Consumer complaint received 2020-11-30
Company: TD BANK US HOLDING COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Target Credit Card services to advise that I was having trouble submitting the XXXX payment online as customary. I tried twice and the payment failed both times despite having more than enough available funds in my XXXX XXXX savings account with routing number ending in XXXX. According to Target, the problem was not on their end. Somehow, the bank was routing the XXXX payment to an old account number ( same routing number ) ending in XXXX, instead of the intended account number ending in XXXX. 

During the XX/XX/XXXX call, the issue was corrected and full payment was collected via phone. There was no mention of additional penalties or forced account closure during the call. When I asked for a first-time courtesy waiver of the {$29.00} return fee, the request was denied. In response, I indicated that my card had been upgraded to a MasterCard ( vs store card ) to encourage additional spend, and I wanted to downgrade the card to my original plastic if this is the way they treat long-standing customers ( I have been a cardholder since XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. That request was also denied. I then stated that it was a horrible customer experience, driven by a bank error, and I planned to continue using the card in-store only going forward rather than continuing to support a bank that would penalize customers for their errors. The agent was rude and abrupt, cutting me off to say that this strict policy is mandated by Target corporation and not TD Bank ( the issuer ).

Several days later, I received a vague adverse action letter stating that the card had been closed despite an impeccable payment history and ongoing active use of the card. With the closure of this tenured card, my credit score dropped 60 points with XXXX. While I am frustrated by the damage done to my credit score, I am writing because I called back again in XXXX to file a dispute and was denied the opportunity to do that. I asked the company to investigate what I believed to be punitive action and to confirm that it is indeed consistent with the Target Red Card agreement. I believe that the supervisor agent that I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX engaged in disparate, unfair treatment and unilaterally decided to retaliate against me by closing the account, which was in good standing, to harm. When I called back, the new agent ( named XXXX XXXX told me that the card was closed because of the two returned payments ( not my error! ) and that the language in my Target credit card agreement called for closure according to its policy on returned payments. 

After revisiting the card agreement, there is no explicit language that says after 2 returned payments, your account will be closed - especially when those two occurrences happen within close proximity to each other and there is clearly a system error that needs to be addressed. 

It is disappointing to know that this is how Target treats customers who have 100 % on-time payments and have long been loyal to the brand. More importantly, it is critical to gain clarity on this policy and ensure that there was no deceptive or unfair actions taken against me by this agent who represented Target on the XX/XX/XXXX call. The company is now demanding a final payment of {$41.00} consisting solely of fees associated with their bank error. And the threat is to further ruin my credit if I do not pay this final fee. After spending thousands of dollars each year on my Target card, this is shameful.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation