Consumer complaint received 2024-01-05
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Overdrafts and overdraft fees

Complaint:
Recently I found out my bank account was WAY in the negative, in that instance I went down to the bank to speak to them about HOW THIS COULD BE POSSIBLE ?  She looked up my account and kind of snickered when saying," you made many purchases and transfers and forgot huh?"  She says shes going to print me a copy of the recent transactions so I could "be reminded".  In an sarcastic tone she asks if I make transfers to my XXXX from that account? I said yes of course.  She says why did you continue if there wasnt money to cover it?  I told her XXXX will not let you add to your XXXX account if the funds are not available in the US bank account. It would say " insufficient funds we are unable to complete transaction" so naturally, one would assume everything is normal.

She told me on XXXX XXXX  I "opted in to overdraft coverage" . Quickly I cut her off and told her I absolutely had not!!! Matter of fact when I opened the account with them, going over all of the details I EXPRESSED  INDEFINITELY that I DID NOT want coverage for overdraft protection, so much was stressed on that SPECIFICALLY that the agent would absolutely remember that if she were to ask him.  He no longer works for them, she said.  I explained to her I never have, never will nor do I even BELIEVE IN  having overdraft protection, I was raised that if you dont have the cash to pay for it, you dont need to borrow or get credit for it, basically you dont need it!!  
I told her I was guilty as many do on occasion, of clicking  XXXX a few times to get through the popups in the app but surely it  couldnt have been so easy to accidentally add a feature or extra service?!  Matter of fact WHY DIDNT I GET A TEXT telling me a "change was made to my account" ? She checked my phone settings, my app settings, and her system on both ends and had a puzzled look on her face while saying," It says you receive text messages updates...hmm I dont know."  I wanted to know what other changes had been made to my account in the past year that I didnt know about,  she couldnt seem to answer that question.  She asked me why dont I check my app and bank account everyday and I told her I wasnt aware that I HAD TO, let alone did I know anyone that did EVERYDAY.   
	
At that point they were getting ready to close, I started losing my composure and tears started running down my face  which seemed to annoy her even more.  I told her when I went to my mailbox and seen my unemployment check inside, I at that point questioned the funds that were being used on my transactions, ( a few days prior I had spoke to XXXX about my new address and changing to direct deposit, in which I assumed since it had taken so long to receive, had been returned and funds were no longer being sent via paper check as I had requested). Her coworker came over and whispered to her ," Make a note to talk to the manager about this situation tomorrow and have him call her at least,  just help her out... and follow up with the manager..."  Reluctantly she did.
Next day the manager calls me and after no more than 2-3 min of me explaining, he told me there was nothing they could do at the branch, he said I needed to call customer service and proceeded to give me what i later found out to be the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX !!!
When the lady in that department apologized and didnt know why he would give me that number (because she actually listened to entire recap) she gave me customer services correct number. They told me I needed to speak with the XXXX XXXX department, gave me the number and transferred my call.  Too many callers and to save my place in line and they would call me back at my phone number.   XXXX  The lady that called me back was saying the same thing, that i opted in and she cant do anything and it looked like the lady at the bank opted out for me that prior evening, so there wont be any more overdraft fees from then going forward.   Also that I am allowed to dispute only 1 overdraft service fee PER MONTH!!! At that point I asked to speak to a manager/her supervisor and waited for her to finish another phone call, approx 15 min. 
At first she was very pleasant and understood my issue.  I told her that i didnt  believe the lady from the bank,  signing up for new services is usually a hassle and a bit more than a few pages of signing an agreement of some sort to which cant possibly be done just by a pop up that I closed when using the app ...

She then said she was going to try to go thru the process on the app herself to see how easy (or hard) it was to "opt in". She reassured me that yes, in fact, it was more than just 1 page to fill out and all info had to be entered as if you were a new customer...etc. and that there was no way I could have accidentally opted in to overdraft protection by x-ing out of some simple pop ups, and that it was very clear throughout app that you were signing up for added services.  
Her whole demeanor at that point changed towards me. She became very short and with an accusatory tone treated me like a XXXX!!  As I thought she and I were closer to being on the same page as far as a process of elimination on how this could have happened, she told me that basically there was nothing more to be said and that I had until XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXXto pay them back" the amount that was in the negative to "repay" what was covered by them with the "overdraft protection" I had NEVER ASKED FOR nor was EVER TOLD ABOUT that ANY RECENT CHANGES even occurred on my account.  I sort of snapped at her and said that I have never heard of any bank or even credit union that would even offer THAT MUCH OVERDRAFT coverage; maybe something around $XXXX if that, but c'mon almost $XXXX And not a call, text of a warning (until I brought it to their attention) about being in the negative, for half a month?!  Including several overdraft service charge fees that they told me ONLY 1 PER MONTH CAN BE disputed but I HAVE UNTIL XXXX  to do XXXX!  I WAS IN SHOCK that this is how they treat customers.  That was the extent of her help to figure out where and what went wrong??? XXXX.  
I said they needed to escalate this to higher personnel because I didnt feel she was going to help me look into this any further and with the feeling she implied I WAS TRYING to get over on the bank, I asked to speak to her boss, and she replied "she was the boss"!! At that point of frustration, the only thing I could think of was telling her I was going to see them in court because they cant possibly do this to people and get away with it. 
	Now im in shambles because of the XXXX bills, rent, and after being a victim of XXXX XXXX  a few years ago, I am finally getting back to a decent credit score that I have been working so hard on repairing.... and now this?  I feel that my hands are tied and I am running out of time to figure out another possible solution and/or  how to hold them responsible for what has happened?  I have barely any savings left to pay my full rent and I am lucky to have an understanding, patient landlord as the month is already over but this is completely overwhelming to even focus on what to do on a day to day basis. 
PLEASE  advise me on this matter AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  Thank you for your time and consideration.
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attempt to solve with bank Pt.2 

To Whom It May Concern:

Yesterday I made another attempt to figure out my US Bank account issues, similar to a couple weeks ago. 
This time I tried a different approach:  I called to dispute a reoccuring charge from a merchant- okay no  problems there, solved almost instantly.  When she asked if there were anything else I needed to resolve I quickly told her yes and proceeded to ask if she could explain what the "overdraft fee" and "overdraft fee forgiven" items that were listed in early XXXX meant?  I told her I have NEVER seen the word "overdraft" anything and figured it must be some sort of mistake and perhaps that is why "...fee forgiven" was the very next transaction?? She said oh ok well, if it were a merchant charge, she could help me. But because it was the bank that posted it, she would transfer me to that department. Just like before after telling them Id like them to look further into the understanding of who, what, where and why's, they couldnt waive any overdraft fees.  I told them to escalate it to the supervisors supervisor and was put on hold.  She came back to the call aside her supervisor and continued to tell me they were working on making adjustments to the account in order to "remove overdrafts".  She truly seemed to understand me as well as her supervisor, and for a little over an hour I remained on a "silent hold" (standby).  They seemed to be optomistic in helping me resolve the issue and were very apologetic at this time.  Eventually out of nowhere, THE CALL DROPS.  XXXX.  So I call back and after a short verification ask if it were possible to find out who I had just been talking to with the supervisor right beside her and she told me she might or at least find noted info since it had been escalated to manager attention.  She transfered me to XXXX in which wasnt who I was previously speaking to but was the one who pushed and searched and tried and really put in the effort for the next hour and a half.  
While she waited for manager response, she really listened to me and to the best of her ability cross referenced, checked prior notes, looked into history, log-ins, etc. The managers XXXX response was that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  
XXXX XXXX  I told her her manager was just feeding her XXXX to satisfy the call but I asked her to think for herself if that made any sense based off of what even she knows about XXXX personally.
After a minute passed she continued to talk with her boss via messaging, and all I could hear was XXXX typing very fast, as if to argue the matter on my behalf! I said that makes no sense because XXXX has never had a problem in the past saying NO to me when trying to add funds from my linked US Bank account, even when I asked for XXXX more than was available in my checking, they would immidiately tell me "insufficient funds bank institution declined". Why all of a sudden, sometime in early XXXX, did that randomly change without warning??  
She continued the back and forth with her boss  and I suppose when all responses had been countered, her boss told her to transfer the call to her and she would handle it.  I sincerely thanked her and agreed to do the survey regarding her quality of customer service (only after making it clear that it has to do with how good she was NOT usbank!)
Oh no, she just said she was transfering the call to who???!!! Turns out its the same manager XXXX I spoke to last time, which only made the conversation more bias and her attitude arrival in mere seconds into the discussion.  Again she talked over me continuously throughout the duration of our call.  I simply wanted her to own up to her management responsibilities and find out just WHO she could refer me to that had authorization to make decisions and changes necessary to satisfy customers requests on their accounts?? I still got the same answer from her as last time.  Scripting from her default employee manual reference guide: " I am sorry XXXX XXXX  there is nothing more I can do for you, and at this time if you fail to bring your account out of a negative balance by XXXX XXXX, we will close your account without any further discussion and it will go against you as a charge off".

I dont know what or who to contact at this point that can dilligently help me solve my account issues.  CEO?  Chairman? Do I need to find a lawyer? File a police report? Contact CFPB? Write to AG XXXX XXXX XXXX 
I just cant stand customers getting bullied by financial institutions that are not being accountable for misleading, misuse, unethical practices, just to turn it around on the customer as if they are at fault.  Taking advantage of customers that CHOSE THEM as the bank they wanted to protect their money and assets, giving a too-soon-to-pay-off deadline FOR CUSTOMER to pay for funds THEY FRAUDULENTLY manipulated before closing the account, doesnt even mathmatically, let alone ethically nor even morally serve as a posibility.  In her passive yet sarcastic tone, the fact that there wasnt any route to take to try to solve my problem, no one else to contact, it was clear she was not going to admit that the BANK VIOLATED our agreement, the terms and conditions of  A SIGNED CONTRACT when I opened the account having set the perameters of said account were CHANGED WITHOUT MY CONSENT is unlawfully astounding to me. How can they get away with such intentional criminal conduct when they are the "parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States having nearly XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Thank you for your time, once again,
			XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX logging into online access I found that all of my security alerts and account changes via text notifications had been COMPLETELY TURNED OFF.  When I set up the account I set all of my settings to my liking and never had a problem receiving texts as my alerts.

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 non-monetary relief