Fifth Third Bank Reviews

It was not until January of 2014 that I discovered this account when they finally sent the first statement on it since his death! They were already going on four months of penalty fees withdrawn from it, and the penalty fees appear to be redundant charges as well. They are subtracting a 5.00 monthly service fee that I was told was because there are no active accounts, and a 5.00 dormant account fee??? Sounds pretty redundant to me!

Obviously, my original complaint is that this whole issue is a bank error to begin with...my husband never intended this account to be left individual. I know this for a fact! I have gotten thousands of dollars of accounts transferred and handled effortlessly. We made sure all of our assets were secured for me....Insurances, retirement funds, pension plans, and etc. However, I don't know how to even prove they are at fault on that without having access to dates and history on these accounts! This is a very small savings for 402 dollars, but it should have been put in my name when we came in to do just that.

I am unable to ascertain the transactions on this savings juxtaposed to our transferring of all our assets because this branch manager has made it clear that even when the judge releases this money to me (his widow) she will not give me the history on the account!! So, I have had to pay 45.50 to own this asset that should have been mine to begin with, and now that I have paid to own it, I still cannot have the history of it, which would confirm my position on the issue. The branch manager just keeps repeating to me that she did not work there when me and my husband made these changes! I really don't know what that has to do with anything...the banks neglect on this does not have to personally reflect on her for it to be reviewed properly....one would hope!

This is a matter of principle to me, the money is small, but does not belong to the bank and I also should have been alerted to it before they started pilfering duplicate fees from it! This kind of activity leaves a bad taste in my mouth! I believe it should be addressed.

In order to save my credit at one point, I gave my routing number and the hard copy check never cleared. Right before Thanksgiving, they repossessed the car. When I called to see what was going on, I was told that October's payment was never made and they had the right to repossess at their discretion. What???? I had to once again pay via the phone and pay the phone fee. Then I had to pay repossession fees which were more than the payment. So here we are in January and I get a dozen calls today saying December's payment has not been received. The payment is due on the 22nd and the payment was mailed on the 10th. So now I get told I have $152 in late charges since the account is 18 days past due.

I called my bank and guess what. The check has not cleared yet. This bank is holding hard copy checks and forcing customers to pay by phone so they can collect the additional fees. This should be illegal and probably is. I am filing a complain tonight with CFPB. I have been told by my personal bank CFPB has fined multiple large banks for unethical practices. Hopefully 5th 3rd will be the next one fined.

Now they call every 3 days cause I am behind. When I try to explain why, the CSRs will hang up on me. When I call the 866- number back, it won’t connect me. No one can find out who called me, there's no information in the computer, and they say each call is monitored and recorded? Except the ones that they hang up on you. The lady today told me that I shouldn't feel the need to talk to the person that hung up on me that they would handle it? I said I would like to tell him what I thought of him and I wouldn't even ask for him to send me a payment.

As it turns out, it is arbitrary. Some transactions do not show up until later, therefore misleading me to think that I have enough in my account, then later showing transactions that went through days before. I spoke with the branch manager Dan whose way of dealing with customers is by talking louder and over his customer’s voice. He tells you how it is, then when you try to get a word in, starts talking again, then at the end says "have a great day". I find this type of fast talking wall street wannabee types repulsive and most insincere. He told me that I should be talking to the branch I opened the account at and all the time I was wondering, why the hell of the people I already spoke with (including Dan) at his branch could not one of them had mentioned that? The service charges Fifth Third has are so high I expect service!

Then I went back to the ATM machines to check if I missed any sign of fee that was going to be deducted from my account, but there was none. EXCEPT A BIG PLATE FORM THAT INDICATES, "Fifth Third Bank may charge a fee as indicated on the ATM screen to cardholder for completing a transaction ..... " which never mentioned on none of the ATM machines at several gas stations that I worked at. And when I called to see how they can help me resolve this issue they told me, "We apologize and sorry we can't refund you the money, even though the ATM didn't indicate that there will be any charge." Just like that and there is nothing we can do for you. I believe if you take anything that is not yours without asking for is stealing, but to get caught and say YES I took your money but you didn't catch me when I took it and now it's in my pocket and I won't give it back, that's theft in its eye. Where is the LAW?

So, as I pay close attention to the machines that are now where the teller's station used to be I say "what the heck, I can still do what I want to deposit my check and withdraw some money." So, proceed to make my transactions. I put my card in. I enter my PIN. I hit the account balance, and get a receipt stating my balance. Then the ATM screen asks if I want my card back or if I want another transaction. And yes I do want another transaction, I want to deposit my check. When I hit the deposit transaction button the little door that accepts deposits opens and shuts and opens again. Finally the little door opens and I slide my check in. As soon as I slide my (endorsed) check in the ATM the door closes before it pulls my check securely in.

Now my check is partially in the ATM and partially hanging outside the little door. Now, I'm looking around for some help, for a number or somebody to help me. I did not see any help or even anyone paying any attention to what I was doing. Finally get the attention of the store security officers and ask them if they could help or knew anything about the ATMs. We all stand there dumbfounded.

Long story short, the ATM took my check. The check was not posted to my account. The next day when I got to the "branch" to meet with some from the bank and after waiting twenty minutes after the posted time of operations, I call the number supplied by another branch and the corporate office; no answer. When I contact the corporate office, the second time they tried to explain to me that they could not do anything for me. Finally when I insisted that I needed to speak to someone of power I was transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor finally explained to me that the branch was totally closed. Also, the ATMs do not belong to Fifth Third Bank, but Brinks. The supervisor also explained that Brinks only services the ATMs twice a week.

Everybody needs to be aware that Fifth Third Bank's ATM are not the property of Fifth Third Bank and that using the ATMs is a risky process.

I am now a kidney dialysis patient and must take medication with every meal and snack. This medicine is very expensive. My health insurance covered most of it until about two months ago and I ended up in a doughnut hole until the beginning of the year. That means instead of just paying the co-pay of $45, I had to pay $389. My wife and I are retired and on a fixed income. I was late with my payment and 2 days after the due date, the bank started calling me and calling me - up to 7 times a day. I have explained to about 4 people what the situation was and told them I would make my payment on the 20th of the month.

That is not good enough for them. They even transferred me over to their so-called Hardship Department and even after telling that person what my situation was, he gave me an attitude and told me they would be contacting me every day until the payment was made. I don't need this. Dealing with them is a nightmare. They don't listen and they don't care. I truly think they get their jollies on annoying people. I have turned my phone off and I won't talk to them again. This bank really needs to be investigated for their unethical practices.

To make a long story short, it is now 9/10/13. Each month, the security company keeps taking out the funds. Bank has a letter on file where the account was cancelled from the security company. Each time, they will check into the dispute. Each time, they need something more from me. I keep sending them the letter of cancellation from the security company and the bank promises to resolve the issue. I will get a letter from the bank saying the dispute is approved and the funds are back in my account a few days later they take them back from me. This month, they say it is good to dispute online and by phone but now I have to sign a paper stating I am disputing the dispute!!!!

What a mess. They want me to close the account which is impossible right now and open another one with them... Funny, they have record of what is in their interest but things I send in my interest are not found. Once I get this mess straight, I DO PROMISE TO CLOSE THIS ACCOUNT AND GET AS FAR AWAY FROM FIFTH THIRD AS POSSIBLE. Don't get me wrong, the people are nice but they DON'T know what the RIGHT HAND has done with the LEFT ONE...

Am waiting for an explanation from the "negotiator" for my loan modification, as they are not allowed to charge fees for a modification according to the rules of the HAMP program. The modification turned out to be a horrible refinance. Also the price for getting an interest rate reduction of roughly 3.5% for one year, 2.5% for one year, 1.5% for one year and then .5% for one year? 16 years added to the length of the loan, a balloon payment, and my credit will take a hit.

Today is August 6 - still no letter of explanation but I did receive 3 letters from 5th 3rd congratulating me on my excellent credit history and raising the line on my credit cards! In the meantime we ran our credit history and both have excellent credit histories except for a scam from 2009 on Reversatrol Ultra that my husband ordered on line- free for 30 days. After 10 days the company changed their requirements on returns and charged his credit card $87.00. Efforts to dispute the charge went unanswered and so the years long battle began with phone calls all day long but no one being able to answer my husband's objections. And so in March interest began and the amount is now $200+.

We refuse to pay off a bait and switch scam and so he has this unpaid $200 charge on his credit report. Today's customer service rep and the reinstatement rep said there was nothing they could do until we resolved the dispute and so for a scammed $200 charge, 5th 3rd is continuing the suspension of our equity flexline! Forget the 30 years of unblemished loyalty on our part. They said they have to look out for the "bank's interests". Obviously their customers' interests and concerns count for nothing. I can't wait to close every account I have with them... when I find a bank who actually stands by their customers. Anyone know of such an entity... or are we talking extinct species?

I perceived that I was going to talk to a person. I was wrong. I was placed on hold and after 14 minutes I was back in the never never land of making selections all over again. It took me 33 minutes before I was able to talk to some one. This lady did not know anything and I had to start all over again. She asked me what exactly it was that I was requesting. I told her I wanted to close the account with the bank issuing me a check. I was told there would be a account closing fee. I was placed on hold again, while she looked at what the fee would be. Another 10+ minutes and she comes back on the line and tells me that it would be $21.63. Surprise, that's exactly what I had in my account. Now I am really angry and said, "So the bank is keeping my money any way!" I also told her that I would never use Fifth Third Bank for any reason and I would tell family and friends and any one else what this bank did to me.

I could not pay with a personal check, or a debit card, nor could I draw from my child's account. I was told to come in, and not to worry about the late fee, b/c there is a 30 day grace period for the box accounts. Paid the reg. fee, and now, 2 months later get a letter for a late fee, and a drill box warning. I called the branch, and asked why did they accept the reg. payment and tell me not to worry about the late fee. The manager stated that there is not a grace period policy, and that I was told wrong, but still need to pay.

Not too fair, and I will not pay. I contacted (after much research) a consumer affairs officer in Grand Rapids for 5/3 main branch. I told him that I had no reason not to believe the teller, and did not get the grace period statement in writing. But I am not an opportunist, I just know what I heard, and to lose me as a customer over $25.00 is sad, stupid and pitiful! He listened, and will call me after this weekend. I am anticipating not paying, but will prepare for the worst. Too bad this company is fee crazy!

I did call the local branch and left a message then I followed through by calling customer service call center back to get a replacement card. I was very stressed out and disappointed and it showed in my voice. A customer rep named "Chris" did not like my attitude and hung up on me. Finally after much distress I got help from my local branch representative who ordered a replacement card.The branch people were very helpful but the customer service people at the Bank's call center not only dropped the ball but they lacked any empathy, were arrogant and rude.

After I took a 401k loan to save my house, I had to refinance. But due to my bad credit from this (and some other business), the only bank that would was 5-3rd. So we did that. Then last year, I get a notice my house insurance is being canceled. It seems my mortgage company did not pay them. So now I have to pay them out of pocket to keep my house insured. So that brings me to this year and my escrow is yet again short! After fighting and arguing, my payment yet again went up. They somehow did not know the date my taxes were due even though according to the city they have been paid on that date every year! Now I just hope my insurance gets paid this year. Never ever, ever go to this bank for anything!!!

Also, there are no due dates set for the 5th of the month. All mortgages are due on the 1st... You personally had it set to come out on the 5th... By contract though, it is due on or before the 1st of each month. Come on people, do you really not read your signed contracts?

In extenuating circumstances such as the absence of a debit card for this amount of time, one would think that they need to respond and escalate the matter. The only thing that 5/3 offered was that they will credit my account within 10 days for the fraud and will attempt to once again send me a debit card. Had they tried to at least act like they care and need to keep me as a customer, they would have attempted to assist in expediting something to me. I deeply regret having banked with 5/3 for this long. I will have to wait another ten days for them to credit my account and complete their fraud process and then I will be bidding 5/3 goodbye. They have had so many issues and complaints, you would think that at least working to resolve the issue would be their top priority.

After I arrived at Fifth Third Bank, I waited for 10 minutes then inquired with Ramona about depositing a large sum of money into my savings account. I asked many questions, ROI, what type of different account I should possibly open, CDs, etc. I was told by the Branch Manager that because of the line of questioning, she would have to complete a "suspect" report. I asked her what this was. She said that because of my line of questioning about how I should deposit MY MONEY at Fifth Third Bank, that makes me suspect. I asked her since when was there a law against asking about how to invest my hard-earned cash and what was I suspected of doing.

Her response was go to Usgovernment.com and they will tell you. She said this was a "government" website. I asked her, "Don't all govt. websites end in .gov?" She said that I would have to look it up. What kind of customer service is this that I cannot ask questions about how to use MY money in THEIR bank??? The colleague I brought with me to promote Fifth Third was shocked at the ignorance and disrespect of this Branch Manager and in turn decided against ever bringing any of his commercial businesses into this branch.

When I later called this Manager to tell her how shocked I was with her accusatory verbiage and complete disregard for the fact that I was bringing my money into this bank for which I had a choice of where I could park this money, I was CLEARLY TOLD, "Well dear, customer service is not what it used to be so this is how it is." I clearly told her THAT SHE HAD THAT ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! I have NEVER heard of a bank who treats its customers with such dishonor and disrespect. I will be closing my account and will make sure every friend and professional contact I know NEVER banks with Fifth Third Bank.

2nd problem: I own 2 properties locally both with 5th/3rd. For the 2nd year, they have paid the insurance twice on one home and allowed the 2nd one to lapse. The insurance agent tells me that this happens all the time with 5th/3rd.

I won't be dealing with them much longer and I suggest everyone else do the same. Incompetence doesn't even describe 5th/3rd.

Our credit is in the upper-700s for both of us. We've never been late or missed a payment. The problem is that when you send in these items, the bank takes 10-15 days to open them...but all forms must be dated within 30 days of the estimated closing date, so you've already lost 10-15 days before they even start the process of underwriting your loan. I spoke with one of the bank's regional managers, David **, and he basically hung up the phone on me, saying he wasn't going to talk to me when I asked why the bank was taking 10 days to open the documents we were sending. I can't imagine having to deal with these people for 15-30 years!!!

I want the $23 fee explained and removed. I would expect to be notified IN ADVANCE of any service that I will be expected to pay for with an appropriate invoice for my records. Next, I would like an explanation of why I can no longer refinance my home after a loan modification. This sounds discriminatory to me. I never expected to be punished for getting assistance. Lastly, I would like the harassing calls to stop. I welcome a call if I am beyond my grace period.

I am out nearly $6000 (yes, it is thousands) with planned relocation, moving expenses, additional cost, etc. We are being asked today to closing 11 days after the original scheduled closing and not one person is apologetic for the amount of time, money and stress this has placed on my family. Oh, and on top of it all, the job in Nashville is gone too. I will spend every day for the rest of my life cursing this bank, 5th 3rd (what a stupid, ignorant name for a bank), for ruining my life and draining my savings account. And Legacy Lending should be hanging their head for what they did and not one of their employees thinks they did anything wrong. This is the last time I use a realtor, a bank or any financial institution for anything. I am old school and will find a way to pay cash for every thing until the day I die.

Second, when I tried to change my last name with them, it took them 2 months to do so! I had to go to the bank on 3 different occasions to see what the holdup was and the bank tellers kept telling me that I needed to fill out more paperwork and someone at the bank didn't send the paperwork out. And then they lost the paperwork. That was it. I switched banks. Even when I switched banks, it took 2 weeks to do so. I am pretty sure you don't even have to have a high school diploma to work for this bank. I have high school students who could do a better job than the staff that they have working for them. This bank is a joke!

The worst part of it all is the manager said she had been there for 22 years and this had always been the standard. How is it that they can be so far behind the time? Please do your research and do not take products from this bank, even if your dealership only uses them. Go somewhere else!

Firstly, the Swanton branch couldn't care less about customer service. Here's the typical situation when you walk in there to conduct business. There is one teller total handling 3 lanes of cars at the drive through with multiple cars behind those cars, 4 people standing in line with 2 more at the tables preparing bank slips and 1 freaking teller. This was not at lunch but 2:30 om on a Thursday. But wait, here's the real problem. While this one teller is struggling with all of this traffic, I counted 7 employees in offices surrounding the lobby floor. Two actually had customers and the other 5 were just sitting there playing with their computer screens.

Judy, the customer service manager, came out and I mentioned this to her. She basically told me to mind my own business and get back in line if I wanted to be waited on. Then she proceeded to bother the only teller there making us all wait even more! Screw this branch. They need to fire everyone there. This has been going on for years. I will never set foot in this branch again.

On a $5,000 car loan payoff balance, they would charge me $7,500. No negotiation. They will not give you the payoff balance over the phone after 20 minutes of long verification about your identity. After I paid my balance, they refused to give the letter via email or fax. That loan is paid in full. In 2013, majority of the banks allow us to deposit check via app on iPhone and no bank fees. But Fifth Third Bank is reversed they do not know how to use computers, email, fax or payments via website. Worst experience with this bank.

My card expires at the end of this month. I called customer service at the beginning of the month to see when my card would come. The customer service rep was extremely kind and assured me it'd come within two weeks. Two weeks passed, so I went to the bank. The teller tried to tell me that the card I'd been using for the past few years had never been activated; then she refused to issue another because she didn't want there to be more than one coming to me. She told me to wait, and I did.

I just got off the phone with a very rude and unprofessional rep named Carina. Right off the bat, she let me know with her tone of superiority that I was wasting her time. She asked a few security questions, and I muttered "I believe" to myself softly before I answered one and she became extremely rude, "You can’t say ‘I believe’ or ‘I think.’ Give me a definite answer or I won’t give you any information about your account!" She said this with a lot of heavy sighing, treating me like I was a complete inconvenience to her, acting like I had some audacity asking her to actually work while she's, you know, on her job.

She was very nasty and said the card was sent back because I had a bad address (not true, it's a PO box that has received bank cards in the past) and assumed that the teller at the bank didn't issue me a card because I "must not have had a valid ID" (again, not true - I'm not even sure how someone could even function without a valid ID). She actually chuckled and told me that I could request one from the bank, but it'll be another two weeks before I get a card, which means I have to go into February without a debit card.

Thanks a lot, Fifth-Third. It goes to show how much you truly care for your customers. You talk down to everyone who walks in the door, your customer service is awful, your tellers are incompetent, and employees take the liberty applying for loans for customers without consent. I am taking my business elsewhere where they actually treat their clients with a little respect.

Most banks have passed a payment they offer to customers who have been with them for quite some time for those who are going through difficult times. I called Fifth Third Bank in hopes they would allow me to skip one payment this time since I have been a great customer. And with my situation. I was told that since I have no income now, even though I am still employed and will get short-term disability payment in few weeks and I'm receiving taxes soon, they will not accept this until I receive payment. Then they can work out something with me.

If I received payment, then I wouldn't be calling them and I'd pay my bill now, wouldn't I? This makes no sense whatsoever. I'm upset on how they treat their customers and don't give them any perks or sympathy for them being a good customer. I will never do business with them again! Please be warned. I am spreading the word about them on all sites and want everyone else to know how they don't care about customers, just money.

It turns out that 5/3 Bank is suckering college students into signing an identity theft protection program contract that deducts $6.50 from their account every month and not informing them about what it is. So after deducting all remaining funds from his checking account, they cleaned out his savings account. After that was gone, they tried to deduct funds that were not there and began charging bounced check fees of $30 per day. When we confronted 5/3 Bank about the situation, their only interest was trying to find the contract that was signed. My son does not remember signing any paperwork regarding identity protection. They are in the process of "finding" the signed paperwork which will take 3-4 weeks.

Why would a college student with no money want to pay $6.50 per month for identity protection on an account under $200? It would seem he needs protection from the greedy folks at 5/3 Bank. They also made it very clear that not paying the overdraft fees will result in ruining his credit rating for the rest of his life. This is how 5/3 Bank celebrates Christmas. This bank is full of nothing but a bunch of thieves that prey on young adults. It's not enough to steal all of their money. They also have to rack up as much in overdraft fees as they can and threaten to ruin credit ratings if they don't pay.

I am looking for an attorney to sue this company on behalf of all college students that have been ripped off by this horrible banking establishment. Somebody needs to put a stop this type of money making practice. As for me, I now have a new purpose in life; I will now spend the rest of my life letting everyone in the world know what kind of thieves work at 5/3 Bank.

Due to the nature of my business, I often work very late hours in rough conditions - coming home at 3AM after a 20-hour day, only to be woken at 8AM sharp by a Fifth Third robo-call. We have had problems with this bank from day one. The only reason we have stayed has been the quality of the branch managers (we have been through 3) and one or two of the counter staff. Fifth Third appears to be a poorly run operation at the management level and has systemic problems that they have not and will not fix. After over a decade of working with the local branch staff, who I like, I feel I must go through the pain and expense of pulling all of my personal and company business; taking it somewhere else. My recommendation is don't do business with Fifth Third Bank!

Dispute could not find again record of dispute or papers I faxed. I went to another branch teller, faxed again the papers and sent interdepartmental letter. I called again and once again there was no record of fax or dispute. I complained to the manager of the branch and he sent them. Once again, the fax did not appear or dispute but this time, the manager talked to the head of Dispute to handle. A week later, the manager called me to tell me the dispute was denied, no explanation, just I would be getting a letter.

I am still waiting for this letter of explanation. I was told, "The bank has gone above and beyond to help you; there is nothing else we can do." I had waited a whole month with numerous phone calls and numerous people and supervisors to find out that the time frame was over 90 days old. No kidding! The manager had told me the company refused to refund because they only refund within 90 days. It was the company that told me to put in the dispute and that they would not fight it and refund my $800. They obviously lied and, yes, it was already over 90 days when the company, Elite Planning Group, called and told me to do this.

Fifth Third had me calling back for a full month saying they had all these people working on it when in reality, they did nothing but give me the same message the manager gave me back in October with, "Sorry, you will have to go after the company yourself." That is exactly what I've been doing the last 6 months! The bank was exactly like the company, both just giving me the runaround! I now have to reach the company, which is impossible as fax and phone have technical difficulty. I do not even have documents that the dispute was even put in after 10/1. The company cut off my service with them because I wanted a refund. I never got the refund and the bank states that it is okay that they refuse. I know of only 2 people that got a refund and yes, it was over 90 days. How can you possibly call this service as superior?

They stuck me for about $50 in unexplained charges and I fought back. They advised that their investigation showed no refund due and you will get no other reason and that's final. They refuse to give their last names or the names of any supervisors. Why? What are they hiding? What are they afraid of? The only way I can get my pound of flesh is to now make my mortgage payment one day before the grace period expires and through electronic funds transfer. I suggest everyone take this approach. Maybe if their cash flow is affected, they will finally pay attention.

At that point, I started calling and emailing the loan officer, John **, and not getting any answer at all. I tried calling their mortgage center and my application was not even in the system anymore. Trying to get to a supervisor just got me to voicemails and promises to return the call in 24 hours but of course several days later, no answer. Nobody ever called me back even though I was always polite. Long story short, they were fast to charge the application fee and it all went downhill from there. At this point, I'm out $400 and a lot of hours of scanning all their documentation and for all of that, I would not even get a fair treatment. I would call that cheating. In the end with this bank, it seems like the customer is never right even though the customer proved everything they asked for. I wish I've read all these reviews before starting to deal with these guys.

How many times does one have to pay for fees or be inconvenienced by this so-called bank? Needless to say, I've closed all the accounts except for this one and as soon as this is cleared up, I will be closing out the savings. I'm looking to finance my home through someone else as soon as I gain some equity in my home. I would not recommend Fifth Third on a good day. This bank sucks.

So I had to transfer more money to cover the total amount - which was the wrong amount. All the time they are talking to me as if I am delinquent and that I will get a late fee! Seriously! I'm telling you, I must have called 10x. It's always the same response - "I will send the request, call back in 4 business days." Really! There is no actual person that I can talk to about my account, just a bunch of operators that push requests and never give you a call back. So, it turns out they again messed up, removed from the principal and added to escrow, then reevaluated. Omg! I'm going to scream. They didn't apply my September payment, they again did a reevaluation based on bad information. Now I'm getting a check sent to me and I have to redeposit it to my escrow. This is all just a mess! Stay away from 5/3 Mortgage!

I have certified copies of the death certificate and I have completed probate in the state of Virginia. Basically, I have everything needed to transfer the funds and have successfully dealt with several other banking institutions, stock companies, etc. with what the Virginia Probate office has provided me. I have told the Henderson Branch what documents the State of Virginia has provided me with and they have said they do not accept these documents. This bank is unprofessional and has made the process impossible.

I've talked to probably 8 different people. The main person, Amber, was supposed to call me back. I haven't heard from her in three days now and wondering if I ever will. I tried to talk to another supervisor, but he basically negated everything she had told me about the fees being reversed, "No one told you that it would be reversed." Well actually sir, yes, Amber did! I guess it doesn't matter that you've been my bank for like oh, 10+ years. I guess it doesn't matter that oh, I've paid all your other ridiculous ATM and foreign withdrawal fees over those years without complaining. So I guess it doesn't matter that you're not going to be my bank anymore and never will be again. I guess it doesn't matter that I will tell everyone to never do business with you, to never open an account with you.

5. Even closing the loan was confusing and unprofessional, two addresses to pay off the loan, 10 days processing time and an extra phone call to cancel auto pay!

I won't ever do business with this company again and I will actively discourage my friends from having anything to do with them. If the economy works, they should be crushed by the competition. I'd love to see it happen. Worst customer service I've ever encountered.

Two weeks later, and there's nothing. A month went by, and they said to fill out a fraud report and the money would come back to me very quickly. They filled out the paperwork incorrectly, and I received a denial letter stating I gave consent to have the account deduct the check (It's a legal copy.). Over the next several months, there's nothing. So, I went in and fought with the teller, and she said, "This is so stupid. Let's fill out the paperwork again." So I did, and again, I was denied and not given a refund.

Several months went by, and I have yet again to fill out the paperwork. And this manager said, "It shouldn't take as long, and we'll get a refund to you asap." Here I am a month later and still being told I'm owed money and it's clear as day, but no refund has come to me yet and it's now almost August. Is it that hard to give back the money that several managers in Fifth Third bank said should have never been taken out of the account a second time but it apparently did?

Yesterday, I received a very curt email from our loan originator saying our rate was based on having automatic withdrawals for the payment and if we did not authorize it, we would have to pay close to $800 in penalty. Keep in mind that we did not get the loan for free. We paid $3.7K in settlement charges, $2.2K of which was to Fifth Third for the loan. Now, they say we got a special rate bound to the automatic payment withdrawals.

Utilizing the early access account is a big joke, too. This bank is the worst for online activity. They'll repeatedly tell you, "Oh you can't trust the online available balance to be your balance." Then why bother having one? You move money over and even though a payment has not posted, but you've moved money from Fifth Third to Fifth Third (seems obviously simple enough), too bad! They still want $33! I plan on refinancing just to get the mortgage out of their hands so we never have to have a Fifth Third account again. I've never had overdraft problems until I've dealt with this bank.

It is now a week later and I found out they are charging me $8 a day in overdraft fees because they wound up leaving me with a $12.43 overdraft after they had already taken all my savings, on a 50-cent overdraft. I have over $84 in overdraft fees as of today, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. I do not get paid until Tuesday, the 29th of May. There will be another $40 in fees by then. I cannot afford this. No one at the bank will work with me to stop these fees. No one even told me last week that I would be getting charged daily. I was told the fees would stop 20 days after the first day of the overdraft. What? I am sure this is now going to the credit bureau all for 50 cents.

I don't know what kind of a bank you run and at this time, I could care less. The auto dealer who sold the car to her will never get another sale from us, and you will never finance us another car! When she purchased the car, I told the salesman to finance through my credit union and he financed where he could get compensated. So, how long are we going to wait for her title? If it had been me instead of her, you could bet your butt that Ohio Better Business Bureau would be receiving a copy of this complaint.

My closing date was changed three times. Each and every time, Mr. ** assured me that this was normal and nothing to worry about due to all of the new rules that go with home loans and that he had it under control. What a complete and utter lie. Both my father and I have credit scores of over 800 and well over enough equity/income for the loan to have gone straight through. However, due to my incompetent and lazy loan officer who couldn't seem to get anything right, my loan is basically a no go and I have 12 days to find an apartment as I had already given notice based on my first closing date and we are now a month past that. What a joke.

I have never dealt with such incompetence in all of my life. This man should have been a used car salesman because boy does he try to sell you a load of lies. Throughout the process, he lied to me, my father and my real estate agent. He has cost me a home, my money for my inspection, and commission for my agent. This man should seriously not have a job nor should he be trusted to work independently as he is obviously very inept and a liar. I will be pulling all of my money out of this bank. Thank you so much ** at the Fifth Third branch located at SR161/Sawmill Rd in Columbus, OH.

I pulled my credit report in December 2011 before trying to refinance my home and notice that I received a late payment notice from Fifth Third Bank in April 2010. I contact Fifth Third Bank through phone and writing, requesting that they remove this negative mark from my credit agency reports. Based on the fact that this report was based on an unpaid balance of $11.77 and that it was paid upon first notice, I would like Fifth Third (in good faith) to submit the required letters to the credit agencies to remove the negative notice issued in April 2010.

I never had any negative marks on my credit before this incident. After Fifth Third Bank listed the one month of late payment and reduced my credit limit, they sent my credit score from around 800 to below 700. The opportunity cost on not being able to refinance my house loan with this credit score is about $250/month. How is this fair? I'm currently writing letters to Fifth Third Bank on this subject and received back one "dear John" letter responding that they are in the right and that they will not write the letters to remove this credit mark.

I am fired up at the lack of concern, aid, or inability to contact any attorney prior to 2/20/2012. I want to be compensated fully for the theft of my money by Fifth Third Bank in the amount promised me of $819.00. Please respond as soon as possible as checks are to be mailed out on the 29th day of this month (February 2012). I am so hurt as to bail out funds to aid banks and yet they are allowed to settle at 15% or less as to their robbery of the customers who have suffered immensely by their greed. I need help with this as the mere offer, so say they, is fair. Fair to whom? I'm exhausted trying to deal with the bureaucracy to no avail. I intend to scream out to any and all who might be able to justify me. Please help me. I so appreciate your time and any effort to retrieve my money stolen by Fifth Third Bank. Thank you in advance for your attention to this serious matter. Time is running out for this dispute and you are my last hope. Again, thank you very much.

The second account is for Feral Cats. Feral cats are captured in our neighborhood, spayed or neutered, micro-chipped and ear notched, then released. This prevents more kittens being born and also other cats from coming into the area. This organization operates totally on donations.

We do not have a lot of activity on the account and do not keep a large balance there. I was sent to paper statements in 2011, when I found out I was being charged $3.00 for each statement, I had the statements stopped. The current manager removed the charges but apparently someone else put them back on. When I talked to the current manager, she informed me they could not go back into the system that far. I did not find out about it until this month (February) because we did have some activity and I wanted to check my balance. I went to the bank and asked for a statement which they printed and it showed a $6.00 difference. The manager apparently has no authority whatsoever since she was unable to find a way to reimburse the account the $6.00. Unfortunately, I got very angry and had hard feelings with the manager when I ended the conversation. I was more upset over the $6.00 because it is such a worthy cause and survives on people who volunteer their time and money to keep it going.

I have my own personal account with this bank, as do other residents of Miromar Lakes. My account is sizeable and I am strongly tempted to close my three accounts. As the manager said to me, "it is only $6.00". Well, if that is the attitude, the bank can well afford to return the money to the account if it is only $6. The $6.00 means more to the organization than it does to the bank.

I am aware banks are trying to find ways to make more money, but they also need to be aware of the less fortunate organizations and people who are trying to survive the present world situation. I hope there is someone somewhere in this corporation who can look at things realistically and allow their local managers some leeway in situations like mine and other people.

Because of these fees being deducted from my account, I had to use this service twice which helped at the time; but I am unable to recoup as this was deducted from this direct deposit, causing me to once again to initiate monies as I have a deficit of funds as the bank only gave me a $25 credit for this issue.

I have an actual paper I signed on opening this account opting out of this coverage. I need some assistance with this issue. I feel like FTB has erred on their part and needs to look into this accordingly and give a proper credit, as I will be assessing a complaint to the BBB on this issue for it is not being addressed properly. I am disputing these charges due to an error in the FTB mobile system which opted me in for this coverage that I did not authorize. I would appreciate a resolution, as I feel FTB should properly credit my account due to this error. I should not be charged for something I did not do.

At this point I had to contact my attorney. This is a violation of my rights and this also serves as a class action law suit. I am not the type of person to take legal action, but in this case I am. This will be blown out of the water. How wrong is this for Fifth Third to send me a letter telling me they are shutting down my accounts and refuse to tell me why.

I absolutely have been victimized and I will stand my ground on this one. If it wasn't for my business partner wanting to open up a business account at this bank, I never would have stepped foot in the door to do so. I've always heard terrible things about this bank and now I know why. Shame on Fifth Third for doing this to people. It is wrong and unjust. The BBB has been contacted and others will be as well. This is not a threat. I've given everything to my attorney and this matter will be taken cared of. Hands down I win!

I asked the manager if they didn't just have to pay out millions for a class action lawsuit for overdraft fraud. I told him he would watchdog my account to ensure that I did not get any charges and that I was calling the Attorney General's office and the FDIC. Is there also a new class action lawsuit in the works as I want to be a part of it! These thieves need to be stopped and the people need to stand for their rights.

After the 2 months were up to just come in and close the account. After the first month I got a letter in the mail saying the account was over drawn and I owed them $100.00 which I thought was odd because I didn't touch the account for any money. So off to the bank I went, I asked to talk to the bank manager he told me a Tammy from the Daytona branch would call me but she never did.

Two more times I went to the Port Orange bank to straighten this out to no a vale, so at this point went to see Tammy and she was either unavailable or not there she will call you which she never did. 6 times I went to Fifth Third Bank to straighten this out, next thing I knew this was in collections. Every time I called their corporate office, they passed me back to collections, even the people in collections didn't think it was right what they did to me.

If i don't pay them another $100.00 they are going to ruin my credit, nothing like a little blackmail from your local bank. They even signed me up for some credit check that I didn't know about. All I got was bounced around when I tried to solve this matter.

After 20 minutes of interrogation, they finally agree to let you make a payment for a fee of course. They charge you $18 each time to make any payments over the phone unless you open a checking account with them and who wants a checking account with a bank that has no locations within 200 miles. They also do not let you pay online (unless you have said checking account with them) so basically the only way to pay is to make sure your payment is mailed two weeks in advance (because it takes them two and a half weeks to process your payment regardless). I have had my mortgage with much better banks then this. Fifth Third is the worst of them all! I can truly say I hate this bank.

We have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau as to why Fifth Third bank (as a mortgage customers of theirs) can not let us pay our monthly mortgage payment without a ridiculous fee. They have been sent letters and their lame reply to us and BBB is that we have the option to mail our payment so that should be good enough. We haven't filed the phone call harassment yet but that will be next. It is not appropriate for a business to call someone 20 times a day regardless of the situation!

Now the account is still open and it is in overdrawn again because this same company went through information of my account again without my knowledge which caused it to be overdrawn, and it continued to be overdrawn. I called and talk to another representative regarding the issue, said it will be taken care of and not to worry, the account will be closed. Still as of today, my account is still open. Mr. ** informed me that he will take care of it after the new year , yet I have talked to corporate bank regarding this issue and they informed me to call the branch again; nothing is being done. I still continue to receive the harassing phone calls for corporate bank.

Please help me resolve this issue. My account still continues to be charged overdraft fees that I shouldn’t even be getting because the account should be closed when I paid the overdraft amount of $240.00.

Fast forward to ten years later, never again would I open a bank account with Fifth Third but my youngest brother and I went to his bank (Fifth Third sadly) one day so he could deposit actual cash into his account. The cash was immediately posted to his account. He also received a cash deposit slip. The amount was correct, $80. He was only 17 at the time and paying his own cell phone bill with his Fifth Third Bank Account. His account was fine, he had no auto payments, just a simple deposit to pay a phone bill. The next day, he went to check his account and it was overdrawn by the exact amount of his deposit due to the phone bill going through via check payment.

With the deposit slip in hand, he went to the branch and they told him they could not help him, that the money should have been posted to the account and that it was not and that the deposit slip was not proof that it had been deposited. This was very wrong! It took a week or more until it ended up going to the branch manager, who actually had a file on her desk for this specific issue alone, and eventually, after seeing a 17 year old crying over overdrawing his bank account and knowing his money was stolen, she relented and posted the money back to the account. To this day, we have no idea what happened to his deposit, no one could come up with any idea or reason or explanation, and the way they treated him and spoke to him was terrible.

Knowing what I went through as a young adult with that bank, it was frightening. My first bank account and I paid so much money over something as stupid as a $4 over draw. At least with my current bank, even if it's a double charge that should not be there on my account, they will release it for me, they will let it release before they charge me fees. I remember I had a payment with my bank account that I forgot about (a large one) and I accrued 18 over drafts with my current bank, 18 actual pending charges hit my checking account number due to my stupid oversight, and guess what? In the end, I only paid two over draft charges, and rightfully so.

They allowed me to post a deposit to my account before they started to charge me overdraft fees and pending ones that did not fully post were not charged. My bank would actually take a deposit and post it before they post charges, Fifth Third never did that. Fifth Third always posted high charges to your account first, posted them first instead of a deposit, and screwed the ** out of you with fees galore.

I called in the next day after receiving another email stating the balance was $47.99, and the representative I spoke with said that because I had covered all of the charges I made- I didn't bother to correct her and tell her it was a PayPal issue. It wasn't the banks fault. But the rep told me that the payment would remain at it's current balance until I could pay it because I had covered my costs, and that the remaining balance were bank fees and would not accumulate $8/day anymore. Now I get another message today saying the balance has doubled and when I called in, the representative spoke to me like I was abusing my account, not reading my mail, and lying about how informed I had been about the whole thing! This is insanity, and highway robbery at it's best, or should I say worst?

I have a copy of the check they cashed for the October 5 payment, which they cashed on the 26th day late. They probably executed a repossession order, then never gave a ** to cancel the order, when the payment arrived. Now I have no vehicle to work and make a living. I will not only sue this horrible and despicable company, but do everything humanly possible to let the world know about this criminal bank.

It cost me a good bit in overdraft fees and put me in jeopardy with putting food in my children's mouth (they were not willing to pay for the charges, even though they did it unauthorized). So now, I have locked them out of my account through my bank. They don't have any pay online options. But they want to charge you a ridiculous amount (above what I have seen from any other company) to pay over the phone! I hate this company and would not recommend anyone to use them! I will refinance through another company as soon as I can! I could go on all day about how crappy they are really!

Then during the week of October 24, 2011, on or about Tuesday, I was contacted by a collection agency called the Regional Adjustment Bureau and told that Fifth Third Bank had turned this over to them to collect $948.45. I also informed them that my attorney was trying to find her attorney to no avail. The lady with the collection agency told me that if I gave them the routing number to my checking account, they will hold off on the repossession until Friday, the 28th. I asked her before I gave that information, "Are you going to debit my account if I give you that information?"

She said no, that it was just to hold off on the repo. I told her twice, "Do not take any money out of my account until you hear back from me on Friday, and if you don't hear back from me, go ahead and repo the car. When you do, please inform me and I will take possession of my attorney, and Fifth Third Bank will allow me." She also informed me that she will call Friday, just in case, and touch base with me - which they never did. They had taken it upon their own to debit my account on October 31 without my verbal approval. She assured me that they would not do anything.

The only reason that I gave her the routing number was that she said that this would allow them to hold off until Friday on the repo until I contacted them, which again I told her to repo if they don't hear from me, and "Do not debit my account until I tell you."

She had a horrible attitude just because I was shocked and questioned her for charging me this outlandish fee. I had no choice but to succumb to her charge. It was a Sunday and I needed the money that day, so I told her to please cash it. She asked me how I wanted the funds back, I said large bill or money. She came out of the back with $900 in $100 bills and the rest in $20 bills. I guess to be funny and make me carry out a very large wad of money. I called a friend of mine who works for Fifth Third and asked her was this policy correct? She said no, that her understanding was it is only a 1% charge if the check and the customer is not a Fifth Third bank.

In this case, the check was drawn on Fifth Third bank. I repeated this to the teller and she got upset and said in a very nasty tone "are you speaking to a Fifth Third employee?". I said yes and handed her the phone, they told her the same thing they told me but Jeralyn didn't care nor would take it upon herself to look into the policy to verify if she was correct. She said, if she's wrong, they would give me the money back later. I left with this very large wad of cash, drove to another branch in a Krogers and asked them to exchange the 20's for 100's and then proceeded to ask the teller there about the charge to cash a Fifth Third check by a non-Fifth Third customer. She said $8 then confirmed this with the other two tellers and a manager there. I think this teller was wrong on several accounts and obviously, when I challenged the policy, she became mad and decided to treat me badly. I had the right to challenge why a bank is taking $25 from me for no reason under a "new policy".

As I mentioned to Steve, a supervisor and in the past, Fifth Third Bank favored rich customers over poor customers. When I closed my saving account on 10/17/2011, the woman who helped me wanted to know why. I told her why, after experiencing poor service with their customer service and I felt that I was not a preferred customer since I am poor and not rich. She said why don't you close the checking as well while you are here. I said if I had 300,000 dollars would you ask me to close it and she replied probably not. Here is a perfect example of how they treat their poor customers.

The reason I did not close my checking is because I receive SSA income and I cannot change my account number until March, otherwise, I will shut it.

Since this has gone unresolved for more than 6 weeks, I was told they would match my payment due to the inconvenience I had suffered. It is now approaching the two month mark and still, this issue has yet to be resolved. I am sure that now I have my first bad mark ever on my credit rating score, thanks to the mismanagement of Fifth Third bank

It is approaching the two month mark and this issue has yet to be resolved.

After putting me on hold for 7 minutes, she came back on and advised me that a written notice had been mailed to me, advising me of the option to opt out of this charge sometime back. I explained to Alexis that I am a CPA and I do attend to all written communications from financial institutions. I said that I certainly did not receive any written advisement(s) from Fifth Third in regard to the ability to opt-out of any proposed charges for image copies. Alexis was emphatic that the letter/communication had been mailed out to my address and that I had received it. She said that she would not waive the $2 charge.

My question to her was: if the mailing of the notices was performed by an automated system, how certain was she that 100% of the customers from Fifth Third received the letter/communication? Alexis stated in a most confident term that she was certain that all Fifth Third customers had received the letter/communication including myself. And she would not reverse this $2 charge. I then requested to speak with a supervisor and next had the distinct pleasure of being placed on hold for 8 minutes before Helen came on the line.

Helen simply parroted what Alexis has previously stated to me, with the added enhancement that her attitude was one of posture and intimidation which would have made a 1st year law student in drama class proud to emulate. I stated to Helen that I had now spent over 1/2 hour on this $2 item. And I requested that in the sense of fairness and good customer relations that she and Fifth Third reverse this unwarranted charge. Helen's response reminded me of the old 45RPM records which became stuck on one track. And the word no was her reason for existence and justified her position as supervisor. One final attempt on my part was to ask Helen if a negative recitation of my experiences to my clients was worth $2 to Fifth Third as opposed to a more positive approach of reversing the charges. Once again, Helen's record played the no version of her song of the day.

I simply advise anyone who reads this to be aware (in advance) of the less than cooperative attitude of the Fifth Third customer service employees and their disdain for their customers' loyalty, which is valued at something less than $2.

With the notice in hand, I called multiple times, disconnected once, and waited beyond my patience once. Finally, I went all in and waited 10 minutes for someone to answer. I was connected to the collections area. I said that all I want to do is get the amount to pay off the loan. He said that he could not get that for me. He tried to connect me to loans, and warned me it would be a wait. The call became disconnected immediately. I called back and literally entered stuff that would make no sense so that I could talk to someone who could help me pay off the loan. I waited 22 minutes. I cooked a pizza for the kids and had two bottles of Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest (awesome beer from Chippewa Falls, WI) before I reached someone. She couldn't help me, as payoffs are handled in a different area. Times are tough, and banks are struggling. I can't even pay off a $21000 loan "in full". Times are so tough. I wouldn’t finance a dog house through this bank.

I have been in the process of changing banks and switching bill payments, so I was a little slow in getting all my payments out this month. I was not late and have never been late. The fact that they would disturb my household on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM really pissed me off. SunTrust used to do the same thing, except I had 4 mortgages with them and they would send me into a panic--I was thinking I hadn't paid a mortgage when in fact I had.

I eventually hung up on Philip, because the call itself was so rude. Thankfully, we are in the process of refinancing and will be done with Fifth Third soon! Next time, for any bank calls about a mortgage not being paid, I am just going to tell them I decided not to pay this month!

When I finally got through to Jaun on the phone, he told me that I was supposed to pay my August payment and it was a mistake. But my refinance would go through in September so don't pay that month. He said he would take care of the August payment by putting it on the loan. I received a late payment for the month of August and told Jaun about it and he said he would take care of it. Again, I heard nothing from Fifth Third about my refinance in September. He said I would be getting a closing package in the mail.

Yesterday, I received a package, but it was for being two months late on my mortgage, not for a refinance closing. I called Fifth Third and they had to put me on hold for quite sometime to figure what was going on. They told me that my refinance was denied. I was not informed of this at all. When I tried calling Jaun and emailing him about what I was supposed to do now because he told me not to pay my payments, he just sent me an email saying, "You will receive written denial on this loan from the underwriting department." No explanation for what I'm supposed to do now that I'm behind because of him or anything?

What kind of service is this? He told me everything was good. Now I'm screwed because I already paid my medical bills for the last two months because Fifth Third told me not to pay my mortgage payments. I have written proof of Fifth Third telling me not to make my payment.

I will be contacting every local news station about this and forwarding this email to every contact at fifth third as well as every branch office until this is resolved. I now have late payments on my credit report because of this. I have also contacted a lawyer and will decide to go further depending on what kind of response and resolution I get.

One month I'll call and I'm charged $17.95 "convenience" fee (which, let me tell you, is not the least bit convenient calling them). The next month, they have no idea what fee I'm talking about when I ask why it was charged to me last month but not this one. I've never spoken to anyone who speaks English as a first language. The entirety of their phone calls are outsourced. And they never have my information correct. Two months ago, I called to have my address and phone number changed. I called to make this month's payment. They didn't have it on the account and wanted my address from when I first opened the account, which hasn't been valid in a long time. This bank is just so terrible.

I sent the bank a check for $175,000 at the time to which they sat on for over a month, despite my repeated calls. Finally, when I threatened to sue to get the money, back they applied it to my mortgage. Further irritating the situation, they informed me that by doing this I could eliminate the PMI on my mortgage but I had to write a letter to make it take effect. When I did that, they sent me a response that this was not allowed. If I had known that I would have never sent the $175,000.

Most recently, I finally began refinancing with a different institution. In this process I've been attempting to have Fifth Third assign the mortgage to my new institution which would save me from paying the mortgage tax/fee for a second time. For a month now, I have spoken to everyone at this bank and no one has ever heard of the term assign a mortgage. I ask, how could it be that a bank is not familiar with the term that is used in the mortgage industry? I would have been more satisfied if they had just said that they don't do that, but the frustration of dealing with them is just never ending.

My dealership needed to mail in a payment on my behalf due to a refund of a maintenance plan, but Fifth Third took three business weeks to process it, which by that time, I had already asked my dealership to stop the payment on that check and issue a new one. Upon resending a new check, Fifth Third claimed that they never received it, and a second stop payment had to be issued on that one as well (although the address was confirmed by multiple representatives and the account number, name, and address was clearly imprinted on the envelope and check).

Since mailing a payment did not work and the dealership is unable to set up automatic withdrawals on my behalf, the only other option was to make a payment over the phone. However, we were informed by multiple representatives that a payment over the phone could only be made for the amount owed and not any more than that, which is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. What company would not want to receive more money than what is owed by an individual? The only way to pay more was to wait until I was in my 7-day grace period after the car note due date. Then, I could pay the prior month and the current month, but never any more than that until the following month.

Due to this idiotic policy, I would have to call the dealership every other month for the next six months until they paid up to the amount that was owed to me by my dealership (Fifth Third was making it impossible for them to pay it all at once). During the third month that a payment needed to be made, I contacted Fifth Third Bank to verify that I could make a payment for two months before I do a conference call with my dealership and have them make a payment with me over the phone. The representative I spoke with told me that I could make a payment for however much I wanted over the phone, and that everything that multiple representatives told me before about not being able to do so was inaccurate.

So, I called my dealership, set up a call conference to have her pay the remaining amount they owed me onto my car loan. But the new representative who answered, told me once again, that the other representative was not correct and that I could only pay what's showing in their system. And since I was not yet in my 7-day grace period, I could only pay the current car note amount and not anything more.

Fifth Third Bank is inconsistent in their information, is not up-to-date in their online services, have representatives that do not know the company policies, have rules that do not make sense, has customer service that is incompetent, and is an overall no good bank. As soon as my dealership pays the rest of the money owed on my car loan, I am refinancing so quick, Fifth Third won't even know what hit them. They are the worst bank I have ever dealt with and my dealership has already taken action to strike them from their financial partnerships. Do not ever deal with Fifth Third Bank.

On 8-13-11, my pay day, I went into the account and was horrified to what I encountered. Until 2 months ago, I have used their online bill pay service without any problems. Subsequently, when Fifth Third bank redesigned their online bill pay was when the trouble started. Before the modification, the customer could make a payment and 24 hours later, it shows the payment deducted from your account balance. Before Friday the 12th, I checked my balance and it was fine. Then on Friday the 12th, I checked my balance and I saw where the bank drafted just about all my bills on the 8th of August from the weekend of 30/31st putting me in overdrafts and fees of in excess of 500.00.

I was hysterical, irate and in distress when I made this discovery. To further distress me, I made at least 4-6 calls to the 800 number at the back of my card; where I was transferred at least 6 other times and the last person I have spoken to (in the retail department) stated he would call Shawn at the Kannapolis branch and I was to meet him about 4:00pm. Of course, Shawn stated he never got that call and was handed off to another CSR. Within this time frame, I was not contacted about the overdrafts nor fees. The CSR stated she couldn't help me because I had opened my account in Concord, which was a lie. I started my continued checking business that I was with Cabarrus Bank and Bank and Trust and I presently still use their checks.

On Saturday August 13th, I did get two letters after the fact. While being a longtime customer holding 3 checking accounts and a CD, I was never told or warned about the preventive measures (linking accounts or get overdraft coverage protection). I will say the last person (the man in the retail department of Fifth Third) did say a lot of customers had overdrafts that were normal. I feel that my bank failed to explain how the new system worked, the preventive measures and a phone call letting me know what was going on with my account. Since then, I have tried to schedule a payment 4 times and it would not let me schedule it for the next business day. Fifth Third Bank debts my account not as I want it scheduled; but when they want to.

They failed to educate the new system to the old customers and failed to educate us with information on prevention of overdrafting. Since this happened, I have closed my CD account so I would have money to pay my bills with because of this amount of money taken for fees. The public needs to know that taking money at their discretion and not posting it immediately created excessive fees which is against the law. With this posting, it will alert other customers to what your banking practices are and this may end up as a class action suit. I have seen online that this is not the first time this bank has had problems and I will be contacting FDIC, BBB, Banking commissioner and Action 9 News. If you return my fees, I will withdraw funds and go to another bank that I can trust.

Loretta **

The person I was suppose to see was Shawn, the woman I saw was 25ish and was in the middle office

There have been several occasions where I have been less than satisfied with the service I received at Fifth Third, but I let them go and continued to bank with them. Unfortunately, this last problem I encountered has really brought home what others had been telling me that this bank has some issues. I will explain the situation and I think you will see why I have decided not to continue my relationship with Fifth Third.

I purchased a high-definition widescreen TV and contracted with Direct TV to install HD service in my home. At no time was I made aware that there may be a problem with the HD service to my home. After the installation and cancellation of my previous TV service, I was told that because of some trees in my backyard, not only could they not provide HD service, but they could not even tell me which tree was in the way. The contract with Direct TV had already been signed when I was made aware of this. To my thinking, this is a breach of contract.

To make a long story short, Direct TV wants to hold me to my contract. They debited my Fifth Third bank account without my consent. When I realized what they had done, I went down to my bank branch and filed a dispute. I will add here that I had to make several calls to get the dispute handled because, as I understand it, the dispute was filed correctly on the branch end, but something was done incorrectly from there. I finally did receive the money back in my account and was satisfied. I also at this time opened a business account as I have also started a small business and run a small business networking group.

On August 11th, I looked at my bank balance and realized that I had forgotten to include a check in my calculations and overdrawn my account. I deposited the funds the next day to make sure I covered the overdraft and corresponding fees, even though I disagree with their policy of clearing the larger checks first; I suspect that makes your bank earn quite a lot of extra money. If they had cleared the smaller check first, I would not have been charged double overdraft fees. But I disagree, this is not even why I have reached the end of the line with Fifth Third. After taking care of the overdraft and figuring out how I would make up for the money I have lost on overdraft fees, I was shocked to look at my account on August 18th and see a reversal of dispute provisional credit. I was not even made aware that there was a possibility of this, nor was I prepared for that money to come out of my account.

I called the bank and was connected to the dispute department. I explained once again that I was disputing the charges with Direct TV because they could not keep their end of the bargain and I did not authorize them to debit my account. I want to make very clear here that the Direct TV charges were contract cancellation charges and they were not normal billing charges.

I was told by the dispute department that there was nothing that they could do as Direct TV says that I owe them the money and I might want to look into legal avenues. Well this is where I have a huge problem. I thought that I was the customer here. Why would Fifth Third not protect my rights? Why would they allow a debit to my account that I expressly told them was unauthorized? It became very clear to me that I was mistaken in my thinking that Fifth Third would exercise a fiduciary relationship with me and did not have my best interests in mind.

Because of this incident, I am going to have to struggle to keep afloat. I will do it though, the business I have started will take off very shortly and I expect it to grow immensely in the next year. I did mention to you that I also run a small business networking group; I also attend many, many small business networking events in Charlotte. You can rest assured when the subject of banking comes up, I will not be recommending Fifth Third Bank.

When we called to complain about them automatically taking out another car payment when we didn't even have the car any longer, they stated that they didn't know about the car. This statement is false because my insurance company and myself were on a 3 way call with 5/3 bank to gather payoff amounts. I was told by that 5/3 representative that no car payments would be taken as of that phone call. 5/3 also would not take responsibility for their actions. They told me to contact my insurance agent to get a refund. This idea of contacting my insurance agent is ludicrous. My agent is not tied with 5/3 bank.

Today I called to see what the balance was. Being that the loan will mature I figured that the balance would be like $4000. Not so- $10963.84. The first person I attempted to talk to was Jack. He pretended he could not hear me and hung up. I know he was pretending because he kept saying Ma'am? How else would he know I was female unless he could hear my voice?

Second person was Lisa, when I explained the situation she said it wasn't her department and transferred me to Marie. Marie stated the amount was due to late fees. When I explained that payments was sent in late the late fee as well and extra was included in each payment she didn't have a legit reason why the balance was close to $11,000. I told her I was recording our call for legal purposes she then asked if I would like to talk with her supervisor and my answer was "yes!" I was on hold for 10minutes. Finally hung up. Filed a complaint with BBB. Will be getting legal advice.

Oh, and was told that when the loan matured in February the total amount left would be due. Seems 5th 3rd Bank is a modern day loan shark.

After speaking with a manager at a local branch of 5/3rd, I was told that if I get a W-9 signed, a paid invoice and other paperwork from the roofers, they would write the check to me. I did that the next day and returned to the local branch. All was well, I thought. Today I got a call from the home office to tell me that they will not issue a check directly to me although they have all the required paperwork on their desk. So, I am still out the $7,500 for the roof and they are sitting on my money. This guy today told me that I would need to get all of the work done, basically to spend another $15,000 on the other repairs, siding, gutters, etc. then call for a final inspection to get the money released. I was pro-active in trying to get my house fixed and now I can't even get my money back that I have spent out of my pocket. Shame on Fifth Third! You can bet your ** that they will expect their payment on the first on the month.

On July 14, 2011, at 7:30 am, I initiated a $400.00 ATM withdrawal via the drive-up. Something technical occurred with the transaction, resulting in the screen displaying, "Your request is being processed. Please wait.", (photo can be provided if required) without dispersing funds, receipt, or returning the ATM card. I attempted several times to cancel or clear the transaction, but to no avail. Understandably, I remained at the ATM drive-up because the transaction was in a processing mode, the screen was open, no cash was dispersed, my card was not returned, and inviting the possibility of theft, if I leave the drive-up with a pending and incomplete transaction. I attempted to go into the bank to ask for assistance, however, banking hours will still at 9:00 am, therefore, leaving me with no alternative but to stay at the drive-up ATM due to the status of the transaction.

At 8:30 am, I went back to the door of the bank lobby because employees were starting to report to work. The security guard came to the door and I told him, "I need assistance at the ATM, my transaction is stuck". He stated he would send someone to assist, however, within 30 minutes, this never occurred.

At 9:00 am, no one came for assistance. I went into the bank and asked to speak with the manager, Amber **, regarding the ATM transaction or situation. She provided information that was later revealed to be a host of lies. She stated that "5/3 did not own the ATM and it could not be serviced until 3:00pm". Given the circumstances, I asked, "Do you expect me to wait until 3:00 pm, and this transaction has been in this status since 7:30 am?". She stated that there was nothing that she could do for me. I asked, "Surely, there has to be some contingency process when customer's funds are vulnerable as a result of your ATM malfunctioning". I further stated, "This is not a situation in which the transaction is complete, I received $400.00 cash, a receipt and my card was not returned, versus a transaction status in which I'm currently vulnerable to theft". Amber restated, "No, I cannot assist." and "It's a machine". I responded, "It's a machine that you offer 24-hour banking, as a convenience, charge a fee, and doesn't provide a service number for situations such as this". I asked for a higher level manager, she stated that she was the Customer Service Manager, and never provided the name of a higher level manager. Subsequently, I demanded the corporate number to file a formal complaint, Amber provided me with 1-800-972-3030. Amber also informed me that "after three minutes my card would be shredded and therefore, no risk of theft". At no point during our conversation, as a manager, did Amber validate what was occurring at the ATM, send someone on her behalf, or attempt to observe the situation from the teller drive-up window. While in the bank, another customer came in and stated "the other ATM was not working". Amber quickly changed her story without any validation and stated, "The ATMs are not working because it's a network issue."

I left the bank at approximately 9:15 am, to return back to my car at the drive-up ATM. When I arrived, a man was demanding that I move my car because he was there to service the machine. However, less than five minutes ago, Amber advised me "that the machine would be serviced at 3:00 pm". She never stated that a "technician is on the way, or outside". Therefore, I had no idea who this man was, yelling at me, and was cautious if this was a stranger attempting theft, due to the status of the screen display, while I was inside the bank seeking assistance. The alleged technician was not in a marked company vehicle. As the man continued to yell, I noticed a badge from Pendum Corp., (please confirm with the bank location) which I assume is a company that services the machine. His disposition was extremely rude, nasty, and he threatened me that "he will not return my cash station card". I asked why. He restated that he doesn't want me to get away from him because he does not trust me. The technician stated he will not return my card, which totally contradicts Amber's statement that my card is shredded. My card was never returned to me, based on a service technician's jurisdiction. If my card is not shredded and was returnable for use, I want to understand why am I being yelled at, threatened, and given inconvenience because 5/3's ATM malfunctioned and left my transaction in an open status.

Amber never came outside to assess or control, looked from the inside through the drive-up window, or verified anything. She came to the drive-up door and advised the security guard "not to assess the situation because she was going to call the police". This course of action is unacceptable from my perspective, as well as a consumer, because 5/3's ATM malfunctioned during a $400.00 transaction, knowingly leaving me vulnerable to theft. Amber refused to confer with her manager, or provided me with the information. She demonstrated no reasonable effort to identify or invoke an emergency or alternative situation to resolve this matter, as well as, provided a host of lies regarding when the machine would be serviced (9:15 am versus 3:00 pm) and the status of my ATM card (shredded after 3 minutes or not shredded and returnable) as referenced above. Or is this 5/3's normal problem solving protocol? I was not attempting to damage anything or take an ax to the ATM. I simply wanted some assistance to close out this transaction, minimize my vulnerability to theft, leave, and subsequently contact my bank to validate the status of the transaction.

I waited for the police to arrive, I explained the situation, and of course, the white police attempted to side with the white security guard, and neither are banking experts. The technician even stated that the ATM kept my card because I was not an authorized user, not because 5/3's ATM malfunctioned. This statement went too far. I have been with the same bank for 20 years with excellent payment history, and no service technician or security guard is qualified to suggest this. I asked the police officer, "If your card was stuck in an ATM with an open transaction pending per the message on the screen, vulnerable to theft, and the bank is refusing to assist or request your contact information, are you just going to walk away?. Of course, he stated "yes", however, I think not. The white police officer threatened to tow my car from the drive-up ATM. It's a drive-up ATM, not a walk-up. Why was my car not authorized to be there? I moved just right of the lot, although 5/3 still had my card and no contact information.

At the point of tears, I preceded calling 5/3 Bank again at the 1-800-972-3030 number for immediate escalation to Customer Relations. I advised a representative of the situation, and she provided me with the number 1-708-482-5904 to a Regional Manager. I called and spoke with a white male, explaining that I was extremely upset with the level of service demonstrated towards me, as a result of 5/3's malfunctioning ATM. Initially, he stated that if the transaction is pending from my bank, call him back. As I proceeded with explaining the details of this situation, he said that he wasn't sure if he was the Regional Manager for that location, primarily because he did not want to deal with it. I perceived that his level of interest and concern for the situation or accountability for his front line management is low, and he does not want to assist me. He stated that there was nothing that he could do, even after I informed him about the host of lies and an unauthorized service technician keeping my ATM card, not 5/3 Bank. I asked for his name, to include in the corporate escalation, he said his name was "John". I asked for the last name but it was not provided.

At this point, it was 10:15 am, I called my bank, Hyde Park Bank, explained the situation, and was informed that the transaction was pending. I followed the Regional Manager's request to call him back if the transaction was pending, only to confirm that he lied about his name. On his voice mail, at 1-708-482-5904, the name states "Greg **". In a state of disbelief, I redialed the number twice to confirm that I was once again provided an incorrect information. Given that he lied, I had no choice but to call the Branch Manager, Amber **, to notify her that the transaction was pending with my bank. She advised me to open a dispute with my bank, and I questioned, "How do I know if this is the correct process to reverse this transaction, given the host of lies that have transacted dealing with you and your affiliates"? She hung up the phone!

No, I'm not a 5/3 account holder, however, if I patronize your ATM and pay a fee, that makes me a customer. At this point, I am seeking the Better Business Bureau to intervene, to initiate both a voice of reason regarding this matter, and a corporate response to this situation. I am not interested in a response from local or regional levels because I made several attempts which resulted in the police being called, Amber hanging up the phone, and being lied to by both the branch manager (Amber) and the regional manager.

4. I want the company that owns and/or services the ATM to file an additional complaint.

This was not a situation in which my transaction was complete, cash was disbursed, receipt received, and simply, the card was retained in the machine. Nor is this a situation in which the transaction was $20 or $30, and less impact is stolen. Yes, 79th street is an undesirable area, however, 5/3 provides this location for customer convenience, but this situation has escalated into an inconvenience and horrible customer service. Does the alleged management affiliates think people in this inner city neighborhood don't have the intelligence or foresight to initiate a corporate escalation, and demand adequate service? I have a master's degree and have held corporate positions at Fortune 100 companies. My entire career has never experienced this level of service from banks in more established areas, nor would I allow any front line levels of management to react in this manner to any customer. Is this situation discriminatory? As a result of this ordeal, I never made it to work attempting to get this transaction closed at the ATM, my card returned, seeking customer relations to escalate this matter, ordering a new card, going to my bank to complete the necessary documents for dispute, as well as, drafting this document. At minimum I am seeking the following:

5. 5/3's accountability on behalf of their front line management's behaviors and blatantly lying to a customer, as well as, their lack of ownership to resolve this situation at a 5/3 banking establishment.

The outcome of this situation will condone if 5/3 validates these behaviors from front line management or supports a higher standard of service to customers in our neighborhood. The outcome of this situation will also determine if I will further expose this situation to other customer advocate agencies and/or banking regulatory affiliates.

I called them back on July 7, 2011, the first time, and they said they will take me off their list so that their 'automated system' will never call me again. I was very persistent about this, however, the call volume increased over the weekend. After they called me several times on Monday, July 11, 2011, I called back, spoke to another representative, and told her I knew my account standing to take me off their call list, maybe mentioning the "FTC do not call list". She left me on hold, leading me to hang the phone up because I did not have the time to sit on hold.

The very next day, I received 4 phone calls between 10 am and 1 pm, from their automated system again. In frustration, I called back. I recorded the call myself. I spoke to a representative named Chris, and he 'pretended' as though he could not make out one word I was saying, although, in the recording I am very clear, precise, and very calm while explaining the situation. I repeated myself, and Chris hung up on me. I still continue to get multiple harassing calls daily from them, and I report them to the FTC every time. I have also reported them to the Federal Trade Commission and the BBB of Cincinnati. Their calls will not stop. This is definitely harassment. I am very tempted to file a harassment lawsuit against them.

OMG, you would think that they would want their money instead of giving me so much trouble, I'm at the point almost to change banks because I never had this problem before. I don't know if these people are high or just plain ignorant but my husband really got angry with them and told them off, gave the permission for me to pay truck payment. Why didn't they write this down, if this happens again, trust me we will change banks. I'm not taking money out, just want to pay the truck payment.

I had to call my original bank Fifth Third her to do a transfer for truck do you know how embarrassing this is, those people on loan payment phone had me in tears, I'm surprised I didn't say to them what I wanted to say.

A couple of days later, I got a call from Juan ** saying that there was a federal tax lien against my property from 1995. I contacted my attorney, he checked into it and the tax lien was released and he informed me there was no current tax lien against my property. So Juan ** from Fifth Third Bank said, he could not finance my mortgage now until I removed the federal tax lien that means nothing, it is already released. My attorney tried to contact Juan ** by phone on numerous occasions with no return call. I've lost $1,000 in attorney fees through this constant work Mike and attorney has been doing, trying to contact the Fifth Third loan. Also, the same exact lien was on my credit report three years ago, when Fifth Third Bank gave me that mortgage. I asked Juan ** why that the mortgage then with the same lien on there, he could not answer that question. Now, my attorney refuses to do any more work with Fifth Third Bank and I've lost $1,000 in attorney fees, appraisal fees, and have to start all over looking for refi.

I have been to the bank a couple of times trying to work with them hoping to consolidate these loans and make the payments more affordable. My father was 80 when they granted him the home equity loan for $37,000 but would not insure it because of his age. Also, it was an interest only loan payment so for three years I have been throwing that money out the window. They said that they could not transfer my name on the loans as they were given based on his credit rating not mine and because I am on SSD, my income ratio is not high enough for them to do that which prevents me from refinancing both loans at a much lower rate.

I have been told that if I let the house go that it will not affect my credit because the loans are not in my name, however, this is the only place I have to live. I have no relatives such as children, siblings or other living relatives to help. I have tried to talk to Fifth Third Corporate but they refused to talk to me because according to them they are not authorized to speak to me even though I'm the sole survivor and have been making the payments since my father's death. So basically, they are holding my house hostage and I can no longer make the current payments. I am currently one month behind. I would like to know how long I would have if they foreclose as I must try to make other arrangements.

Why is the final payment over twice what the normal monthly payment is? Why did their automated system give me the amount it did, then want more later? It's a bunch of ****. I called them to try to sort it out and to my surprise, they say that I owe this $1100 and they have no record or proof that the other amount was given to me. And there is nothing they can do and that's the amount owed. Fifth Third **! If you have a car payment with them and you're near your final payment, call the automated number they give you and record the call! Otherwise they will pull the same ** with you as they did me.

I will never ever do business with them ever again. I will steer everyone I know away from them! And I love the fact that this P. Brian ** whose name is on this letter cannot be gotten a hold of. No email address anywhere, no one will connect you to him. Everyone, stay as far away from Fifth Third Bank no matter what. Do not get a credit card from them, don't do a car loan with them, do not get a house loan with them, don't even get a checking or savings account with them. If this is how they treat someone who has always paid their payment on time, think how they treat others! Fifth Third you **! Needless to say this is putting a huge stress on me, having to come up with $1100 in less than two weeks.

It was bad when the bank turned into Fifth Third. Every month, there was some kind of over draft fee. I could not understand how they explained it to me. However, in 2006 and 2007, I was working as a teacher for children with disabilities. I am a retired veteran a cancer survivor and I was a big fighter, but in that year, the problems with the bank started to get worse and worse. Checks would bounce and my power was turned off. My very first rent check after 8 years had bounced. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I thought it was me, but I have always said that when I buy a cup of coffee with my debit card for $3.00 and after overdrafts and other fees, it becomes $73.00. Why would I do that over and over again? For a cup of coffee.

I would ask them to explain to me when the charges take place, and they said I made the mistake, not once, maybe twice, but all the time to the point where I would see a charge that I didn't understand, and then purchases going through or not going through. I would write everything down but the way they explained it, they put my biggest purchases through first because it could be rent and then the little ones. I would ask what a specific charge was for, and they would say it was a fee, but that fee would make the purchase go overdraft, and if I knew about the fee or if I knew they would run it through, I wouldn't buy that cup of coffee.

I am not going make that mistake more than once, but they insisted I was making it a lot, but it seemed that I was making it a lot. Before Ii lost my job, I was paying my school loans. My degree is psychology but I had to go to school full time for my education and I had to pay for the tuition. Unfortunately, my finances were getting out of hand, and even though I'm a retired military, making almost $30k a year and a new teacher, making now $30k a year, I was not understanding why I was not reaping some of the rewards of that check. I started having difficulties with my job, and so, in the end, my identity was stolen (that is what the bank said) and I lost two full paychecks to an overdrawn account twice.

I changed my school pay to hard check, and the direct deposit from the military went into a frozen account. I was also reporting the theft and I received maybe about $1,500 in and out because they would give it and take it back. All in all, over $5,000 was stolen during that time, but that was not all. It was just starting to go downhill. I could not pay my tuition; I lost my tricarenhealth insurance; I was getting sick from the worry and from people thinking, "She makes money. How could she be doing so bad?" My car was falling apart and I couldn't pay to fix it. I was losing everything, the financial aspect was so hopeless, and I looked like a mess after losing my job. I tried to get my funds in order but it just did not work.

Once, I remember just being scared and totally broke and I had just tailed to the call center (which is the worst because the call center, the internet, the banks and ATM's never have the same balance). I had expected to be reimbursed with the funds that were stolen. I went to an ATM and bank. They said it was not available until Monday. I remember having a breakdown right there at the bank. I had ran out of gas. I had no money for food. I couldn't even pick my son up from where he was and I had no food for him. I was hysterical the manager did not know what to do, but I didn't know what to do either. It was my money, my money and I wanted to know where it was, why it was being taken out of my account, and why they were letting people take money out of a frozen account?

I tried to explain to the man that I was to be reimbursed for some of the money that was stolen out of my account in February. They said I was getting $100 back, but they failed to tell me it would not show up until that Monday. Fifth Third seems to think that the "wait until Monday" claim is a fix to it all. Maybe they need that time to find a way to give back what they take. The manager gave me $20. I was so humbled so grateful, and he said he was embarrassed for me, and after, he would not even talk to me. This was my branch. Nice huh? I was in fear of being evicted. My power was turned out and the fees for the bounced checks for FPL were crazy. I was struggling and I was so lost and so sad.

In October and November of 2007, after I paid the September Comcast cable bill with my debit card from my checking account (not the frozen one), Comcast claims that I must have checked the box "please take out of my account every month". I can't blame everyone for my mistakes, so I could have done that. I just don't see how I would agree for them to take money out of an account that I was never going to be sure what the balance would be. I just would not set myself up to fail. Not that they said I did, and so I guess they had my account number from when I did pay by check when things were okay, and they hit my frozen account, over and over and the fees were racking up and racking up. Hundreds of dollars that I did not have to give to Fifth Third - gone. Overdraft fees overdrawn on my overdraft, and now, I didn't notice it in October because that account had a certain amount of money, no more no less and I didn't check that week.

Then, November came and I went to transfer over only my rent and my car. I didn't look at the balance and that was my fault because they hit me in November too, but I realized right away when I tried to withdraw money for food and I had none. I looked at my account and it was all gone, hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I should have checked, but in September, I actually received my whole check that Comcast was still trying to hit my account, so I called and called and said, "Stop, drop, and roll." That is when they said I asked them to take out the funds, but I said, "If there is no money, why are you hitting the account over and over?" They did not claim responsibility and I had fees to pay to them and I had to pay in cash. The same goes with FPL and my rent -all paid in cash; it's difficult.

I called the bank, and they said I should close the account, but if I told them to take the money out, it was not their responsibility. I said, "But the account is frozen, I can't take money out without talking to a manager." I asked who will repay me, and they said I shouldn't have agreed to pay a bill when I didn't have the money in the account. I called Comcast and said, "Stop, drop, and roll. Why are you doing that?" They said I asked them too. So, I replied, "If I did, why didn't you stop when you realized there was no money?" I told them I didn't remember but the account they had from years before was not the one I had paid the bill with in September. They had information from the frozen account, but it was frozen - no access. They should not have allowed Comcast to even try to hit it to get the funds out, and if they were why didn't I get a call? Why didn't they stop it? There was or should have been an alert on that account.

They said it was not their fault. The bank said that the only way to stop Comcast would be to close the account, but I explained to them that my identity had been stolen and that specific account could not be changed because I was under the belief that changing my direct deposit would take months and I didn't have a month extra to wait for my money. Then again, I was treated like I was stupid, like trash - "Oh, she can't manage her money. Where is her money going?" etc. etc. I was surprised the bank allowed this to happen. The frozen account became overdrawn by hundreds and hundreds of dollars - all overdraft overdrawn fees.

Because of that, I lost my vehicle. My father was a co-signer on my Suzuki and he took it because I couldn't pay for it. I was also evicted. The only good part in that Christmas month was that I did work the following year, so I was getting my income tax and the money from my November paycheck was pretty much gone, so making it to December, only $1,000 or so, overdrawn (yes I know it sounds ridiculous but this was my life). I knew I was being evicted and the manager allowed me to stay for a few weeks in December because it was a holiday, and the electric went into the complex's name. I was lucky too because I could rent a car for the December car payment.

So, I withdrew all of my money. I was not going give anyone a chance to take any one (and still on January, I was overdrafted because of a charge). I paid cash to rent a car and I had my income taxes coming in, so I had to go to a pay here place to get a car and they allowed me to get it based on my income tax. I found a place to live I was going go. In January, we were homeless but my son didn't really know because we were moving the first of February, and so with the January's check, I withdrew everything that was there and held onto it.

While I had the rental I became very sick,. but I lost my health insurance, and I was not really knowledgeable on my va benefit. When I got out of the army, I was supposed to die and I didn't, so I put all of my stuff away. I almost put myself through college, although I'm default on my college loans now. I was very sick and could not return the car so they picked it up, and the month of January was not too bad, but I made the mistake of not looking at my account. Why should I? I know how much money is in there, I know how much I withdrew, and I know exactly how much I spend on my debit card. But the day I moved, I saw that my account was charged over eight hundred dollars for the rental car. I almost went crazy because of course I had like $1,000 dollars in the account, and it covered that loss but I had bought coffee and some other things, and the sad part is that it would have been covered but the way they did it, I had overdraft fees collecting overdraft fees. I called immediately and I was so mad. I had to prove that I paid cash for the car and that it was not a deposit. Because my account had so many overdrafts, they thought I was a liar.

When they sent the paperwork, it got lost in the mail, and so, after returning the money and the overdraft fees, they took it. Why? Because my mail was outta whack and I didn't get a piece of paper notarized and have it returned by a certain time. I was so upset. I tried to explain that I had moved. They said that they don't send stuff like that to new address. I said I could go to a local branch and have it faxed but it was the weekend and the department was closed. I was out of luck and of course I had to buy food and stuff, etc. with the money they returned, so once again, I had no money, and by then, I was so sad, so disappointed, so sick, so depressed that I just wanted to die.

I did find out I could apply for unemployment so on February, I did; however, there was an issue and I had to wait for an appeal. When the appeal went through, I asked for direct deposit. They owed me $2,200 back money and it would take longer than two days for the first direct deposit. So, I waited and then called, unemployment said the money was released and Fifth Third said it was processing. I should have asked for some proof but I was desperate again, I had to pay rent I was spending quarters to buy food. I was hurting. So, I paid my rent and I bought groceries and some other stuff.

That Monday, I checked my account, and all of the purchases went through but no deposit. They processed the purchases before the deposit it was still holding, and with two checks for 100 dollars coming in to bounce, I was in trouble. I was so freaked out, the charges were just unbelievable. If you recall, I had already some overdraft fees from the $800 and prior fees that they took from my account because I didn't get some paperwork notarized. I knew that my paycheck would cover the overdrafts from that so I knew I had an overdraft but it was like the third of the month and after I paid my bills with what was left with my paycheck. I was making purchases on the $2,200 that should have hit that day. The bank said it was there and they could see it. So, I called and called. I was hysterical.

I called everyone. I called and called. I found the investors, I found numbers of people who worked for Fifth Third, and finally, got some secretary to a big boss who was at a pool party. I explained to her that I had a deposit "pending" and it would be okay to write a check and use my debit card. However, those transactions I did were processed before the pending deposit, and if the deposit goes in, it will leave me with no money because the account was overdrawn by over $1,000.00. I am not that stupid. I explained that with the money for the rental car place, I didn't receive paperwork to be notarized so they took the money (they stole my money) from my account, and they did not process my direct deposit when they said they would. Now, I was going to be in debt again, and I just had gotten paid. I was so sick of that.

The secretary called someone, and then a different branch, where the manager there allowed me to take out the rest of the money being processed. Out of $2,200.00, I received only $1,000.00 and I had not paid my rent or car payment yet. I talked with the branch manager and told him that this was not new. I call all the time, asking why this got charged when I used my card a week ago, and then I would use it that day and it was just wrong. I could never balance my account. The phone banking was different from the internet which was different from the banks and ATM. I told him about my identity theft and that one time after my account had been frozen, This branch manager I spoke to said these things happened but not at his branch. He would fight them and would make sure I was never charged fees that could not be explained.

That day, even though I only walked away with less than half of what I was owed (the actual expenditure after talking to unemployment and the bank was maybe $200.00 little buys with my card as I said before, coffee, a treat of McDonald's for my son, gas, separate paper, ATM and two checks one to sweetbay and to publix), I felt kind of happy because maybe this guy would help me fight back, and I needed to fight back. No one listened to me when I was having difficulties in life. I was having financial difficulties. I mean serious financial difficulties make a person look almost dishonest, especially when I should have all of this money, and so after my identity theft, I was so frazzled. After having my son sleep at a friend's house to eat and have electric, I looked like a horrible mom, trying to blame my money problems on a bank.

Even before the unemployment, when I lost my job, I was geared to make about $60k a year, and I worked hard for it. But with that bank, I was never able to enjoy it. I don't blame Fifth Third for my problems in life, but it caused major problems. I don't blame Fifth Third bank for my problems, I should have checked the accounts, but even then, what could I have done? It was stupid I know to leave my money in there, stupid to listen to the lady that it would take months to get my money back, but I blame myself for my failure, and although I faced some horrible, horrible things, things that I should have fought, things I tried to fight, I can tell you that when a person had ongoing financial problems, they lose credibility. I do believe at times I was so overwhelmed with what was going on that I made banking errors, but I believe it was because I would not understand the way they processed my spending. I would not spend unless I wrote it down and then some random charge for 10 dollars would send my down the rabbit hole. In the end, there was no room for error for me, and people were believing that even if I lost my job, I still had retirement. How could I lose my home? Oh, it must be drugs.

So yes, I dealt with some horrible things and horrible people, but when I asked for help, my financial difficulties made me look so poor in character that my church would not help. No one wanted to contribute to my downfall. I even lost my tricare insurance and lost the ability to check up on my cancer, and in the last year before finally changing banks, I was sick and afraid. I felt my funds were being held hostage and as a result my son and I as well. But after losing that $2200, I did feel like if I changed branches, it would be okay, but I was not allowed to.

After that, I took a deep breath. At first, I cancelled my direct deposit and decided to just get in in check version. It's what I had to do the last months that I worked as a teacher. Then, I finally found a bank that I felt would be okay. Now, I have been sent papers of threats of going to jail and that threat my friends put me over the edge. You see I had been assaulted by a police officer the month after my identity theft, and I was terrified am terrified of the police, so when I was threatened with that I paid almost $700 to two different companies on checks that had bounced. Checks that should not have bounced, but I was terrified of going to jail.

Now ,I don't even go to the mail box. I don't go outside, nothing. I pretty much lost everything because well, people need money to survive and if you put it in the bank, you trust that bank, and that bank because they know you will get this amount every month and because they know I can't seem to fight them on it, then I don't want to say steal, but my funds were easy access, and it was because I was too pitiful to fight back. Anyway, these are a few examples of what the bank did. I did receive a letter in the mail that Fifth Third was going to be sued and I thought, "Thank God". One thing that I can say is see this happened, I am not lying.

I don't think I'll see anything nor do I hope I do because that is what life is, but I just want justice vindication. I know it says lawyers will read this and lawyers don't want drama, they want specific details. I hope it was not confusing. I had a flood last October, and we lost everything to black mold. I kept the identity theft paperwork for so long, even when I thought I couldn't stand it anymore but a lot of it was ruined by mold. Sadly, that 2200 dollars was supposed to go to rent and because I didn't have the money until later, the landlord would not even pay me what he owed me the first last and security. He believed I was disorganized and dishonest because I would tell him the bank said that I'll get my money next week and it would never happen. And even though I paid him and his late fee, he believed that I was a bad renter and when the house flooded, his attitude towards me was so bad that he did not want to pay me what he owed me, and just like I've been doing for the last three years I said nothing. I sat in my house and that's it. I actually have been diagnosed with PTSD, and it even concerns my banking issues. It's almost embarrassing.

Well, Thank you for allowing me to at least write this down. If I repeat myself or go on about something, I really apologize. I know that rambling does not help. I know lawyers just want info hold the drama, but I have never really told anyone because people would not believe it and because I was embarrassed. But I was so afraid that check that came for 10 years, even though most times I would not see the whole thing was all I had. I do want to say that in my new bank, I made a few banking errors, but I rarely am overdrawn. I live paycheck to paycheck. Ii won't go to the mail box because it terrifies me but my banking problems in so far as it not being touched seems good. I hope you were able to get to the point.

It took my account to a negative, which I was not able to get out of.

Back in 2009, somehow a theft alert was put on my account and I had 11 checks that got sent back as fraud checks to the places I had written the checks to. Fifth Third was supposed to put the money back in my account and also send a letter to all of the places that they had returned the checks to. My credit card interest rate was raised from 0% to 24.99%, and Fifth Third never took the time to reimburse me for any of the charges and I'm still waiting to hear anything about them giving me credit for all the $25 fees that were placed on my account. To reiterate, I had plenty of money in my account to cover all the checks and somehow a theft alert was placed without me knowing and the bank had no clue how it had gotten placed on there. I was two days away from going on a vacation and it was a nightmare.

I opened a savings account as well and never got the money for the 'points' I acquired on my ATM card either. The final straw for me was when I went to deposit a payroll check and instead of giving me the $100 advance that they give you, they charged me $48 for $0.86 that they overdrafted from my account. The next day, I used the ATM and withdraw money and my check had cleared, I went to the store with all my groceries, got ready to pay for them, then my card was declined. They put a hold on a payroll check for 10 days! I was then told I could not close my account until it was in the positive for 24 hours. While my check was being 'held', I acquired more overdraft fees on top of that. I tried to get a form to reverse the fees and they told me they no longer gave out those forms and they can no longer be filed. In the 7 or so months I had the account, I was charged several thousand dollars in overdraft fees resulting in not being able to pay other bills and almost throwing me into major debt. Going to the bank should not cause such stress and anxiety, which it did on every occasion I went to the bank, or spoke to a banking rep or even checked my account online.