Consumer complaint received 2024-09-20 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Company closed your account
Company: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
My intention was to maintain an active account and settle my balance under the terms of a 12-month payment arrangement plan which I was informed of during a call on XX/XX/XXXX. However, due to a failure in communication and guidance from their representatives during this call and during the scheduled follow-up call on XX/XX/XXXX, my account was closed, despite my best efforts to comply with the instructions provided. 

This situation arose from several critical errors, which I have outlined in the chronological timeline below. On XX/XX/XXXX, I complied with a letter I received on XX/XX/XXXX to call Apple Card Customer Support regarding my past due amount. At this time, the representative enrolled me in a one-month deferral with clear instructions to call back and enroll in a payment plan on XX/XX/XXXX, following the deferral. My intentions were to keep the account in good standing, which would occur after 12 lowered monthly payments, at 0 % APR. At no point was I informed during this phone call that the collections department, not customer service ( whom I had called ), was handling the 1 month deferral and was providing the financial product information ( the 12 month arrangement ) and instructions on when to call back and enroll in the payment arrangement. I was advised to call back on XX/XX/XXXX, after taking full advantage of the deferral time period, as a payment needed to be made on the same date of enrollment into the 12 month payment arrangement. At this time, I was neither informed I needed to speak with this specific department, meaning the Collections Department, or made aware of their limited operating hours until XXXX XXXX. Apple Customer service makes it very clear, via the XXXX XXXX, that Customer Service is available XXXX. I would eventually find out, during the Tier 2 Manager investigation, that due to the status of my account, and making the XX/XX/XXXX call during normal operating hours, my call was automatically routed through the phone system from the general Customer Service extension I called in from and directed to Collections Department whom had handled my XX/XX/XXXX call. This error in omission is the reason I could not complete the enrollment in the 12 month payment arrangement when I called XX/XX/XXXX. 

As planned, I called back Customer Service on the night of XX/XX/XXXX. I was informed by the representative that the specific department ( unnamed ) I needed to speak to had closed 1 hour prior to my calling. I expressed confusion and concern because I was told that this was the date that I needed to enroll in the payment arrangement plan and was worried my account would close that day if not done. The representative essentially told me not to worry and call back during their normal operating hours, before XXXX. With this new information, I was still under the assumption that Customer Service had provided the original deferral on XX/XX/XXXX and perhaps, now, payment arrangements were handled by this unnamed other department. The call was brief. I was not provided with any further information on my account and there was no explicit communication of when I needed to take action on the payment and would do so when convenient. 

Following the investigation into the closure, I found that this representative took no action on my account to notify the correct team that I called and made an attempt to enroll into the payment program. There were in fact, no notes from this call on my account. It was not until the transcript of the call was reviewed that the contents on the conversation, and the intentions to enroll, were made clear to the investigating team. During my XX/XX/XXXX call, the representative ( whom I still considered Customer Service ) performed a thorough review of my account and recent communications with Apple Card before providing me with payment options. I assumed the XX/XX/XXXX representative had done this review after the verification process when I called in. A review should have provided me with two ( 2 ) critical pieces of information - ( 1 ) That I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX stating to call Apple Card Support by XX/XX/XXXX ; and ( 2 ) That a payment had to be made by XX/XX/XXXX to avoid closure. I explained to the investigating Manager that had I known this, I would have made a payment on that date rather than delaying my first payment to coincide with the enrollment in the 12mo payment arraignment. I never read the email because I had already created a plan with a representative on XX/XX/XXXX and the call on XX/XX/XXXX was within the timeframe given on the XX/XX/XXXX email anyway- I would still have called in the same number. If a customer calls Apple Card Support a review should be done and any urgent actions needed to be taken on the account should have been communicated. My call actually met the requirement of the letter to contact Apple Card Support by XX/XX/XXXX. The investigating Manager stated that Customer Service representatives are not trained to perform an account review. How am I to know what level of training to expect from a representative when I called in? My only expectation is consistency. I called the same Customer Support number I had on XX/XX/XXXX and expected the same level of care and diligence. I can only now assume that had I called before XXXX XXXX, I would have likely been automatically routed to the Collections Department for a proper account review, where I would have also been able to complete the enrollment in the payment arrangement as planned. I believe it was this lack of training and diligence in reviewing my account during the XX/XX/XXXX call that led to the erroneous closure of my account. Even though I was not enrolled in a payment plan yet, I felt this call at least satisfied the requirement of contacting Apple by this date and if there was any change in the status of my account after this communication, such as its impending closure, I would be notified by Apple Card at such time- I was not and, unknown to me, the account went into closure on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I followed up on XX/XX/XXXX call one week later on XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke with a XXXX Department agent, XXXX, who confirmed that my account was closed. After I discussed the previous conversations, he stated that closure was likely an error and reassured me that because I was promised a payment arrangement ( which could not be performed by the agent I spoke with during the XX/XX/XXXX call, on the date I was instructed to call back on ) Apple Card would need to honor that arrangement and my account would be reopened. I was told I would receive a call back within 10 days once the process was complete, which also included a review of the account to verify the events. During a subsequent follow-up on XX/XX/XXXX, a Manager ( unnamed ) called back and insisted the closure was not an error. I argued all the points Ive previously made in this letter but she was still insistent it was not an error. We were at an impasse, I wanted answers and an escalation. She roadblocked me saying she was the final authority on determining whether it was an error or not. She refused an escalation and I questioned what authority she had in determining what an Error qualified as because there were several opportunities for Apple Card to prevent the closure. She quickly became offensive, telling me the closure was all my fault and I shouldve just paid the bill on time. It was crass and unprofessional and her when I requested her identification, she hung up on me! 

I immediately called back and spoke with another XXXX Department agent, XXXX, and filed a complaint. When I calmed down, I said I do not want to wait another 10 days for an additional review and I wanted to speak with his supervisor so I can come to some sort of resolution that day. I was connected to his supervisor, XXXX, who stated she was the same level of authority as the Manager who hung up on me - a Tier 2 supervisor. We had the same conversation and I was met with the same stonewalling as the previous conversation. While she admitted it was improper, all I heard were excuses regarding the phone routing system, the lack of training of the Customer Service reps and the omissions of where and to whom I needed to make the payment arrangement with and by what time. This is all after the fact. These are clearly errors but she would not acknowledge it as such. It felt as if she was trained not to acknowledge wrong doing because such an admission would require actual escalation and the reopening of a closed account. We concluded the conversation with XXXX escalating the issue for a second review which should could not guarantee would escalate to Tier 3, but at a minimum it would be reviewed by a Tier 2 Manager. At the date I am writing this letter, it was been 37 days since that phone call and I have yet to receive any further communication. 

The following timeline illustrates the sequence of events leading to this complaint : Timeline of Events 1. XX/XX/XXXX : Received notice stating that my account was past due and I had to call before XX/XX/XXXX to prevent permanent closure. 
2. XX/XX/XXXX : I called customer service and was enrolled in a one-month deferral, with instructions to call back on XX/XX/XXXX to enroll in a 12-month payment arrangement with a lowered monthly payment and 0 % APR. 
3. XX/XX/XXXX : Called back to enroll in the 12-month plan, but I was told that the department responsible had just closed an hour earlier. No specific department was mentioned during this call. Advised to call back. 
4. XX/XX/XXXX : Called customer service and was informed that my account had been closed since XX/XX/XXXX. Spoke with XXXX, who confirmed the closure and initiated the review process to reopened the account after a supervisor investigation. 
5. XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with a customer service manager who denied that the closure was an error. After a verbal altercation, I asked for her identification and she hung up. 
6. XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with XXXX and XXXX. XXXX confirmed the miscommunications but would not admit fault. She escalated the issue for an additional review. 
7. Present : No further communication has been received regarding the resolution, and the account remains closed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation