Consumer complaint received 2023-07-22
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE
State: MI
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
Today, after nearly XXXX  years of getting the run around from them, I finally received my {$1900.00} refund from XXXX XXXX. Only after I filed a CFPB complaint ( XXXX ) against XXXX did they send then the check. 

The check in question is a Cashiers check written by XXXX XXXX to me for money XXXX XXXX owes to me. This is not a personal check written out to me by an individual. 

The check arrived in the mail today. I deposited the check into my Huntington Bank account using the apps mobile deposit feature at approximately XXXX. At XXXX I received an email stating that there was a 5 day hold placed on the funds. At approximately XXXX I attempted to login to my Huntington Bank account and was met with a message telling me I was locked out of my account and needed to change my password. I attempted to change my password several times but each time was met with an error telling me to try again. 

I called Huntington Bank customer service on XX/XX/2023 at approximately XXXX. I was on hold for approximately XXXX minutes, and in all I spoke to XXXX individuals for a total of approximately XXXX minutes. These individuals were named XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. For accountability purposes, I asked each Huntington representative for their employee ID or another way to identify them specifically in this complaint and each declined. 

I spoke first to a woman named XXXX who stated she was in XXXX of their Michigan offices. 

XXXX stated that my account was force closed but refused to tell me why that was, other than to say that the check from XXXX was a risk that Huntington did not want to take. I asked XXXX why it was risky to cash a check from XXXX and she could not tell me. I asked XXXX if Huntington Bank declined to engage in any sort of business relationship with XXXX due to the unspecified risks involved and XXXX stated that she did not know. 

I asked XXXX to escalate the issue to her supervisor and after being put on hold for several minutes I spoke to an individual that XXXX identified as her XXXX, XXXX. 

XXXX reiterated that my account was force closed and that it was due to the risk involved in cashing a cashiers check from XXXX XXXX. XXXX stated that if my check cleared, I could withdraw the funds from any XXXX XXXX in 7 days. This is counter to the initial notice of a 5 day hold I was given. I asked XXXX if XXXX deemed XXXX bank to be too risky to involve themselves with and XXXX stated that Huntington bank frequently sends and receives many kinds of transfers to and from XXXX bank, including checks. I asked if XXXX if my account would still be closed if my brought my check and the letter from XXXX into a Huntington branch and XXXX stated that the closure was irreversible. I asked XXXX to escalate the issue and XXXX transferred me to a man who identified himself as XXXX, a Senior Supervisor at Huntington bank. 

XXXX reiterated that my account was closed and nobody could tell me why. I asked XXXX if he had been working for Huntington for a long time and XXXX states that he has. I asked if he had to guess based on his knowledge and experience working for Huntington bank and the finance sector as a whole, what he thought the problem could be. XXXX told me that he couldnt say. I asked XXXX did a human being make this decision, or is it some computer somewhere? and XXXX states that there was a team of human beings at Huntington Bank that made this decision. I find XXXX answer to this question difficult to believe, considering the decision was made in under XXXX minutes of depositing the check and I think its very bold of him to tell such an obvious lie. I asked XXXX if I walked into a Huntington branch tomorrow with XXXX XXXX himself verifying the legitimacy of my check, would my account still be closed? and XXXX stated that account closure was irreversible. I asked XXXX what I was supposed to do with my check now that I have FOR HUNTINGTON MOBILE DEPOSIT ONLY written on the back of it like the Huntington Mobile Deposit instructions indicated and XXXX assured me that I could withdraw my funds in cash from a Huntington branch in 7 days if the check clears. XXXX and XXXX both seemed skeptical of my check clearing. 

All in all, it was a very frustrating and frankly insulting experience. I was all but directly accused of being a criminal and told obvious lies like cashing checks from XXXX is too risky and a human being looked at your check and closed your account. 

It doesnt take 7 days to verify a Cashiers check. An acceptable resolution would be to let me withdraw my funds on Monday. Go ahead and keep the account closed because you couldnt pay me to bank with Huntington at this point.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief