My wife and I had an account (133034020) with Citizens Bank. On or about October 6, they put a debit hold on the account for suspicious activity. While they never disclosed what they believed to be suspicious activity, I believe it to be the purchase of BitCoin through an offshore exchange. This was part of a research project.
On October 14, 2014, at the bank’s request we withdrew all funds so that the bank could close the account as per their request. We were told by Gabriel Rodriguez of the Danvers In-Store Branch that the account was closed.
On October 16, 2014, as part of bank automation the account was reopened to post transactions that had been represented due to their debut hold. The bank accepted the items and paid them brining the account negative. Due to relocation issues, we did not receive any notice and we expected that the account was closed. We incurred approximately $240 in over draft fees as a result.
On or about and after October 22, 2014 several automated payments were presented by various parties. Having been told that the account was closed, we have no reason to expect that the account had been reopened and that they processed these items as over drafts and charge $35 per transaction. Several of which were presented twice as they were returned NSF instead of account closed.
On or about November 15, 2014, the bank processed an ACH credit which was a refund for services that we had purchased in September 2014. We were not advised of the credit.
On or about December 6, we received a collections notice from Citizens Bank for approximately $304. When we immediately called, we were told that we had no option but to pay the balance or we would be reported to Checksystems and owing it. At that time, we had lost our home and were collecting welfare due to a financial calamity. I told them I would contact them again when we were back on our feet.
On February 24, 2015, I entered the Newton Centre Branch and spoke with Christopher Buras. While he empathized with our situation, he advised that all he could do was to submit a customer service request and we would have to see what happened. When I asked what that meant, he said that there was nothing else they would do. The complaint number is CFGD3946697.
He provided no time frame for response and only said, “You will get a letter in the mail”.
I am seeking only the balance of $303 to be removed and for the Checksystems entry to be reversed.
I cannot believe this bank. First they settled a class action suit over incorrectly charged Overdraft Charges and now this.
I opened an account three weeks ago. It was bad enough that they are the only major bank without instant issue, but we put up with that. It took a while but we finally got our cards and were able to access online banking and Mobile Banking.
Using our shiny new debit card we paid for parking and made a cash withdrawal. We check the balance at that time and it was equal to the amount we had minus the two transactions. That's good and matched what we expected.
Then the next day, we also use our debit cards, again checking the balance after each transaction, THe balance always matched what it should be.
The next day, we get $140 in overdraft charges which utterly confused us. We called the next Monday and the experience was:
I could not understand a word that the agent said and was disconnected waiting for a superviosor.
When I got home, I spoke with "ashley" (we think) and she stated that "Yes, you are correct, YOu should not have been charged and I will rebate the overdraft right now" I confirmed that she was doing this at that moment and thanked her.
Twenty five minutes later, when the reversal had not been done, I called back to follow up. At this time, it was stated that I could not trust the Online Banking or Mobile Banking alone and that I needed to carry an old fashioned register. They don't even give you one of those until the checks you order arrive. I was also told that there was no record of the reversal and that I was mistaken.
At that time, I insited that they listen to the recording and I was told I would receive a call in two business days.
Two business days later, I heard nothing.
One Wednesday, I call back and I am told that "Ashley was not authorized to say what she did and that her Manager reversed her work" Further, they stated that they had "n obligation to stand behind an employees' commitment". Finally, that this is all my fault and I should be happy that they were "granting" me one fee rebate.
I know a lot about banks and I cannot believe the way that they have treated me by not standing behind what their employee promised. Further, I cannot believe that their tone when I followed up was one of disrespect and accusatory of some trick on my part.
At this point I must say that I cannot think of a worse set of experiences and I look forward to passing on my negative experience to all that will listen.
I am a long time customer at Citizens Bank in Mass (15 years plus) with 8 bank accounts there along with my mortgage for years and a home equity line of credit. On Wed, Aug 5th, I went to a local branch to make a deposit to two of my accounts and noticed that the balances were not right so I clicked statements and come to find out in the previous 12 hours, $14,472 had been withdrawn fraudulently from three checking accounts. Apparently someone had called online banking (which I never had set up) and had accessed my home equity loan and taken out $30,000 and then transferred it online to three separate accounts, made ATM cards with passwords, and headed to ATM's and withdrew $14,472 in less than 12 hours. Quite shocking that I, the customer, was the one to notice this NOT Citizen's Bank! The money was withdrawn in increments of $803 every couple of minutes and NO algorithym picked this up??? Very worrisome that someone posing as you can set up Online Banking over the phone. I dealt with the local bank manger on Wednesday at noon once I noticed all the fraudulent activity but it took until Friday at 3:00PM for anyone from the Fraud Department to followup with a call to me DESPITE my filing a police complaint. My local police department said that by Friday at noon, Citizens had NOT returned any of their investigative calls. The only reason the Fraud Department finally called on Friday at 3 PM I believe is because I said I wanted to followup with the Regional Supervisor. This whole debacle does not inspire confidence in the least and the Online Banking/Phone system clearly has a very MAJOR security flaw that for some reason Citizens doesn't seem to worried about. That a random person can call in with your first/ last name and last four digits of your social security number and enroll in Online Banking in minutes, give an email address, set up a user ID, and then get a temporary password, and then are good to.
Citizens Bank charged me $105.00 in fees when I had three withdrawals pending the same date my payroll check was directly deposited into my bank account.
I contacted them about resolving this matter or at least forgiving one of the fees. The customer service representative was professional but said I was not able to refunded any fees. She then transferred me to Dan her supervisor who was extremely rude and showed complete discontentment with taking the time to help me. He simply ended up telling me that Citizens Bank lost money and I deserved to be charged these fees.
So in the end I asked him if he still got a paycheck this week? He told me it had nothing to do with the conversation we were having. I told him that if Citizens Bank is losing money off of his customers then he shouldn't receive a paycheck because they shouldn't be able to pay him if they are in fact losing money.
I have tried everything I can to deal with Citizens Bank. They are completely unethical and surely do not care about customer loyalty or satisfaction. Then again why should they? They are everywhere. No one ever steps up and says you are doing this wrong and should be held accountable. They already had a class action lawsuite filed against them for unfair practices yet they still do the same things. They continue to push through purchases from the highest to lowest so that they can charge you mutliple fees. This is completely unethical and unfair to hard working individuals.
I truly hope that someday our society will be able to step up and put them in their place.
I had 3 checks clear on a Friday, yet not post until Saturday, went there to deposit $11 to cover a $10 and change balance, was told they cleared "after midnight" that's why they didn't show until Saturday. Even though I went there Saturday and they were open for business, the $11 didn't "officially" show (even though I saw it & It WAS available on my account), until Monday. Monday I had $65 in my account, go do a few things, go to the store, I've got $6 in the account. They took a $35 overdraft later that day. Their "banking doesn't work on weekends" yet they sure had no trouble processing checks after midnight on Saturday though.
So now I've got $6 for gas to get my son to school all week because of this nonsense from these people. They have no conscience. I called, tried to explain, more than once, the first woman was actually argumentative. Taking money from a single mom with a 6 year old, when I was there when the doors opened to pay a $10 for a check over a field trip my son ended up not going on, yet the check was cashed anyway, unbeknowst to me until that Saturday. Complete scumbags. They just wait for any opportunity they can get to steal your money over the dumbest, made up things, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. They don't care about their customers. I'm so done with this bank.
I went to CitizensBank's branch in Cambridge, MA, Harvard Sq. I wanted to ask about fee refund since I overdrew my balance.I explained that I am disabled and have some difficulties with concentration when dealing with finances.I was humiliated,ignored,they made me wait for 40 min to talk to the manager, and finally same girl called me in her office just to tell me that she is going to close my account.I asked for her name and she got hysterical,telling me that she doesn't want to talk to me and that i need to leave or she calls the police.I asked for her name again,she screamed that it's on her tag and that I need to leave.I said she can call police if she needs too.She did.I was told I made her feel uncomfortable and that I must never enter this branch or I will be arrested.I hope the whole conflict is recorded by bank's camera's and am sure I was treated badly. Though I am with this bank for 6 years,and was never treated with anything by respect before.Also,what might be helpful she kept saying she knows me.I never met her in my life.And I thought she meant she saw me at the bank before.I have no idea what all this was about.But what is worse that even so I was asking her and other bankers to talk to the manager I never got too even so I spent there at least an hour. All this is very very upsetting. Please advise.
I have had this bank since they bought out my old one back in the late 90's. I have never had any problems with them until I became part of a class action lawsuit last year. They use to always cover my overdrafts up to $500 with no problems. I got 7 overdrafts last week for one check. The company kept reposting the bill and every time they did, Citizens bank nailed me with a $40 overdraft fee. They never covered the check but hit with all those overdrafts. The amount was way under $500 . I called the customer service number and spoke to a woman for about 5 minutes. I'm always very courteous and professional anytime I'm on the phone. Doesn't matter what the circumstances. The lady refused to honor any of the overdrafts. I politely asked for a supervisor. After almost 10 minutes of waiting, I got man that started off as helpful then became very obnoxious to the point where he kept interrupting me. Then he tried to talk over me every time I would try to ask a question. I had told him about being on a class action list for this same thing. He laughed when I said the bank seems to be punishing me for trying to get back what is rightfully mine. After hearing him chuckle and mockingly say. I'm not going to honor these. He actually tried to school me on budgeting. I abruptly ended the call with a thank for your time and not helping even one bit, Have a nice day. I am closing my account with them after 14 plus years .. I hate to think what they have planned for the other people that were part of that class action suit. PS: I hope they did record my conversation with them as they always say when you call their 800 number because it will back up everything I said. Beware of Citizens bank. They don't care about their customers anymore as I keep reading more and more every day. Thank you reading my rant.
Citizens Bank Reviews
My wife and I had an account (133034020) with Citizens Bank. On or about October 6, they put a debit hold on the account for suspicious activity. While they never disclosed what they believed to be suspicious activity, I believe it to be the purchase of BitCoin through an offshore exchange. This was part of a research project.
On October 14, 2014, at the bank’s request we withdrew all funds so that the bank could close the account as per their request. We were told by Gabriel Rodriguez of the Danvers In-Store Branch that the account was closed.
On October 16, 2014, as part of bank automation the account was reopened to post transactions that had been represented due to their debut hold. The bank accepted the items and paid them brining the account negative. Due to relocation issues, we did not receive any notice and we expected that the account was closed. We incurred approximately $240 in over draft fees as a result.
On or about and after October 22, 2014 several automated payments were presented by various parties. Having been told that the account was closed, we have no reason to expect that the account had been reopened and that they processed these items as over drafts and charge $35 per transaction. Several of which were presented twice as they were returned NSF instead of account closed.
On or about November 15, 2014, the bank processed an ACH credit which was a refund for services that we had purchased in September 2014. We were not advised of the credit.
On or about December 6, we received a collections notice from Citizens Bank for approximately $304. When we immediately called, we were told that we had no option but to pay the balance or we would be reported to Checksystems and owing it. At that time, we had lost our home and were collecting welfare due to a financial calamity. I told them I would contact them again when we were back on our feet.
On February 24, 2015, I entered the Newton Centre Branch and spoke with Christopher Buras. While he empathized with our situation, he advised that all he could do was to submit a customer service request and we would have to see what happened. When I asked what that meant, he said that there was nothing else they would do. The complaint number is CFGD3946697.
He provided no time frame for response and only said, “You will get a letter in the mail”.
I am seeking only the balance of $303 to be removed and for the Checksystems entry to be reversed.
I cannot believe this bank. First they settled a class action suit over incorrectly charged Overdraft Charges and now this.
I opened an account three weeks ago. It was bad enough that they are the only major bank without instant issue, but we put up with that. It took a while but we finally got our cards and were able to access online banking and Mobile Banking.
Using our shiny new debit card we paid for parking and made a cash withdrawal. We check the balance at that time and it was equal to the amount we had minus the two transactions. That's good and matched what we expected.
Then the next day, we also use our debit cards, again checking the balance after each transaction, THe balance always matched what it should be.
The next day, we get $140 in overdraft charges which utterly confused us. We called the next Monday and the experience was:
I could not understand a word that the agent said and was disconnected waiting for a superviosor.
When I got home, I spoke with "ashley" (we think) and she stated that "Yes, you are correct, YOu should not have been charged and I will rebate the overdraft right now" I confirmed that she was doing this at that moment and thanked her.
Twenty five minutes later, when the reversal had not been done, I called back to follow up. At this time, it was stated that I could not trust the Online Banking or Mobile Banking alone and that I needed to carry an old fashioned register. They don't even give you one of those until the checks you order arrive. I was also told that there was no record of the reversal and that I was mistaken.
At that time, I insited that they listen to the recording and I was told I would receive a call in two business days.
Two business days later, I heard nothing.
One Wednesday, I call back and I am told that "Ashley was not authorized to say what she did and that her Manager reversed her work" Further, they stated that they had "n obligation to stand behind an employees' commitment". Finally, that this is all my fault and I should be happy that they were "granting" me one fee rebate.
I know a lot about banks and I cannot believe the way that they have treated me by not standing behind what their employee promised. Further, I cannot believe that their tone when I followed up was one of disrespect and accusatory of some trick on my part.
At this point I must say that I cannot think of a worse set of experiences and I look forward to passing on my negative experience to all that will listen.
1 out of 5 marks
Aug 8th 2014
Major Security Problem in Citizens Online Banking
I am a long time customer at Citizens Bank in Mass (15 years plus) with 8 bank accounts there along with my mortgage for years and a home equity line of credit. On Wed, Aug 5th, I went to a local branch to make a deposit to two of my accounts and noticed that the balances were not right so I clicked statements and come to find out in the previous 12 hours, $14,472 had been withdrawn fraudulently from three checking accounts. Apparently someone had called online banking (which I never had set up) and had accessed my home equity loan and taken out $30,000 and then transferred it online to three separate accounts, made ATM cards with passwords, and headed to ATM's and withdrew $14,472 in less than 12 hours. Quite shocking that I, the customer, was the one to notice this NOT Citizen's Bank! The money was withdrawn in increments of $803 every couple of minutes and NO algorithym picked this up??? Very worrisome that someone posing as you can set up Online Banking over the phone. I dealt with the local bank manger on Wednesday at noon once I noticed all the fraudulent activity but it took until Friday at 3:00PM for anyone from the Fraud Department to followup with a call to me DESPITE my filing a police complaint. My local police department said that by Friday at noon, Citizens had NOT returned any of their investigative calls. The only reason the Fraud Department finally called on Friday at 3 PM I believe is because I said I wanted to followup with the Regional Supervisor. This whole debacle does not inspire confidence in the least and the Online Banking/Phone system clearly has a very MAJOR security flaw that for some reason Citizens doesn't seem to worried about. That a random person can call in with your first/ last name and last four digits of your social security number and enroll in Online Banking in minutes, give an email address, set up a user ID, and then get a temporary password, and then are good to.
Citizens Bank charged me $105.00 in fees when I had three withdrawals pending the same date my payroll check was directly deposited into my bank account.
I contacted them about resolving this matter or at least forgiving one of the fees. The customer service representative was professional but said I was not able to refunded any fees. She then transferred me to Dan her supervisor who was extremely rude and showed complete discontentment with taking the time to help me. He simply ended up telling me that Citizens Bank lost money and I deserved to be charged these fees.
So in the end I asked him if he still got a paycheck this week? He told me it had nothing to do with the conversation we were having. I told him that if Citizens Bank is losing money off of his customers then he shouldn't receive a paycheck because they shouldn't be able to pay him if they are in fact losing money.
I have tried everything I can to deal with Citizens Bank. They are completely unethical and surely do not care about customer loyalty or satisfaction. Then again why should they? They are everywhere. No one ever steps up and says you are doing this wrong and should be held accountable. They already had a class action lawsuite filed against them for unfair practices yet they still do the same things. They continue to push through purchases from the highest to lowest so that they can charge you mutliple fees. This is completely unethical and unfair to hard working individuals.
I truly hope that someday our society will be able to step up and put them in their place.
I had 3 checks clear on a Friday, yet not post until Saturday, went there to deposit $11 to cover a $10 and change balance, was told they cleared "after midnight" that's why they didn't show until Saturday. Even though I went there Saturday and they were open for business, the $11 didn't "officially" show (even though I saw it & It WAS available on my account), until Monday. Monday I had $65 in my account, go do a few things, go to the store, I've got $6 in the account. They took a $35 overdraft later that day. Their "banking doesn't work on weekends" yet they sure had no trouble processing checks after midnight on Saturday though.
So now I've got $6 for gas to get my son to school all week because of this nonsense from these people. They have no conscience. I called, tried to explain, more than once, the first woman was actually argumentative. Taking money from a single mom with a 6 year old, when I was there when the doors opened to pay a $10 for a check over a field trip my son ended up not going on, yet the check was cashed anyway, unbeknowst to me until that Saturday. Complete scumbags. They just wait for any opportunity they can get to steal your money over the dumbest, made up things, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. They don't care about their customers. I'm so done with this bank.
I went to CitizensBank's branch in Cambridge, MA, Harvard Sq. I wanted to ask about fee refund since I overdrew my balance.I explained that I am disabled and have some difficulties with concentration when dealing with finances.I was humiliated,ignored,they made me wait for 40 min to talk to the manager, and finally same girl called me in her office just to tell me that she is going to close my account.I asked for her name and she got hysterical,telling me that she doesn't want to talk to me and that i need to leave or she calls the police.I asked for her name again,she screamed that it's on her tag and that I need to leave.I said she can call police if she needs too.She did.I was told I made her feel uncomfortable and that I must never enter this branch or I will be arrested.I hope the whole conflict is recorded by bank's camera's and am sure I was treated badly. Though I am with this bank for 6 years,and was never treated with anything by respect before.Also,what might be helpful she kept saying she knows me.I never met her in my life.And I thought she meant she saw me at the bank before.I have no idea what all this was about.But what is worse that even so I was asking her and other bankers to talk to the manager I never got too even so I spent there at least an hour. All this is very very upsetting. Please advise.
I have had this bank since they bought out my old one back in the late 90's. I have never had any problems with them until I became part of a class action lawsuit last year. They use to always cover my overdrafts up to $500 with no problems. I got 7 overdrafts last week for one check. The company kept reposting the bill and every time they did, Citizens bank nailed me with a $40 overdraft fee. They never covered the check but hit with all those overdrafts. The amount was way under $500 . I called the customer service number and spoke to a woman for about 5 minutes. I'm always very courteous and professional anytime I'm on the phone. Doesn't matter what the circumstances. The lady refused to honor any of the overdrafts. I politely asked for a supervisor. After almost 10 minutes of waiting, I got man that started off as helpful then became very obnoxious to the point where he kept interrupting me. Then he tried to talk over me every time I would try to ask a question. I had told him about being on a class action list for this same thing. He laughed when I said the bank seems to be punishing me for trying to get back what is rightfully mine. After hearing him chuckle and mockingly say. I'm not going to honor these. He actually tried to school me on budgeting. I abruptly ended the call with a thank for your time and not helping even one bit, Have a nice day. I am closing my account with them after 14 plus years .. I hate to think what they have planned for the other people that were part of that class action suit. PS: I hope they did record my conversation with them as they always say when you call their 800 number because it will back up everything I said. Beware of Citizens bank. They don't care about their customers anymore as I keep reading more and more every day. Thank you reading my rant.