Consumer complaint received 2019-02-21
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: MO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
We have both personal and business accounts. On the personal side Navy Federal has approved myself and my fiance, very extreme large amount in credit cards. Our business account we can not even borrow a penny. To make matters worse, Oh XXXX   where do I begin!! So, let 's start with opening a business account there. While talking with the rep at the branch and trying to decide what business account we would like. She inticed us with the account that earned interest, no hidden fees, whatever we spend in ATM fees at another bank we receive back, and etc. So yes we went for it, why not? It sounded great! Boy wasnt we in for a surprise! Let give a little background first. We own a automotive and semi repair shop. We sell tires, along with repairing all kinds of vehicles. It is usual business for us to have a {$2500.00} parts bill on every Monday, {$2000.00} or more payroll on Friday, and tire bill anywhere from {$100.00} to {$2000.00} per day. With being said its not unusual activity for me to write checks for these amounts, and deposit {$100.00} to {$8000.00} per week, if not more some weeks. After a year of banking is when the problems began. We began receiving returned checks, and vendors calling us. We did dismiss some of this for a while as our fault. While some of this was how our credit card processor was handling funding to our account. Then we had a employee do a internal theft, who is incarcerated now due to this criminal act. Does not help us any because he is a third time felon we found out during trial and was sent back for good, so we will never get that {$23000.00} back. During the theft of {$23000.00} stolen right out of our bank account, Navy federal never once helped us in any kind of way. In fact, we applied for a loan to help us get through the hurdle till more money came in, and to cover checks that had bounced during this theft. Navy federal declined the loan and gave no reason for the refusal, but greatly enjoyed all the money they was making on our grief. This is where bad went to worse with Navy Federal! I think they enjoyed the money they was making sooooo much they found this as a way to higher there financial scores with FDIC, and stocks and so forth. Let me fast forward a little to the recent past several months. So, we was back in business after receiving a loan from another financial institution, because Navy Federal declined, their loss so I thought. We had deposited a very large amount cashiers check, and we still was getting returned checks. I was making deposits on the daily and still getting returned checks. So, come to find out Navy federal started placing holds on our deposits, and returning checks even though they money is there in their hands to cover the checks written. I battled with Navy Federal branch for a few weeks till finally they stopped placing holds on deposits, and it was agreed upon that our account could not handle holding funds. Its not like this is my trash guy, and I can tell him give me 7 days because my bank put a hold on paycheck. After this argreement, or so I thought we had one. We started getting returned checks again, and there was no way, cause we made sure there was funds to cover the checks written. We fought this with Navy Federal, and the explanation we kept receiving was well there are checks pending and they go through to be paid before your deposit is applied. OK, I will accept that explanation for now! So, my fianc got a little smart and on purpose wrote a certain number of checks, and paid cash for other stuff because we was setting up to watch how Navy Federal was processing all this. The day finally came where we knew exactly how many checks was out when they would be presented and the time the deposit was made to cover those checks. And, on that day that we had been working on to watch we sat up from XXXX  till XXXX and sure enough there it was. Even though I made the {$3000.00} deposit before XXXX  that day, because you know their cut off time to be applied to the account was XXXX they said, they processed all those checks and returned everyone of them then did not apply my deposit till XXXX the next day. When I presented this to the supervisor at the branch I got the most technical, rehearsed, XXXX  story of why my theory does not work and that it was all my fault. I argued why that was XXXX!! A few days later I received a credit for all the returned checks, and XXXX miscellaneous technical glitch letter to present to my vendors that never put Navy Federal to blame ( of course ). Did not help with our reputation with our vendors though. We still had to pay their fees. Also during all this investigating and watching our account we found we was being charged international fees, we never received any money back from other ATMs, and something else that just states misc fee, WHAT? Now when questioned about this I get some XXXX excuse and told to go to business services that the branch doesnt handle our account. WHAT? And WHEN DID THIS BEGIN? This branch is where we came and opened this account, signed documents, talked to someone and set this account up?!?! Now lets fast forward again to the XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. I walk in to the location on a Saturday and deposited a little over {$700.00}, and the teller tells me I can only have {$250.00}, and in 7 days I can have the remaining, and this is after the deposit is completed. WHAT!?!?! I just wrote payroll and wrote a check to my tire supplier who for the 4th time will get another returned check! And, we have already came to a agreement about this. Guess what I get, Im so sorry maam but theres nothing I can do any deposit over {$250.00} dollars is a 7 day hold. WHATEVER!!! 2 weeks later I go in on a Monday and deposit a little over {$2700.00}, and again we will let you have {$500.00}, and you can have the rest in 7 days. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?! No I want my money, I have checks written to run my business and I need that money! Im sorry anything over {$500.00} is a 7 day hold. Okay this is a joke, cause not even 2 weeks ago you said it was anything over {$250.00}, and now your telling me its anything over {$500.00}. The teller says yes I know we are not the ones making the rules its corporate, and corporate tells us what to allow. I argue this till one of the supervisors comes over, and overrides the hold. Then I come in with a cashiers check from a local bank ( local meaning within 1 block, around the corner from Navy Federal ) made to me for {$6600.00} ( I remember the amount to the penny, because this happened like within the past month ) The teller says okay we will let you have {$2500.00} now, {$2500.00} in 2 to 3 days, and the rest in 7 days. NOOOOO!!! I threw a fit! I need that money now!!! Not only do I have some checks to cover, but I need to pay rent, ( and we was also going to switch banks, but it does not matter what I was going to do with the rest of it ) The teller says Im sorry anything over {$5000.00} we have to placed a hold. Its a cashiers check money has already been applied to it. Im sorry we dont know if its real. You are kidding me? As much as I come in here and as much as I deposit, and never once presenting a bad check for deposit in 2 years, your actually going to stand there and give me that kind of explanation? And the bank is less than a block away from you, and their phone number is on the check, call them!? Im sorry Navy Federal does not allow us to do that in our procedures. Ok explain this to me one day its {$250.00}, then its {$500.00}, then its {$2500.00}, and now today its {$5000.00}? So what is going on, because this tells me you have been holding funds from deposits from me and causing bad checks for the past 2 months now, EXPLAIN??????? Im sorry we dont make the rules this comes from corporate. Ok, so when I call corporate again about this I can tell them to quit lying to me that its a branch decision, right? Yes, it is corporate. I leave I call corporate and ask for answers. CORPORATE, and one representative and 4 supervisors all say all of this is the branch decision and they have no policy as such to hold a cashiers check, or money order ( which they have in the past ), and that the branch made the decision not corporate, and they could have called the issueing bank if they had a problem with the check and verify it, and that they could not do anything after the branch placed their hold. And, coming from CORPORATE, they said well for future reference you can deposit at the ATM, and its only a 24 hour hold. When I told corporate all of this Im writing right now, they said I can not understand why they are doing this to you, and none of this has ever came from corporate. WHAT?!?! When I went back to the branch to discuss what their CORPORATE said they stated I do not know who you talked to but it is a corporate policy. OK first let me see this policy you speak of, they tell me that there is nothing they can give me the customer to see that it is for employees only. Second I gave them the names of who I spoke to and the branch said they was lying to me. When I called corporate in front of them they refused to talk to them stating they could not talk to them on a customer phone that it was corporate policy, corporate said no it is not and that corporate was making notation of this incident. Then I go in the branch a week and a half after this cashier check event with a {$3900.00} check from a very highly respected and well known customer. The teller says OK we are making {$1500.00} available today to you, and you can have the rest in 7 days. Needless to say I LOST IT, RIGHT THEN, RIGHT THERE!!!!!! I made sure everyone in the bank was staring me down and hearing the whole entire conversation. Immediately, not the manager, not the supervisor, but the teller said I can override it for you this time. REALLY!!!!!! What about all of these other times, why are you deliberately sabotaging our company? Why have you made it impossible for us to get money saved so I can go somewhere else? Why have you been doing this to me when someone with no authority at all can simply override? Let me tell you why!!!!!! Because all this time there never was a corporate policy. It comes down to numbers, and how good does XXXX XXXX look to the FDIC scoring. If a branch is not performing well enough they crack down on the accounts that have the highest activity, and do little things that the average person would not catch to get their scores up, and make them look as though they are such a excellent company with $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ XXXX

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation