Consumer complaint received 2023-09-01
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: SANTANDER HOLDINGS USA, INC. (FL)

A summary is given here ; please see attached correspondence for a full report of the incident and supporting materials. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I attempted a deposit at an ATM operated by Santander. It was customary to make such deposits at this ATM since opening an account with this branch in XXXX of XXXX. The ATM is located in the lobby of a Santander branch in XXXX, Florida. During my XX/XX/XXXX visit to the branch, the ATM retained {$1900.00} of my deposit but failed to credit my account {$1900.00}. 

From the bank lobby, I immediately notified Santander of this incident on XX/XX/XXXX. Santander initially credited me {$1900.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, but then wrongfully reversed the credit on XX/XX/XXXX, in violation of 1005.11 ( c ) ( 2 ) ( i ), Code of Federal Regulations. In so doing, Santander caused my account to go into the negative by {$1800.00}. My account is unusable in the current state it is in, and I need it to run my business. 

At the conclusion of their investigation into this matter, Santander claimed that no banking error occurred with respect to the ATM. Essentially, Santander 's position is that I made no such deposit. 

I made several phone calls to Santander employees in its customer service center and at the bank branch. In order to delay repaying me, Santander gave me a run-round. Santander 's branch employees insisted that I needed to speak to customer service because the branch was not responsible for the ATM. Meanwhile, Santander 's customer service phone operators insisted that I needed to resolve the matter with bank branch employees. Neither could give a clear answer as to which of the two was responsible for either the ATM, or for reimbursing me for the money the ATM had deprived me of. 

Eventually, a supervisor at Santander 's customer service center informed me that the video footage of my XX/XX/XXXX visit to the ATM had been forwarded to the branch. When I spoke to the branch manager, he advised that no such footage exists. 

By conveniently losing the footage of the incident, Santander has permanently spoiled evidence tending to support my claim for reimbursement, which works to Santander 's advantage and unfairly prejudices me. The video footage would have shown me engage the ATM and insert the funds. It would have shown me encountering difficulty when the ATM malfunctioned. It would have shown me asking the security guard in the bank lobby for assistance. It would have shown me standing beside the ATM while on my cellular phone calling to report the malfunction to Santander. 

In addition, Santander now demands I pay them in the amount of the negative balance. Doing so would mean that I am shorted a total of {$3800.00} ; that is, {$1900.00} for the money Santander 's malfunctioning ATM accepted but refused to deposit, and another {$1900.00} for the money Santander insists I owe them after reversing a credit in that amount. 

Transactions at an ATM are electronic fund and remittance transfers governed by 12 CFR Part 1005 ( Regulation E ). As relates to this claim, a bank error is defined as : the consumers receipt of an incorrect amount of money from an electronic terminal. 1005.11 ( a ) ( v ). On XX/XX/XXXX, when Santanders ATM accepted my money but failed to credit my account, Santander committed a bank error. 

As is set forth in the attached correspondence, Santander 's conduct in several ways has violated 12 U.S.C. 5536 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( B ), which makes it unlawful for a banking institution to engage in any unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or practice. Moreover, Santander may face liability under Fla. Stat. 918.13 for spoiling video evidence, as well as for failing to inform that the credit was provisional ( 1005.11 ( c ) ( 2 ) ( ii ) ), failing to inform of the credit reversal ( 1005.11 ( c ) ( 2 ) ( ii ) ), refusing to furnish materials that Santander relied on in making its determination ( 1005.11 ( d ) ( 1 ) ), and failing to honor payments to third parties ( 1005.11 ( d ) ( 2 ) ( ii ) ), among other violations.