Consumer complaint received 2019-05-10
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA (NJ)

I manage all of my mother 's financial affairs under a Power of Attorney. She is XXXX, is in poor health, and lives in an assisted living community. I utilize the power of attorney to manage her day to day living expenses, health care, etc. with funds and investments maintained in several other financial institutions. My father passed away in XX/XX/XXXX and he had a policy which I deposited in my mother 's checking account at XXXX XXXX. Since Marcus offered substantially higher rates, i opened several accounts ( 2 types of Savings Accounts, and one 12 month CD ). I opened the account with Marcus on-line and provided all of the requested information on-line in my mother 's name and Social Security Number ( and all other relevant information. I used the Marcus system to move & XXXX from the proceeds deposited at her XXXX account over to Marcus in early XXXX ( not sure of exact date ). Around XX/XX/XXXX, I went on-line to check on a transaction I made and found that Marcus had temporarily blocked my access. I called Customer Support and explained the situation. They requested that I send a copy of the Power of Attorney, which I did immediately. They informed me that it would take up to 10 business days to respond. After I did not hear back from Marcus, I again called Customer Support. Each time I called their phone support I was put on hold multiple times as it seems the people who answer the phones are not well trained and constantly have to put you on hold to get instructions from other areas. In any case, I very upset to find that they would not accept the notarized POA that our attorney executed, and that I would need to sign their durable power of attorney. After some debate and escalation, they agreed to send me the forms via XXXX in and a self addressed return envelope so that I could return the forms to their Utah office for review. The forms were Marcus ' Durable Power or Attorney, and an Affidavit and Indemnity of Attorney in Fact. I had to make special arrangements to have a notary come to my mother 's facility and we executed both forms and sent the back to Utah. After several more days, I called Customer Support on XX/XX/XXXX, was put on hold several more times, cut off 2 times after being on hold for about an hour ... each time having to navigate through their automated phone system. Each time I provided all of the required answers for authentication including a secret password. Marcus acknowledged receiving the documents but claimed that there was a problem in that I did not put the account number on the form. I told them that I was not able to obtain the account number because they had blocked my access, and since I opened 3 accounts I intended the POA to refer to all accounts opened in my mothers name. In fact, each time a CD with a different maturity is transacted, there would be a new account number assigned. Then they said they needed a medical form explaining why my mother ( XXXX years old ) could not provide the numbers. I explained again my mother 's condition and what the purpose of a POA is but they did not seem to understand. I requested escalation and they told me that it would take another 2 days until I could speak to someone of authority. All of these conversations were recorded so I know there is a record which would show that I followed all of their instructions. To date, I have not had access to the account for about a month. I am fairly sure that they have broken some laws, not the least, exhibiting atrocious customer service that seems to be manned by under-trained personnel. I would like them to provide immediate access to my mother 's account, not the least, I intend to move the funds to another institution ( NOT an Internet Bank ).