Consumer complaint received 2020-05-27
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: AR
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Money was taken from your account on the wrong day or for the wrong amount

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2019, I applied for a Suntrust Business Checking account. Suntrust Bank had a promotion for opening a Business Checking account online, and they specifically stated it must be funded with {$1500.00} upon account opening. I filled out the application, and during the application, they took my personal bank 's information, which is XXXX XXXX, to fund the {$1500.00}. 

Suntrust Bank took the {$1500.00} out of my XXXX account, and then after a few days, informed me that my account could not be " opened '' unless I physically went into a branch to provide identification. I spoke with a representative on the phone about this, explaining that I opened this account online, as was offered by Suntrust, because it was simplest, but visiting a branch in person ( a 10 hour roundtrip drive from where I live ) was out of the question. It's very common to have an online bank account without ever visiting a branch in person ( I have a XXXX  account that is decentralized like this ), and I didn't expect this to be a problem, but Suntrust refused to complete the opening process without me physically bringing identification, as opposed to faxing or emailing it. Naturally this was not at all consumer-friendly, and not worth the incredible inconvenience, so I declined. 

The only problem was that Suntrust had taken my {$1500.00} already, even though they claimed they had not opened the account. I even received statements over the next several months from Suntrust, with a checking account number and balance, as though the account were actually opened. It showed my {$1500.00} in this Suntrust account. And of course they had withdrawn the {$1500.00} from my XXXX account, and I no longer had access to it. 

I asked a representative in XXXX how they would be reimbursing me the {$1500.00}, since the account wasn't technically open, and the representative very confidently assured me that, since the account wasn't " really open, '' it would " automatically close '' within 45 days and the balance would be refunded to me. I double checked that the representative was sure, and he was. A great inconvenience to have Suntrust Bank take my {$1500.00} and hold onto it without my consent for 45 days, but so be it ; it wasn't worth the trouble to pursue it further, since it would, according to the Suntrust representative, certainly be refunded after 45 days. 

The end of XXXX came, well past the 45 day point since account opening, and I had received another statement from Suntrust bank, as though I had an open account. I still had not received my {$1500.00}, so I called Suntrust to check on this. This representative looked into the account, and said that I just needed to wait a few more weeks, and yes, it would close itself and my {$1500.00} would be returned. 

I waited several more weeks, and another statement came in. I called Suntrust again, and this time, the representative said that the previous representatives had been wrong, and that my money would not be refunded unless I provided identification in person ; a ridiculous request, since Suntrust had happily taken my money via an online application without any in-person contact, but now was claiming I had to drive 10 hours to get my own money back. Suntrust stated the account was actually open, unlike what they had previously said, and I couldn't close it to obtain my account balance without coming into a branch in-person. Furthermore, Suntrust was also charging " paper statement '' fees to this account, deducting these fees from the {$1500.00} I had unwillingly given them, and they would not stop deducting these fees unless I came into a physical location. All of this was beyond ridiculous, yet I had no recourse ; they had taken my money without my consent and were now holding it XXXX against this absurd request of taking a business day off work to come get my money back. 

I elevated the call and was able to reach someone within the Suntrust Bank business department who said that actually I COULD close the bank account and receive my account balance in full by mail, simply by sending in a letter to Suntrust stating that I would like the account closed and my account balance in full. This was the first person who had told me I could do this. This representative gave me a full address to send this request to at Suntrust Bank and assured me this would work without problem, when I pressed them for certainty ; after all, I had been misled several times by Suntrust representatives already, literally at my expense, and I wanted a confident response. The representative was, naturally, very confident. 

I complied and sent in a signed and dated letter requesting my account be officially closed and my account balance sent to me in full. 

After sending the letter, which was at the end of XXXX ( now nearly three months after Suntrust bank had taken my {$1500.00} ), I received a call from the Suntrust Bank fraud department, though I missed the call and it went to voicemail. Someone in their fraud department stated they wanted to speak to me about my account, yet they did not leave a direct line to call back to, and when I called back, a direct number was requested. I had none, only the general Fraud Department number, and when I called this number, I never got through to anyone. I spent thirty minutes to an hour on hold, SEVERAL TIMES, without anyone ever answering the phone, and that department never called me again. Apparently it was not that urgent. 

A couple weeks later, mid-XXXX, I received a letter from Suntrust bank stating that they could not close my account because, well, they had already closed my account for " Fraudulent activity. '' They showed that my account balance was now {$0.00}, but that it was {$0.00} because they had withdrawn and kept my account balance under a vague reference titled " Legal Fee. '' So clearly they had received my request in the mail to close the account, but to avoid sending me my account balance, they had FALSELY claimed my account had some fraudulent activity, using this outright lie to steal my {$1500.00} and " preempt '' me in closing my account so they would not have to send my account balance in full. 

I called Suntrust AGAIN, and this representative did not fully understand what had happened, but stated, after talking to a superior, that to receive my {$1500.00} back, I NOW had to have my bank, XXXX XXXX, reverse the {$1500.00} transaction from early XXXX, 2019. This was very strange, but I contacted XXXX, and they at first also seemed dubious about reversing a several-months-old transaction, and had me verify with Suntrust. I called Suntrust again, and they once again said that the ONLY way to retrieve my money now was to have my bank reverse the transaction from XXXX, when Suntrust had initially withdrawn my money. I reached out to XXXX again and they complied with my request, since Suntrust very firmly stated that they would send the money back with a transaction reversal. 

The end of XXXX came, as XXXX worked through this transaction reversal request with Suntrust ; a letter came in from XXXX stating the Suntrust had refused to reverse the transaction. XXXX could not pull my money back from Suntrust because Suntrust was refusing! 

It is the end of XXXX, nearly six months since Suntrust wrongfully took my {$1500.00}, and they still have my money. How many times can a bank legally lie to a consumer and mislead them on how to access their money, and not be held accountable? As many times as they like, it seems. I would like to avoid the burden of legal action, but I am flabbergasted by this flagrant abuse of their position and power, and I am at a loss as to how else to retrieve the money they wrongfully took from me.

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