Consumer complaint received 2019-03-02
Company: SANTANDER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Overdrafts and overdraft fees

Complaint:
When I opened my savings and checking accounts, I specifically requested Santander Bank to not allow overdrafts in my accounts ; i.e. decline transactions that would result in an overdraft, if I did not have enough money in my accounts ( I am attaching a letter sent to me by Santander Bank that proves my request ). I requested this because I not always pay too much attention to how much money I have in my accounts. Selecting this option gave me peace of mind since I knew that if I wanted to pay for something but I didnt have enough money, Santander Bank would just decline the transaction and I would know I was running low on my balance. 

Beginning on XX/XX/XXXXsome payments using my savings account were not only not declined, but a ridiculous number of overdraft fees were charged to my account. I didnt notice anything because I didnt receive any text message or email alerting me of the situation. In addition, I changed my address and I received the first forwarded overdraft notice by the beginning of XX/XX/. However, by that time my mother ( another Santander Bank client ) and I had already contacted several times the bank trying to settle this issue.

Not only Santander Bank did not decline the transactions ( none of them were recurring payments, therefore, they should have been declined due to lack of funds in my account ) but also it began to record ( on XX/XX/2019 and on ) some doubtful transactions, none of which I was aware of. For instance, the same amount charged twice the same day ( charging me two overdrafts fees! ) and then, the following day recording something as ACH RETURNED ITEM twice, which resulted in me being charged two overdrafts fees AGAIN! 

We ( my mother and I ) have called XXXX times Santander Bank ( from XX/XX/ to XX/XX/2019; we have dates, names, hours of calls, etc. ) and we have been told every time that a supervisor is going to call us back, but no one has done so. At the middle of XXXX, we noticed that not only Santander Bank did not resolve my issue, but they actually closed my account and sent it to collections. 

To summarize, there are five ( 5 ) overdraft fees that should have not been charged to me ( 35*5= {$170.00} ). In addition, my credit report might have been affected negatively because of this issue. I exhausted every possibility to resolve this issue directly with Santander Bank and I have no other option, but to make a formal complaint against the bank. Santander Bank is not only charging me fees that it is not authorized to charge, but it is blindingly ignoring any and all of my attempts to resolve this issue. I request Santander Bank to write off those five ( 5 ) overdraft fees and to correct any bad report submitted to consumer credit reporting agencies, in case the bank had made a bad report against me.

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