Consumer complaint received 2019-11-25
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, {$240.00} dollars were taken from my Checking account at Fifth Third Bank and transferred to XXXX via 4 charges of {$19.00}, {$24.00}, {$99.00} and {$99.00} in XXXX XXXX I promptly filed a dispute for all of these charges to their Disputes Resolutions Department and, the next day, was granted a provisional credit the next day of the total {$240.00} while the Disputes Department " investigated ''. 

At the end of the same month on XX/XX/XXXX, {$220.00} of the provisional credit ( the charges of {$99.00}, {$99.00}, {$24.00}, {$19.00} ) was reversed as a result of the disputes being partially denied. This briefly caused an overdraft in my account and a huge portion of the paycheck I'd received that morning was taken from me. 

I called them immediately to figure out why the dispute was denied and they explained that " the merchant presented information showing that the charges were valid. '' The information is simply my already having a XXXX Account prior to the funds transfer and the {$19.00} and {$24.00} being used for Product Purchases. 

The denials obviously make no sense whatsoever for several reasons : 1. I  DIDN'T EVEN HAVE MY XXXX XXXX AT THE TIME AND YOU NEED TO INPUT PERSONAL INFO. I ONLY I KNEW TO MAKE PURCHASES! 

2. The dispute for the {$19.00} was approved yet the other charges were denied, even though all of these charges occurred on the same day. Nothing makes the one charge any more legitimate than others. If anything, the disputes for the 2 charges of {$99.00} should be more likely to be approved than the smaller amounts. I don't even know of any game or XXXX on XXXX Store that costs {$99.00}. 

3. XXXX XXXX was completely empty ( not even a cent ) even after the alleged " purchases '' were made. In addition, I could find no record of any purchases associated with the 2 charges of {$99.00} in my Transaction History on my XXXX Account ( online ). 

4. If there was funding made to my XXXX account, my XXXX XXXX should've renewed as my account was to auto-renew. However, my Transaction History explicitly states there are " missing charges '' the same day. In other words, there was nothing stating my XXXX XXXX renewed even when my account was funded, and I need XXXX to play most games. 

5. The auto-renewals for XXXX XXXX is only {$9.00}. There is nothing to warrant any further charges without my consent. 

6. The merchant, XXXX, presented no information what these products were that costed {$19.00} and {$24.00} ; 53 Bank merely took these Product Purchases at face value. 

7. My word should be good enough! The money started from my account, and I promptly reported that these charges were unauthorized the same day the funds were transferred. It's not like I'm trying to steal any money from the bank ; I'm merely trying to have my own money returned to me. With that in mid, my word that the funds transfers were unauthorized should've trumped any superficial information XXXX presented. No possible harm is done from giving my money back to me. 

The denials for these Disputes are clearly the result of incompetence, irresponsibility, sloth, and/or corruption among Fifth Third 's Disputes Department. 

I, of course, called Fifth Third Bank the next day on XX/XX/XXXX to talk to them about the Provisional Credit Reversal and upon discussing the dispute denials, I immediately emailed them information ( my Transaction history and XXXX XXXX, attached below ) and they re-opened the case. They stated it would take at least 14 days and up to 30 days for investigator to resolve the case ... 

It is currently XX/XX/XXXX and it has been at least 30 days since this Dispute case has been re-opened. Not only has the case not been resolved but the investigators have yet to even come to conclusion at all. Mind you, this is a process that mostly involves exchanging a few emails with the merchant and looking at pictures ( as basically described the bank department 's own representatives ). 

Over the course of this last month, I've made at least 10 or more phone calls to Fifth Third 's Customer Support and Disputes Resolutions Department, yet the only answers I get are apologies for my inconveniences while they lifted no finger to fix it. I've even had one of the Department 's workers ( someone above the representatives by the name of " XXXX '' ) hang up on me after repeating " Your 30 days are not up ''. I asked them multiple times to put me through to the working investigator, but they just simply claim that they are unable to give their information or contact the investigators themselves. I may be wrong but this is a Fortune 500 company we're talking about. What kind of company as large, powerful, and productive as Fifth Third can't even contact investigators that THEY are contracting? 

I understand that these alleged " investigators '' are obviously swamped with several cases beside my mine 's, but considering my case is the result of the Disputes Resolutions Department 's own ERROR, I would think they at least show some effort in trying to return the money they allowed to be taken from me in the first place. All they've done is supposedly leave little notes for the investigators without actually making direct contact with them to make sure they're actually doing their job properly, for the benefit of THE BANK 'S customers. 

Isn't the fact that these alleged " investigators '' are dealing with so many re-opened Disputes cases partial proof of the Fifth Third 's hazardous incompetence in the Disputes Resolutions Department? That itself is speculative on my part but I've seen so many people on social media complaining about similar issues with the same department. The Provisional Credit Reversal caused SEVERAL inconveniences for me financially and now, I'm worried I'll never see my {$240.00} fully returned to me like it should have been. 

In summary : A merchant ( XXXX ) took {$240.00} from my Checking account. When I disputed these charges as being unauthorized with the bank, 53 Bank tricked me into a line of credit under the guise of conducting an investigation. After I told them the merchant ( or some employee working there ) STOLE this money from me, they basically NEGOTIATED for PART of MY money, and allowed the merchant to keep MOST of it. 

Does that sound legitimate at all? 

I am not a wealthy man. I have expenses that must be paid. I had very important plans for the paycheck I'd made on the week of XXXX XXXX and those plans were completely ruined when Fifth Third Bank took my money from me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation