Consumer complaint received 2023-06-20
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: BMO Bank, N.A. (CO)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a XXXX transfer from my XXXX saving account to my Bank of the West checking account for {$1800.00} and another transfer on XX/XX/XXXX from my XXXX saving account to my to my Bank of the West checking account for {$290.00}. I never had any issues with XXXX in the past, so I didn't think anything of it, until on XX/XX/XXXX I realized I never received either amount in my Bank of the West checking account. So I disputed the XXXX transaction with XXXX and they warned me saying it would take 10 days to do an investigation. They credited my savings account for the transactions on XX/XX/XXXX. While on vacation, we received a letter from XXXX stating that they found no errors and saying the transaction was complete and that they would withdraw the money from our savings account on XX/XX/XXXX. After we came back home from vacation, I was going through the mail on XX/XX/XXXX and came across the letter from XXXX. I checked the XXXX savings account and sure enough it was withdrawn and I checked the Bank of the West checking account and sure enough it was never deposited. So I called XXXX and spoke with XXXX in Disputes and explained the situation and he recommended that I contact Bank of the West to see if they can see anything. I called Bank of the West and spoke with XXXX. Realizing that my issue was more of an online banking issue, he transferred me to XXXX. XXXX stated that she didnt see anything on Bank of the West end of things and so I called XXXX again and spoke with XXXX and gave her the case # XXXX that XXXX gave me. I told her that even though it says that it is complete I never received it and I can show proof by showing my Bank of the West bank statement. She recommended I submit my proof, that it was never received, through XXXX secure messaging online. So I did that with the following message and submitted my XXXX bank statement from my Bank of the West checking account. 


This is regarding case # XXXX. Attached is our checking account bank statement with Bank of the West ending in XXXX showing proof that I ( the recipient of the XXXX transfers : {$1800.00} and {$290.00} ) never received the funds, but the funds are still withdrawn from my XXXX savings account # ending in XXXX. 

Attachments Bank of the West Statement XXXX Transaction Disputes XXXX For a month going back and forth with XXXX getting the run around from them, I finally filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from XXXX with XXXX saying that the problem is the account number that was entered for XXXX was missing a digit. He said the routing number was correct and went to Bank of the West, but not the account number. The account number was missing the second 0 in the number. He said typically if this happens it would fall in their general ledger account until they can figure out which account number it belongs to. ( Frankly I wish they would have told me this sooner so I could have started working with Bank of the West right away with the issue. ) XX/XX/XXXX - I sent a secure message to Bank of the West explaining the situation. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Since there was no response from the secure message that I sent above, I called Bank of the West and XXXX answered and I explained to him the situation and he said unfortunately they only have access to records for up to the past three months. He recommended that I go to the nearest branch as they would have access to records for those that are dated further than three months. 


XX/XX/XXXX - Went into Bank of the West at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CO and spoke with XXXX XXXX and she called the online department and they said theyll put in a claim with XXXX ( Claim # XXXX ) but more likely it wont work, but we need to wait 7 business days for the results and then if no luck there, she said she would call the client who has our money to see if he is willing to send back our money. If no luck there then she said we can try and request it back through XXXX. 


XX/XX/XXXX - I called to check on the status of the claim # with XXXX and ultimately the lady who answered said that Bank of the West claims that they cant do anything because it wasnt the bank that initiated it. 


XX/XX/XXXX - So I tried to Request the money back through XXXX as XXXX with Bank of the West suggested on XX/XX/XXXX. I went to XXXX website and went to Request and the contact/name/account didnt pop-up for where I initially sent it to, it was only in the Sent option. In the Request I could add a contact but I would need the mobile # or email associated with XXXX and not just the account #. So I contacted XXXX and spoke with a lady who seemed as though she was trying to help us and after putting us on hold after explaining the situation, she said we can request a dispute, which she did for us for each transaction. She said that it will take 5-10 business days for us to receive the forms. As soon as we receive them, we need to fill them out and send them back to XXXX ( we have just 5 days to send them back ). XXXX investigators will look at our case and could take 45 to 90 calendar days to investigate and make a determination as to what they can do. She said the Dispute # is XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Unfortunately we never received those dispute forms, so I called XXXX and spoke with XXXX. She stated that she spoke with the Dispute office and they claimed that they cant do anything because the transaction shows that it went through.