Consumer complaint received 2020-11-04
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
Sadly, as a XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXXXXXX the numerous issues that I have had and endured with SunTrust Bank and their XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX over the past 8 years are too many to list. From failing their fiduciary responsibilities to improper account management and advisement to improper disclosures and others. Numerous complaints issued and never a full response. In fact, when I told the XXXX account rep she failed in her fiduciary responsibilities, she had our accounts removed from XXXX and passed into a lower tier of general banking on the premier banking side. Further, she did so without contacting me or providing notice to me and asked another SunTrust rep, not from XXXX, to tell me and left the accounts without an assigned banker. This XXXX  representative should not work in banking and has failed gravely which at a minimum is at Knowing Your Client and Customer Service. 

Luckily, this complaint is being filed with the CFPB to avoid the lack of response from SunTrust and ensure they finally respond to complaints since internal complaints have gone unaddressed and zero managerial level involvement. Enough of the hiding. 

This complaint is regarding our credit cards. These cards were created and issued under XXXX. As such these were always paid directly by autopay or the assigned banker of record. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SunTrust sent electronic emails to their clients asking if they wanted to be considered for pandemic assistance. 
We selected the electronic button that said yes to be considered and provided all of our debit account numbers ( 2 credit cards and a collateralized loan ). The electronic form said we would hear back from someone at the institution on next steps. We NEVER did.

So, we contacted our banker about a month or two after and said we never heard back from anyone nor recieved any information -electronically or otherwise- nor did we recieve a confirmation that our accounts were granted some assistance. Additionally, terms and conditions were never provided or disclosed. 
Our Banker in or around XX/XX/2020 said he would look into it and make sure it was taken care of. Yet still, we never heard back from our banker after that call - which was to also set up a Virtual meeting which the banker never established. Further still, after this call with the banker, we continued to not recieve any documentation or confirmation of this pandemic assistance program selection or approval and its terms. 
Enter XX/XX/2020 and I recieve a credit bureau alert that my report was changed and SunTrust placed a 30 days past due notice on my credit file. Naturally to my surprise I immediately contacted our banker the same day via email. 
Several days later I received a message from the banker saying he was busy and would attend to this when he could. Come 10 days later and with my continual bothering of the bankers due to a lack of response from them or the Bank, I received an email saying that he could not help on this issue and I needed to contact the Customer Care number. Never did he say the account was in collections nor the reasons for this issue. 

I call the customer care number provided by the banker and come to find out that SunTrust elected to NOT place autodebit back on credit cards or other autopayments which were canceled by SunTrust to establish COVID-19 pandemic assistance deferment. Additionally, none of this information from the next due date, back off operations XXXX lack or replacing autopay once program deferment was over XXXX, whether we were given deferment or not nor a standard XXXX call from the banker to provide details or advise that the accounts were being removed from deferment was even afforded to us. 
So now, without proper disclosure, SunTrust has removed our autopay program and without prior advisement in writing or by personal banker, has placed the account in collections and marked my credit report as if it were my fault on missing payment. 
Further, our accounts at the institution are collateral accounts, everything managed by the institution. They should have advised or taken the money from the accounts as performed in the past. 
This is an operational error and disclosure error on behalf of SunTrust Bank and is NOT a consumer error or lack of payment willingly. 
Lastly, our other credit accounts were also placed on assistance request, which, never was acknowledged just like in this credit card case however, they too were deferred and yet have not had any negative reporting placed on them XXXX as of recent knowledge ). 

This is a lack of oversight and program implementation from SunTrust and lack of customer service professionalism and responsibilities. What type of assistance is SunTrust providing if they are not properly disclosing programs, level of reasonable expectations from XXXXXXXX XXXX are not met and negatively affecting the client after-the-fact due to the mismanagement of the above? 
I have emails and names and more details to provide, as needed.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation