Consumer complaint received 2022-10-08
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
I woke up on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX and noticed several pending fraudulent transactions on my checking account. I immediately used the Ally app to turn my debit card off and proceeded to call Ally to report the fraud. 

At XXXX I first spoke with XXXX who verified my card was deactivated. She ordered me a new card and advised on when it should arrive. She was very helpful and the replacement card arrived within the timeframe she gave me. She transferred me to XXXX who would be assisting me with reporting the fraudulent transactions. 

At XXXX I spoke with XXXX and went over the fraudulent transactions that were pending on my checking account. He advised me that the transactions would need to post before they could take further action. He said that it was possible that some of the fraudulent transactions could drop off and not post. At the time there were XXXX pending fraudulent transactions totaling {$270.00}. He said they would act on the fraudulent transactions that posted to my account on Monday. He advised that it could take up to XXXX business days to resolve, but that the timeframe was often less. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, after seeing that all XXXX fraudulent transactions were still on my account and having received no communication from Ally, I called back to check in and spoke with XXXX XXXX This employee sounded as if they were reading directly off a script and proceeded to tell me that after 10 days they begin investigating the transactions. I told her that I was told by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX that the process could take UP TO 10 days. She said that wasn't the case and indicated that no investigation had begun. She said to check my account on XX/XX/XXXX, which was the XXXX business day, and that I should see communication from Ally regarding the bank 's determination on my fraud case. I didn't feel very confident about this based on the employees demeanor and apparent incompetence. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I logged into my Ally account and there were no communications regarding my fraud case. None of the fraudulent money was refunded. I had to wait until my lunch break at XXXX to call the bank back and ending up spending nearly XXXX hours total on this issue. After waiting on hold for XXXX minutes I was connected to XXXX and I immediately asked to be transferred to a supervisor. XXXX said he was more than happy to transfer me, but he kindly asked if he could take a look at the case. I told him that was fine. After reviewing my case and discussing my prior communications with XXXX and XXXX he decided a supervisor needed to be brought into the loop because it had been XXXX business days and nothing had been done. XXXX was very helpful and stayed on the line until a supervisor could join. I asked XXXX if they kept the recorded phone calls I had made and he indicated that they are kept. After chatting for about XXXX minutes, XXXX advised me that he was bringing XXXX on the line and that she was a supervisor. I went over all of my prior communications with XXXX and expressed my frustration that it had been 10 days and nothing had happened. I told XXXX that I fully expected the fraudulent money be deposited to my account by the end of the business day as I had already waited 10 days for the process to work. She told me she would escalate my case and that I would have the fraudulent money credited to my account by the end of the day. I requested that XXXX pull the recorded phone calls of my prior communications with XXXX and XXXX so that she could hear for herself what I was told and what has happened and told her that perhaps these calls could serve a purpose in training future employees and they could follow up with XXXX and XXXX on their procedures. 

The next morning ( today ) I logged into my Ally account and found that nothing had happened. Words can not express my disappointment and frustration with Ally Bank. 

I am out {$270.00} and I don't know what to do. My wife was laid off last week and money is very tight. This was communicated to XXXX the day before. I was hopeful the money would be credited, but I didn't have much confidence it would based on my dealings with XXXX and Supervisor XXXX. I am beyond disappointed in Ally and I hope that this complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will help me get my money back. This experience with Ally has shattered my confidence in them because this could easily happen again. I have opened an account with another financial institution and have begun moving funds over to it. I'll leave the Ally account where the fraud occurred open until I have the fraudulent transaction money refunded to me. At that point my business with Ally will be done.

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