Citizens Bank Reviews

We had invested everything in a new location for our restaurant, and it was failing. I was told to apply for a refinance. Which I did, to a mortgage processor recommended to us by Kelly at the Stop and Shop branch. He contacted me, and said he needed a professional real estate appraisal to continue with the application. I paid several hundred dollars for this appraisal, and then a week or two later, I was denied the loan. I never got my appraisal money back, and interest rate remains at 7.35%. This loan has a $50,000 balance, and is financed over 15 years. If Citizens lowered the interest rate to 5.25%, and financed over 30 years the payment would be $276 per month. Adding in taxes and insurance, total payment would be $546.00. Lowering the interest rate to 3.75% over 30 years payment would be $232 per month. Is this an outrageous request? I think not. It is a viable, win, win, win situation. Citizens get their money, we get to keep our home, and the bank doesn't have to deal with a foreclosed property in a middle class neighborhood. That does no one any good.

In August 2011, I underwent a major open heart surgery, an aortic valve replacement, and a double bypass. My husband had a total knee replacement in September. Our cash flow problem is temporary, and we anticipate being gainfully employed in 2012. Agreed, right now, as the two mortgages stand, the monthly payments are over 50% of our monthly income, and it appears that there is not enough income to service the loan debt, however, we have never missed a payment on either of our loan obligations to Citizens, even if we eat rice and beans and keep the heat at 55 degrees. If we can service $989 on a consistent monthly basis, and remain current on taxes and house insurance, how could we not service $594 or $550? ($276 or $232 on 1st and 318 on the 2nd). I'm frustrated and angry at the greed and lack of common sense Citizens Bank is displaying. It's as if the property is more important to the bank, than to extend a solution to a couple who have fallen on hard times, and are experiencing a temporary very low income situation, and are desperate to keep their home!

Lloyd Bentsen, Secretary of the Treasury at that time, affirmed his belief that availability of credit should not depend on where a person lives, "the only thing that ought to matter on a loan application is whether or not you can pay it back, not where you live". The second report to be conducted by the Treasury Department over the next two years, is intended to determine the impact of the act on the provision of services to low and moderate income neighborhoods and people, as intended by CRA 62,

On signing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, President Clinton said that it, "establishes the principles that, as we expand the powers of banks, we will expand the reach of the Community Reinvestment Act".

We trust this proposal makes sense. We live in harsh circumstances to meet an inflated mortgage obligation. In the spirit of what our nation's lawmakers attempted to do with the CRA legislation, please refinance our mortgage debt. Thank you, for your understanding, compassion and desire to do the right thing in the spirit of the CRA. I am still waiting to hear about the decision on the HAMP request submitted on July 2011. Will face eminent foreclosure, and become homeless. Arlene "Molly" is a senior citizen.

This is damaging my credit record as well as preventing me to open a bank account due to these charges. I have exhausted all means to contact Charter One and need assistance in resolving this issue.

Eight days before, I deposited a check from Puerto Rico for $22,000 and the money was available the next day. I paid a check for $3,717.66 believing that the money was going to be available next day. Now, the account is overdrawn, plus, they are charging me a for it. Because of this, I am thinking that when I get the SS check, they are going to freeze that money too and leave me with no money. I don't work because I am very sick with Parkinson's and they are going to hold my Social Security check. I need somebody to remove the hold, please.

In addition, at this point we have entered into a state of retaliation from Charter One/Citizens Bank, which is also a federal offense punishable up to 100,000 and/or 5-year imprisonment because they are an organization with a federal contract. Furthermore, I have clearly identified myself to everyone I have spoken with to date as a Federal Contract Compliance Investigator. Therefore, it makes Charter One/Citizens Bank retaliation a federal offence because they have retaliated against a known federal employee. There are also emails and faxes to prove this, if needed. I don’t care if this takes the next 20 years. I am only seeking justice and will monitor every aspect of Charter One/Citizens Bank until this case is resolved in full to my satisfaction!

This 25-page fax was sent to Brenda, who claimed to be the manager of Citizens/Charter One Bank recovery department, which our solicitor’s office will be providing a full report on the chain of events surrounding today’s actions, conversations, and communication. And the chain of events is as follows:

Today, April 20, 2011, at 2:50 PM, Sarah from BYL Collections called my phone at ** and left a message for Exavier **. While the message indicated not to listen to it if I was not Exavier **, I did because they should not have called my phone! They stated they called in efforts of collecting a debit on behalf of Charter One/Citizens Bank in the amount of $314.18. Sarah went on to provide a file number of **, her name and a call back number of 877-277-5958, ext. 8129 and requested a call back.

Today, April 20, 2011, at 2:57 PM, Sarah from BYL Collections called my phone at ** and left a message for Carol **. She stated they called in efforts of collecting a debit on behalf of Charter One/Citizens Bank in the amount of $314.18. Sarah went on to provide a file number of **, her name and a call back number of 877-277-5958, ext. 8129 and requested a call back.

After receiving the call, I immediately got my boss who got our legal department involved and requested that I call the bank immediately to address the matter with them presently, which I did and in my communication I informed Keith, Mike, and Brenda that I had the Federal legal department present as witnesses and for guidance. Keith had an issue and requested to transfer me, Mike attempted to argue with me and I pointed out to him that I had my legal defense there and the call was being recorded. At that time he indicated he was getting a supervisor. Communication with Charter One/Citizens Bank outlined below:

Today, April 20, 2011, at 3:21 PM, I called Charter One/Citizens Bank which I initially got Keith. After explaining who I had present on the call and that the call was recorded by the Federal Department of Labor, Keith requested to transfer my call to a supervisor. However, Keith transferred my call to Mike. I asked for clarification purposed if that he was a supervisor and Mike indicated he was not. I explained I would only speak with a supervisor or manager because in a court of law Mike could not be held accountable. Mike then indicated he needed to know the nature of my call. I explained everything that is in the attached letter to include today’s chain of events and Mike proceeded to handle the call himself. I became irate and would not allow Mike a chance to speak to me and demanded either he put a member of leadership on the phone or I file a suit! Mike laughed and said good luck with that. Again, federal solicitors were present as witnesses (5 witnesses were present in total).

Shortly after Mike and mine’s altercation, Mike got Brenda on the line who asked which charged off account was I referring to. I indicated that if there was another one they had not notified me and that I had just checked my accounts and they seem to be in good standing. Brenda further indicated that I had a charged off account joint with Eric that was recent. Per the attorneys present, I asked for the account number. Brenda could not render one. I moved on to address the issue I called about and Brenda indicated that the file number is incorrect. I advised her that I don’t work for Charter One/Citizens Bank or BYL and that was given to me. So if was wrong, I pointed out that was another federal offense. I further advised her that I only contacted her to further build my case for a class action against them and she said that was fine. She went on to tell me that to date the charged off account still had not been paid, yet I have a receipt from ACS indicating the account was paid on January 18, 2011 at 8:43 PM and a printed off version of my account that Charter One/Citizens Bank took the funds from on March 7, 2011. Unauthorized, since I had already paid the account on January 18, 2011. I further explained and attempted to play the recording from Ms. ** indicating that the recovery department would not allow her to update my account with the provided information and that she was instructed not to resolve my issues under any circumstances!

Brenda dismissed the message, indicating Ms. ** did not work for them (Charter One/Citizens Bank). I further provided all of her numbers (fax and phone) and Brenda went on to say that Ms. ** was not acting with the authority of Charter One/Citizens Bank.

In addition, Brenda went on to indicate to me that I had filed several complaints with the branch manager, Ms. **, and if I had addressed this matter with so many people. Why didn’t Ms. ** pick up the phone and call them to resolve the matter before it got to this point. I responded indicating that Penny of Ms. ** indicated they had, which was the result of Ms. **’s call. Brenda indicated that they have never heard from Ms. **, Penny, Ms. **, or Ms. **. I advised that I was faxing all letters, read receipts, and the proof of payment receipt that I have rendered to every individual listed to include 3 others on numerous occasions.

In closing, I also advised that I was launching a law suit against them and I was contacting the OCC to advise Charter One/Citizens Bank lied and to help them with a class action suit against them. Brenda indicated do what you wish, that is your right! Call was disconnected, fax was sent, and recorded conversations were pulled and will be sent to your office along with a memo of case proceedings, witness statements, documentation, and all receipts again.

And as stated to Brenda, to date I have not heard from not one individual from Charter One/Citizens Bank since my complaint. They lied in indicating they have contacted me and I was fine with the agreement. There is no agreement and at this point since the debit is still in collections as of today, I am not interested in an agreement. I would like to take legal action and I request that you please work with our solicitor’s office in beginning legal proceedings. As a Contract Compliance Investigator, I have reviewed the case entirely to include pulling all of Charter One/Citizens Bank federal contracts and our documentation will show several federal violations in which your office must act on with our prejudice.

Thanking you in advance for your prompt attention and assistance in this matter.

I have no legal recourse other than to not do business with them anymore. I was charged four times. It would have kept happening if I had not demanded a hold on the account. I don't make large sums of money so the fees couldn't be taken care of because they were so excessive. Normally, a check is allowed to bounce three times - they allowed it to happen four times. And they said they would keep doing it because legally, they could because the check was put through the telecheck system. Terrible bank. I will never bank with them again. These days your better off leaving your money in your drawers anyways. Also, some of the tellers have no etiquette, none.

To this day, it upsets me to think I lost my job, after many years of service. I worked in this department, and I know exactly how it is run; and it makes me physically ill to think that all of these mails are sitting in bins and bins of mail -- thousands of pieces waiting to be processed, while people like myself, have to wait patiently for it to show up in their accounts. Our economy is in dire straights, and people are living week after week, such as myself, for Citizens Bank to get around to processing the deposits made by mail from six different states (maybe more now) by 3 people in the department in Rhode Island. It's not physically possible for these three women to keep up with the work. You can say that maybe you should just get the check and make a deposit in person, but then you have to wait until it clears. It's usually for 3 days -- depending on the teller.

Now I have already called the gift card line they gave me at 888-642-7710, ext. 1030 and was told my order was received and card was being mailed. That was about five weeks ago.

This is nothing but false advertisement to make money. I refuse to pay another $198/month for their services and they need to be investigated on how many more scams they have pulled.

Citizens Bank did not follow our direction at all and instead applied the check to the remaining balance of our loan. Not only did they not perform the requested action, but also managed to deposit the check without our endorsement. In the almost two months that have followed, Citizens Bank has stalled our attempts to recover the money through a series of lies and incompetent behavior. We have probably made at least 10 phone calls to Citizens Bank over throughout December 2010 and January 2011.

First, we were told that they could not extract the funds from the loan balance for some procedural reason. Then, they reversed themselves and said they could extract the funds and send us the check. Citizens Bank claims to have mailed the check in early January 2011, but after three weeks of waiting for a check that was supposed to arrive within three to five days, we are very concerned about if we will ever get the check. Our last call to Citizens Bank occurred on January 28, 2011 in which we inquired about the status of the check. Instead of simply canceling the check they supposedly sent in early January 2011 and mailing a new one, they claimed that they would investigate what happened.

This stalling is completely unacceptable. We paid for the repairs out-of-pocket because we expected to receive the funds from Citizens Bank in a timely fashion. As a result of Citizens Bank's stalling and ineptitude, we have been placed in a difficult financial situation over the last two months. We are reaching out for help at this point because we really have no idea when or if we will ever receive the funds from Citizens Bank that we need to pay our bills. We appreciate any help you can provide in helping us recover our funds from Citizens Bank. Thank you.

If I find what I want, all accounts will cease and pulled for a different bank. I do not feel I should be nickel and dimed when I have a substantial amount invested in your growth. I have one month before my CD matures, then there is a good chance I will be going elsewhere with my money. Business is business.

We verified the bank to bank payment information to make sure there were no mistakes. I then sent another bank to bank expedited payment for the additional missing payment. Somehow I knew exactly what Citizens Bank was going to say when I called today to get a status report. Of course they claim that they haven't received any payments. Now Citizens Bank wants me to send them the money via Western Union. Yeah, like making all the payments a third time is going to work. At this point we don't even know how to proceed. We can certainly gather evidence from our banks for a lawsuit but you won't get Citizens Bank to ever admit any wrongdoing. Still, a lawsuit seems the only option we have left. So the question I have—is Citizens Bank incompetent or are they thieves? I'm voting for the later.

The credit ratings for both my daughter and me are being destroyed. We still can't get the car back and we seem to be throwing money down an endless gopher hole. Also, the towing and storage charges for my daughter’s car continue to multiply. We even found out that the towing company has freighted the car to Idaho so it can be sold at an auction when the waiting time is up in a few weeks. I'm guessing that Citizens Bank has a monetary "relationship" with this towing company. If we ever get Citizens Bank to admit that they received payments, getting the car back from the towing company will cost another thousand or so.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried to send a wire to a foreign country through CB to pay for study abroad tuition. I paid the amount of money in the foreign currency, and the money was immediately withdrawn from my account. Everything was fine until a week later when I received two letters in the mail. One said that I was paying the foreign bank the amount of money I sent out, and another said that the foreign bank wired the money back to me because of an incorrect IBAN number.

Because of the change in international exchange rates, I lost a few hundred dollars, an outgoing wiring fee of $10, and an incoming wiring fee of $13. This may not be an exorbitant amount of money, but for a college student who is working three jobs to stay in school, this was the only money I had to pay to study abroad. Of course, by the time I found out about this, the exchange rates had gone back up, and I would have had to fork over more money to pay the original amount of foreign currency.

Believing there must be some mistake, I called my branch of Citizen's Bank, which then directed me to their wiring company. The person there pointed out that whoever had done the wiring (the banker) had added "IBAN" to the beginning of the IBAN number, making it wrong. I then called the banker, who claimed that the loss was my fault because I had signed the paper, letting him send the wire. I was unaware, at that time, that "IBAN" had been added in front of the correct IBAN number. I thought it was just the place where they were putting the IBAN number, and the rest had been typed correctly. The banker said that I had presented him the IBAN number like that, which was a complete lie. I had typed out "IBAN:" (with a colon before the actual number, nonetheless!) so that I would know where to point when they asked me for the number. Also, my question to you: shouldn't a person who banks for a job know the correct format for sending a wire? Why would I tell you the correct format? That's like a doctor needing to ask you which scalpel to use when you ask for a surgery!

The banker, who turned out to be the manager of that branch, was extremely rude and began to string me along and not returning any of my calls; always being in a meeting when I did call. It was not until I called the regional manager, who was also rude to me and did not return my call, that I had things sorted out.

Only after I hassled the bank twice a day for a week did they grudgingly agree to give me back the $10 outgoing wiring fee, $13 incoming wiring fee, and the several hundreds of dollars of mine they lost due to their incompetence. And still, the regional manager insisted that it was a fault on both parts. Many of the people I dealt with along the way (such as the wiring company and another banker at the branch) were very sympathetic and patient, and I greatly appreciate that. But when it came down to the people who mattered (the managers), they were downright rude and it was clear that they did not want to admit their mistake.

I will not be going back to this bank to make any more transactions. I would like to warn others, as well, to reconsider if you are looking into banking with CB. I got stress and unnecessary hassle on the customer's part. Also, it would have resulted in a permanent loss of several hundred dollars had I, the customer, not complained repeatedly.

Back on October 9th, I went into the branch on S. Queen Street in York PA and deposited $371 into my account. The amount of my car payment is $370. I had around $3.00 in the account at the time, so there was more than enough in the account to cover the car payment with the deposit. On November 3rd, I received a letter from Citizens saying my account was overdrawn and if I did not correct it, it would be reported to the credit bureau.

I called Citizens bank's main office only to be put on hold by a representative for a half hour after asking for a supervisor. I hung up and called the branch and got the manager, Troy ** on the phone. He looked at my account and said he could not understand why the car payment over drew the account because he could see that they were in there at the same time. He said he would look further and call me back the next day. He never did, so I went into the branch. He showed me a letter he claimed the bank sent to me that said my account was overdrawn. I never received this letter.

My account was negative $104. He said the only thing he could do was reimburse me the $37 nsf fee, but would not refund the subsequent fees because they would not have been assessed if I would have responded to the first letter which I never got. I begged him to reconsider, he refused and became abusive towards me and I left the branch.

I got his manager, Patrick ** phone number and have been calling ever since and he has been ignoring my phone calls and has failed to return any of my calls. I called the South Queen street branch back and they refuse to give me a manager's contact info above Patrick ** only to say Patrick has this under control. I have since zeroed the account and closed it with Steve **, the assistant manager at South Queen street. Steve told me the issue is over. Citizens seems to think they can charge any fee they want unwarranted or not and when confronted they try and intimidate, ignore and abuse their customers. It is clear from Googling citizens bank that they have a record of illegal bank fees and customer service misconduct.

This amount of bank fees has caused my account to go negative. I have been getting many bank fees since 2005, due to out of pocket medical costs that were not paid by the Department of Labor for Workmen's Compensation.

When we canceled our accounts today (July 26, 2010,) I told your representative, Alan **, what I'm telling you in this letter. When we opened our accounts with you over twenty years ago, your people were very friendly, and we had to fill out and sign papers. But when your bank decided to make a major change in our Checking account, you sent a form letter that either we never received or did not notice, your decision to charge a monthly fee of $20.00. This was not very friendly. We didn't find out for three months of the service charge. Although that may be my fault, the glaring difference is still there. I imagine you send out form notice of this kind fully hoping people will not notice, at least long enough for you to take from you customers instead of giving.

I was told that my account required a $20,000 minimum. I asked why the $20.00 service fee was never charged prior to my first charge of $20.00 in May. The representative told me that my balance in the past included a mortgage, which made the minimum possible. I replied that I had not had a mortgage with them for the past three or four years. He replied that the bank just caught up to me. That made me even more indignant.

There was a minimum effort to keep me as a customer, which was an offer to sign me up for another checking account that didn't require a minimum balance of $20,000. I might have considered that had your representative offered to, also, remove my three $20.00 service charges. You would not miss $60, which was charged for no service, and you would have kept a customer.

Your slogan, A good citizen gives as well as takes is very appropriate. The implication that Citizens bank is a good citizen may or may not be true, but as a bank you certainly do take. I realize that losing one small customer doesn't affect your bottom line, but at least I have the satisfaction of letting you know how one customer feels.

That was only the beginning. A short time later, Charter One opted to run each transaction through a second time! Not the vendors, folks. Charter One took it upon themselves to run the transactions through a second time, knowing full well that the money wasn't available. Apparently, the "system" is automated to do that in order to generate more fees for the bank. That's right. That is a direct quote from the bank manager, Kevin, was, "Mr. **, how else do you expect us to make money?"

I pleaded with him and Charter One customer service, on behalf of common decency, that over $400 in overdraft fees is well beyond a reasonable amount and that loan sharks have better rates. What did Charter One do for me while I was gone overseas? Why, they began charging me $6.99 each day. I didn't pay! Never mind, I was out of the country with no idea that this was happening! Did they relent with any compassion, whatsoever? Absolutely not! Instead, they assured me that they would continue to charge me every single day! For what? They called it a "service fee".

For what, I asked. The $400 plus dollars wasn't enough? As far as I am concerned, Charter One and the people that work for them have financially raped my account. Shame on me for ever lying in bed with this "economic harlot" that would feign responsible financial services. I will make it my life's ambition to see to it that no one I can dissuade will ever bank at that institution again. I have never heard of such callous business practice since the Chase Bank practices during the Second Great War with the Germans. Honestly, I would expect to be penalized. I just never thought I would have my legs symbolically broken.

At one time, a $39 fee was rebated by them, only to be replaced with a $35 fee. It is egregious that I would be charged over $198 in fees for overdrawing $16.85. The company has conducted themselves very poorly. "Donna" from collections was especially rude and confrontational and hung up on me twice. Charter One Bank has kicked me when I was down. I explained to Charter One several times that I was going through financial hardship and was willing to pay a fee, but they would not work with me at all. I would be more than willing to pay the $16.85 that I owe Charter One, plus one NSF fee of $39, but they refuse to even consider my offer.

In closing, Charter One has unethical business practices. They are unscrupulous in their fee-charging and business practices. Charter One is a company not concerned in the least with its customers, only its bottom line. I was more than willing to work with Charter One, but they only threatened me with collections and negative consequences. I have never in my life dealt with such a callous, malevolent, unfriendly, unprofessional, greedy, and careless entity in my life as Citizen's bank also known as Charter One. I now cannot have a bank account or savings account. Charter One is sending me to collections when I'm already reeling from the loss of my home due to losing my job. Charter one is harassing me and affecting my future. Charter One is trying hard to dupe me out of my hard earned money.

Three weeks later, while checking my balance on line, I notice a draft from the bank in the exact amount of the check that had been processed twice. I called the bank, they told me that they had to verify that I had been charged twice. They would send me the paperwork, it would take 5-7 business days to arrive, fill it out, wait another 5-7 business days to find out if someone has made a mistake.

After I witnessed the merchant's unscrupulous methods of providing me the software (via an unsafe download with no CD copy of the software), I decided to immediately cancel the order. However, the merchant is based in Asia and their methods of communication were limited. I utilized their online correspondence method and I sent them the note to immediately cancel the order. However, they delayed the inevitable and never refunded my money. Instead, they played as if they provided me with my product and took my money. Their website is: Only4Soft.com.

I took the matter up with PayPal at first due to the fact that the transaction was initiated through PayPal. I trusted PayPal to be a safe online mediator of electronic transactions conducted online. However, to my dismay, PayPal did nothing. Instead, PayPal advocated for the merchant and said that the merchant was also a customer of theirs.

Apparently, PayPal also mentioned that since the purchase was for a said download, they would not protect me and get me my money back. PayPal attempted to justify that they do not cover non-tangible goods, such as downloads. However, I explained to PayPal that I simply wish to cancel the transaction and I took nothing from the merchant, nor did I receive anything from the merchant.

PayPal still chose to do nothing and I go absolutely nowhere with them. So, I decided to contact my bank since the purchase was made with my debit card linked to my checking account. My current bank is Citizens Bank and I provided them with full details of the situation. I requested that they act on my behalf to get me my money back, but they put me through a horrible ordeal.

To make a long story short, Citizens Bank had me go through lengthy and drawn-out measures, only for them to mistreat me in the long run. They had me fill out an affidavit that did nothing to get me my money back. Citizens Bank trifled with the transaction, caused me much pain and suffering, and still to date, I do not have my money back in my account. I spoke with numerous representatives on all different levels of the bank's hierarchy, yet they all advocated doing what has been in the best interest of Citizens Bank.

The matter has even gotten so bad that I could not even resolve it on a branch level. I attempted to do so at my local branch where I opened the account, but the branch manager only made matters worse. Eventually, the branch manager did not want to do her job to assist me any longer, so she contacted the local police to make it seem as though I was harassing her and behaving in a hostile and criminal fashion. And, the local police ordered me not to go to the branch or call there anymore, even though it is the branch where I opened my account and is closest to me. All of the other branches are pretty far in distance from where I live.

Citizens Bank has since compromised my account, took my money and put a hold on my account, so I can no longer access my money. They have caused me much financial distress, while at the same time tried to ruin my reputation as a law-abiding citizen. How ironic is it that Citizens Bank would do this to me?

I called them and explained that I just got the letter on the 3/7/10 and the fee was paid on 3/8/10. I asked if they could remove the additional $35. The supervisor told me that he wouldn't remove it because I got the letter on the 7th and I should have transferred money on the 7th to avoid the charge on the 8th. I explained to him that I have an autistic son and 3 other children and couldn't log on the computer that night when I got home and received the letter.

Well, he told me that they are open 24 hours and I should have called. This bank is charging me a total of $75.00 for having an overdraft of $15.34 that was paid in 8 days, since I received the notice from them in 7 days. This is highway robbery. The INS fund charge I agree to pay but an additional $35 charge for paying on the 8th day is wrong. Especially, since I received their notice of INS Funds on the 7th day. I have been a great customer for a long time with more than one account.

When I asked how to close my account because of this, the supervisor just told me to withdraw my money and leave it with a zero balance for 7 days. He didn't even care to keep my business and didn't try to resolve the excessive charging on Citizen's behalf to my account. I would like to pay just the NSF funds charge and be refunded the additional $35, so called "service fee" that Citizens bank took from me. C'mon they took $75 in total for me being short $15 on my account! I have an autistic son and my husband was laid off. We are living on unemployment and that additional money the bank took caused my family to go without this month.

I did send a letter to the bank requesting to close this account and included a check for $74.61. My point here is if they tell the customer it’s a free checking account and they do advertise on their banners it’s free checking, well the reality it’s not, this for me is misleading the consumers. Now, all I am asking is to get my $74.61 back.

When the bank attempted to automatically debit the new account, which was less than $50, there was no enough fund. The bank then began to send me late notices, which I was not aware of. Once they sent me 3 notices, they sent out a note to the credit company. This caused my credit score to go down 200 points. I contacted the customer service rep and she told me to write a note explaining the situation and it should be fixed. I waited 2 months for them to send it to the committee and was denied. I called the consumer service and they told me the committee had decided they would not fix my credit. I asked if I could speak to someone on this secret committee and was told their policy does not allow me to talk to them.

I explained that I checked my online bank account on a weekly basis and there was no note or indication that I owed the bank money. The customer service rep felt bad, but it was out of his control. I went to my branch and was told the rep that originally helped me was no longer there. Another rep told me he would help me out and write a note to customer service telling them that the branch made an error. The customer service still did not fix my credit. I have called the customer service department multiple times, each time speaking with a different rep. Each rep has tried to help me, but they could not seem to convince the secret committee that I am an innocent victim.

Now her tone and body language told me that she wasn't receptive with any problems I might have. She ignored the -$65.03 balance and said, after a series of verbal bank fees and charges that she claimed was being added to my account, totaled -$299.03. I immediately asked, “Can these fees be waived?" and she said for me to contact another office or officers concerning this matter. Then, I said to her, “Your bank has hidden fees and charges that is unfair to me and your customers, and thank you for your time". For nothing! I do have (actual) documentation of these outrageous fees and charges.

I also agree with your other posted complaints about smaller bills being posted late. I called in a complaint to Charter One last week that I was unable to see online banking status of bills submitted as much as three weeks earlier. They were not yet posted to my account but were not listed as pending either. That means I had outstanding more than $400.00 in bills submitted that were not posted from my account. Horribly deceiving. I guess when they are racking up these high fees, there is no motivation to change it.

Sometimes I have waited for days before I notice the transaction. Why did it take so long to post? I feel if they can monitor the ATM machines, then we should be able to use our receipts to verify when transactions are done. Meaning, when the date and time of the computer receipt is printed then that transaction must be posted according to the date and time and must be processed within the 24 hours window. Just a suggestion, we (consumer) need to fight this matter. Where is our overdraft fee being used for and why so much? I was told it was a processing fee. What, to punch a button or watch the computer calculate it for you? One state fought and keep the fees down to $5.00. Someone help us put a stop to this or at least keep the fees down to a minimum like the other states have.

I left work early and went to the local bank branch where I spoke with the bank manager. She confirmed that the funds were available to me on 9/10 but that the bank decided to put the funds on hold to re-verify with the third-party bank. This, I was told, was done to protect me. She also asked why I did not transfer some of the funds from my savings back into my checking account after I received the letter. When I looked perplexed and told her that the bank had put the funds on hold, she explained that the funds I transferred to my savings were not put on hold, just what I had in my checking account at the time.

This baffled me. But when I asked for the fees to be reversed, I was told that it wasn't a bank error that caused the "insufficient funds" fees and that she would not refund my money. I asked to file a customer complaint with the regional manager. The bank manager typed and emailed a customer care complaint to the regional manager (who is on vacation) and told me she would get in touch with me in about a week’s time. This has cost me over $350 (about a week’s salary for me).

Since Citizens Bank said I could pay the amount over the phone and my bank, Boeing Employees Credit Union, said they would not charge me for cancelling the check and since I wanted to get Citizens Bank their money in good standing, I decided it would be most prudent to cancel the transaction and pay over the phone. But when I called Citizens to make the payment over the phone, they informed me that they were going to charge me a $20 service fee, which was 6.67% of the total payment. I was outraged that they would charge me, just so I could make my payment to them on time. I felt gouged. Whatever did I do wrong to deserve such a fee? I told them I would not pay their excessive fee and take my chances with the postal service.

The following day, I went to a branch and wrote a check for September's payment. Then, to my surprise, both payments cleared. I called Charter One to ask if they could back this extra payment off and send it back or apply it to my October payment. After speaking to several reps, I spoke with a supervisor by the name of Pat. He stated he could issue a check or apply it to October. I assumed this was resolved.

Approximately two weeks later, I started getting Credit Counseling letters. I called everyday for a week, would get the same runaround and would assume it was taken care of. Then, I would have another credit letter in the mail. I would call once again. Not only was the undeserved letters humiliating, I also began to get phone calls at work. For one, I was doing my part for something that was not my error and two, then everyone knew my personal business.

Finally, I called the regional manager and listened once again how I can't make early payments. This was finally properly backed off and corrected after three months of battling. My troubles began again on 04/22/09 when I went to my local Charter One to make a payment and was denied. I had no notification that Charter One was changing to Old National nor that I could not make payments there anymore. I immediately called the number on my statement and spoke with Jack. He stated that I could make a payment with him on the phone and pay $12.50 or pay for a stamp and mail it. He did offer automatic deduction but never sent the paperwork. I chose to mail it. For the following payments, I used my own financial institutions - Home Banking.

My June payment was due on 06/23; it was received on 06/22 and the entire payment once again went to principal. On 07/13, I received my statement and noticed this error. I called and spoke with Cindy and she stated this was their error and would be corrected. On 07/14, I received a credit counseling letter. I called once again and spoke with Brittany. She said to give it 3-4 business days.

On 07/15, I received another letter and this time, a phone call expecting payment. I told Frank I had called twice already in two days, which was not showing, and wanted confirmation that my July payment which is due on 07/23 would be sent promptly. I feel that I have been harassed by Charter One several times and I want it to stop. I totally believe that this will continue to happen since I have already had several instances.

I have excellent credit and faithful payment history with all of my creditors, so I do not appreciate this type of harassment! I make my payments on time and over the amount. Somewhere in this situation, fault needs to be found with Charter One's ethic practices. This is causing me undue stress and time that should not be happening. I pay my bills. Thank you for your time and please notify me if my situation has any legal merit.

In my opinion this was a scam on their part to get free money out of their good standing customers. Since banks are not doing well I feel that this was an attempt to get free money. If I knew that I was giving 200.00 of free money to miss one payment I would not have done that. They told me that was the interest that accumulated over the free payment month. So basically it was not a free payment but a way for them to get free money out of their customers. I am not sure how many people did this, but it is probably thousands. But to me that is wrong on their part. I am not sure if this is fraud but it sounds to me like it is. Please let me know if there is anything you can do. But in today’s economy no wonder banks are getting a bad name.

Why no phone call or other communication the elimination of available credit? What if I had a check out and it bounced? Who makes the decision regarding equity in a home? Since banks own politicians, I'm sure what they did was legal? Well, I'm not sure. From what I have read, banks can make geographic decisions they way Charter One did. It looks as though they are comparing my home with homes not in my area, and since the interest rate was at 2.5%, they wanted to dump the loan for something better. Banks have their cake, eat it, and the rest of us too.

We have been customers for 5 years and think that this is just a bad way to treat customers. Also, if the account is in overdraft status why does the bank approve additional purchases on the bank card? I think it is to rack up money from their customers! This should be illegal! Whatever the cause, as a loyal customer for years, I dont believe a $4 overdraft charge should rob us of hundreds of dollars from our checking account! On 5/29 we went to my Charter One branch and applied for credit overdraft protection, they approved us on the spot (so the banker told us).

One month later (6/26) our account went into a negative balance, the overdraft protection did not kick in. As of today I have another $507 of overdraft charges on my account. I called the bank today (6/27),and explained the situation and they stated that they dont do automatic applications; you have to fill out a paper application. The manager stated that there was no overdraft protection on this account! This is not true! Not only did the overdraft protection kick in the bank manager denied that they approved my overdraft protection!

I believe these charges in the month of June should be reversed. We have been charged $741 in overdraft charges in the past 2 months (not to mention thousands of fees in the past 4 years). I am done fighting with this bank and will consider changing banks if the charges on my account are not reversed!

I found my reciepits and called them on 9/24/2007 at 2 pm asked them to mail me a payment history from them to match my records. then the rep told me that I didn't owe them 2154.76 when he looked up my western union payments and admitted they made a mistake . He said someone called about a pay off balance and that it was never recieved so they took the car when I was not far behind in paymentHe followed by telling me that it was too late to do anything about it because the car is in the process of being sold. They stole the car from me left me straided and all they can so is opps we made a mistake .

I have no car and I made payments. Is this the kind of business they do take cars from ppl iilegally when they are close too or paid off the car. According to my records the car was paid off but I still was making payments until it was investigated. Yet they took my car, I have to walk and catch a bus when I worked my assss off to pay for that car. There is something that needs to be done on this injuctice done to me by not only the dealer but the two banks.

Note: Ive discussed all of these peeves NUMEROUS times with Charter Ones customer service personnel. None of my following complaints have been addressed.

1) Paint the parking lot so that customers know where to park. The parking lines have worn away. Everytime I park at the branch nearest to me (South Detroit and Glendale Avenues in Toledo, Ohio) its a guessing game as to where the parking lines are.

2) Reduce the number of transaction (transfer / withdrawal) slips to ONE. Numerous times Ive filled out the wrong

slip, and once a teller made me do it over using the correct slip, which really flamed my butt. Filling out only one slip makes it easier and faster.

3) After I make a transaction, printout my current BALANCE of that account. The current receipt only tells me is the date and amount of my transaction. It should display my current balance. One teller was nice enough to handwrite my new balance on my receipt. I didnt ask her to do that, which makes me believe even Charter One employees would like to have that service. Your system should do that AUTOMATICALLY. This is a no-brainer. All of my previous banks provided this service. Fix this one pronto.

4) Give your customers some privacy when they talk to the financial assistance inside the branch. I dont want my neighbors to hear and know my financial business. Put up some portable partitions. Once I had to whisper so that the next customer wouldnt hear what I told the assistant. Thats rediculous.

5) Combine my checking and money market account monthly statements in ONE mailing. Why use two envelopes and postage when one would do?

6) One my monthly statements, show my transactions from the first of the month to the end of the month. Because I opened my accounts in the middle of a month, my monthly statements show my transactions from the middle of one month to the middle of the next. The system is set up to allow business customer this service but not regular customers. Why the discrimination? None of my previous banks did this nor do I know of ANY other bank that does this. I was told the only way I MIGHT get this changed is to cancel my accounts and open them back up on the first of the month. I have direct deposit. I shouldnt have to cancel my accounts on one day and open new ones on the next. That is REDICULOUS.

Happened, and current:

Misrepresentation of Interest rates on all accounts at their bank. I have been with this bank since it was First Federal in 1990 and never thought that they would misrepresent as they do and have the rate on the internet..

I had siged up for checking in Toledo, and continued to use, upgrade, go to internet usage through the years only to find about a week ago that the rates showing on the internet do not apply to almost any account.

I just converted temporarily to a PRIVILEGE account showing a rate of 2.47% on the internet.. Guess what?

It is good to 1/6/05 only, then converts with the required balance of $ 10,000 to .75%. This is a fraud, misrepresentation, etc. There is no place on the web site to actually get the real rate of return, and they intentionally misrepresent to get customer.

I called on about a 1 year old account (Energized) and found they are paying 1% when the site showed 1.99% and has now changed to .75%.. I asked to have my interest restored at the 1.99% to 2.50% where it was when I opened it.

Obviously they refused.

On the afternoon of Thursday, November 4th, I phoned Citizens Bank to inquire as to why my account was not showing the $600.00 that cleared my spouse's account the previous Monday. I was told that their "funds availability policy" allowed two business for the funds to actually post to my account. I informed the customer service representative that this was still beyond that time period. The representative informed me that he was showing the $600.00 and that it would post to my account that evening. I informed the representative that I was concerned about a specific check (#525) for my mortgage payment. The representative assured me that this check would not be debited to my account until all deposits (specifically the additional $600) were credited.

On Friday, November 5th I phoned my mortgage company and several other creditors to verify that my payments posted. I also verified via my banks online services that all of the transactions in question were showing, which they were.

On Saturday, November 6th I logged on to Citizens' website to input additional online payments. I was shocked to find that my mortgage check ($2793.33) had been returned for insufficient funds, along with two subsequential transactions! I immediately phoned Citizens Bank to speak with a supervisor. I spoke with "Kendra" who told me that although Citizens Bank physically had the "cash" from my spouse's account on Monday that there was nothing she could do and that in the future, I should do a better job of reading the banks funds availability policy.

After waiting 22 minutes, I got a particularly rude and brutish female on the line who proceeded to berate me. According to this cow, it was totally my fault that the branch hung up on me, and my fault that I kept being automatically transferred to the Cleveland Office. She knew, apparently by telepathy, that I was punching the wrong buttons on my phone. Because of this, she refused to give me a manager's name and then proceeded to hang up on me. All this time, my significant other has been listening to this conversation, as I hit my speaker button when he entered the room and let him listen in. His comment when I hung up, and I quote: "That black ***** should be reported. She's an embarrassment to me and my entire race." Yes, FYI, he is black as well. So, at his urging, I call the Cleveland office back again and again request to speak to a manager.

This time they transfer me to "Victoria". I tell her my story. Victoria tells me that since I'm not a customer, she can't do anything to track down the ignoramus who hung up on me. Basically, her attitude was "why should I care about you if you're not going to give us your money?" By now I'm beginning to think this bank must have a corporate culture that encourages people to be a--holes. Maybe they get points for it or something. But no, it gets better. Since I got nowhere with Victoria, the Manager of Cleveland's Crappy Customer Service, and at the urging of my significant other, I once again dial the Hoffman Estates branch and this time get a live human being. After repeating this sad tale yet again, she pretends to be so sorry about my treatment and urges me to come in and open an account. I basically tell her if this is a sample of their service, I'd rather have a root canal, and for the 100th time now, request a manager's name to write a complaint letter to. She gives me the number: 877-321-BANK and says this is the Corporate Office and I should ask for the Operations Manager. My significant other calls the number. He gets a recording with a breathy female voice telling him not to hang up. He hangs up. (BTW, he tried 3 times to be sure he wasn't misdialing. Miss Breathy Voice answered all 3 times.)

I am disappointed that I am banking with them as I was also mislead on another issue. I was told during my initial consultation with a representative in the lockport, Ny branch that the mega rewards debit card would not have a monthly fee. I read in the fine print online at Charterone.com that I am going to owe $25 each year to have a debit card through the bank. I wasn't given another option but to have the megarewards card. I feel disgusted with this bank.

They advertise that they have the best banking yet they have the same options as other banks plus fees that are not offered as information needed to know when opening an account. I have never double paid when using other banks' atms just paid the fee charged that you agree to, and I have Never had to pay to have a debit card. Now I have to wait 120 days before closing the account as listed in the fine print that is online.

I didn't realize anything was wrong until I received an email on April 24 stating that my payments could not be completed and I should check the online payment activity to determine the cause. When I checked my accounts I saw what had happened. The bank had payed five of the seven requested payments out of the smaller account. They appeared to have charged them in no particular order. The first they paid caused an overdraft (but was not the largest of our bills). They paid four more, smaller bills before stopping and charging us a whopping $210 in overdraft fees. I immediately called customer service. The first person I spoke to said they could only take $60 of the charge off. When I argued, they said they would remove $105 (50% of the charge).

I kept climbing the ladder through 3 more people and a different number for the consumer affairs department but to no avail. I was told this was not a bank error, it was my fault and the most they would deduct would be $105. No one could sufficiently answer my questions about why they didn't stop with the first overdraft and why they stopped when they did or in what order the selected bills were paid. I was simply told that "it was up to the computer to decide" and "the charges were listed on page 13 of the rules and regulations book."

I asked several times to have these fees reversed asap and my account closed and the balance sent to me immediately. However, Charter One refused to even close my account and send me the balance, and has ignored all of my emails and letters. They have continued to charge my account with a monthly fee to a point now, where they have taken all the money from my account.

This practice is wrong and unfair. I would appreciate any help you can give me in remedying this.