Consumer complaint received 2024-09-25 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
My case # XXXX. All of this started on XX/XX/XXXX the day after I buried my mother. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I used my debit card ending in XXXX on some online transactions {$180.00} - XXXX XXXX XXXX {$110.00} - XXXX XXXX {$360.00} - XXXX XXXX {$29.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) After I had booked all these items I received a text that my account was block. I called the number and there was an unauthorized charge of {$1.00} so the representative maintained the block and ordered me a new card. I asked her if all the charges I just made would remain intact and she said yes. 

On XXXX ( which was after XXXX XXXX ) All that money showed back up in my account. I called in and spoke to a customer service representative who could not help me. I requested a XXXX and spoke to a woman named XXXX. XXXX said she could not see the charges on her end. I asked if I needed to rebook everything since it was time sensitive and she said yes. I then transferred the {$860.00} that showed back up in my account to my joint account and proceeded to rebook everything on card ending in XXXX. 

On XXXX my account was now overdrawn all the money that I had just transferred. I spoke to XXXX service reps, XXXX?, XXXX, and then XXXX in the dispute department, I found out on XX/XX/XXXX that apparently XXXX from the dispute department did not do the dispute correctly and had disputed all the above charges with XXXX XXXX so the dispute was eventually kicked back. ) XX/XX/XXXX I called and spoke to XXXX and she said everything seem correct on her end and to call back in a couple more days if the account wasnt right. 

XX/XX/XXXX A refund was requested in the Amount of {$110.00} because the company said they need to refund the charge on the hacked account. 

XX/XX/XXXX A refund was requested in the amount of {$180.00} for the charges on the hacked card XX/XX/XXXX All the credits looked correct except it was still showing XXXX and I couldnt understand why due to how the bank had the credits listed Funds Transfer Debit so I concluded that there must have been a charge that was legit, I just couldnt see who the merchant was so I deposited {$150.00} back in to my account to make it positive again. 

XX/XX/XXXX Now the account is back to XXXX. I decided to wait to see if it would change back to a positive account balance the next day. 

XX/XX/XXXX Account still XXXX. I called in again and spoke to XXXX and this is when I found out that XXXX did the dispute wrong and XXXX was able to verify that the XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX was a legit charge from earlier that same day so the money was put back in for that by me on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told to get documentation of the XXXX refund requests and type up a timeline and email it to the dispute department so that a new dispute could be opened. So over the next several days I kept contacting the XXXX vendors until I had the documentation that I was told was needed. 

XX/XX/XXXX Now my account reflects XXXX refunds in the amount of {$180.00} and there should only be XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX I email the documentation and timeline to the dispute department. The items that still need to be disputed are : {$360.00} - XXXX XXXX {$29.00} XXXX XXXX Spoke to XXXX in the dispute department after I emailed then. She told me they cant do anything until XX/XX/XXXX the date of my flight and did acknowledge that they listened to the calls and it was their misdirection that created this mess. So basically I cant access my account for another 60 days because of THEIR mistake and I have spent over XXXX hours of my time trying to rectify their mistakes and out of the XXXX people I have spoken to over XXXX phone calls, XXXX of them gave me bad directives which took THEIR mistake and created an absolute nightmare. She started to file a complaint for me with the bank and XXXX minutes later she said they had lost power and she was unable to assist me any further. This is absolutely ridiculous. I did nothing wrong. Where is the protection for the customer? If I made a mistake on my end, there would be charges and fees that I would be expected to pay. Thankfully I am not a pay check to pay check person like so many are. Had this happened XXXX years ago I would have been and it would have put me in a financial hardship. There needs to be some accountability on their part.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation