Consumer complaint received 2020-04-25
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Fee problem
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION (AL)

My complaint is concerning Regions bank. On XX/XX/XXXX, I used Regions ' online payment center to pay some of my regular bills. Included among these was a payment to a credit union where I have a credit card. I routinely make monthly payments this way. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX, knowing that I was planning to order a pizza, I checked the account via my online banking to see what was still pending and make sure I would not overdraw the account. Based on the pending transactions, I transferred money from my savings account before ordering to cover everything. On Monday evening, everything in the account was in good order. 

Wednesday ( XXXX XXXX ) afternoon, I checked the account to see if the payment to the credit union had gone through. This was when I discovered that the payment to the credit union had been returned and the account was overdrawn. I could not understand how the account had overdrawn, as all had been well Monday evening. There was a transaction from XXXX that posted Monday night but had not been in my pending on Monday evening. It took some time to track this down, as I had not made any very recent XXXX purchases and did not have any outstanding transactions with them. 

After speaking with XXXX, I determined that the charge was for an item I received a week earlier. Normally, XXXX charges on the date that they ship but their processing has been delayed by challenges around the Covid-19 outbreak. When the items I ordered arrived, I did not realize that I had not yet been charged for them. 

I called Regions on Wednesday to determine what fees I would be charged and what I should do from that point. The returned item fee and overdraft fee were explained to me. I asked whether they would attempt to process the payment a second time, so that I could make sure to have funds in the account to cover it ( a challenge, given that I was not going to be paid until the end of the week, but I did not want to encounter more fees so I would have scraped the money together ). I was told that the item would not be attempted a second time. I contacted the other financial institution, alerted them that the item was being returned, asked about the fee I would encounter from them, and made sure that they would still be willing to accept a check from me in the future. I planned to issue a new payment to them on Friday after being paid again, since I could not now pay the full amount after paying Regions ' fees. 

On Friday XX/XX/XXXX, I went to check my accounts and pay bills online with our most recent paycheck. At this time, I discovered that the item had been presented for payment again. I was upset because Regions had advised me that it would not be presented a second time. This had overdrawn the account again. I called Regions again. 

During this conversation, the associate told me that it was not up to Regions to determine whether the payment would be presented a second time. She explained that the other financial institution made that decision and they had no control over if/when a third party would present the item for payment. The item was presented on XX/XX/XXXX and during this phone conversation on XX/XX/XXXX, it had not been returned. I asked the associate whether it would be returned ( and even asked whether or not that was even possible for her to determine, since I was not sure whether it was possible to know ahead of time ). She assured me that the payment has gone through this time and would not be returned. I asked about fees that might arise from this second attempt to cash the payment. She stated I would not have a returned item fee ( because it had gone through ) but that I would have an overdraft fee because it would overdraw the account. I advised that I was transferring money to prevent this and she explained that because the payment had been presented the day before, it was too late to avoid the fee. She advised me to take that into account when transferring money to the account and make sure I moved enough. She refunded a portion of the earlier overdraft fee, I think as a gesture of good will, and assured me that I could consider the matter settled once I transferred the funds to cover the item and the fee. This I did immediately after ending the conversation. I also transferred additional funds, just in case, as I was not entirely confident that everything was really handled at this point. 

Saturday ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I checked the account again and the item has in fact been returned a second time. Despite there being ample funds to cover it in the account on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I called customer service for the third time now. I was told during this conversation that Regions always attempts online payments twice. I asked why the associate I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX did not warn me of this, since I had specifically asked whether it would be attempted again. The associate could not explain this and simply apologized for the misinformation. I asked why the associate I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX had assured me that the payment had gone through when it was in fact being returned. Again, the associate had no explanation. I asked what fees I would be assessed this time. She advised I would again have a returned item fee and an overdraft fee. I asked why the payment did not go through, even with money in the account. She stated that the payment processed on the XXXX, so funds transferred on the XXXX would not make a difference. I asked why the associate I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX did not explain this and she could not offer any explanation. I asked why the associate I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX had told me that the other financial institution, the payee, was the party responsible for deciding to present the item a second time, since now I was being told that Regions attempts online payments twice, as a matter of their own policy. She could not explain this. 

I asked this associate what I should do at this point, whether I should attempt to make a new payment or wait even longer to see whether Regions will attempt this payment again ( by now, my credit card payment to the other institution is woefully past due ). She assures me it will not be attempted again at this point but I honestly do not have much confidence in this assurance. I asked whether anything can be done about the fees and she advised to call back on Tuesday and ask again because they can not refund a fee that has not yet been charged, nor stop a fee that they can see is pending. 

This entire incident will end up costing me at least {$140.00} in fees between the two institutions, all over a {$150.00} payment. Three lengthy phone calls into it, I still will need to call yet again on Tuesday. I am in a bad position with my credit union now and may face an adverse report on my credit score now. The initial overdraft and returned item are, of course, not the fault of Regions - just bad luck and oversight of a slow-to-process purchase on my part. Though I do not understand why the XXXX purchase was not visible in my pending on Monday evening ( XXXX XXXX ) - pretty difficult for customers to manage their accounts when pending transactions are incomplete or incorrect. But in any case, this second round of fees would have been entirely avoidable had I been able to get accurate information from telephone banking at any time during this process. It is extremely disappointing that bank employees can not give accurate information on banking processes and procedures to a customer. The associates I have spoken with have been polite but the information they have given me has proven to be inaccurate and incomplete at every turn, costing me real money and time. This is unacceptable. 

I intend to move our accounts to another institution at this point, if I can ever settle this and finally get the credit union paid. But I don't believe Regions should be doing business this way.