Consumer complaint received 2023-10-05
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Can't close your account
Company: BMO Bank, N.A. (IA)

Attempts to Close My Account/Stop Recurring Transfers 1. Called Bank of the West ( " BOW '' ) on XX/XX/XXXX to pay off my overdraft protection account ( a/k/a XXXX ) and close both that account and my checking account. I was trying to get it done before BMO took over in early XXXX ). [ 19 minute call ] a. There was a recurring transfer in progress, however, so they couldnt do that. 
b. Tried to find out payoff amount on a particular date, but she couldnt do that, either. 
c. Tried to find out how to stop recurring transfers, but she couldnt tell me how to do that, either. Wanted to transfer me. I said no. 
2. Went to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ; went in person to the XXXX branch, now BMO, which is two hours from my home. Spoke to the following two individuals : a. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX i. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX ii. XXXX, Iowa XXXX iii. Tel : XXXX XXXX iv. XXXX b. XXXX XXXX i. XXXX XXXX XXXX ii. Same address/phone iii. XXXX iv. NMLS : XXXX c. XXXX assured me that it was closed : i. BMO disbursed {$2.00} from checking account balance to me ( cash ). 
ii. Told me there were no pending recurring transfers, and that I would have to call corporate about that. 
d. At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email telling me that in three business days we will execute your External Transfer request. It closed by saying, Thank you for using BMO External Transfers. Best regards, Your friends at BMO. 
e. XX/XX/XXXX Called corporate ( XXXX. Spoke with XXXX. [ 22 minutes ] i. XXXX XXXX ( the Credit Union from which the transfer was coming ) had to take care of the recurring transfer issue. 
ii. Said the account was not closed ( contrary to what XXXX XXXX had told me, and that it couldnt be closed until the recurring transfer was canceled. 
f. XX/XX/XXXX Called XXXX ( XXXX ). 
i. She confirmed that it was not up to XXXX to close that ; it was a pull transaction ( from BMO ), not a push transaction ( to BMO ). 
ii. XXXX put a stop payment for all future attempts ; she agreed to not charge me for this, since it was BMOs fault, not mine. 
g. XX/XX/XXXX Called BMO Corporate again. Spoke to XXXX. [ 24 minutes ] i. XXXX allegedly closed the account, telling me that it would be closed in 24 hours ( XXXX XXXX Central Time ). 
ii. When I asked about the recurring transfer, he acted as though I had said nothing about that. He noted that it would be a problem if they transferred the money on XXXXit would reopen the account. 
1. This, of course, would create a never-ending problem ; until BMO canceled the recurring transfer, it would continue to pull it from XXXX ; it would deposit into the checking account, and reopen the account. I would then have to close it again, and BMO would have to mail me a check.

2. However, that was not going to happen, because XXXX put the stop payment on the transfer. 
iii. XXXX then threw the branch colleagues under the proverbial bus by saying they hadnt done their job properly. 
iv. However, he also said he could not see any pending transactions ( despite the email I had received the evening before ). 
v. His only solution was to just wait until Friday to see what happened. 
h. On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received another email telling me that BMO had received my external transfer request, and that I should expect to see the funds in the destination account within 3 business days The destination account was the BMO Checking account I had been told was closed on XX/XX/XXXX. 
i. XX/XX/XXXX - I called BMO Corporate AGAIN and spoke to XXXX. [ 31 minutes ] i. She told me the account was not closed, but that she would close it. She stated that the previous associate ( XXXX XXXX had not closed it properly. She told me she had closed it ( Confirmation # XXXX ), and that it would close in 24 business hours ( which, because it was after XXXX XXXX on Friday would not be until Monday ). 
ii. She also was able to walk me through canceling the recurring transfers. On the BMO site, both the XX/XX/XXXX transfer and the upcoming XX/XX/XXXX transfer were showing. I canceled both, and all future transfers. No idea why BMO associates could not see these pending transfers in their system. 
iii. XX/XX/XXXX, I received a confirmation email of that cancelation at XXXX. 
j. On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email that my statement was available online. 
i. The account was not closed on Monday as promised. 
ii. And now, the statement showed a balance of {$3.00} on the ( f/k/a ) XXXX  account. This interest was added on XXXX XXXXpast the XX/XX/XXXX date when I had closed the account, and past the XX/XX/XXXX date when the XXXX account was paid in full. 
iii. The checking account showed a {$0.00} balance. 
k. On XX/XX/XXXX, after receiving that email, I called and spoke to XXXX. [ 28 minutes ] i. He confirmed the account was still open, and that there was a hold on it for some reason. 
ii. I suggested that perhaps the hold was due to the fact that there was now an interest payment due ( on a XXXX balance ). Yes, I was sarcastic. 
iii. I asked him to escalate the call to a manager. He told one would not be available for 10 minutes. I said I would hold. I asked if there was a direct line in case we were disconnected. He said no. I asked if he would take my phone number so they could call me if we were disconnected. He said they didnt do that. 
iv. And then, five minutes later, he disconnected me. Unintentionally, Im sure. Yes, more sarcasm on my part. 
l. I immediately called back and spoke to XXXX ( sp? ). 
i. She stated she would transfer me to a manager. 
ii. She took my phone number in case we were disconnected ( apparently they can do that ) iii. She apologized, and actually sounded sincere ; the problem is, they all apologize ; what I want is to have the problem resolved. 
m. Finally transferred to Manager XXXX. 
i. Explained the whole thing to herfor the millionth time. 
ii. She said she would see if she could waive that interest payment so we could close the account. 
1. Reiterated that there would not have been an interest payment if they had closed the account when I asked them to.

2. She responded that this was a hard one to waive, but she would see, because of all the bank errors. 
3. Back on hold. This last phone call was [ 58 minutes ] ; most of it was spent on hold.

iii. She is unwilling to waive the {$3.00}, because technically, that accrued before I paid it off on the XXXX. 
1. However, no one told me there would be an additional interest payment ; not at the time I closed it at the branch or in any of the subsequent phone calls.

2. She asked me to deposit the amount to the checking account, and then I could transfer that. But I CANT DO THAT, because : a. There is no branch here for me to deposit it, and ; b. Even if I could deposit that money, I no longer have access to the XXXX account, so would not be able to transfer it. 
iv. She ultimately did waive the {$3.00}, because of all the efforts I had made to try to get things resolved. 
v. She promised she would close the account and would call me on Thursday to confirm that. 
vi. I did not receive a call back from her, and it appears my account was still open on Thursday. 
3. Called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX ( sp??? ) a. I told her that XXXX had promised to close my account and call me on Thursday, but she did not call, and the account still appears to be open. I asked to be connected to XXXX, and was put on hold. 
b. XXXX??? got back on the phone, told me that XXXX XXXX was still working to get my account closed, and would call me by the end of the day. 
c. I remarked that she had promised to do those things by yesterday, but hadnt, so I didnt hold out much hope that she would keep her word today ( paraphrase ). 
d. The phone call was [ 14 minutes ] ; probably 10-12 of that was on hold. 
e. XXXX did not call me by the end of the day. 
f. My account remained open. 
4. Called XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX [ 27 minutes ] a. Asked to speak to XXXX b. At XXXX, XXXX got back on and said they were still waiting to hear from XXXX XXXX. He made some noise about trying to figure out what the problem was, but i. Everything up to that point should be in the notes ; I shouldnt have to go through the whole thing all over again, and ii. I dont know why he thinks he can close it when the manager seems to be unable to do so. 
iii. He asked if there were any more recurring transfers pending. I told him no, those were canceled, I received confirmation of that cancelation, AND I had XXXX put a stop payment for all future transactions on my account. 
iv. He put me back on hold ( XXXX ) and said he would try to close it. 
v. Back on XXXX XXXX said, Rest assured it will be closed within 24 hours. 
vi. Call ended XXXX c. Called XXXX Spoke to XXXX [ 58 minutes ] d. Put on hold at XXXX XXXX. Back on hold at XXXX XXXX e. Transferred to Supervisor XXXX f. {$3.00} is still showing up on the Overdraft Protection Line, which is what is preventing the checking account from closing. 
g. Back on hold at XXXX. 
h. XXXX is trying to waive that {$3.00} ( while Im on the phone ). 
i. She stated that XXXX did get it approved, but the department that actually does the waiver had not yet done it. 
ii. XXXX stated she had marked it high importance, and that she would call me when it was resolved. She gave me a number she would be calling from [ XXXX ] and stated she would call by end of day tomorrow, if not today. 
iii. I also expressed my concern that if it stayed open much longer, I was going to get hit with another service fee on my checking account and/or interest on the XXXX. XXXX stated she would monitor that, and if anything further accrued on the account, would waive those fees. 
iv. I explained to her my belief that it shouldnt be this hard to get an account with a XXXX balance closed. I told her I had not yelled at anyone, had not sworn at anyone, or called anyone names. I just wanted my accounts closed. She thanked me for my patience and my feedback. 
i. Hung up at XXXX. 
5. XXXX did not call back on either Thursday or Friday, and it appears the account is still open. 
6. I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and left a message asking for a call-back. Did not receive it. 
7. Called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and left a message asking for a call-back. Expressed that I hated being left in the dark on this, and asked her to please do me the courtesy of a return phone call. XXXX did not return my call. 
8. XX/XX/XXXX The account is still open. 
9. I filed my complaint with the Federal Reserve using their online form, and indicated I would be submitted additional documentation by mail. 
Received an email from the Federal Reserve telling me to come to the CFPB.