Consumer complaint received 2023-12-26 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Closing an account — Can't close your account
Company: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
XXXX : initiated a transfer request from Marcus to a previously verified bank. The amount to be transferred was approximately 20 % of the account balance. 

XXXX : Marcus cancelled the transfer request. 

XXXX : I realize the transfer request had been cancelled. Contacted Marcus through on-line chat help in the Marcus web site. Was told help could not be provided through chat and needed to call. Called the provided phone number, and after talking to a CSR and a specialist, that there was an attempt to verify the transfer by phone. Since the verification was not completed the transfer was cancelled. They would now confirm the transfer, and I should re-initiate the transfer request through the same on-line transfer process as before. I then went to the web site and requested the same amount be transferred to the same verified back as the XXXX transfer request. The phone call required approximately 30 minutes. 

XXXX : checked my account for the status of the transfer. Did not see that any transfer request had been made. Again, initiated a transfer request for the same amount to the same verified bank as the XXXX transfer request. Upon completion I received an error message on the web site indicating that there was some system trouble, and I should try again in a few hours. 

XXXX : returned to the web site. Confirmed that there was no pending transfer. Again, re-initiated a transfer request for the same amount to the same verified bank as the XXXX request. Received the same error message on the web site as seen on XXXX. Called the help number shown on the Marcus web site. The CSR could not complete the transfer herself and needed assistance from a specialist. After being put on hold 5 times waiting for a specialist, I cancelled my request to the CSR for the transfer. Instead, I requested that the account be closed, and all of the funds in the account be moved to the credit union account that was initially used to fund the Marcus account. This also required specialist assistance, and being placed on several holds. At one point I was kicked back to the automated answering system and needed to go through the process of explaining the concern again. There was also a request by Marcus to have the secondary account holder verify the closure of the account. I had the secondary account holder verify with me to close the account, and was told this would be completed in 1-3 business days. In total this phone call required 90 minutes. 

XXXX : The secondary account holder received a phone message that there was a concern with the account closure. After returning the call she was told that the account could not be closed without the primary account holder confirming the closure again because there was a fraud hold put on the account. Since the primary account holder was not available, he would need to call in to the Marcus help line later. Although requested, the CSR could not give a direct phone number to reach the same person to complete this, and the call would need to go through the same help phone process as previously done. This phone call took 60 minutes. 

XXXX : I ( the primary account holder ) called in to the help line and informed the CSR that I had been requested to call in and speak with the fraud department. She placed me on hold for a few minutes, and after returned confirmed that I was trying to close the account. She then went through the process of re-confirming the closure of the account and informed me that the funds would be in the requested credit union account in 1-3 business days. I reconfirmed that this meant Wednesday would be the latest day I should see the funds, and the CSR confirmed. This phone call took approximately 15 minutes. 

XXXX : Received an email stating that someone from Marcus had been trying to call me, but could not reach me, and requesting a call back. I confirmed both phone numbers on the Marucs account, and neither had received any phone calls that day. I called into the help line and spoke briefly with a CSR. She then placed me on hold twice in order to reach a specialist. XXXXXXXX the specialist then confirmed my information, sent a 1-time PIN to my phone which I confirmed, and confirmed an in-coming transfer from XXXX. After that she informed me that a 3-way call with my credit union was necessary because a hold was placed on my account. Since the credit union was closed for the day, she informed me that I would need to call back tomorrow to have this 3-way conversation. The phone call took approximately 30 minutes. 

XXXX : I called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to inform them that Marucs would be calling to have a 3-way call to confirm information. They informed me that they dont normally do this, since they have no way to confirm who is in the call. However, they agreed that they could give out limited information. I agreed to give them permission to give out this limited information to Marcus by Goldman Sachs. This phone call took approximately 20 minutes. 

XXXX : I called Marcus to initiate the 3-way call. I spoke to the CSR and explained that I was calling back to initiate this call, and he would likely need to get a specialist for assistance. He agreed and placed me on hold to get assistance. He then came back and explained the specialists were busy and he needed to continue to ask me to wait. This repeated 2 more times, requesting to repeat the hold process. The final time he informed me that there was a restriction on my account placed by either the state or the IRS, and I would need to contact them to clear this up. He could not identify who had placed this restriction. After I complained that this was another new concern for transferring money that Marucs was bringing up, as in similar attempts Ive made, I asked to speak with a supervisor. After another hold period a supervisor discussed further and informed me that the IRS had placed a garnishment on my account, and they could not remove it without the IRSs permission. I asked when this occurred, and she was unable to tell me. After some further prodding about what was going on, she asked me to hold while she contacted a specialist. When she returned, she informed me that only a 3-way call with my credit union was required to clear up the concern on my account, and transferred me to a specialist to complete this. The specialist, XXXX, placed me on hold to contact the credit union. When she returned, she a person from the credit union on the line. I explained to him that I wanted to close my Marcus account, and transfer the balance to my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account. XXXX then explained that she needed to confirm a few items with him, before this could be completed. She asked him to confirm the last four digits of my social security number, my birthdate and my address, all of which she read to him, and he confirmed they were correct. Then she let him go from the call. She then informed me that she would complete the closure and transfer to my credit union. I asked if there was anything else that needed to be done to complete the closure and transfer the funds, and she replied that nothing else was needed. I then mentioned that when I last spoke to someone at Marucs who was closing the account ( XXXX ) they told me it would be 1-3 business days to transfer the funds, which would make the completion date by Wednesday. I asked her to confirm that the funds would still be transferred by tomorrow, and she confirmed. This phone call took a little more than 1 hour. 

XXXX : There doesn't appear to be any closure or transfer initiated on my Marcus account, and there is no receivpt of funds on my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation