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DCB Acceptance issues on both online/offline spends

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vijay

vijay

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Hi All, I am going to get DCB FYF upgrade. I have heard some card acceptance issues for DCB on both online/offline spends. Can anyone with the experience of using this card highlight what the issues are? I have also heard that DCB has tied up with Rupay so acceptance issues should be less. Is it true? Do POS machines in normal or branded stores accept this card? Is there any way or tip to mitigate acceptance issues?
 
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sd.ac said:
Just to return to the original theme/title of this thread (copy-pasting from my reply in another thread)

Posting this because my experience may be useful to people confused about (1) choosing between a LTF DCB and a paid Infinia OR (2) people considering a move from Visa to Diners Club.

I hold a LTF DCB and have found the DCB to be a good card overall. However, I suddenly experienced a few offline rejections, in a tier 1 city, for important spends. I am not comfortable with this uncertainty over whether Diners will be accepted in a particular establishment or not. I also found myself wasting time in new places wondering whether to swipe the DCB or a backup Visa card (and tap-to-pay never worked).

I wrote to HDFC requesting an upgrade to an Infinia. Grievance Redressal said ‘No’ because of ‘internal guidelines’ - I suspect because I upgraded to the LTF DCB only 3 weeks ago. From this nice forum, I saw two mentions of writing to Mr. Parag Rao - something that would not have occurred to me (thank you). I did so and just received an email from Priority-Redressal-Chairman/MD-desk approving this upgrade.

While Diners acceptance is fairly good, my message is to not rely on it as your primary card - even in major cities. Also, I miss the tap-to-pay feature which I find extremely convenient for small amounts.

I didn’t consider a Magnus card because (a) I have infrequent travel, (b) my spends are below 1L a month and (c) I have dealt with Axis customer support for many years.
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So, you took paid infinia? Are you able to meet spends target for it to make sense? It has a steep fee.
 
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athadfjp said:
can you share some more details on upgrade to infinia on a 3 week old dcb and what you wrote to Mr. Parag Rao (along with his email id)?
i have just received my dcb but may want to follow your route if there are so many acceptance issues.
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I average between 5-7 L annual spends on my credit card. A month ago, I wrote to Grievance Redressal expressing concerns about the fees on the DCB given the spate of devaluations. They offered me a paid Infinia or a LTF DCB. I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of paying an annual fee for a card (perhaps unusual for someone on this forum) so I went with the LTF DCB option.

The DCB is accepted fairly widely with the swipe option (unless you run into a HDFC machine where 'tap' works) and their tie-up with Rupay helps. However, there are still places where the card is not accepted and since this is my primary card, non-acceptance can be a serious problem. I wrote to Grievance Redressal asking if I could have the Infinia - on the Visa platform - instead and they said no due to 'internal guidelines' (possibly because the LTF DCB was issued only 3 weeks prior). I then wrote to Mr. Parag Rao saying that (1) I have run into acceptance issues with the DCB and (2) I was eligible for an Infinia upgrade a few weeks ago, so why not now.

(I should mention that I have ~7 L of spends on my DCB in the last 7 months, an unusual year for me. I typically have around 3-4 L of spends in 6 months so I believe an Infinia-upgrade offer will be rather rare for me - hence the urgency to escalate)
 
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aamaadmi said:
So, you took paid infinia? Are you able to meet spends target for it to make sense? It has a steep fee.
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I am unlikely to meet the 10 L spend requirement for a waiver. However, many people have pointed out that HDFC offers points against the renewal fees and this effectively makes the card a Rs. 2500/year fee card. Anyway, this is something I will worry about a year down the line since the card is FYF. Also, I will shift spends from other cards to the Infinia so will see how things play out...
 
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sd.ac said:
I average between 5-7 L annual spends on my credit card. A month ago, I wrote to Grievance Redressal expressing concerns about the fees on the DCB given the spate of devaluations. They offered me a paid Infinia or a LTF DCB. I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of paying an annual fee for a card (perhaps unusual for someone on this forum) so I went with the LTF DCB option.

The DCB is accepted fairly widely with the swipe option (unless you run into a HDFC machine where 'tap' works) and their tie-up with Rupay helps. However, there are still places where the card is not accepted and since this is my primary card, non-acceptance can be a serious problem. I wrote to Grievance Redressal asking if I could have the Infinia - on the Visa platform - instead and they said no due to 'internal guidelines' (possibly because the LTF DCB was issued only 3 weeks prior). I then wrote to Mr. Parag Rao saying that (1) I have run into acceptance issues with the DCB and (2) I was eligible for an Infinia upgrade a few weeks ago, so why not now.

(I should mention that I have ~7 L of spends on my DCB in the last 7 months, an unusual year for me. I typically have around 3-4 L of spends in 6 months so I believe an Infinia-upgrade offer will be rather rare for me - hence the urgency to escalate)
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Hi what did yo mail them exactly .. could you paste it here… it might be useful for people like me to opt for ltf dcb
 
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I am getting the taste of non acceptance of diners. Three instances in a month. I can't pay my son's school fees even with extra charges on SB collect platform. Next couldn't pay for a simple livpure water purifier subscription in Razor pay payment link. Today couldn't pay in Skoda service centre and really embarrassed in front of service advisor. Is there any email address that I can escalate these specific instances?
 
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thanixravindran said:
I am getting the taste of non acceptance of diners. Three instances in a month. I can't pay my son's school fees even with extra charges on SB collect platform. Next couldn't pay for a simple livpure water purifier subscription in Razor pay payment link. Today couldn't pay in Skoda service centre and really embarrassed in front of service advisor. Is there any email address that I can escalate these specific instances?
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No use HDFC customer service is getting back to old days one day they will beat axis

1666889013446.png
 
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Pavan said:
No use HDFC customer service is getting back to old days one day they will beat axis

View attachment 6166
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now that i think of it, customer service really can't do much here. and i think all dcb holders (myself included) know that diners acceptance is going to be an issue even before applying!

in another thread, i had read that someone escalated this to the chairman and his dcb was upgarded to infinia.
 
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athadfjp said:
now that i think of it, customer service really can't do much here. and i think all dcb holders (myself included) know that diners acceptance is going to be an issue even before applying!

in another thread, i had read that someone escalated this to the chairman and his dcb was upgarded to infinia.
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My experience DCB acceptance is reduced day by day i agree with your point when i applied i was aware on the accepted issue But instead of resolving issues ..i see more merchant are moving out of this even after it is tied up RUPAY
 
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Pavan said:
My experience DCB acceptance is reduced day by day i agree with your point when i applied i was aware on the accepted issue But instead of resolving issues ..i see more merchant are moving out of this even after it is tied up RUPAY
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RuPay tieup doesn't mean Diners club card will accept.

RuPay charged MDR 3%+GST on all RuPay Affiliate partner card acceptance.

Isiliye Merchant will say Khatam, tata, good bye.
 
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thanixravindran said:
I am getting the taste of non acceptance of diners. Three instances in a month. I can't pay my son's school fees even with extra charges on SB collect platform. Next couldn't pay for a simple livpure water purifier subscription in Razor pay payment link. Today couldn't pay in Skoda service centre and really embarrassed in front of service advisor. Is there any email address that I can escalate these specific instances?
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When I first wrote to HDFC about facing acceptance issues, I had a CL of 5.9L and a DCB. They offered an apology and a link to a list of Diners-friendly merchants (link didn't work, ha ha).

I waited a few months until I received a CL to 8L and wrote again. This time, they made two offers: an upgrade to a metal Infinia OR a split (DCB with ~5L CL + Visa Millenia with ~3L CL).

My point is that while they are aware of the limited acceptance issue they do not see it as 'urgent' or sufficient reason to immediately offer an alternative.

Email: Grievance.Redressalcc@
 
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sd.ac said:
When I first wrote to HDFC about facing acceptance issues, I had a CL of 5.9L and a DCB. They offered an apology and a link to a list of Diners-friendly merchants (link didn't work, ha ha).

I waited a few months until I received a CL to 8L and wrote again. This time, they made two offers: an upgrade to a metal Infinia OR a split (DCB with ~5L CL + Visa Millenia with ~3L CL).

My point is that while they are aware of the limited acceptance issue they do not see it as 'urgent' or sufficient reason to immediately offer an alternative.

Email: Grievance.Redressalcc@
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Is this split a good idea ,, let say in future if you are targeting for LTF Infinia... for existing LTF DCB holder
 
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mojo_jojo123 said:
Is this split a good idea ,, let say in future if you are targeting for LTF Infinia... for existing LTF DCB holder
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i have ltf dcb. my choice would be infinia upgrade. they are giving a split as a 'jugaad' so that if dcb not accepted, customer should use visa card from the same bank. too much hassle, need to carry 2 cards with no additional benefit.
and infinia i dont think they offer ltf, it is almost as close to ltf as it can get...renewal points are credited so you end up paying only gst.
 
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Does Regalia provides add on card? If so, I will get an add on Regalia with my wife's card so that it's a back up card. I took Zomato card as back up but not sure where I have thrown it after devaluation 😂 I don't use my ICICI Sapphiro as pretty much moved all my spends to HDFC. Let me try to ask Infinia then
 
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thanixravindran said:
Does Regalia provides add on card? If so, I will get an add on Regalia with my wife's card so that it's a back up card. I took Zomato card as back up but not sure where I have thrown it after devaluation 😂 I don't use my ICICI Sapphiro as pretty much moved all my spends to HDFC. Let me try to ask Infinia then
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Yes, you can get addons for Regalia.
 
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