Consumer complaint received 2015-08-12
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION
State: MD
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XXXX my account was deducted {$690.00} for XXXX separate purchases at a gas station in XXXX, PA. The same day, I was contacted by M & T Bank notifying me of this charge and asking if I was in the area & if it was legitimate. I told them it was not. Nothing happened for over 2 months until I happened to notice on my e-statement that the charge was still there - I called in to inquire and was told that I did not submit a formal fraud claim therefore nothing happened. At that time, I notified them that I would like to submit it formally ( despite having thought I already did ). They then debited my added back the amount on XXXX as requested. I thought this was over. 
On XXXX I received a notice in the mail that the amount that was debited was being reversed and to financially plan accordingly. I had no idea what was happening. I instantly called my local branch to inquire - they pointed me to the fraud department. The fraud department, a few hours later, informed that I had not filled out the required paperwork. Despite explaining that no one had ever sent me paperwork or had informed me of this requirement, they still said there was nothing I could do unless I could sign the paperwork that day. Unfortunately, I could not get to a branch as it was already past XXXX. On XXXX the amount was deducted ( again ) from my account. After calling the fraud department again, I was told they needed to mail me documentation to fill out and it should be arriving in 5-7 business days. After 7 business days I called to follow up because I had not received anything. They told me they would need to resend if I had n't received. However, the representative told me that it would be quicker to go into a branch because of the mailing delay. Due to my work schedule, I requested that he mail it anyway because that was not feasible for me. He refused. It took a formal request to speak with a manager before they would send the documentation the second time via mail. After another 7 business days with no documentation in the mail, I decided to drive into my local branch, on a Saturday, rather than fighting with the Fraud department again. In the local branch, I was told they do not have any documentation to submit a formal request - they had to request it from the Fraud department themselves. Since that department is closed on Saturdays, there was nothing they could do so I 'd have to come back in. The only silver lining was we were able to find an additional charge of {$230.00} from XXXX that was also fraudulent. The following week I was able to submit my formal request via fax back and forth from my local branch ( for all XXXX charges ). I was told it would be reviewed in 5-10 business days. 
As I am writing this, it has now been 12 business days. I have been told on a daily basis that the fraud department is still reviewing but that I can not speak to anyone in the Fraud department. There are no updates. The only thing I have been told is that I will not be refunded with any interest on the {$930.00} despite the fact that M & T Bank has held MY MONEY in XXXX stints for a total of 90+ days. ( apparently this is because it was a fraud request a non-interest bearing checking account - they refuse to acknowledge that I had to transfer money from my Money Market to cover the shortages ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation