Consumer complaint received 2021-11-05
Company: Lending Club Corp
State: CO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I tried to make a transaction with my debit card with Lending Club XXXX ( formerly XXXX XXXX  ), and could not. 

I realized I could not access the funds in my bank account. I tried logging in to my online account, and could not access the online account. I tried resetting the password multiple times, but couldn't receive the " reset '' email. I checked to make sure that it hadn't gone to spam, tried testing my email, and absolutely nothing. 

Finally, I called the customer service number, and was informed that I couldn't access anything because my bank account had been frozen, and that they didn't know why and couldn't find out because it was after business hours. The agent, XXXX, that I spoke with informed me that she had reviewed my account history and couldn't see any reason that my account should be frozen ( no history of overdrafts, no excessive activity, no cash deposits, etc ), and there weren't any notes indicating a reason for the freeze. She told me that she had escalated this to be addressed first thing when the bank opened the next morning ( XXXX EST ), and someone would contact me. 

I did not receive a response, so the next day, XX/XX/XXXX, I tried the online " Live Assistance '' feature to try to get the account unlocked at approx XXXX ( EST ). I chatted with an Agent, XXXX, for approximately an hour. She confirmed that the account was locked, but that she couldn't see a reason why the account was locked, nor could she unlock it. She again told me that she was escalating the situation, and someone would get back to me. 

I still did not receive a response, so at approximately XXXX ( EST ) I called the customer service center and spoke first with XXXX and then with XXXX. They again confirmed that there didn't appear to be any reason for the lock on my account, but that they did not have the authority to remove the lock, and that the team who could " did not speak directly with customers. '' XXXX stated that I was reasonable to be upset in the current situation, and that he also found it unacceptable, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He said that he also was " escalating '' the situation, and someone would get back to me. 

After this call, my husband, the joint account holder, called and spent over 4 hours on the phone trying to get an explanation for the freeze. Eventually, we were told that they are looking for " verification of a check '' that we deposited. We explained that the check was funds from a vehicle trade-in, and they told us we needed to verify the funds, but they couldn't tell us how we were supposed to verify it. Finally, we have been told that we have to get a letter from the dealership verifying that they gave us the check in order to have the account unlocked. Unfortunately the department that handles this is gone for the weekend, and so my account will remain locked until at least Monday. We asked if they could just hold the funds from the deposit instead of freezing the entire account ( so that we could at least do things like buy groceries ) and were told that no, the entire account- which contained significantly more than the deposit in question - would remain frozen until we produced additional verification. 

Before receiving any communication from the bank, my account and all of my funds had been frozen for almost 2 days. The only way I even got that information ( finally ) was by making multiple phone calls over 2 days and HOURS of arguments with their employees. 

By the time this is resolved, I will have been without any access to my funds for 5 days, and I have done NOTHING wrong. The deposited check in question was from a legitimate automotive dealership on a legitimate transaction. To make this worse, the check deposit in question has CLEARED the originating financial institution. It is NOT a bad check. We contacted the automotive dealership that issued the check, and they provided us with a copy of the clearance from their bank from 5 days ago.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation