Consumer complaint received 2022-08-02
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: MO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, I lost my debit card at a local gas station. That gas station was a XXXX I believe, & it was for {$11.00} ( posted on XX/XX/XXXX ). The following day on XX/XX/XXXX, I went to order something online & logged into the Navy Federal Banking app to check my balance. I noticed my balance was significantly lower than I remembered. At that time, there were XXXX charges that I did not recognize. The charges are as follows : XXXX XXXX XXXX - {$61.00} XXXX - {$13.00} XXXX XXXXXXXX - {$6.00} XXXX XXXX - {$8.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX - {$91.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX - {$76.00} Total fraud claim amount = {$240.00} Upon learning of the unauthorized charges, I froze my debit card ending in XXXX to prevent any further charges. Later that evening of XX/XX/XXXX, I printed Navy Federal 's " Statement of Forgery '' form. I filled it out & submitted my message to Navy Federal via their banking app ( at the point of submission, it was a little past midnight on XX/XX/XXXX ; the confirmation number for this particular message thread is # XXXX ). The message I sent to Navy Federal was as follows : ***There are 6 charges on my account that dont belong to me. The last time I used my card was XX/XX/XXXX at a gas station. I went to order something online today, checked my balance & noticed the balance was lower than expected. When I looked through my pending charges, I saw the 6 aforementioned charges detailed on the attached Statement of Forgery. I cant find my card anywhere. I do remember when I was at the gas station I had my purse sitting on the trunk of my car while I was at the pump. At one point, i accidentally knocked it over. Everything spilled out of my purse. I thought I grabbed everything but in hindsight, I was rushing. I am also missing a small notebook I keep in my purse that has my work & email login info & a lipgloss. So far, those are the only XXXX things I noticed missing from my purse. To make matters worse, I have it setup on my account to recieve notifications of transactions approved on my account. The last notification I received was for that gas station charge & I'm really upset because had I gotten notifications for the other charges that followed, I could've caught this sooner. Please see attached for more info*** Later in the day on XX/XX/XXXX, I followed up with Navy Federal via the messaging app & re-attached my completed Statement of Forgery form, as I did not see it attached to my original message. Said follow-up response with the re-attachment of my Statement of Forgey form was attached to the message chain with conf # # XXXX. I did not get a response from Navy Federal on XX/XX/XXXX. Additionally, on XX/XX/XXXX, I got several email notifications that someone was attempting to use the frozen debit card ending in XXXX. 

On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, I called Navy Federal via phone & spoke to two of their reps. I explained what happened with my debit card. I explained that I submitted a message via the messaging app outlining my complaint. I explained also that I was calling to follow up on the complaint I had already submitted via the Navy Federal messaging app. The first rep ( I am assuming this rep was a female ) ordered a new debit card for me & expedited the process. She then transferred me to a second rep ( I am assuming this was a male ). I re-explained the scenario to him & was specific in saying that I was FOLLOWING UP on a claim that I ALREADY SUBMIITED on XX/XX/XXXX via the messaging app. I was under the impression he took what was in writing within the messaging app & escalated it. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I got a response in the messaging app that one of the aforementioned charges, the charge for {$61.00}, was denied because Navy Federal " determined that no error has occured '' ( message conf # XXXX ). I then called Navy Federal via phone again. I spoke first to XXXX, who then transferred me to XXXX. XXXX & I were on the phone for quite some time ( the call lasted approx 52 minutes ). It was on this call I learned that there was a fraud claim created for me on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$440.00}. XXXX broke down the charges included in that {$440.00} claim, & we determined that within that claim, at least 2 of the charges included were not actually supposed to be included. XXXX concluded this is why my claim was denied. I explained to XXXX that I never created that fraud claim for {$440.00}. The fraud claim I created was for {$240.00}, which I had also already submitted in writing PRIOR TO this {$440.00} claim being created on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX explained that, when I called in on XX/XX/XXXX, the claim I had submitted via the messaging app on XX/XX/XXXX hadn't actually been created yet. The second rep I spoke to on XX/XX/XXXX is the XXXX who created the claim for {$440.00}. XXXX admitted that Navy Federal made a mistake in processing my claim. So XXXX & I walked through the charges that were supposed to be included in my fraud claim, & we came to an agreement that my claim amount was actually supposed to be for {$240.00}. While on the call with XXXX, I received a message via the messaging app ( message conf # XXXX ) asking for additional information if I wanted to pursue a second review of my claim. They were asking me for information that had already been provided in writing when I initially submitted my fraud complaint on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX advised me to respond to that message. He also advised me that he was modifying my claim & submitting something to the " back office '' so that they could review this. The message from Navy Federal that I was to respond to was as follows : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Thank you for contacting Navy Federal regarding the debit card fraud claim submitted on XX/XX/XXXX on your Visa Check Card ending in XXXX. Based on a thorough investigation of your account activity, we have determined that no error has occurred. If you wish to request a second review of the claim, you must do so in writing. In your request include any additional information to aid in our decision along with the following : 1. Why do you believe your claim should be honored? 2. Was the card lost or stolen or not in your possession at the time the fraud occurred? 3. What date was the card lost/stolen or fallen out of your possession? 4. If the card has been in your possession the entire time, how do you believe your card information was obtained? 5. Have you ever allowed anyone to use your card? If so, how do you know this person ( s )? 6. If you received any merchandise from the merchant, is this merchandise still in your possession? 7. Did you authorize or participate in the charge ( s ) but there was some type of error or scam? You may send your written appeal or any correspondence via this message thread, you may also visit a Navy Federal Credit Union branch, if there is one in your area. We take the security of your accounts very seriously. If you are unable to complete the Debit Card Fraud Claim Second Review Claim or have additional questions, please contact us at XXXX On XXXX, I submitted the following response to the above message ( conf # XXXX ) : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, shortly after midnight, a claim was submitted online via the messaging app. That claim was for a total of XXXX charges, all totaling {$240.00}. Along with my message, I sent a Statement of Forgery form, signed by me. I explained in my message that my card was lost on XX/XX/XXXX. I do not know who ended up with my card, nor did I give any of the businesses outlined in my Statement of Forgery consent to process any charges on my card. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Navy Federal to check on the status of my claim. Unbeknownst to me, the claim I submitted online had not actually been processed yet. The rep I spoke with created a claim for me for a total of {$440.00}, which included accurate charges along with the fraud charges detailed in my Statement of Forgery. On XX/XX/XXXX, during another phone call, I learned my claim had been denied due to the fact that the rep I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX included accurate charges into my claim ( which I never requested ; review the call ). The person I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX figured out that the error happened on Navy Federal 's end & apparently sent some kind of notification to the " back office ''. He also requested that I respond to this message with answers to your questions. I have been wrapped up with a death in the family so am just now revisiting this. In a nutshell, my claim should be honored because there was legitimate fraud on my account. I did everything I could to stop it. When I discovered an error occurred, I froze my card immediately. I submitted the Statement of Forgery shortly afterwards. I called to check the status of what I emailed. The reason my claim was denied was because of an error made by Navy Federal. And I should not be help responsible for that. The card was not in my possession at the time the fraud was committed. In fact, after the card was frozen, I have email records of someone who REPEATEDLY kept trying to charge my card again. The card was lost on XX/XX/XXXX. No, I do not share my card with anyone because I dont anyone with my personal info. I never received anything from any of the businesses mentioned in my Statement of Forgery. No, I never authorized the 6 charges outlined. Additionally, out of the XXXX XXXX charges, after I reached out to them, they only issued me a partial refund of {$52.00}. So for that one, I am no longer claiming the original fraud amount of {$160.00}. Instead, I am claiming the difference of {$110.00}. I have also re-attached the original Statement of Forgery. *** On the morning of XXXX, I got the following response ( conf # XXXX ) : ***Our goal is to respond to your message electronically within two business days. However, there may be instances where extensive research or an increase in messages will not allow us to respond within the desired time frame. Your message is important to us, and we strive to reply as promptly as possible. We would like to assure you that Navy Federal makes a genuine effort to answer and rectify any issue ( s ) or concern ( s ) you may have in a timely manner. We extend our sincere apologies for the delay in our reply. 

We have thoroughly investigated your card fraud claim in the amount of {$14.00}, {$61.00}, and {$440.00}. It has been determined that no fraud has occurred. Any provisional credits issued will be reversed from your account in 14 days. A letter has been sent to your address on file. If you receive secure electronic notifications from NFCU you will receive an eMessage through Online Banking. Once the provisional credit has been reversed your claims will be closed. *** I then called Navy Federal AGAIN on XXXX at approx XXXX XXXX & spoke with XXXX who claims to be a supervisor. She said when XXXX submitted whatever he submitted, there were only XXXX charges mentioned as fraud charges. So once again, another error on Navy Federal 's part to correctly address my fraud complaint. She apologized & admitted that a mistake had been made on Navy Federal 's end AGAIN. So now, we have 2 separate people from within Navy Federal who admitted that Navy Federal made a mistake in the processing of my claim. XXXX put me on hold & claims to have re-created the claim & expedited it to a supervisor. She claims to have also attached my Statement of Forgery to whatever she did. I was on that call for 40 minutes. Additionally, she told me it could take up to 14 days to review something that was initiated on XX/XX/XXXX ( we are 15 days into this process at this point ). 

Because of Navy Federal 's consistent mishandling & overall gross negligence of my claim, I have decided to escalate this to the XXXX, as I no longer have the confidence that Navy Federal can correct my issue without me involving a third party. And it is sad that it even has to take all of this for me to recover such a small amount. It is these types of issues that undermine trust in the US banking system. I am the wrong person to mishandle & will keep fighting this tooth & nail until it is corrected because it is wrong for Navy Federal to continue to make so many mistakes in handling my claim. If I owed them money, they would not hesitate to keep coming after me for it. Therefore, I am holding Navy Federal to the same level of accountability.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief