Consumer complaint received 2021-04-22
Company: Betterment LLC
State: TN
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
I opened a Betterment account about a year ago and did not have any issues until I began seeing unauthorized charges on my account at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. At that time I called Betterment customer service about the charges and was told they would need to contact Visa on my behalf with me on the line in order to dispute any unauthorized charges. While waiting for this call to connect, I was hung up on and had to go back to work, so was unable to call back until XX/XX/XXXX. At that time I called back and explained to another CSR that there were unauthorized charges and they said they can now file disputes themselves without going thru Visa so I gave them a list of transactions below. 
transactions : XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$26.00}. 
XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$33.00}. 
XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX {$170.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX {$24.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$39.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX, {$440.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX, {$9.00} XXXX XXXX. {$84.00} XXXX XXXX. {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$22.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$110.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$110.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX, {$9.00} XXXX. USPS XXXX XXXX XXXX {$39.00} I explained to the csr that the above charges were not authorized by me, I did not give anyone permission to use my debit card nor was my debit card lost or stolen. Then the CSR explained the dispute process including when I may receive a provisional credit. They also told me my debit card would be cancelled and a replacement mailed. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a provisional credit for some of the charges but not all. And I still did not receive a replacement debit card. When I contacted them they said that a replacement would not be issued at the this time. I proceeded to ask how I would access those credits since they are online only and they recommended a bank transfer. On XX/XX/XXXX, I became aware of additional charges on my account that I didnt authorize. I had to take time off to contact Betterment between XXXX eastern and after I told the CSR, XXXX about the charges, she said she wasnt sure if she could dispute those. After holding several times while she tried to find out if she could dispute specific charges and leaving a message asking that a manager contact me, she hung up on me. At that time it was after XXXX and when I called back they were closed. I received an email a short while later apologizing for hanging up and letting me know I could dispute charges from XX/XX/XXXX. I replied that I did need to dispute the charges below and didnt get a response. So I called back on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with a different CSR XXXX. I spent over 1.5 hours on the phone with this person regarding additional unauthorized charges on my account. The CSR, XXXX, was incredibly rude, inconsiderate and completely lacking professionalism. I have never experienced such complete lack of regard from CSR in my life and it is a shame that she represents that company. It was apparent when she continuously talked over me while I was speaking, asked me 4-5 times if I lost my card or stolen ( which I explained the first time that it was not ), questioned me numerous times about why I didnt report the disputes in XXXX sooner ( even though the statement just came out-she made sure to tell me I could have seen the charges online at any time ). Her lack of consideration for my time while I am at work by putting me on hold 3-4 times for 10-15 minutes at a time was absolutely unnecessary. And finally she actually laughed, said excuse me then put me on hold a fifth time ( with no communication that she was doing so ) in response to my statement that there were more disputes than the two I gave her ... and never came back on the line. So I disconnected and have not heard anything since then. I had been trying to file these disputes since XXXX but was not able to call during their specific hours until this week and was both hung up on and put on hold without notice by 2 different agents. That same day I received an email from a manager instead of a phone call. I explained all that happened above and informed the manager that I wished to dispute the below unauthorized charges on my account since I could not get anyone to help me on the phone. 

XXXX XXXX. {$84.00} XXXX XXXX. {$140.00} XXXX USPS XXXX XXXX XXXX {$39.00} XXXX XXXX. {$30.00} XXXX XXXX. {$100.00} XXXX XXXX. {$19.00} XXXX XXXX. {$40.00} XXXX XXXX. {$24.00} XXXX XXXX. {$62.00} XXXX XXXX. {$100.00} XXXX XXXX. {$24.00} XXXX XXXX. {$100.00} XXXX XXXX. {$100.00} XXXX XXXX. {$79.00} XXXX XXXX. {$13.00} XXXX XXXX. {$24.00} XXXX XXXX {$51.00} XXXX XXXX. {$35.00} At this time I also filed a FTC Identity Theft Report online so these unauthorized charges could be followed up on. I also sent Betterment a certified letter detailing the additional unauthorized charges listed above and requested that disputes be filed on those charges since they were not authorized by me. At this time I have only received provisional credit for a portion of the unauthorized charges on my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation