Consumer complaint received 2020-01-18
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
State: MI
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I contacted Suntrust Bank approximately mid-XXXX  XXXX  because I noted charges on my account that were not mine. I looked for my credit card and did not find it. 

A letter was emailed to me which is dated XX/XX/XXXX verifying that I had contacted them about the lost card and the charges which were not mine. There were six charges that were not mine. Only one charge which was a monthly recurring charge was mine for {$5.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX. It was the only reason that I was checking the account to pay on it. 

I will send you the letter ; it states that they would contact me for further information - which they never did. They did send me letters via email about the 6 charges. There were 5 letters addressing the 6 charges as one company ( XXXX XXXX ) had two charges. The other stores were at XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX # XXXX, XXXX # XXXX, XXXX  # XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX XXXX. Combined, the total was {$1100.00}. 

Instead of contacting me for any further information, they sent me a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX which was less than 30-days later from the initial claim stating that they had found that these were my charges and the charges were placed back onto my account and I was told that I was responsible for these charges. It is clear to me that they did not investigate anything but, rather, made an expedient and advantageous decision for their company and, basically, pinned this responsibility onto me. 

I called numerous times - especially after looking at what my options were on the internet - to discuss this matter with their fraud department. I believed that I had the option to appeal this decision at which they had erroneously arrived. However, they told me point blank that they would not accept my request for an appeal. 

I contacted CFPB via phone and discussed with a CFPB my options and how I should proceed. I told that person that I had requested my entire file on this claim and that the SunTrust Bank representative had assured me that I would be sent all the information as to how they had arrived at the decision via their 'investigation ' that they obviously had not performed. 

At one point in the multiple conversations that I pursued with the SunTrust Bank, I was told that the claim was denied due to 'inconsistencies. ' I asked them to explain what this meant and they stated that I shop at these stores. This is not true. I have shopped, previously, at XXXXXXXX XXXX but as one can see by my statements over the several years that I have been with SunTrust Bank, that I seldom shop there. I think that I found one charge at a XXXX store and that was years ago. I am not even sure that it was the same XXXX XXXX store as the fraudulent charge. 

There are many XXXX stores throughout this area, I believe, and the amount that I spent was certainly not the sizable amount that was on this particular disputed charge. I am a single person, XXXX years old and I simply do not eat nor cook that much. Mostly, my groceries are purchased from XXXX and XXXX. 

The other stores listed in the dispute - XXXX # XXXX, XXXX  # XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX  XXXX, and XXXX XXXX - I do not shop at. 

So, I waited a considerable amount of time for this file to be sent to me because I was told that it was important to include everything that I could for this claim on the initial filing. After waiting a couple of weeks, I contacted the SunTrust Bank again and I was very upset to find out that the file had never been sent. 

Basically, they did not investigate anything. The refused to allow me to appeal the case. Then, they lied to me over the phone and told me that they were sending me all the information that I had asked for. I persisted and again they assured me that they would send me the entire file. I told them that I was going to report them to a government organization. Again, the file on their investigation never materialized but rather they sent me a letter stating that they had reviewed the case again and they were standing with their decision. 

It has taken me some time to contact the CFPB because I waited all this time for promised paperwork/documentation that would never arrive. Then, with the holidays and my own busy schedule, it has been hard to carve out the time to pursue this filing. I have already invested a dozen hours in this matter to no avail. 

I paid the amount in a timely manner because I can not have my credit score ruined on top of this entire mess. SunTrust Bank has behaved very badly, unethically and unscrupulously. Please contact me if there is further information or documentation that I can offer. I have had an account with SunTrust Bank since XXXX.

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 monetary relief