Consumer complaint received 2022-04-09
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: VA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
Between XXXX XXXX, I had filed a claim with the fraud department because of XXXX fraud where someone somehow had access to my Truist account ( originally bb & t ) and sent a total of XXXX dollars to three different XXXX users that I was not familiar with through my bank account. When I noticed the unauthorized transactions, I immediately called Truist fraud department and the lady that spoke to me told me they would be sending me paperwork in the mail that I would have to sign and mail back within 10 days or they would not be able to start the investigation. I got the papers in the mail but before I could mail it back, they had already sent me another letter in the mail telling me my dispute was declined. How could they tell me it was declined if they never received the letter I had signed and was told the investigation would not start until after receiving the signed letter? I decided to call the fraud department again and after being on hold for about 3-4 hours, someone finally picked up only to have a dog barking in the background and her telling me her system isn't working and she would have to transfer me. I was transferred again and waited for about 3 hours up until the point where the customer service was closed for the day and I was still on hold so I just hung up. I called again the next day and when someone had picked up they told me that there is not much information written as to why my dispute was declined but only that " the transactions seemed like they were authorized by you and there is no fraud. '' I told her I did not agree with what she was saying and would like to request a second review because I had not authorized the payments. She told me she was unable to request a second review until I " provided proof that it was not me '' which was the most unexpected thing I ever heard. I kept telling her I did not know what proof she wanted and that I would like to speak to someone who could help me out better. She said an analyst would call me in 48 hours but I waited a whole week and never received a call back. I called the fraud department again and requested another call back from an analyst and a specific time of day which was reasonable. The analyst called me at a completely different time of day I requested in which I had to call again and again and currently, have still NOT received another call back. On top of that, I wanted to withdraw the remaining funds I had in my checking account as it is my money and I am entitled to withdraw my funds but whenever I went to the bank ( Branch in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, VA XXXX ) They told me they were unable to withdraw my money because of a hold placed on my account and that they would call the fraud department on my behalf to resolve the issue and they would contact me back. One week passes and I still haven't heard back so I decided to call the fraud department myself and was told that they were not able to do anything as I should go to the bank and be able to withdraw my money. I go back to the bank and had to wait for an hour for the branch leader to take me into the office and she told me the only person to lift the hold Is the person who placed it and she said she would email the person who placed the hold and would follow up with me. She never followed up with me and this forced me to finally file a complaint. It's been over a month now and I have yet to gain access to my checking account that has MY money as well as ask for another review of my dispute as I do not agree with it being declined and will file a police complaint as well as take legal actions if necessary. I am very impatient now and need access to my remaining funds in my checking account.

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