britexpat76

After I got my residency in Doha the next step was a bank account purely to pay my salary into. I also asked for a credit card with a good rewards programme and a low limit as I intend to live on that for the month (Get the rewards), pay the bill in full and the balance of money goes offshore. So what did I get??

2 x Platinum cards with limits of QR72,000 each..................They then wondered why I chopped one up in front of them.

scrubbedexpat141

Amazing.

I remember I landed here, got drunk for a weekend and started on the Sunday. Monday arvo HSBC bloke came in setting up a bank account and offered me a credit card etc etc.

Two days later I've got a bank account and a credit card with 20 something thousand limit. Pretty generous considering I had no visa, no apartment, no ties, no nothing.

britexpat76

You would think they had learnt their lessons........

We still get people walking in the showroom straight off the plane thinking they can spend 150k on a car with a 9k salary. The same idiots that have done a runner from the UAE.

Where there are idiots and easy credit there will always be full jails.

kittycat1

and don't forget the offer of loans. My bank has offered me a 250000aed loan, ontop of two credit cards with 34000 limits I wonder how many people take it and do a bunk...

personally i pay my cards off monthly and use them minimally, but I am quite disciplined- I can see how people get carried away out here!

scrubbedexpat141

It's just crazy. If you don't use CC's wisely / sensibly / minimally / whatever then you end up butt-rogered.

When I got my car loan, HSBC were asking me if I wanted that sort of level 150k+ etc etc. It was so tempting to take it and go and get a Range Rover, but you take the dickhead element out and act a bit more sensibly.

What's also frightnening is the lack of any form of Credit Checking facility here. If you pay an external CC by cash each month, they have no real way of finding out if you own a CC.

weasel decentral

what did you chop it with? I always carry a small machete about my person for moments like this. Put the card on the bank counter, never break eye contact and chop it in half.

britexpat76

hypothetically speaking, I actually bent it backwards and forwards for 2 minutes and broke sweat trying to rip it in 2 with my bare fingers. Not my finest moment.

lullabelle

The "bending it back and forth while looking increasingly like a bloody idiot" was the route I took when I returned an unwanted (actually repeatedly unasked for) credit card back to my bank.

The look of mild horror on the branch manager's face was worth it.

As I left a guy was saying "why you do that? Credit card is good thing for you"

britexpat76

They was waffling things to me too, seems I may of been a little hasty chopping the diners club card up - Its actually linked to the Visa - Not 2 separate cards. That was also my access to all the airport lounges and more rewards............

Now as a point of principle I cannot/will not ask for a replacement.

kittycat1

PMSL

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