Consumer complaint received 2024-10-08 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: Synovus Bank
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
I had some questionable withdrawals from my checking account. I contacted Synovus Customer Service to ask about those transactions. The representative opened a dispute and said they would give me a provisional credit in a couple of days while they researched. I said that was fine, and she asked if there was anything else she could help me with. I said I see transactions in previous months ; should I question those, too? She told me to print off my statements with the transactions and go into a branch, and the customer representative would be more than happy to help me. So I did just that.I printed off all my statements ( Im a single dad ; I adopted my child XXXX years ago, and he is now XXXX, so to be completely transparent, I never look at my statements. I look at the balance and say that's probably right. My child is at XXXX XXXX ; he is notorious for throwing his lunch in the trash and charging another to me ) I printed the statements, highlighted transactions that seemed to be questionable, and headed to Synovus on XXXX XXXX here in XXXX. I walked in, XXXX XXXX greeted me, told her what I had discovered, and told her what I had been told to do. She looked into my account and said that those are preauthorized withdrawals, so we need to place a no debit on that account and open a new account so you can continue to bank. I said, Okay, lets do it. She opened a new account, and we transferred money over into the account. Then, we proceeded to look over the statements. She explained that the bank usually goes back 60 days ; however, since the customer service rep told me to go in and talk to her, she would submit transactions from XX/XX/XXXX, to XX/XX/XXXX. She explained that the phone representative I spoke to filed disputes from XX/XX/XXXX, to XX/XX/XXXX. When I finished with XXXX XXXX, she said I'd call you if I had any questions ( this was a Thursday ). I hadnt heard from her, so I assumed everything was okay. Well, the following Thursday, I picked my child up from XXXX XXXX. When we were heading home, I told him I wanted to stop at the bank to see XXXX since Id not heard a word. I stopped in and talked to XXXX ; all was good ; she had my statements on her desk. 

That night, I was speaking to a friend whose husband is an XXXX XXXX at Synovus ( XXXX XXXX ). I told her what I had discovered, and she mentioned it to XXXX. I explained everything, and the next day ( Friday ), I got a call from XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). She apologized profusely and said XXXX had made a mistake and she would correct the error and get my situation handled. The following Monday, XXXX called me and told me it looked like XXXX XXXX XXXX transactions with XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX. I stated I had no idea about those banks, so she sent me a printout and a form to sign. I reviewed the list, said I didnt recognize those transactions, signed it, and emailed it back to her. I started seeing provisional credits going into the old account. I emailed her and told her there was no debit on the account and that it should be moved to the new account. She said ok and moved some money ( {$12000.00} ) into the new account. About a week passed, and I called her to ask her some questions, but she never returned my phone calls. ( I discovered that transactions started happening when I moved last XX/XX/XXXX ) I printed those statements off and wrote a note explaining that my routing and account numbers must have been hacked last XXXX when I submitted my change of address online. It was Friday night, so I placed the note and the statements in the night deposit and drove back home. I called and left her a message on Monday but have not heard back. I called on Tuesday, and she didnt answer, but she emailed me and said she would forward those on to be processed. All the transactions were the same. Several days passed, and I was leaving messages and sending emails, yet there was no response. So I said in XXXX of my emails that the customer service was terrible at the branch. I followed the procedures that I was following. I was told to follow up, and why did it take so long to investigate those transactions? I asked if it took that long to process the transactions when they covered up the fraud between a former employee, the president of the branch, and the Korean accounts she was dipping into. 

Well, that sparked a spiral of what I would call retaliation like no other. They went to my friend 's husband and interrogated him to see if he had told his wife about the former employee 's coverup. He didnt, which I heard months ago. The next thing I knew, I got an email that all my accounts had been locked down ( XXXX savings, XXXX checking, XXXX money market ) because there had been too many attempts to access the account online. I hadnt tried to access the account, so I thought, oh XXXX, someone is hacking into my accounts again. I sent a message to XXXX XXXX again to let her know what was going XXXX never called back, etc. I then get a notification that XXXX dollars have overdrawn my account ( the old XXXX ). YIKES! 

I called customer service, and they told me they would close my accounts and didnt need someone who didnt look at their statements as a customer. *My grandparents have been at that bank XXXX all its transformations and name changes for XXXX years, and my mother had been there for XXXX years, so this was ridiculous. I followed the protocol and reported the issues as soon as I discovered them. The representative told me she would get back to me. NO WORD..Out of the blue, I got a call from XXXX, who XXXX researching my transactions, and she said that I participated in the transactions. I said that was not true, that I had been refunded XXXX days of transactions, and that they were all the same, so why would they pay those and not the other from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX? He could not give me an answer. He told me that I could talk to his boss, XXXX. I called XXXX 4 times over a week, and all the while, all my accounts were still locked down, and I never got a callback. I had a terrible experience with an accountant, so the information would have helped me track it down. 

Finally, I got a call back from XXXX. When I asked to provide the information, he told me he didn't have to give it to me and that I would be getting a settlement from XXXX Attorney XXXX XXXX XXXX, who said if I signed the agreement and never spoke a word of the former employee 's coverup to anyone, they would give me the {$12000.00} back. So they gave me the credits, took them away, and told me I would get the credits back if I signed the settlement agreement ; if not, they would turn it over to a collection agency. They proceeded to lock down my mothers account *because I was a signer ''. XXXX XXXX and wanted my brothers and me to be signers on her account. She found out that because we went to the grocery store, and her card was declined ( this was a Saturday ), I called XXXX and left her a message letting her know that I would not tolerate her BS and that they better unlock my mother 's account. My accounts and Moms were separate. That Monday rolled around, and Moms accounts were still locked down. I sent a message to XXXX XXXX, the branch XXXX, and told him about the incompetence of his staff. After XXXX hours, they unlocked moms accounts, and there has never been an apology, kiss my XXXX, nothing. My accounts are still locked down. There has been no communication, letter explaining, etc. My accounts have been locked down since the middle of XXXX. My life and son 's insurance were canceled because they were automatically drafted from the account. I had my car insurance want to cancel because of the auto draft from the old account, etc. My credit cards that are on auto-pay were refused, etc. Never another word, NOTHING, except I needed to sign the settlement. 

This has caused undue stress on me, my mother, and my finances. I even have a police report about the transactions that I disputed. 

I keep everything, so I have everything Ive said in emails and conversations with the Synovus attorney, XXXX XXXX XXXX. I even contacted the CEO, XXXX XXXX, who eventually emailed me back to tell me he was in XXXX for a convention and that I would hear something from his team. 

Its not about the transactions as much as the bank trying to strong-arm me into something that has been going on for three or more months without anything ever being said except to sign the settlement. Synovus seems to take pride in its reputation. The branch covered several issues with the former XXXX XXXX and his infidelities with a former bank employee. All the bank executives know about the coverup. The undue stress this has caused my finances is overwhelming, demeaning, and unfair. Just the fact that a settlement was offered speaks volumes on the level of dirty Synovus wants to play.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation