Consumer complaint received 2018-10-10
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Cashing a check

Complaint:
The 5/3rd Bank is not providing a service according to terms and conditions specified on the account. 
Issues # 5 1 ) In XX/XX/XXXX the bank refused to accept the electronic fund transfer from the IRS ( tax refund ). As result IRS issued a check in the amount of over {$4000.00} to be deposited into the account. The 5/3rd branch refused to deposit the check stating its policy ( the check was issued to me and my wife and endorsed by both of us ). First the personnel at the branch agreed to show the policy to me upon my request however after stalling for about 15 min it refused to show it to me stating that the policy is internal. At the end the bank refused to deposit my IRS tax refund check despite having enough funds to cover it in case it didn't clear It appears the bank has two sets of policies ( which happen to be contradictory to what it says to its clients. There appears to be the double set of policies, one the bank shares with the public and the second one, internal, which allows it to often refuse any service. Subsequently the tax refund check was then deposited to a different bank account without any issues.

2 ) The bank doesn't maintain its property resulting to damage to the customer 's vehicle. In XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX IL branch had a large pot hole on its property which resulted in the tire and rim damage to my car. I have spent 3.5 hrs dealing with the issue for which the bank didn't even issue any apology. It forwarded the claim for damage to its insurer which was handled promptly and professionally. However the bank didn't feel to offer any compensation due to my lost time and the branch manager present told me that it is " not his responsibility, '' to deal with issues such as this.

As of today I received no answer from 5/3rd Corporate about why it allowed the deterioration of its property to the degree of causing damage to its customer 's vehicle or what are their policies dealing with issues such as this. 
3 ) The week of XX/XX/XXXX I came to the XXXX XXXX XXXX branch in order to get a client 's document notarized. After waiting for over 10 min the service was not performed while the personal banker was busy discussing other client 's personal family financial situation. Among 5 other employees present at the branch nobody offered assistance and when I requested the branch manager XXXX XXXX to help conclude the manner ( unfortunately I was in a hurry due to my schedule that day ) I was admonished for not being professional for not knocking on the door to his office, ( the door was opened ). At the time I made a comment about a recent shooting in 5/3rd bank 's headquarters due to media reports that the shooter was the bank 's customer. My statement stated that the situation in the HQ and the current situation of not being offered any assistance reflects rather poorly on the 5/3rd corporate culture. 
4 ) On XX/XX/XXXX I stopped on the way to the assignment at the XXXX County Clerk 's  office to get client 's document notarized at the 5/3rd branch in XXXX, IL. The document was notarized however the notarization was rejected by the XXXX County Clerk 's office stating that the notarization is invalid and defective due to rules regarding notarization of documents in Illinois. I went back to the bank and discussed the matter with the notarizing officer who informed me that the way he was trained to notarize documents he did a right job ( apparently in IL there is a different standard of notarization for legal documents and signatures on them which the bank employee was not aware of ). When I brought the issue to the attention to the branch manager XXXX XXXX she refused to material assistance in resolving the matter stating that the document was notarized correctly. As result of the issue I had a 2.5 hrs delay in my assignment causing me a loss of income as my client also lost income due to the bank 's action. The document was correctly notarized elsewhere. ( Disclosure : I have a pending civil action against the bank for the loss of income due to bank 's botched notarization ).

5 ) On XX/XX/XXXX I was contacted by XXXX XXXX, a 5/3rd Corporate Investigator who accused me of de-facto making a threat of violence against employees at the 5/3rd branch and communicating to me a bank 's decision to terminate the banking relationship. Although I absolutely didn't make any threat against anybody in my life, especially of violent nature, I agreed with bank 's action as it is within its right to terminate the banking relationship. However I requested the funds to be sent back to me in form of the cashier check by courier mail with tracking due to the amount of the account ( over 17k ) and after the outstanding check {$16.00} clears. 
However since yesterday ( XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ) I am receiving a {$0.00} balance notifications from the bank which I believe is a form of harassment when the online account shows it is fully funded. After I called the customer service number and spoke with two representatives ( after a long hold totaling 20 min ) I was told that the bank doesn't know why I am getting the notifications and that the matter must be researched.

I have banked with banks on three continents however I have never came across the culture that is so contempt-filled and vicious to the point of retaliation against its own customers. It appears that the bank is run for the benefit of its employees and management and the customer service is simply an empty slogan. The amazing lack of professionalism and simple competency appears to reinforce the very stereotype of organization that is " too big to fail '' and its bailout was a grave mistake not only to the society but to competing banking institutions that provide society with professional, efficient and very much needed banking utility service.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation