Consumer complaint received 2018-05-04
Company: CULLEN/FROST BANKERS, INC.
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
I am disputing fees paid to a Website/SEO company after I fired them for non-performance of requested services.

I called my bank, Frost Bank, where I have held a business account for over 10 years, to report a dispute for 2 fraudulent transactions done through my commercial business account for the dates XX/XX/XXXX for new website redesign as well as SEO work for a migration to a SSL certified domain on wordpress. This was to be completed in 3 ( three ) weeks time. filed the complaint on XX/XX/XXXX via their customer service line. I was told the claim was opened and I would be receiving documentation in the mail in 3-5 days.

SEVEN DAYS LATER, on FridayXX/XX/XXXX, I got 1 piece of paper that asked for my signature saying that I was agreeing to the statement and that it was true and of fact. The BIG problem was it had no " statement '' attached to this 1 piece of paper. I called the customer service number IMMEDIATELY and told them I did not feel comfortable signing my name to a statement I could not see! They then told me it was the statement I had given on XX/XX/XXXX to the customer service rep. I asked to be read this statement and good thing I did because the rep missed more than half of the actual facts of the case!

Once corrected, I signed and got all of my paperwork together. This documentation consisted of 64 sheets of paper with the printed email correspondence where this merchant admits NO work was complete for either jobs that I had paid for. I took the signed statement document and the packet of support documentation the XXXX XXXX  branch of Frost Bank, where I made sure they had all they needed from me.

I took much more prevention than normal as this transaction was from someone in XXXX   and I wanted to be thorough. I gave it a very reasonable amount of time before I returned a call to Frost Bank asking for the status of the dispute. This was on Thursday XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke to XXXX from Customer Service and she kept having to check with the researcher '' that customers can't actually know the name of! She then told me that they were waiting for a reply from XXXX XXXX. I had paid via an invoice through XXXX. I not once dealt with XXXX XXXX and expressed this. Not only was XXXX   unreasonably hostile towards me, but she told me they were waiting and XXXX XXXX had until theXX/XX/XXXX to reply. I tried to ask more about XXXX XXXX but she insisted the researcher was the one that handled this and that I could not speak to her. XXXX again claimed that XXXX XXXX had until the XX/XX/XXXX to answer their inquiry. I asked her if this would somehow affect my claim as a chargeback has 180 days it had already been 90 days since payment was made to this company for a website and SEO  services. She said, No ma'am, it wouldn't have been started as a claim if it was too late!

In the documentation I provided, I even submitted a printed statement from one of the most respected XXXX XXXX 's in the world stating he would back me up with expert testimony that NO work had ever been done for either payment rendered.

I called Frost Bank for a status update onXX/XX/XXXX and had to ask to speak to a manager because the customer service agent was telling me the claim was closed because I didnt return the paperwork back to them in time!

A Frost Bank manager named XXXX   took the call and took 10 minutes to read the " notes ''. When I asked her, What notes? she said the researchers notes. I again ask who the researcher was that botched this claim and she said researchers don't converse with the customers and I couldnt know the persons name. I proceeded to ask what was going on because not only did I turn in the paperwork the day I got it, on time, but I also submitted in black and white the merchants own written statements that no work was completed for the over {$4500.00} I paid for.

When I told the manager XXXX that I was not late turning anything in, she then told me it was due to being past the time limit for the payment made XX/XX/XXXX. Even when I asked her what the time frame was she couldn't answer me and went back to her statement that I did not submit what was needed!

I am disgusted with Frost Bank and the way they have become! They lie about HUGE breaches in their banking.

2 years ago I was issued 7 ( yes, SEVEN ) different bank cards in less than 6 months. Frost Bank would just cancel my business cards on a Friday at XXXX with no call or anything. Not until I got to a store and went to check out on my way home did I realize they had canceled my account card! As a business owner, I rely on my bank card to pay for virtually all of my business transactions. It is devastating when card numbers change and vendor payments are disrupted.

Frost Bank has become a disgrace to what they say they represent - being a bank for Texas. Since these difficulties, I have found many consumer lawsuits against Frost Bank for their practices. The way they treat their customers is shameful.

Desired Outcome/Settlement Desired Settlement : FULL REFUND According to my Frost User Agreement, as a merchant it states I have 180 days to file a dispute, fraud or chargeback claim. They have documentation from me, in writing from expert testimony, as well as from the persons I paid for services, statements that NO work has been done. The website I paid in full for was never completed or delivered before I fired them. They did not meet deadlines despite my repeated requests and their excuses for why nothing was done yet. After giving it reasonable time to show any progress, I FIRED them. No files or passwords were turned over. Whatever, if anything, had been developed after I fired them is sitting on THEIR HOSTING SERVER which I have no access to. Nothing was never given to me nor approved by me. I provided Frost Bank with ALL correspondence from them. Nothing was done by their own admission.

The vendor admitted that nothing was finished.

The website was not approved nor delivered.

NO SEO at all was provided, as the site itself was not yet finished. SEO is started once website is ready to go live.

Payment Details {$4600.00} total in Payments were made Two separate payments were made to the vendor for two services which were to be performed. One payment was for development of a new website, to be reviewed, corrections made, and final approval from me once everything had been completed. Second payment was for SEO services that included migration of my existing sites SEO to include re-directs to new site, optimization and implementing aggressive SEO to avoid a drop in my ranking.

As of the time I FIRED the company on XX/XX/XXXX, the website was far from being finished. The independent XXXX XXXX stated ( in writing and given as documentation to Frost Bank ) that work presented at that point at most represented a couple hours of work. No SEO work had been done at all.

I attempted to resolve this issue directly with the vendors, but they 1 ) refused to acknowledge that I FIRED them, and 2 ) did not respond to my request for refund for non-performance of services contracted. I provided copies of me firing them, along with the vendors statement, Ive never been fired before. It is not my problem that they refused to believe that they were fired and that they chose to continue working on the project after they were fired, IF in fact they did.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation