Consumer complaint received 2022-12-27
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: PA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2022 at XXXX I submitted a monthly ACH transfer through Ally Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) for {$38.00}. I performed this transfer routinely, nearly every month for the past 2 years. To make ACH transfers, Ally requires customers to select an institution they have previously added from a standard select box. These accounts can't be altered by the end user unless it's removed first, which I confirmed repeatedly with representatives. I've attached a photo showing the select box with the ( current ) incorrect account number and email confirmation I received indicating the correct account number was originally selected. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed I received a late free from XXXX and contacted them to figure out why they hadn't received my money I sent a week earlier. I was informed they never received it and was advised to call Ally. At XXXX I called Ally and was disconnected when I was placed on hold. I called back at XXXX and had a spoken to a representative for nearly XXXX minutes. The representative was able to determine that XXXX had sent a notification to Ally that my account number had changed, so my ACH transfer was unknowingly sent to an account number I have never been associated with ( ending in XXXX ) instead of my normal account ending in XXXX. They told me they would open a dispute, would provide the information they found, and that I would receive a phone call back for more information from the proper department.They advised I call XXXX to dig into why they received the account change notification. I called XXXX which denied having such a system in place. A few days later the {$38.00} was debited to my account temporarily while the investigation continued. Over the next few months I repeatedly called Ally, I've attached screenshots of my call log. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Ally at XXXX because I had received a dispute form in the mail that required me to select one of several options which didn't fit my dispute. I spoke to a representative at that time that advised I put " see the backside '' and write that I needed to receive a callback as promised to further explain the situation. I asked if they were certain this would be seen by an employee and this would work, they assured me it would. I filled out the document as directed and sent it back to Ally. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I noticed a vague charge labeled " Withdrawal ''. Admittedly the dispute wasn't on my mind since I hadn't received the callback promised by the previous two representatives. I was concerned my account was compromised, so I called at XXXX to ask what the charge was for. They informed me the dispute was rejected and I asked why I hadn't been called like I was promised. The representative originally told me to file another dispute, but when I expressed I had already did that she told me to call back tomorrow after XXXX eastern to speak to the back office directly. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called back at XXXX as suggested and spoke to a representative. I told her the previous representative had added notes to my account explaining what needed to be done, but she instead investigated on her own despite my continuous requests to speak to someone for escalation. She finally reached out to the " back office '' and spoke to someone, who assured me they would call me within 1 to 2 business days. I asked for a reference number, they provided XXXX which I later found out was a dispute number. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I called back and spoke with another representative that informed me my dispute was already in process. They couldn't provide any information why I hadn't received a call back like I was promised. They did inform me that my prior calls were scarcely noted, despite being told otherwise by each previous representative. I requested my call be escalated and was transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor looked further into this and couldn't tell me why I hadn't received any of my promised calls, only that the department I needed to speak to was off Sunday and Monday for XXXX. She told me I should call back tomorrow after XXXX and ask this to be resolved " today '' since she could also see this was a bank error. I was informed there's no way for me to directly reach " the back office '', they must contact me directly. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I called Ally for the last time which resulted in a XXXX hour XXXX minute phone call. I spoke to a representative who informed my dispute was in process and said nothing else could be done. I insisted I speak to someone, so they transferred me to a supervisor. The supervisor was able to determine that past representatives had scarcely noted my account and my dispute barely had any information that would indicate the true extent of my issue. He told me he wanted to look into why I was repeatedly promised a phone call back and never received one, which he verified on his end. I explained that my ACH transfer activity shows the money was sent to the account ending in XXXX, but my account ledger shows it was transferred into a different account. He confirmed he could see that on his end as well. 

He found out a lot of information during his investigation, but he informed me that what I was told the first time was accurate. The system Ally uses received a response that the account number was incorrect and had changed, so they automated updated my account to reflect the correct account. I expressed that I had never approved this change, I was never informed of this change, and I had sent the money to a different account so it's not my fault this was sent somewhere else. I wanted my {$38.00} back, it's been 3 months. After speaking with two other departments he was able to determine that I would need to contact XXXX myself and give them the trace number for the transaction because Ally wouldn't do anything with the dispute until I did that. I expressed displeasure that Ally made a mistake and now I was being told to call the other institution for them, I just wanted my money back. 

I had no other recourse, so I called XXXX at XXXX and after XXXX minutes on the phone, they informed me they would reverse the funds.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation