Consumer complaint received 2023-02-01
Company: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
State: PA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
Marcus XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX offers a referral promotion where, upon the successful referral of a new customer, both the referrer ( original account owner ) and the referee ( new account owner ) receive an interest rate increase of XXXX percent for a period of XXXX months. Referrers are instructed to share their unique referral code with the referee, and the referee must use that link to open an account, in order for the promotional bonus to activate. This program is called Marcus Referred. 

I referred a new customer in early XX/XX/2023, who used my referral code to open a new account. The promotional bonus has not been applied to our accounts, and after multple attempts to solve the issue via chat and phone, Marcus has not adequately resolved this issue. My complaint is as follows : 1. Marcus exhibited duplicitous behavior. Despite no error on my part, nor on the part of the referee, and despite following their procedure, the promotional savings is being unfairly withheld. 
a. I contacted Marcus after a week of not seeing the bonus applied to my account. I was told to have my friend get in touch with them, which she did. ( Chat, XX/XX/2023. ) b. She was then told to send them my link, which was now coming up with the message, There seems to be an error with the referral link. She was told to have me get in touch with them again, and that theyre documenting it. ( Chat, XX/XX/2023. ) c. I contacted again, and was told to have my friend get in touch with them, which she didagain. ( Chat, XX/XX/2023. ) d. Via a phone call, she provided my unique code. She was told there was an error with the referral link, and that I should get in touch with an agent to have it checked out. Again and again, we heard this, repetitively punting the issue from referrer to referee. ( Calls, XX/XX/2023. ) e. After I placed two more phone calls with Marcus , I was provided the same runaround, finally being told that there is, indeed, an error with my link, and they will not fix it. ( Phone calls with agents XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, XX/XX/2023. ) Therefore, due to this technical issue beyond my control, my promotional bonus is being withheld. I have made every effort to provide evidence that the referee and I followed their protocol exactly. That they acknowledge not only these efforts but also the technical issuebut will not provide the bonusis knowingly deceitful. 

XXXX. Marcus offered me unequal and inadequate resolution moving forward, offering me no guarantee that the Referred program will work for me at any point in the future. During my XX/XX/XXXX call with supervisor XXXX, after they acknowledged there was an issue with my link and that it would not be fixed, I was offered the following procedure to follow for the Referred program : a. When a referee opens an account, they are to call customer service as soon as possible to speak to someone to see if they can have my code applied. 
b. When a referee opens an account, I am also supposed to call as soon as possible to try to link the accounts. 
c. However, I was told they can not guarantee this will work, despite the documented issue. 

Therefore, not only do they offer a more complicated route to obtain the bonus on the part of both the referrer and the referee, they are also unwilling to guarantee the promotion can be applied. This is an unfair and discriminatory alternative. 

In summary : Due to a technical error with either my code, link, or account, I am being denied the promotional bonus. Furthermore, the alternative approach they offered is not guaranteed and is therefore inequivalent. Marcus has knowingly denied me the promotion, and has offered me an inadequate and unfair alternative.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation