Consumer complaint received 2015-05-03
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: CA
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I attempted to open a checking and savings account at Navy Federal Credit Union on XXXX/XXXX/15. I had been a member before ; the new accounts person was able to see my prior member ID/access ID. However, when trying to open the checking and savings account, she was unable to. She said it was with their back office and suggested I wait until the back office was able to resolve which would take an additional day. I asked if she could take my deposit. She said she could not until the account was opened. I explained I did not wish to return to the bank to deposit funds once the account was opened, so she suggested I give my deposit to my fianc who was already their established customer. Once the account was opened, she said my fianc could transfer the money from his account into my new accounts.p over the telephone. The next evening she left a message stating the back office was still trying to open my accounts and that she would call me two days later to follow up since she was going to be out the office until XXXX/XXXX/15. My account was finally opened XXXX/XXXX/15 and my fiance transferred my money into my accounts on the same day. While reading about additional NFCU services available, I learned I could obtain a secure loan using money in my savings account as collateral for a much lower interest rate than my credit cards. I applied for such a loan ( share secure ) on XXXX/XXXX/15. I opted to pick up the check at the XXXX XXXX branch the next day. The next day I was not able to come to the branch so I called the loan center asking if they could deposit the check into my NFCU checking account. They talked to the XXXX XXXX branch and were instructed to send the request in writing to their office. They said they would deposit the proceeds that day or the next. The loan center representative relayed this to me and also asked for a good contact number so the branch could contact me if necessary. The next day, I noticed the monies had not been deposited so I called NFCU. After being on the phone for nearly an hour the customer service representative explained I would need to go into the branch. He explained XXXX at the branch said their policy had changed ; they could no longer deposit into my account, I would need to go to the office. That was a problem since I was not near the office and would n't make it to the branch before it closed. I asked to speak to the branch, I was transferred to XXXX. She told me nothing could be done, that I had to go to the branch. After I explained what happened, XXXX put me on hold to talk to the manager. When she returned she said they would deposit my loan proceeds and she would mail the loan agreement to me to obtain my signature. She further asked that I return the signed documents back right away. I agreed, she said it would take 20 minutes for her to deposit my proceeds to my checking account. I thanked her, I had outstanding checks and would not be able to go to the branch. When I checked my account 20 minutes later, I learned all my accounts were frozen. The customer service person I talked to said the branch was closed. When I reached home, my fiance said XXXX at the branch called him asking about transfers he had made to my account. He confirmed the transfers were legitimate and explained he transferred the money to open my accounts. XXXX thanked him and hung up, yet she did not unfreeze my accounts, nor did she deposit my loan proceeds to my checking account. We called the suspicious activity department and was able to speak to XXXX in the branch, but she would not remove the freeze on my accounts and said she would not be able to do anything for me until Monday. She said she did not have resources to look into the matter although she was the person who froze my accounts. I do not have access to my money as I write this complaint. This is clearly wrong.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation