Consumer complaint received 2018-04-11
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION (CA)

I am contacting you because I have experienced a major problem at the hands of Navy Federal Credit Union. It began onXX/XX/XXXX when {$370.00} was taken from my savings account without my permission and without my doing. When i called the Navy Federal customer service and had them look at what had occurred, even they could not figure out how that money was touched and said that it didnt say it was done in branch or at the atm, and they could see it wasnt via my mobile app and suggested that i go into a branch immediately to get it taken care of. I went into the branch in XXXX  Ca on XXXX XXXX the woman at the front who i believe was named XXXX  looked at my account and was totally baffled by the transaction. Shortly after, i met with a woman named XXXX. I told her the situation and she said that what i likely had was overdraft protection of some sort that they call oops. I told her i had no such thing and she said that if i had it i had to have signed up for it at some point. I asked her to show me when i had signed up for it. She could not see it in the computer. During this time i was having a stay at a XXXX XXXX. I was well aware that they were taking deposits from my account when needed, and i would manually -- on my own -- transfer funds from my savings account to checking BEFORE they held anything to ensure that there was more than enough money for them to hold as well as for me to spend if i needed to buy something. All of a sudden this large amount money was transferred out of my account when my balance was not low, which is visible in their paperwork because i had also just transferred {$300.00} into my checking account that very same day. So why would an additional {$370.00} need to be transferred? ( and i had not signed up for any overdraft protection ) Here is the kicker. The rep i was speaking with XXXX  was so sure if her policies etc she thought that i was just blowing hot air when i said that i hadnt signed up for any type of overdraft protection. When she got one of their representatives on the phone she found out that Navy Federal had literally started automatically signing people up for this protection without being notified as their policy states, and she was in shock. She on the phone with them said something to the degree of i thought we had to get the customers permission before signing them up for overdraft and disclose to them what we were doing. Well then if thats the case i have to update my entire team who has not been made aware of this etc. When i heard this i knew for sure my thoughts were correct, and this credit union was trying to cover up stealing from me. The Navy Federal higher-ups on the phone told her that there is a paper i can sign to get the overdraft removed which i did but my rights were violated and i shouldnt have had to do that in the first place because that action is something i never agreed to and was never disclosed to me. Here is the other thing, my money was not put into my checking account, i would have had much more money in my account, i had just transferred {$300.00} mind you. I told the woman XXXX, and she tried to calculate my transactions to determine if my balance was correct and she even said that nothing added up and she was a numbers person and if it doesnt add up it doesnt add up. I had to leave to go to work, but i told XXXX to relay to whomever she was speaking to on the phone that i wanted all of my money placed back in to my account or i would take all of my money and leave period. She said that was understandable. To this day i still have not received my money back. Also i had another incident of money missing when I checked out of a hotel i always do business with and didnt receive my deposit authorized back in to my account. For our most recent experience we stayed at the hotel on XX/XX/XXXX-XXXX and checked out on XX/XX/XXXX The hotel held a total of {$320.00} and charged {$270.00} for our stay however the remainder of the {$320.00} ( {$47.00} ) has not been returned to my account as it usually is. I explained my concerns to the hotel and the fact that I've stayed with them numerous times and know how things go and something is out of order for them to have gotten their {$270.00} cents but I have not received my {$47.00}. They told me that when i check out ( as I knew ) my funds are released back to my bank Navy Federal and then it is at their discretion to release my money to me on their timing. The manager XXXX  said she would contact the bank. I have stayed at this hotel NUMEROUS times & know exactly how the charges and authorizations work in accordance with my bank. Once XXXX has received their charge, I also receive my deposit back simultaneously. I've also waited for authorizations to be released during holiday weekends so I'm not rookie to that either. When the hotel manager and I conference called with a rep named XXXX from Navy Federal, he claimed that the money had never left my account though it was AUTHORIZED which means i cant access it until its let go. He could not tell me what my balance was before and after it was accessible, as in he gave me absolutely no details to prove what he was saying and literally brushed me off. After that conversation i realized that it is Navy Federal that is finding ways to illegally take money from me and camouflage it within my transactions. I also dont see it as a coincidence that i NEVER had these issues with Navy Federal until they changed their mobile banking app to where you can no longer see what your remaining balance is after each transaction made in my checking account which makes it more strenuous to keep track of what is going on unless you check your account multiple times a day, which i began doing. I will not stand for this which is why i am contacting you. Please help me gain justice. Prior to this incident there was about {$180.00} that we did not see returned to our account also, so we are not letting this get by us, this is three times that money has gone missing and Navy Federal is obviously doing dirty business if their own branches are not being made aware of policy changes that allow them to touch money that is not theirs without permission!