Consumer complaint received 2021-05-06
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: MA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem making or receiving payments

Complaint:
Issue started on XX/XX/XXXX. Balance of approximately {$2000.00}. Added {$5300.00}. Over the next weekend, I Made a payment of {$7500.00} from Citizens Bank Checking Account to Citizens Bank Credit Card Services. Balance should have been up to {$12000.00} credit.

Adjustment made Incorrectly { { There was a secondary issue going on at the same time in which My bank account was overdrafted by insufficient funds check and short by {$5000.00}. I paid {$5000.00} which you said you returned but did not, where is it? Please reconcile the issue and return the funds to my account. 
The credit card services did return funds to adjust my account but the bank incorrectly made the adjustment XX/XX/XXXX. The debit for {$5000.00} was not credited, the bank debited my checking account for {$5000.00} again incorrectly XX/XX/XXXX, I have the receipt XX/XX/XXXX for this and talked to the branch and the online services about it but both have continued to ignore and can not provide the wire transfer payment receipts with numbers for the adjustment. They made a debit instead of credit to my accountXXXX & XX/XX/XXXX - 2 debits for {$7500.00} instead of debit credit ). My bank account was overdrafted by your swindling me out of cash by taking 2 payments from same account for my payment to Citizens Bank Credit Card ending in XXXX. 

Please correct the adjustment and credit my bank account for {$5000.00} as I originally requested when I saw the errors on the account the week of XX/XX/XXXX and thereafter that I have reported and bankers and creditors keep ignoring. Then the screens all went negative - the bank had done a software upgrade over the weekend and all the balances that were suppose to be reading as a positive read negative. Then the balances were not calculating as well. } } What is fascinating is how all the receipts were changed from {$5800.00} to {$7500.00} without any notice by the bank that the accounting system was down and had made manual changes and the system brought back up with new statements. 

So I should have had {$12000.00} less the one payment authorized for {$7500.00} which is a balance of {$7300.00}. { { Secondary issue : Then the {$5300.00} check payer went insufficient funds. so balance back to the {$2000.00}. } } Plus I made a transfer in of my own funds during this mess of {$2000.00} so should have at least a credit balance of {$4500.00} on or around XX/XX/XXXX. Followed by a second transfer in XXXX of {$2000.00} to cover for overdrafts in XX/XX/XXXX. 
When I went to branch and asked for all of my 4 account statements to printed at same day and same time to rule out electronic theft, they would not comply. This went on for weeks so there was no way to show what payments went out and what payments and adjustments were made. and no way to show corrupt bank account statements versus the electronic statements and possible money theft. Payments to vendors were returned from my vendor for insufficient funds and there is no record on my statements of this happening. I had to repay from other sources. There has never been good assistance for potential online banking fraud when I have asked multiple times. 

And all my XXXX bill payments for month were canceled due to bank over-drafting my account and charging me multiple fees. Nothing was paid out causing multiple shortages on about 10 vendor accounts due to all the above and about 100 adjustments to my accounts. 

I did not receive any of the usual and customary electronic receipts that are normally sent for electronic bill payment transaction order confirmation I had just input so screen was locked up or frozen and blank. Nothing had happened. screens became inaccessible and were not functioning properly. 

I resubmitted a new payment order via a different payment method on " transfer funds '' instead of bill pay and the bank took the amount out of my account twice on Monday essentially over-drafting my account. Funds were suppose to be returned and were not. 
Essentially, they took two payments for {$7500.00} without my consent for a second payment which was not promptly returned when I called the bank branch and the credit card company next day. I should have received {$7500.00} credit to my account and did not, instead they debited my account {$7500.00} causing a total of -XXXX of funds. 

Then corporate says they did an adjustment to correct and the funds were not received back at my account, instead of a credit to my account, they did a debit to my account. Bank refused to provide all 4 of my account statements at one time to sort out this mess as they were playing the Ponzi game of transferring funds between all four accounts with money transfers which never matched the mobile, statement, phone account statement all at the same time.

To make matters worse, they adjusted the account statement beginning and ending balances and made it look like I owed them money. Then a debit was done to my account instead of a credit. 

I place the account under lockdown until issue resolved, I reported electronic fraud, I asked Credit Card Company for wire transfer receipts to prove when money adjustments went back to my account and they could not and would not provide. Previous 4 times I have decided to close account then kept account open due to good will. This is final time and will not be keeping account open and want permanently closed. There is no security on this account due to too many people with prior access without my consent shifting funds. Citizens bank has done nothing to correct systems so when complex errors happen there is good way to trace immediately, branches need to investigate immediately. Another example of obsolete security, System overwrites new answers to my security questions and reverts back to old answers for someone else to use by phone or computer. 

I recently wrote a complaint letter on XX/XX/XXXX describing the multiple issues that have been repetitive over past 20 years and requested a refund of money after being more than polite and covering these losses for years. 
I no longer am able to do this. 

There should now be credit balance in my account and I want the balance paid in cash to me now. I do not want the account kept open. I have tried for 15 years to unsuccessfully close the account completely. First time, I had about 25 bill pay accounts attached to it along with 4 automatic payments on the account. Second, time same issues and I did not have time to resolve, 3rd time I was in ill health and unable to deal with this same issue which has happened but had joint account dissolved and changed to single account status although there seems to be more security problems since having done that. Fourth time I had moved off all the bill pay to another bank, still could not close until I closed the XXXX and Car Loan Payments, Citizens equity line of credit and Citizens mortgage account which has taken almost 2 years of my time to do due to non compliance with closing my loan accounts with same corrporate entity 's refusal to close loans accounts.. 

Finally, for a 5th and last time I will have had my accounts overdrafted by the bank, My Citizens bank Account needs to be closed completely. I do not want to do any further bank business here. They now have tried to stop permanent account closing by saying I owe money that I don't by over-drafting the account. This is not true. The banks reply was to send me a collection letter on XX/XX/XXXX asking for 80 % of balance that I do not owe. No way do I owe. Bank owes my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation