Consumer complaint received 2021-11-22
Company: SANTANDER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
I have been banking with Santander for over 5 years and generally do not have any issues until recently. On XX/XX/XXXX, I saw a charge on my bank statement that I did not recognize. The amount was for {$10.00} to XXXX XXXX. I called my bank after it had officially posted onto my account to see if they can give me any further details about it since I had no idea what it was. I wanted to see if I made the charge on a different day and simply forgot about it or if it just came up under a different name on my statement. The customer service representative over the phone told me the charge was made in the morning time of that same day ( XX/XX/XXXX ). At that point, I knew it was not a charge I authorized because I did not use my card at all that day and I was in school at the time of the transaction. The representative over the phone was able to refund the money and they launched an investigation. She also told me that whoever made the transaction used only my debit card number and had no way of accessing my account number so they had to send me a new debit card. They ordered a new debit card to my house on XX/XX/XXXX. About 10 days later, I called the bank again because I never received the new card. They had then concluded that the card must have gotten lost in the mail. They issued me another card on XX/XX/XXXX. I waited for the card to come in the mail for another 10 days. That made it 20 days without a debit card. In the meantime, they held all the money going into my account ( deposits and XXXX transactions ) making it impossible for me to pay bills. In other words, for XXXX days I had a hold on my account. My phone bill, credit card bills, and other things were not able to come out of my account for XXXX days because they failed to expedite my debit card XXXX times. They told me everything was on hold until I activated my debit card that so never received for XXXX  days. All my bills charged me late fees because of this. By the time I got my debit card and thought everything was finally going back to normal, there was a second charge that I did not recognize on my account. This charge was for {$21.00}. When I called the bank about it, she reassured me she would be able to refund me, but also informed me that my account number was compromised now. I have been trying to get my money back from this transaction so I can close out my account and never deal with them again but they have not been compliant. They have not been helpful and I have made several phone calls about my issues. 

attached are the photos of the original transaction for XXXX and the refund. the refund was issued the same day. i have also attached the new transaction that was done using my account number to XXXX XXXXXXXX. i do not even have a XXXX XXXXXXXX bank or credit card. The only loan and credit card I have is from discover.

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