Consumer complaint received 2017-07-07
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: MD
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Fee problem

Complaint:
I was charged two bogus overdraft fees " engineered '' by PNC bank. ( Please see attached screen capture with notations. ) On XX/XX/XXXX I checked my balance and saw that I had a low positive balance. So on XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited a check for {$250.00} to that account because I knew that I had two checks totaling {$230.00} that had not yet cleared, and I wanted to make sure that they were covered. <P/> On XX/XX/XXXX, I again checked my account and saw that the deposited had been credited and that after that the two checks had cleared. This resulted in a positive balance of {$15.00}. <P/> XX/XX/XXXX was a bank holiday, but because I had made a {$25.00} online purchase, I transferred {$25.00} from my other PNC checking account to that PNC checking account. That would, I knew, give me a balance of {$15.00} + {$25.00}, for a total of {$40.00} -- more than enough to cover the {$25.00} purchase and still leave a small positive balance. <P/> On July 5, I checked to see if the {$25.00} purchase had gone through, which it had. HOWEVER, on that same date PNC had FIRST posted an " engineered '' {$36.00} overdraft fee on my positive balance of {$15.00} ( which threw my balance into the negative ), and THEN they put through the {$25.00} charge ( which now was n't " covered '' because the {$36.00} fee had " taken '' some of my {$40.00} balance ), and AFTER THAT they finally credited my supposedly " instantaneous '' PNC to PNC transfer from the day before -- thus resulting in another " engineered '' overdraft fee.
<P/>
I called PNC around XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to a male representative ( he quickly gave his name at the beginning of the call, but I did n't understand it ; and after we had talked he ignored my request for his name or bank ID number ). He said that he could not help me because his request to refund the charges was denied by the computer. When I told him that I was going to complain to regulators if this was n't properly resolved, he laughed. ( So much for low-level customer service at PNC. ) He then put me through to his supervisor, whose name sounded like " XXXX XXXX. '' She promptly announced that she was recording the call. When I said that was fine because I, too, was going to record the call, she told me that I " was n't allowed '' to do that. I informed her that under Maryland law that I was allowed to record a call if I let the other party know that I was doing so. She kept insisting that I was n't allowed to do that, and then said that she would not talk to me if I recorded the call. ( You can verify that exchange, I imagine, since she said our call was being recorded on her end. ) She said that she was escalating the call. She then escalated the issue to her supervisor.
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I ended up getting her supervisor 's voice mail, and I left a detailed message with a return phone number. The supervisor 's name was spoken quickly, but it sounded like " XXXX XXXX. '' I have not heard from him.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief