Consumer complaint received 2019-01-21
Company: KEYCORP
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Fee problem

Complaint:
XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NY XXXX XXXX XXXX Re :  Key Bank Unauthorized Account Change and Subsequent Fees Key Bank Account for XXXX and XXXX XXXX Key Bank Branch XXXX XXXX  XXXX , XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX , NY XXXX Contacts Made : XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX Personal Banker XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX Branch Manager XXXX ( employee ID XXXX ) XXXX Complaint Summary : Advantage Account changed to Key Privilege Select Account by Key Bank , which was not authorized, triggering a {$50.00} a month " Maintenance Service Charge ''. The account conversion was an unauthorized change by the bank and totaled {$500.00} in fees. The outstanding unreimbursed amount is {$450.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ). 

Requested Resolution : Credit the remaining {$450.00} in unreimbursed fees.

Attachments in one document : 1 ) XX/XX/XXXX statement reflecting the charge of {$50.00} Maintenance Service Charge 2 ) XX/XX/XXXX statement reflecting the last month the charge was levied ( all other inclusive statements can be provided but also charge the same fee ) 3 ) XX/XX/XXXX statement reflecting a refund of one month 's ( {$50.00} ) charge leaving a total of {$450.00} outstanding unreimbursed To Whom It May Concern : Recently while reviewing my bank statements I determined that as of XX/XX/XXXX I have been charged a $ XXXX   monthly maintenance fee for my checking account. I have had the same checking account for decades ( through XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX and now Key Bank ). The fees totaled {$500.00} before I noticed them on my statement. I had not noticed the fee until recently as my husband of 60+ years had a XXXX that same month ; needless to say this was not a priority since that time. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I emailed the customer service at the bank to identify the fee. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Keybank responded that my account was a " Key Privilege Select '' checking account that required a {$100000.00} daily balance to avoid fees. My account was an " Advantage Checking '' and always had been under Key Bank and no fees were levied. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called the Keybank Customer Service phone number in the email response ( XXXX ) and asked when this account change was made. XXXX ( employee ID XXXX ) indicated the change had been made XX/XX/XXXX. I explained there must be some mistake as I had not changed my account and that this particular account type would be wholly inappropriate as we are in our XXXX 's, on fixed income, and have never had a balance of {$100000.00}. I was told I would have to see my branch in order to correct the error. At that time fees totaling {$500.00} had been paid. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I visited the Key Bank Branch ( XXXX XXXX ) with my son, XXXX XXXX, who is helping me sort through this issue. I spoke to XXXX XXXX, Personal Banker. His initial investigation did not yield any indication of why the change was made. Only that the change was, in fact, made in XX/XX/XXXX, but that fees had not been implemented until XX/XX/XXXX. After explaining that no change in account was authorized he indicated he would refund one month 's worth of fees worth {$50.00} and change the account back to an " Advantage Checking '' which is what it had always been. We requested a full refund of all fees again claiming this was a bank error and he indicated that he would take that up with his Manager and get back to me ( us ). This would total an additional {$450.00} for XXXX through XXXX ( XXXX fees were refunded ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX My Son XXXX spoke with XXXX XXXX again. The bank 's " offer '' was to refund an additional {$250.00} in fees to close the matter stating that " too much time had passed '' and that I might be at fault as I had not been validating my account statements in a timely manner. This was primarily because my husband had a XXXX the same month of XX/XX/XXXX when the charges were being implemented and my attention for months afterward were his care. That being said, it does not seem appropriate for my not catching a bank 's error sooner to be a determining factor for determining accountability. I said that was not acceptable as this was the bank 's error and requested proof of authorized account change ; none was provided. My son requested to speak to his manager. He indicated he would call me back. 

On XX/XX/XXXX my son, XXXX XXXX, spoke to XXXX XXXX, who identified himself as the branch manager at the Key Bank XX/XX/XXXX location. He re-iterated the offer of {$250.00} in reimbursement and again claimed that too much time had passed to provide full restitution. I mentioned on many occasions that this account change was unauthorized and wholly inappropriate to my long history of which they have full access as I have never met the requirement necessary for an account such as this. When asked how long before a full investigation of the account change authorization could become available we were told by " mid-week next week '' which would have been around XX/XX/XXXX. as of this writing no additional contact has been made by Key Bank. 

On XX/XX/XXXX my son emailed XXXX XXXX requesting an update. No Response On XX/XX/XXXX my son called XXXX XXXX. No response. 

On XX/XX/XXXX a claim to CFSB was submitted. 

I have two concerns ; one is to retrieve the {$450.00} fee money that was charged in error, the other is that this may be an intentional systemic issue to generate revenues and is cause for concern. The account change would be wholly inappropriate for someone that has never had such amounts on deposit in the 40+ year history of the account. Every attempt to resolve the issue was met with resistance, deflection and victim blaming. 

Thank you for your time. 

Sincerely, XXXX and XXXX XXXX CC : XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation