Consumer complaint received 2022-05-24
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: AL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
On or about Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I went into my local office of Truist Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX, located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to close my safety deposit box so as not to incur the annual fee for the coming 12 month period. I advised the teller at the window that I had lost my safe deposit keys and realized that I would be charged a fee for having to have them replaced. I was told by that same teller that there was no one available to assist me at that time and she proceeded to write my name and phone number down and told me someone would call me back. I never received that phone call. 

When I received the alert that my checking account had been charged a {$70.00} fee for the safety deposit box on XX/XX/XXXX I went back to my local branch on or about XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with a banker or branch manager named XXXX and he apologized for no one calling me back. I explained to him that though I had been paying for the box since XXXX I had never used it and the box was empty. I advised him I had been looking for the keys for over a year and since the fee was going up from {$55.00} to {$70.00} I decided that I would just give up and close it. He explained that they could not close the safe deposit box and remove it from my customer service record without actually drilling it open in my presence and confirming it was empty. We agreed and I prepaid for the cost of drilling and rekeying the box that day but he stated that he could not tell me exactly when someone would be there to do that and he would call me. XXXX NEVER made that call. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX about when I should come in to close out the box and he advised me that I had missed my appointment and said that he would see when their technician/locksmith would next be available. On or about XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called me and said that I should be available on Friday XX/XX/XXXX but he could not tell me what time. I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and he still could not tell me what time. On XX/XX/XXXX I called him at XXXX am and again was told it would be some time that day XXXX call back at XXXX am to tell me the locksmith was there. 

I arrived at the bank at XXXX am to wait for the box to be opened in my presence. It was while waiting that XXXX had me sign the entrance log and we confirmed that I had not opened that box since the day I originally took possession of the keys in XXXX. After confirming that the box was empty I asked for confirmation that I would receive a refund of the fee, {$70.00}. XXXX stated he was not sure and that he actually did not know how to request such a refund. After about an hour of XXXX calling his help desk, he advised me that I would only be receiving a prorated refund of {$52.00} and I advised him that that was unacceptable. During this hour of watching him struggle to access and use his company computer system, he evidently became frustrated more than I was because he began to berate me about wearing a mask for covid. XXXX bragged about having XXXX XXXX XXXX and that he would never wear a mask because XXXX XXXX was part of the XXXX XXXX. Naturally, my discomfort level rose and I do not wish to have to go back to that office, thus I am filing a complaint in the hope of getting a full refund which I think I am entitled to. 

I called the customer service center on XX/XX/XXXX to check and see if my prorated refund had been processed and they did not show it pending on my account. They could see that the safe deposit box had been removed from my records but there was no indication as to when that happened. On XX/XX/XXXX when I was at the branch, part of the hour or so spent there was waiting for the XXXX, XXXX, to process the refund and that is how he quoted me a prorated amount. His frustration came from his not having access to a computer system he said was named " BLUE '' and he had to call and have a password created before he could attempt to give me credit for the fee. 

I should not be penalized for Truist Banks ' lack of staffing, poor training, and employee biases. I have been a customer of Truist since XXXX although my account was opened when this Branch was part of XXXX XXXX and was bought by BB & T and now Truist.

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 monetary relief