Consumer complaint received 2021-11-15
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (VA)

Hello- Thank you for your time investigating this manner. This is the fairly abbreviated version of what transpired but happy to provide more insight if needed. 

Last week my wife discovered a fraudulent {$90.00} charge on our joint checking account at Ally. I immediately called Ally and confirmed it was not my debit card but my wifes. Ally asked to speak with her ( even though I should be authorized ) which was fine as she was right next to me. The lady on the phone said the charge was pending and that we would need to wait a few days to see what happens. In the meantime, she suggested we freeze our account ( no access to funds ) however if we needed to unfreeze the account we could simply call and it would happen immediately. 

The fraudulent charge was ultimately caught by the merchant and reversed so today my wife called Ally to 1 ) have the freeze removed and 2 ) issue a new debit card since the original was compromised.

My wife was on the phone for nearly 30 minutes, correctly answered all of the security questions and was told they could not verify/authenticate her. She questioned what that meant and they said she would be called in a few days. She continued to ask what was going on and was not given any avenue to fix the situation.

I then called and spent 45 minutes on the phone with them going through the same hoops. DOB, SSN, mothers maiden name, high school, etc. I answered these questions correctly. Also, the phone number I called from is the main number on the account. The lady said she could not authenticate me and I would need to wait 2 days for someone to call. I asked to speak to a supervisor. 

After a lengthy hold, the extremely rude supervisor talked down to me and was not responsive to my questions. Very short answers and quick-tempered. I asked how I could not be verified given all the information provided and she would not answer my question directly. She said it was a computer system thing and to wait 2 days. I have no other options. I asked for just generic reasons ( not specific to me or my account ) why this would happen and she said she wasnt allowed to give me any information. Very rude and I was not satisfied with this interaction at all. 

This is concerning to me that a financial institution can lock up my savings and checking accounts without any reasoning or information given. I was not allowed to speak to the security team who allegedly is in control of the situation. My wife and I both answered all of their security questions and were calling from our registered phone numbers. While living off of credit cards for a few days isnt a big deal, it would be very concerning for anyone who doesnt have that option or has an emergency where they need cash immediately. There should be protections afforded to the client in these situations. I could have easily given them drivers license info, passport info, jumped on a video chat to show them all of my documents, etc. There was absolutely no explanation given as to why we were unable to resume our account transactions. 

This is especially concerning when we were told removing the freeze on the accounts would take a simple phone call to them. How could our information be good enough to gain access to account information and freeze the accounts, but not good enough to unfreeze them? 

Again, thank you for the time and please let me know if I can provide any further information.