Consumer complaint received 2018-06-05
Company: TD BANK US HOLDING COMPANY
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
I will stick to the black and white facts here to provide an objective history of what has transpired that has led to this complaint. Upon moving to XXXX, NJ, I received a promotional mailer from TD Bank claiming : " Open a TD Premier Checking account and earn {$300.00} when you set up and receive direct deposits totaling {$2500.00} or more within 90 days of account opening. '' I proceeded to call the branch listed on the mailer to inquire about the promotional offer - and in fact spoke to the branch manager on more than one occasion before opening the account. The branch being : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NJ XXXX XXXX Branch Manager - XXXX XXXX My specific concern was around the terms of 'new personal checking Customers ' as there is HELOC account under my father 's name, with me as joint due to his elderly age status ( however the account specifically belongs to him ). At the time, I was assured by the manager that this would not disqualify me. Additionally, upon opening the account on the evening of Friday, XX/XX/2018, the banking associate confirmed ( verbally ) that this would not invalidate the promotion. It was further confirmed that the requirement to obtain the {$300.00} promotion was to have a cumulative total of {$2500.00} enter the account via direct deposits during the first 90 days ( that they need not be repeated direct deposits ). Though I can not recall with 100 % certainty, this was likely confirmed with telephone support in the early part of XXXX ( their lines are recorded so pull the logs ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX a direct deposit of almost {$7000.00} hit the account and therefore met this {$2500.00} threshold. Since then I have dutifully waited for the bonus to post " no later than 125 days from account opening. '' When the time had passed I reached out to TD via their phone support and this is where the problems began to surface. On XX/XX/XXXX at about XXXX. EST I spoke with XXXX who claimed that because of the HELOC under my father 's name I do not qualify for this promotion ( but specifically confirmed that I met the direct deposit requirement ). I was then transferred at XXXX. EST to a supervisor of his, XXXX, who claimed that I now apparently have multiple historical personal checking accounts with TD bank ( untrue ) and the HELOC was not the reason for the disqualification. She informed me that I must reach out to the branch manager, XXXX, to sort the problem. 

When I spoke with XXXX on the morning of Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, she informed me she would investigate and requested that I send her the details of the promotion. She no longer has a recollection of the conversations from XXXX, which is fair, though fortunately all these lines are recorded for security purposes. XXXX now claims that TD Bank only sends promotions like the one I received to non-existing customers. Therefore, it was not the HELOC under my father but some other reason. Upon touching base on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that I did not qualify because there was only one direct deposit and not multiple ( the opposite of what the phone representative informed me on XX/XX/XXXX and also back in XXXX ). 

As this point I decided this was going nowhere and informed her I would file a formal complaint with the CFPB. From the above you can see there are multiple problems with the exchanges between TD Bank and me, the customer. Not only was I misinformed on multiple occasions as to whether I qualify for the promotion or what the actual requirements were ( they changed every time I called or spoke to a representative ), I was ostensibly sent misleading marketing materials. If they " knew '' I had an account at TD Bank, why would they send a promotional mailer address to me, by legal name, advertising this promotion targeted to me by name. ( I put " knew '' in quotes as there is an obvious lack of consistency in any sort of response as to what is going on with this account promotion. ) At this point in time words can not express the level of frustration associated with the feeling of a 'bait and switch ' on the promotion, the wasted time of speaking with multiple representatives who all contradict each other and the thought of how many times this must happen to other consumers that will not raise their hand to say this is wrong, misleading and unethical.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation