Consumer complaint received 2024-06-15
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: BMO Bank, N.A. (VA)

I opened this BMO checking account on XX/XX/XXXX pursuant to BMOs advertised promo code XXXX, which promised a {$600.00} bonus for {$7500.00} total direct deposits made to the account within XXXX  days. I satisfied the requirements by having direct deposits post to my account as follows : XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$3700.00} XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$1000.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX  {$1000.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$1000.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$1000.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$1000.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX  {$890.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$1000.00} Each of those deposits was coded XXXX and should be treated the same. Moreover, the last XXXX deposits even state DDA in their coding, designating them as Direct Deposit. Hence, by the XXXX day after I opened my account, {$10000.00} in direct deposits had posted to my account, more than satisfying the {$7500.00} required to earn the {$600.00} bonus. Therefore, the {$600.00} bonus should have posted. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called BMO to ask when the bonus would post. Customer service rep " XXXX '' was very nice, but slow in pulling up my account information. Phone connection was poor, with ambient noise, as if she was outside. ( I was in a quiet room with a good XXXX phone connection ). She claimed she could not find my promo code, but that bonuses usually post within days of satisfaction. She said she would escalate my inquiry to a supervisor, and said BMO would call me back in 5 days ( by XX/XX/XXXX ). No one called me back. 
I called BMO on XX/XX/XXXX to follow up, but BMO had no record of my initial inquiry. 
I called again after BMO subtracted a service charge from my account. Still no word on my inquiry. 
I called BMO again on XX/XX/XXXX, and asked customer rep XXXX to look into my bonus. He misinterpreted the promo, saying I was required to keep {$7500.00} on balance. That was not a requirement, so he was clearly unfamiliar with or disregarding the applicable promo. I knew Id have to speak with a different rep about the bonus, but first I asked him to please refund the {$25.00} service charges accruing while I waited for BMO to post the bonus. He helped with one, but not all. He said hed escalate my inquiry and have someone call me back. I noted I was told the same thing when I called in XXXX, and never received a call back. I asked how long it would take for someone to call me back. He said XXXX business days. I said thats too long, considering Id called before, and asked whether he could escalate it to a supervisor today? He said yes, and transferred me to Resolutions Team Supervisor " XXXX, '' who took more time to research the issue. She concluded that BMO had counted only my first XXXX direct deposits of {$3700.00} and {$1000.00} as direct deposits, and treated the subsequent deposits as transfers. I noted that ALL the deposits were direct deposits, and in fact all were coded " XXXX, '' so discriminating among them was unjustified. Given the coding consistency, she submitted a case '' on my behalf to escalate my inquiry, and said to call back Customer Service in XXXX business days. She gave me XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. She said if she learned more, she'd call me back. As before, no one at BMO called me back in 5 days. So I called yet again on XX/XX/XXXX. A female rep placed me on extended hold to research the status of my case number. Eventually she disconnected me. Neither she nor anyone at BMO called me back. 
So I called yet again on XX/XX/XXXX to ask the status of my case. A male rep said my case was still open, but he had no access to details on it -- not even the nature of my inquiry. After I explained that my inquiry had been escalated to a supervisor, who had issued the case number, he placed me on hold to check with his supervisor about it. Finally he connected me with Resolution Team Supervisor named XXXX. She asked why I had called. I gave her the case number and asked for the status. She placed me on hold, looked into it, and said BMO had concluded that I did not meet the criteria for the bonus. I thanked her for looking into it for me, but said that due to the same coding, I respectfully disagreed about my satisfaction of the criteria and that Id have to complain to the CFPB, since I first called about XXXX months ago in XXXX, and BMO has dragged its feet so it can keep collecting service fees.