Consumer complaint received 2024-07-17
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: WEBSTER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (CT)

XXXX  -In California, and need to withdraw cash to replenish my XXXX XXXX XXXX account, which is dangerously close to being overdrawn.

-I found out that WebsterBank stopped my debit card without warning, and told me Id never had one, treated me like I was crazy to think that Id ever had a card in the past XXXX  years.

-Webster also changed my business debit pin without warning,  and wouldnt allow me to change it back.

-(Side note:
Havent been able to use app since the merger  many months ago . Been using the online version all this time. The bank had not been able to help me with this problem. I just deleted the app and reinstalled it, and it finally works after all this time.)


-They advised me to move my XXXX  from XXXX XXXX XXXX to Webster, in order to fix the problem, which led to me not being able to use XXXX  at all.

-They would not give me access to my own money for XXXX  days, which caused me to overdraw my other bank account, bc I was not able to replenish it

-they refused to reimburse me for the overdraft fees that they caused 

I was unable to work during this time on the phone. Lost wages.

-they told me to just go to the nearest branch, knowing full well that I was on the west coast . XXXX  
Home in XXXX  
-Drove XXXX  minutes to the XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  at XXXX and they were already closed. Absolute waste of time and money. Drove home.

-Drove XXXX  minutes to the XXXX  XXXX  Monday at XXXX, and they were closed.
Drove XXXX  minutes to XXXX XXXX at XXXX and stood on line for XXXX  minutes. 

-was told that I shouldnt close the account until after I know all of my business deposits have cleared, but withdrew cash to replenish XXXX XXXX XXXX account. XXXX
Noticed that my personal checking account no longer exists. 
I gave a one star review to the branch online. 
Received a call from the local branch manager, asking why I gave the low rating. 
She only cared about her own branch, and left me to deal with the other issues myself.

Going on XXXX  hours of time dedicated to solving these problems. XXXX

Called the XXXX  number.

 Agent said that I had requested to close the account, and they mailed me the remaining balance.

Important : The teller at the local branch said last week that I couldnt close the account without first removing anything that was attached to the account, and now I cant do that, AND I dont have money to pay my credit card, which is due today, so Im going to get hit with fees for not paying my credit card 

In the ninth hour now..

The agent asked me why Im so mad,  (!?!?!) I had already told her XXXX  times why I was mad.
 
She eventually connected me with a manager, after several requests

I asked the telephone manager , XXXX XXXX, why only XXXX  of my XXXX  accounts had been closed, and she said it was because he only closed one of the accounts. Genius.
So I was told that neither account could be closed, and they closed one of them. I made it clear that I needed cash, so they sent me a check, and its now going to be at least XXXX  days before I can use that money.

I have to pay my credit card bill today, so thats going to be an additional fee.

Again, I was told at the branch, that NEITHER could be closed until I remove any connected merchants. 

Manager XXXX XXXX asked me to email her a written statement of everything, which I did. Naturally, she didnt respond, so I called back. I spoke with somebody named XXXX, and she tried to get XXXX back on the line, but of course she doesnt answer her phone. I have to start again tomorrow.
We are now XXXX into this. XXXX  Spoke with XXXX  at the XXXX XXXX, and explained that I did not request to have the account closed, but he said that I apparently called the branch the day after I went in, and requested that they close the account. Of course, the manager, XXXX, is not in for the next XXXX  days.  So the bank has no management during normal business hours. 

XXXX
-Still no call back. Called XXXX  number and asked for manager XXXX XXXX. Was told that she isnt a manager, and that I was given false information. Just started the XXXX  hour of total phone time. 
I made it clear to the phone agent (XXXX)that the problem with the account closing isnt the big part of the problem. So she reached out to the branch manager , XXXX, who is only interested in fixing the smaller issue that I said isnt as important.
After being on hold for XXXX  minutes, she said that I had requested to close the account in writing. (Yes, I had, but then I was told by XXXX  that it would not be smart to do that until Im XXXX% sure that thered be no activity on the account. I had been sent on my way after making the request, and told to return after I was sure.)
I then explained to her that I dont need the branch manager, and once again told her that the problem has less to do with the branch, and she understood, and explained everything to a different manager, and promised that Id get a call back in under an hour.
Not surprisingly, nobody called. XXXX  hours and still no resolution!!

-I called back XXXX  hours later, asked for a manager. XXXX  said thered be a XXXX  minute hold. XXXX  minutes later, returned to ask my business name. I told him that I am going to call the XXXX  if I dont get a manager. He put me on another XXXX  minute hold, which lasted XXXX  minutes  He said there were no managers available, and no notes about the previous conversation. He put me back on hold for a few more minutes, who actually lasted XXXX  minutes. He came back on the phone to tell me that nobody can help. I told him Im going to call the XXXX XXXX XXXX He said OK, and apologized for the inconvenience.


-Found out just now that XXXX  is still connected to my closed account, even though it was never able to be used with my Webster account. A $XXXX  payment was made to me XXXX  days ago that is now stuck in limbo. I have no way to access that money, and the sender cant get it back.
The only reason that I ever connected XXXX  to my account in the first place was because the telephone agent told me to do it, and now Im in an even deeper mess!

Received the check from Webster. Deposited it into XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

-just received an email from WebsterBank stating that I requested to cancel the XXXX  payment from my contact.

-just received an email from XXXX XXXX XXXX  stating that the XXXX  payment request that I had sent to my contact had expired, (because WebsterBank blocked it).

-XXXX  hours of wasted time. Still no resolution, and because Webster has not taken sufficient notes, I have to start fresh every time I call.

-FDIC XXXX
-Federal Reserve 
XXXX XXXX XXXX 

-im going to reach out to XXXX  at the local branch, and if she cant escalate this immediately, Im contacting the above.

-Officially XXXX  hours now, and no prospect of help. XXXX  Called XXXX at the local branch and told her everything. She is putting in a request on my behalf for a callback from corporate. She said to wait a day or two for a response. If I dont get a response, I am escalating it myselfXXXX XXXX  I just received an email from somebody who direct deposits into my closed account, but of course I wasnt able to notify them that the account had closed, because I no longer had access to the account, so now I dont have my direct deposit until I reroute it to my other bank. I normally get that money on the first day of every month, and now Im gonna have to wait. I pay my XXXX XXXX bill on the XXXX  of every month, and now Im not going to be able to do that until that check is sent to my XXXX XXXX XXXX account, and cleared. I will have to pay a fee to XXXX XXXX  for this.

XXXX
Still no response.
Unreal. XXXX
transferred XXXX from my Webster business account into XXXX XXXX XXXX, yesterday and theres still no sign of it on the other end. XXXX
I had to get a XXXX XXXX XXXX agent on the phone to help me track down my money so I can transfer it. At one point, they said I needed to call WebsterBank, and I resisted, because I already know its a bad idea. XXXX XXXX XXXX  got to the bottom of the problem and I was able to transfer more money. It took almost an hour. So now Im XXXX  hours in. XXXX
Called branch to ask for higher up manager. Was put on hold for XXXX  minutes. Had to hang up. Naturally, they didnt bother calling me backXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Called branch again. XXXX  said I cant be connected with a supervisor until I first speak with XXXX, who isnt available. He said shell call back right after her phone meeting.

I have managed to transfer most of my money into XXXX XXXX XXXX at this point, but because of the debacle with XXXX, I had not been able to receive funds from my XXXX  sources, and therefore had to use XXXX XXXX. Of course, apple doesnt allow transfers, so now my XXXX XXXX XXXX account is overdrawn.

Additionally, the monthly direct deposit that used to occur in my Webster account was postponed because I had to reroute the money into the new bank, and that money is not available to me yet because of this whole mess, so that created the snowball of overdrafts.

I had to call my investment advisor to make an emergency $XXXX  payment to my bank account to prevent more overdrafts.

Not surprisingly, XXXX  didnt return my call today. 

Also, the check that they sent (against my wishes) still hasnt arrived. XXXX XXXX XXXX
Called XXXX  number again, told them that Im a step away from reporting the issue to the state department of banking. Told her that the branch manager does not return calls.
Call was dropped after XXXX  minutes. No resolution.
*XXXX  hours in nowXXXX XXXX XXXX
Called back. Asked XXXX  to reconnect me with XXXX. Put on hold for XXXX  minutes. Finally got XXXX  back. She transferred me to another hold, which then led to a dead end. Left message, and didnt get a call back. XXXX  
Spoke with XXXX, and asked to be reconnected with XXXX.
After sitting on hold for only XXXX  minutes, was told that XXXX  isnt available. I told XXXX that if Im not transferred to a manager, I will report the bank. Was placed on hold for XXXX  minutes. Was told that there were no managers available, but that i  would get a call back at no particular time. I told her that I will wait XXXX  minutes, and then I will give up and begin reporting the bank.
 
*XXXX  hours in, and no longer dealing with the bank. Reporting to department of banking