Consumer complaint received 2024-01-06
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: TD BANK US HOLDING COMPANY (FL)

On XXXX XXXX, a friend of mine from XXXX XXXX XXXX, sent me XXXX by XXXX  that he owed me for some XXXX.  

On XXXX XXXX I received the email below.  

-
 Hello XXXX,

We've deactivated XXXX  for use with XXXX  because it can't be used to send or receive money.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
TD Bank


So that same day I called TD Bank Customer support.  The person who took my call said that all she could tell me is that, I made a transaction which broke the terms of my agreement with XXXX, and it was for a XXXX.  I asked for more details to identify the transaction, I specifically asked for the date, and if I was the sender or receiver (so I could narrow it down). She said she could not give me any further details.  I also asked her which specific XXXX  policy I had broken.  She said she did not know and couldnt tell me.

She said the only thing I could do was call XXXX  directly because it was a XXXX  decision and they are a Third Party service provider to TD Bank, AND, I could go to the TD branch and talk to a banker who could review my account and submit a request for the restriction to be removed.

Ok,  I called XXXX.  They have an option to speak to someone regarding ONLY the XXXX XXXX, and when you go through the phone voice menu for problems with restrictions, they sent me back to my bank.

So, I go to the TD Bank branch on the same day, located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX.  I sit down with XXXX XXXX (TD Bank Branch Banker).  He reviews my account, and sees that my XXXX  is restricted with no explanation.  He says, (from his experience)  this happens when there is a fraudulent transaction on XXXX.  After reviewing my account and seeing no evidence of fraud, he submits a request to have the XXXX restriction removed.

That same day he send me an email that my XXXX  service has been restored.  (below) XXXX  
Good afternoon XXXX, 
 
This is XXXX  from TD Bank to let you know that your XXXX  is back to normal.
 
XXXX
Regards,
XXXX XXXX | Banking Associate | XXXX XXXX 
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail XXXX  
Great right!   I actually didn't even check right away to see.  Why would I?  I did nothing wrong.  But that night I tried to access XXXX  to see, and it wasnt working.

So I sent XXXX  and email and followed up the next day. XXXX XXXX.

A couple back and forth emails, him saying hes looking into it, then try again. XXXX XXXX email. (below)

-

Good morning XXXX, 
 
Unfortunately you won't be able to use XXXX  anymore. The bank reserves the information for which they do not allow you to use the application anymore. So you will need to choose an alternative payment method. XXXX
Regards,
XXXX XXXX  | Banking Associate | XXXX XXXX 
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail



OK, now Im frustrated.  

I responded to him saying how can this happen without explanation?  Never heard from him again. XXXX XXXX  I call XXXX  again,  This time I started with XXXX XXXX support just to get a live person.  They again told me that it was my banks decision and they couldnt give me any details, but they transferred me directly to TD Bank Digital Detection Dept. 

The first person I got on the phone says there is nothing I can do and I just cant use XXXX  anymore using my personal email XXXX) or my cell phone number, or with any TD Bank account.  And he suggested I use another service provider like XXXX  or XXXX.

I send, and receive a lot of money from my personal account using XXXX, and for my bank to arbitrarily cut me off from use without explanation and without any due process or process of investigation, I find ridiculous. 

So I told him that I wanted to speak to his supervisor. He put me on the phone with a polite lady, who tried to help me out.

I pressed her on more details of the transaction in question because I still had no idea ( I have many XXXXXXXX transactions, sent and received). She told me it was the transaction I 1st referenced above, the receipt of XXXX from my XXXX  friend.  She told me that the account holder had disputed the XXXX  transaction with his bank, which was XXXX XXXX.  I immediately told her that this is a person that is a friend of mine and Ive played XXXX  with him for over 10 years and its clearly a mistake because he would never dispute that transaction knowingly. So then I asked her what evidence she would need to get the restriction removed, her response was two  part. First, she didnt know what documentation or evidence would be sufficient to prove that the dispute was erroneous. Secondly, she told me that since XXXX  had already requested that the restriction be lifted, and that request had already been denied, that was my only chance to overturn the decision, and so she did not believe that the decision would ever be overturned.

I was starting to get very upset. First, I explained to her that that cant be my only chance to overturn this ridiculous decision, because I was never given the information about the transaction in question to be able to understand, and provide any evidence to the contrary.  Second, I asked her How can that be a fraudulent transaction when I didnt initiate a request through TDs XXXX  platform for the money to be sent to me?  Rather, my friend found me on XXXX  knowing my cell phone, and sent the funds to me.  I further explained that, without any system of due process, anyone who has someone elses first name and cell phone number could intentionally XXXX  them money, and then call their bank and claim fraud just to block that persons access to XXXX. Thirdly, I explained that TD Bank needs to fight for me because I am TD Banks customer, and if I can provide indisputable evidence that the transaction was not fraudulent, then TD Bank must restore my access to XXXX  service.  

Without her able to make any suggestions or recommendations as to what evidence I could provide to overturn this decision, I asked her if I could obtain a notarized letter from my friend stating that he had not disputed the transaction or that, if he had, that it was an error, then would that be enough?  She said she didnt know, but I could try it, and if it was a notarized letter is better than a letter that wasnt notarized.  She said you can try. Get the letter and bring it to the branch and have them upload it into our system, I cant guarantee that anything will work.

OK, well at least now Im sure about the transaction in question and Im feeling slightly relieved that I know the person who sent me the money intended to send me the money and Im feeling confident that once I have this explanation letter in my hand that I will have my service with XXXX  renewed, and I will eventually be a happy camper so I push forward and I call my friend and explain to him what was happening. 

His first reaction was that he had no idea because he never dispute the transaction.  So I asked him for a notarized letter stating the same and fortunately the next day we play XXXX together so he could bring it with him.  Agreed. Two  minutes later he calls me back and he apologizes profusely because when he logged into the account, he could see that the transaction was disputed and he remembered that it was a joint account that opened with his XXXX  when his XXXX  was a XXXX.  He called his XXXX  and found out that his XXXX  disputed the transaction because he didnt recognize my name and thought that it might have been one of his friends who is also named XXXX  and so his XXXX  called up XXXX  and dispute the transaction.  

He immediately called his sXXXXn and had his XXXX  called XXXX  and removed the dispute. Then, he wrote a letter thoroughly explaining the nature of the error, with all the details, and clearly stating the dispute was an error and NOT fraudulent, had it notarized. 

At this point, Im thinking checkmate.  Not only is it clear that the initial dispute claim by XXXX  was made in error, but I have a notarized letter from the account holder stating that the transaction was legitimate and intentional.

XXXX XXXX  I get the notarized letter in my hands. And emailed to me.

XXXX XXXX I go back to the branch. XXXX  is not there.  So I follow up with another TD Bank rep, XXXX XXXX.   I explain absolutely everything that happened again and I forward him the letter. He reopens the case and uploads the letter.  And then later that day calls me and says that my appeal has been denied again despite the letter, and that I should pursue XXXX XXXX, or XXXX, or some other service. Of course, he apologizes profusely because of the ridiculousness of the situation. 

I quickly call TD Bank again, blow past the first  representative who claims nothing can be done, and Im transferred to XXXX  who is a supervisor. I again explain everything that happened since the beginning I confirm with him that TDs Digital Detection department has received the letter, and I tell him that its unfair, unjust, and I want him to get that decision overturned, I explain to him the nature of my relationship with TD Bank including over XXXX of deposit accounts that are not bearing interest through all of my accounts and he acknowledges all of those things and says that hes going to do whatever he can to restore my access to XXXX  and he will follow up with me either with a phone call or with a secure message.

Please see below the secure message that I received on XXXX XXXX. XXXX  
Dear XXXX XXXX,
Thank you for contacting us in regard to your XXXX  with XXXX profile being restricted.
I further escalated your concerns to our Digital Detection Team for further review and they have advised that you will need to choose an alternative payment method by which to send people monies. This could include other third-party services such as but not limited to: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX etc etc.
If you have any further questions, please contact us via email or call XXXX to speak with a TD Bank On-Line Specialist, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Regards,
XXXX

TD Bank On-Line
Resource Officer

XXXX  
At this point, Im thinking to myself. Is there anything else I can do before initiating a class action lawsuit against TD Bank, XXXX and XXXX XXXX

I reached out to a personal contact who works for TD Bank for a long time and explained everything to him.

His email response below XXXX

XXXX,
 
We spoke with our operations team regarding your XXXX  deactivation.  They explained that XXXX  initiated the fraud alert for the XXXX  payment and they notified XXXX.  You will need to reach out to XXXX  and/or XXXX.
 
Sincerely,
XXXX XXXX  
I then called my friend and asked him to get a letter from XXXX  stating that XXXX  acknowledged that the transaction was not fraudulent.  made several requests over the phone and in the branch and was promised many times that a letter would be sent to him directly as well as emails. So that we have something in writing confirming that XXXX  had changed and withdrew the fraud claim.   unfortunately, we never got those letters from XXXX.

since late XXXX, I have not pushed very hard on this topic because I had more important things to do and I was waiting for these XXXX  letters that never arrived for my friend. However, I started following up again early XXXX  and on ThursdayXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  I initiated a three-way call with XXXX  claims department, and my friend whos account is at XXXX  that we could verify the status of these letters that were supposedly coming to my friend and see if XXXX  was able to resolve the problem for us based on the feedback I received from TD Bank (that only XXXX  was able to undo the dispute and report to XXXX  so that XXXX could restore my access to XXXX  service. 

after another grueling hour and a half  on this three-way call in which the XXXX  representative promised a resolution, we were disappointed that the representative said that he cannot change the case, or the claim of fraud, because the case had already been closed, and the only ones that can restore my access to XXXX  is TD Bank.

Although this representative did not know, or could not verify that XXXX  was in control of this process, and he could not edit the closed case, he said that he put notes on the XXXX  claim number stating that the XXXX  Client had verified that the transaction was not fraudulent.  I asked him how XXXX  would ever be able to retrieve that information if it was not transmitted by XXXX  to XXXX because all these claim numbers that he was giving us were internal XXXX  claim numbers?  he said that he could not transmit any data to XXXX  about this case or any other claim regarding this transaction and that I needed to go back to TD Bank again so that TD Bank could resolve the issue with XXXX.

For the record, please find below the XXXX internal claim numbers.

XXXX  Original claim number, Closed, cannot be re-opened or edited 

XXXX  Rep XXXX (refused to give an employee ID number, but said hes the only XXXX in the claims department, which should be good enough for me)

Short inquiry claim number

XXXX, a new claim number which documented our phone call.

He also promised, yet another letter would go out in the US mail to his client, as well as an email to confirm acknowledgment that there was no fraud, but that XXXX  refused to update XXXX  records, or withdraw the original claim due to its erroneous nature. 

Summary 

XXXX  has become an integral part of banking and a service offered to almost every banking customer across the majority of US banks as a benefit of the banking relationship. I have people who depend on me to send them payments by XXXX  for monthly services. I have people who want to pay me by XXXX. It is part of my business and my personal life, Ive done enough research to know that a lot of banks are taking heat right now due to XXXX  related transactions that are fraudulent where the banks are not able to undo transactions for their customers when the customers believe there is fraud, and I understand that banks must err on the side of caution. 

However, to deny banking customers access to XXXX  service with no evidence, and only an accusation of fraud, and to accuse that customer (me) of breaking the terms of my service agreement, with XXXX, is 100% wrong.  Furthermore, with no transparency or clear process to undo simple errors is unfair to consumers like me who have done nothing wrong.  To continue the farce in light of indisputable evidence that the transaction was not fraudulent, and a retraction of the dispute by the person who made the dispute in the first place, is completely absurd.

Not only has my XXXX  service been denied with TD Bank, but now across all banks.  I cannot use XXXX  with my name, cell phone, and personal email with ANY bank, which is why I believe that it is not only a TD Bank or XXXX XXXX issue, but a more centralized issue with XXXX  and XXXX  which we all know are owned by the big banks.

As I said, before, if this is the XXXX XXXX, it means that anyone with your cell phone number and or email address associated with your account, and your name could send you XXXX  dollar by XXXX, dispute the transaction, and thereby, either fraudulently and tortuously, or erroneously, have your XXXX  service removed, and not only with your bank, but with all banks who know your email address and cell phone number, forever!  

And worst of all, with no due process or resolution process whatsoever.  I have proven that there is no fraud, I have proven that there was no intent of fraud, I have proven that I have not violated any of the XXXX  policy or terms of service, and yet I am being denied service that millions of Americans have access to because my bank will not fight for me.  now when people ask to XXXX  me money, or if I can sell them money I have to say no I cant because I am denied access from XXXX  due to fraud, and the XXXX XXXX is assumed to be on me.  

It is unfair to deny consumer services offered to millions  with no due process.  the banks point the finger at each other and XXXX  however, they are the owners of XXXX  and XXXX. This is clearly intentional so they can deny any direct wrongdoing and pass the buck and avoid direct liability, which is why I think the CFPB should hold the banks accountable for the actions of XXXX  and XXXX, And force banks to have a transparent dispute resolution process that protects consumers against denial of service based only on accusations.

Thank you, XXXX XXXX