Consumer complaint received 2019-08-13
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: BMO Bank, N.A. (FL)

On or around XX/XX/2019, I deposited $ 5000+ into a BMO Harris account that had a {$500.00} incentive offer associated with it. At the time I was in the branch office in XXXX XXXX in XXXX, FL, there was a concern I had that the incentive offer was based on the wording that the money be deposited the same day as the account was opened. I brought this to the attention of XXXX, the branch manager there, and she assured me that if there was any problem because of that, she would take care of it. I just spoke with her today ( XX/XX/2019 ), more than 6 months after I opened the account, and she is wrongly telling me that I was supposed to do a wire transfer the next day. I told her that is not what her and I agreed on which was a bank to bank transfer. If what she was saying was true ( which is it not ), then she should have contacted me 2 business days later if she did not see the money and told me I was disqualified. However, I am 100 % certain that she knew and agreed to the bank to bank transfer, which can sometimes take 6 to 8 business days, which can amount to as much as 12 calendar days in some cases. 

It appears to me they are trying to look for false excuses to not pay me, even though I was assured I should be fine. I asked at least once for XXXX to give me written confirmation of her word but she never sent it to me, making me think she was trying to " XXXX me over '' all along. She claims she is trying to escalate it up the chain of command, but the agreement was that SHE would take care of any problems, not the higher ups. She appears to be looking for ways not to pay me the {$500.00} but the agreement was made and I met all of the requirements ( with the exception of the same day deposit but that requirement was verbally waived by XXXX ). 

I am requesting that if they say they told me I had to pay via wire transfer only, that they show written proof of that. If they can not, then they can not prove that is what they told me. My very clear recollection is that I told them I would be doing a bank to bank transfer and have to wait to go through the security procedures for doing that and they agreed. I gave them the example " Do you expect people to just walk in this bank with {$5000.00} cash in their pocket? That seems unreasonable ''. They agreed to that statement and told me a bank to bank transfer is fine and reasonable. 

They are telling me on the phone that because it took 11 days to deposit the money that it was " too long '' but they never told me any time limit to do the bank to bank transfer. They mentioned 10 days which is very suspicious because it is 1 day less than what I may have taken. Since I am at the mercy of the bank funding the bank to bank transfer ( and somewhat at the mercy of the receiving bank too ), I should not be penalized for taking 11 days to transfer the money. I remember I had a few challenges to get that transfer to work so it was not simple like just pushing a button. 

BMO Harris should be reprimanded for doing this to me. If they " knew '' I would not qualify, they should have let me know early so I could have taken my money out and invested in elsewhere. However since I feel I met ALL the requirements, I am holding them to the {$500.00} and if they do not pay, I am prepared to contact the local news and report them to warn other people NOT to bank at BMO Harris and possibly even sue them in small claims court. I had a similar problem with another bank ( XXXX XXXX ) but  I " fought '' them and they paid. I am prepared to " fight '' again with this bank that is XXXX me around bigtime. 

Thank you.