Rakbank / The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah review: eos being held back and bank not resolving issue for 4 months! 1

I am a primary school teacher. I am a British citizen.

I started banking with RAK BANK in 2018. At the time, I worked for ADEK/MOE. In May 2019 I accepted a job offer from a private school. I resigned from ADEK/MOE and was cleared. I informed RAK BANK about this via telephone. I informed them that l was not leaving the country but that I was moving from public to private schools and I was not leaving the country permanently or moving to another Emirate- I was staying in Al Ain.

On 4th August 2019 l received my EOS from ADEK / MOE- this is where the nightmare began. Bare in mind that I was on vacation when they froze my account; freezing all money that was in the account. On 20 August 2019 Chitra Buddhabatti sent me an email saying l should provide
1- salary transfer letter
2- passport with new visa
3- emirates ID
And she asked that these documents be taken to the nearest RAK BANK branch. I returned to the UAE on August 23 2019. I immediately started the process of trying to unfreeze my EOS.

By 5th October 2019 I had submitted all the above details to Rak Bank Al Ain (located on Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Street, 135th St). I initially spoke to Ayham Bassam who basically told me that even if l had submitted all my documents, they might not give me my EOS and he offered me an additional loan. This was not helpful information and l left the bank in tears. I had already accrued so much debt since they froze my EOS whilst on vacation so all the money l had used was from my savings, credit card or borrowed.

On 12th October I went into the bank and asked to speak to the manager. He asked me to fill out various clearance forms, he took copies of my documents and he said that the process was complete and l should get my money back soon. I didn't hear from the bank all week so l went in again on 19th October and the manager, Mr Feras Fouad Dargham told me that l needed to submit an EOS letter from my company (Bloom Education). Mr Fares also told me that the bank would need to contact my HR department to confirm that I work there. He gave me his business card (bare in mind that none of the 4 numbers on his bank card worked!). I connected my HR department with Mr Feras on 27th October 2019. I then submitted the EOS letter on 28th October 2019. I went into the bank on 31st October 2019 to submit the document. Mr Feras told me that now I have submitted everything and they have my HR department numbers, all should be cleared within 3 working days. I heard nothing from RAK BANK for that whole week and I called almost everyday to find out the progress. I was constantly told that
- I should go into the bank and speak to the bank manager (I had been doing that already)
- I was always asked if l had submitted all requested documents (already did that)
- I was always told that they would send an email and l would get a call back. I NEVER received a call back from RAK BANK. I also made enquiries via ‘live chat' and the aforementioned is all that I ever heard; nothing new and no solutions.

On November 2, 9, 16 and 23 I went in to the branch to speak to Mr Feras; he always told me that ‘everything has been submitted' and that l should receive the money but till this day, still nothing. I also kept calling and emailing RAK BANK and did not get any further than before. Mr Feras subsequently gave me his ‘working number'. He has since only picked up his phone once and has ignored me since then unless I go in to the branch in person.

I went in on Wednesday 27th November and was told that Mr Feras was now on vacation until 17th December 2019. I then spoke to the branch manager Mariam Abdulla who tried her best to help. At this point l was emotionally and mentally and physically exhausted by all this. I cried in her office and she was kind enough to go through my file and she again told me that ‘everything has been submitted' and RAK BANK head office was waiting to speak to my HR. I was so shocked and disappointed by this because l felt like l was back at square one- Mr Feras had told me that they had already spoken to head office. Needless to say, she kindly gave me her number and as it was National Day holiday, I was only able to contact her again today (3.12.19 at 9am as she had requested). I took some time off work around 1:40 today and l went in to speak to Mariam Ahmed face-to-face. She basically told me tha
- She has asked Mr Fares to come into the bank tomoroow so that she can access his emails
- She forwarded my emails to head office on 27.11.19 but they have not been in touch with her
I also contacted RAK BANK online today and they sent an urgent email to head office. Around 15:30 today, Maria from the investigation team called me and said that she was leading the investigation.

I am at a loss. I am devastated. Depressed and stressed out so much that words cannot describe. I am in financial difficulties because of this back and forth that is going on. Please help me.

Resolution: I honestly just want the money that l have worked so hard for. They even cut my salary when it came in because l got a pay rise.
I cannot begin to explain the stress and depression that this is causing me. I cannot pay for my daughter's school fees, sometimes l do not have enough money to even buy food for my family. I cannot book my tickets to visit my family back home because for some reason, they are not releasing my money. I have cried every single day for the past two weeks because of this. Please help me.

Miss Ngaatendwe Marandure
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