Consumer complaint received 2016-05-10
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
State: MD
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
In XXXX 2014, I saw a poster advertised on the window front of my local Suntrust Bank. It promised a bonus of {$150.00} for opening a new account, as it read " It 's never been so easy to earn {$150.00} '' and on the bottom it read " For a limited time, we want to offer you a {$150.00} gift card just for signing up ''. Inside the bank, I was explained that I 'd have to have a special account that could accept credit card payments. I told the rep, that I do n't really need to process credit cards, but was persuaded anyways to open an account. I was assured of getting my bonus after just XXXX credit card transaction. I received a swiping device for credit cards for my smart phone soon after. I processed XXXX card for {$1000.00} and when I got the statement, I was shocked to see a charge of over {$80.00} as a processing fee. I was sure it was a mistake, and called the bank so they could correct it. They denied that it was a high fee, stating that it was a competitive fee for processing credit cards. That rate sounded very high to me, so I asked them to close my account. I was told : " Sir, if you close your account now, you 'll be charged an early termination fee of {$500.00}. If you want to avoid this penalty fee, you 'd need to wait for 1 year for the contract to end, before you can close your account. However, we 'll continue charging you our " standard '' monthly fees for that time ( 1 year ), and then we 'll refund you retroactively for that year. '' I was surprised to hear all this, since nobody ever explained any of this when I was signing up. On the day I signed up, I was in the bank for about XXXX7 minutes and was told to sign and initial in a few places, and the rep did n't give me any time to look over the documents saying, " It 's just the standard stuff all banks ask you to sign ''. In any case, I did n't put up a fight, deciding just to wait out the year to avoid the {$500.00} fee. I waited patiently for 1 year, not paying too much attention to the exhurbant fees I was being charged, knowing I 'd be getting them refunded soon. However, when the year was up, I called the bank to close my account, and to my surprise I was told " Sir, your contract is for 3 years, and if you close now, you 'll be subjected to the {$500.00} early termination fee. '' I could n't believe my ears. I tried to explain that I was told it would only be 1 year, but the other party did n't want to hear of it. I was also told at that time, that no fees would be refunded to me. After calling and emailing different parties at Suntrust with no success, I had to close the account " early ''. I ended being charged {$500.00} as an early termination fee. It 's been 2 years since I regretfully opened up an account with SunTrust Bank. They charged me close to {$1000.00} in fees and still send me letters claiming that I owe them more money. They recently threatened to report me to a collection agency which will affect my credit score, if I do n't pay up. Please help.

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