Consumer complaint received 2019-01-09
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: KY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I opened an online checking account with XXXX ( {$350.00} sign up bonus ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to mobile deposit check # XXXX for {$5000.00} into my XXXX account. The money was debited from my Ally account on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to mobile deposit check # XXXX for {$5000.00} into my XXXX account. The money was debited from my Ally account on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that both checks were debited from my Ally Bank account but when I attempted to log in into my XXXX account through my XXXX application ( which I used to mobile deposit both checks ), I received the following error " The account or accounts do not exist in your internet banking provile. Please contact us at XXXX for further assistance. Ref. [ PC8 ] ''. Please note that the phone number provided is for their XXXX customer service, which I did not know until later ( please see below ). On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, I reached out to XXXX at XXXX to understand what could have happened to my account. I was on the phone for 17 minutes and 20 seconds. The lady on the phone explained that this account was closed due to suspicious activity and that the checks were rejected on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX and would be back into my Ally Bank account within 7 business days.On XX/XX/XXXX ( I decided to wait a little longer due to the holidays, to make sure I would have waited long enough ), I reached out to Ally Bank as the funds were still not credited into my Ally Bank account. When I asked what other steps I could take to find my money, the lady stated the only thing she could do to help me was to give me an image of the checks. I informed her that I had access to this but was at loss and was not sure what to do next. She said that could not help me further since the checks were both paid to XXXX, and that XXXX would be responsible for the funds. The same day, I tried to call XXXX but they were closed for the holiday. On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to XXXX at XXXX which was the phone number provided on my XXXX mobile application, thinking it might redirect me to a specific department, more knowledgeable about my situation. I was on the phone for 50 minutes when the lady realized that I was a US customer and did not have a XXXX account. I was then transferred to the US phone number, spent 10 minutes on the phone with a really helpful lady who was willing to do a conference call with Ally Bank. In the process of setting up the conference call, the lady inadvertently hung up on me.I called XXXX again ( at the US customer service number XXXX ), spoke the a gentleman who transferred me to the ACH department who then let me know that this was the wrong department to talk to as my issue was about checks. The lady from the ACH department transferred me to the general customer service, once again. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I got a hold of someone and I explained my situation, for the third time to a lady. She explained that Check # XXXX was never accepted as it was " reported '' as suspicious funds ( which I assumed she meant by Ally bank ), therefore, they automatically rejected check # XXXX for " not sufficient funds ''. We decided to do a conference call with Ally Bank. After a total of two hours of being on the phone, one hour being on the conference call, XXXX stated they could not write a letter stating what happened as my account was closed. Ally Bank sent me an Affidavit of Forgery, Unauthorized draft or Altered item in order to have a dispute started. Ally Bank claims both claims were deposited at " XXXX XXXX '' and " XXXX XXXX '' while XXXX claims they never accepted the checks and rejected the money. They also closed my account on XX/XX/XXXX but I received this letter at a later date. On the statement provided, we can see that no money was deposited from XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. There are trial credits by Ally Bank that are showing since I initially tried to transfer the money electronically to XXXX when I opened this account but it appears the funds were rejected ( Even though the account was confirmed with those trial deposits ). Ally Bank said that the dispute would take 90 to 120 days. The {$10000.00} is all I have in savings. I can not afford to have any emergency happening between those times. It is unacceptable that my money is lost and no one is able to track it.

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