings accounts, current accounts, credit cards, and debit cards are good enough, but try to avoid any loan products. My experience has taught me to skip BOB for any loan in the future, under any circumstances.
Thanks
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