Consumer complaint received 2021-12-13
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: PA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem making or receiving payments

Complaint:
Due to a malfunction with PNC bill pay ( the check never arrived ), my PNC credit card was unpaid. This alone is frustrating enough, but the inability to reach a person who can resolve this issue has cost me several hours of my time, and nearly my sanity. 

Here are the events in chronological order : XX/XX/XXXX The date that I scheduled the balance of my PNC credit card to be paid ( {$10000.00} ) through PNC online bill pay. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC Credit card ( XXXX ), to find out why my payment had not yet arrived ( and to advise that now I had late fees and interest fees that I should not be held accountable for paying ). The representative advised that sometimes bill pay can take longer than expected, and that I should have transferred the funds directly online vs. doing it through bill pay ( which was good to know but didnt help to resolve the situation at hand ). I am very surprised that PNC generates paper checks and sends them by USPS from one PNC department to another ; this seems highly inefficient. Additionally, if transfers are the preferred method of payment, then the online banking system should have a notification to address this. The representative advised waiting a few more days for the check to arrive, and that the late fee and interest fee would both be waived once it arrived. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC Credit card, to find out why my payment still hadnt arrived. After the representative gathered all of my information, the call was disconnected. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC Credit card, to find out why my payment still hadnt arrived ( second call today ). After the representative gathered all of my information, and attempted to transfer me, the call was disconnected. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC Credit card, to find out why my payment still hadnt arrived. The representative advised that they needed to wait at least a week, and that I should just wait until Tuesday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and call back then. I then requested that SHE check in with me on Tuesday, to advise what had transpired and next steps, since I had already spent so much time dealing with this, and this issue was not my fault. She agreed and said she would reach out to me via email on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, to advise of next steps. She said she would put in a request to remove both the late fee and the interest fee. She did not, however, warn me that my card would go into delinquency, causing issues with paying merchants, and other electronic payments I had scheduled, all of which would cost me even more time and hassle to unravel. 

XX/XX/XXXX I became aware, because my card was declined at a merchant, that my card was now in delinquency. This caused me an inconvenience to have to ask someone to provide data for another card to use to pay my bill and was embarrassing. I also had to go to a few different websites to enter alternative credit card information, since I had the card set up as the mehod of payment for a few accounts. Additionally, I received an email notification from XXXX that my credit score had decreased. This caused me great angst as my credit score is something I work very hard to protect. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC Bank again. I dont have records of what transpired on this call, but there was no conversation or resolution. 

XX/XX/XXXX I attempted to call PNC Banking customer service ( XXXX ) to resolve the issue directly with bill pay, wondering if perhaps they could do something about it, since I had no luck with previous calls to the PNC credit card staff. I was on hold for more than 76 minutes, after which the call was picked up ( the hold music stopped ), but there was no voice on the other end of the line, and I attempted several times to get someone to answer me, until I just hung up. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called again to the PNC credit card number ( XXXX ) to try to resolve the issue, and I spoke with XXXX. XXXX advised me to do a transfer payment for the minimum amount due ( {$100.00} ) to get the credit card out of delinquency. None of the representatives I had spoken with previously had advised that I do this in order to prevent the card from becoming delinquent ( while I waited for the bill payment to arrive ). I did this transfer immediately, and the card was again usable. XXXX said she would file a complaint on my behalf, and shared information with me as to how to file my own. However, XXXX was unable to remove the late fee from my account and had to open a ticket to escalate for someone to investigate and address this item ( which I had already been promised ). 

XXXX said she would transfer me to the online bill pay department, in order to put a stop payment request on the check. When she hung up ( after transferring me ), I received a voicemail stating that there was no one to answer my call, and that I would need to call back within normal business hours. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC credit card, spoke to someone to explain what had transpired ( again ) and requested that I be transferred to the online bill pay department, and that she ask them to waive the stop payment fee. When the representative hung up, the phone rang and rang ( no hold music ), but after 20+ minutes of constant ringing, no one answered. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called PNC credit card again, spoke to someone to explain what had transpired ( again ), and requested that I be transferred to the online bill pay department, and that she ask them to waive the stop payment fee. She connected me with XXXX from online banking, who was able to successfully place the stop payment on my check to PNC credit card ( the one due to arrive on XXXX ). XXXX was also able to waive the stop payment fee for me ( as was promised to me by XXXX XXXX. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, reimbursement of the late fee of {$27.00} is still payment. 

This issue should never have happened in the first place, and definitely should not have cost me 10 phone calls and over 5 hours of my time ( on just one call, I was on hold for over an hour and then hung up on ). This is unacceptable.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief