Consumer complaint received 2016-04-20
Company: BB&T CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I bank with BB & T. They seem to want to charge money to speak with their customers over the phone. From what I always understood was that I get XXXX free calls a month. I had not called the bank for 2 months because of this I do not want to pay these fees. Today I decided to give them a call about a transfer that I performed late last week and since it still was not showing on my account I thought I would give them a call. Before I proceeded I asked am I being charged for the call and the representative confirmed that I was not since it was the first call of the month. After I explained why I was calling she apologized and stated that she needed to transfer the call to online banking. XXXX answered the call I confirmed with her if I would be charged for the call she said if she answer my question then yes I would be charged. I said well that is OK I will not present the question because I do not want to be charged. She said that she would waive the fee. I then asked why would I be charged when this was the first call of the month and the other representative was not able to answer my question so I was not clear if they charge for all online questions or if they were charging because I spoke with XXXX representatives in one day. What ever the reason is they did not answer my question and besides this being that I have an account there I should be able to ask questions without the threat of having fees to pay to receive answers. I sent them a email and here is what I said : I had a question about my transfer that I performed several days ago. I know that it says that it could take up to 3 days however since it was done late last week I thought today being Wednesday that it would be there by now. I have not called or spoke with anyone in XXXX 3 months and now today I simply called in to ask about my transfer and the representative confirmed that I would not get charged for the call. I have learned to ask about this due to being charged in the past. She apologized and confirmed that she was not able to answer my question then connected me to online banking. Before I asked her a question I wanted to confirm if I were being charged and she said if she answer my question then yes I was going to get charged I then proceeded to say please do not answer my question because I do not want to be charged. XXXX then stated that she would waive the fee. My question is what is this I have an account with this bank however as I work on my financial health and future in order for me to get my questions answered I have to pay with the money that I am trying to save? My apology however I will not be able to pay for your services. I am putting my money into the savings account because I need to save my money. I will reach out to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at this point because I sincerely feel like I am being taken advantage of and this should not be the experience in regards to banking. I should be able to freely bank where ever I choose without the threat of being charged to get my questions answered. Please ensure that I will not be charged for that last call because as I stated she never answered my question. Thank you I would like for the Consumer Protection Bureau to check into this because something does not seem right.

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 explanation