Consumer complaint received 2022-12-05
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments — Problem during payment process
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION (FL)

Complaint:
I have/had a credit card with Fifth Third Bank that I had enrolled in their hardship program for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. That hardship program allowed me to have payments automatically deducted for my checking account for those 12 months at a lower APR and for a preset amount. That program unfortunately ended last year and they never told me when I enrolled in the program that doing so would close my account and therefore close my access to my account online. I never went online during those 12 months because the payments were automatic I wasn't using the card as it was destroyed and I was only paying down my balance. When that 12 months was over or about to be, is went I went online to make payments and that is when I discovered that I no longer had online access to my account because it was " closed '' due to their policy. Now the only option I had was to make payments over the phone. I no longer had access to my card because I destroyed it and they advised me the only way I could make payments through their automated process was with my full account number which only appears on your card and you can't have a new card sent out on a closed account, which again, they closed themselves. Since the account number only appears on the card, not on any documentation or anything that I have, I only had my personal information like my social security number to verify with them so they could pull up the account and then I could make payments with them directly over the phone. Yes, THAT'S the only option I have is to make payments with them over the phone with a human being. It's a nightmare, to put it mildly. They can't even set up automated payments for a year at a time, they can only do automated payments for 4 months at a time. I don't even have access to be able to see my balance or to hear my balance because I don't know my account number and their automated system won't recognize my Social Security number. So only when I'm speaking with someone over the phone .... and therein XXXX XXXX XXXX  Every time I call them to try and make payments and set up this XXXX XXXXXXXX at a time automated option I get hung up on at least XXXX to XXXX times before I'm able to actually speak to a human being who understands what it is I am asking for and who can help me pay my freaking account. Today I just was hung up on XXXX times in a row and refused to be helped when I asked to speak with a supervisor. They had the audacity to tell me that a supervisor was on the phone they wouldn't let me wait until me I had to call them back for a seventh time. Are you kidding me?!!? The number I contacted was XXXX. It felt like I was calling outside of the United States, no one 's first language seemed to be XXXX which is neither here nor there but it also led to the problem because nobody seemed to read the notes that I know are on the account or to help me in any way that even remotely looked, felt or was like customer service should be. I am in tears because this process shouldn't be this difficult all I wanted to do was to make payments and to get my balance and I've been on the phone for XXXX minutes and still have done neither. This is completely unacceptable no other company would be able to operate this way and still remain in business. It's unfair and totally impossible to deal with.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation