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Citizens Bank review: overdraft charges 13

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5:11 am EST
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Citizens Bank charged $74 in overdraft fees for a $35 recurring item that was presented against a balance of $27.98, a $7.02 overdraft. That is a 1054% fee!

The $35 item should not have even been honored in the first place, because it was for a debit transaction on a card that had been canceled. Citizens Bank decided to drop MasterCard and forced me to switch to Visa, and I had started to use the Visa debit card weeks before.

When I explained that I wanted to have the charges taken off my account by two different members of Citizen Bank's call center group in Ashville, North Carolina, they said there is no way they would reverse the charges.

Both customer service people, Shauna Payne and Ryan Walkenshaw, identified themselves as "Supervisors" and refused to let me talk to anyone else to escalate the situation. The conversations were being recorded. They both said they would be happy to leave a message with someone to call me back, but there is no way that the overdraft fees would be waived by anyone at Citizens Bank.

I told them if they cannot get me a manager to speak with today, they need to put the funds back in the account today and we can resolve the issue when they call me back. I told them that I had made a deposit in the account to pay an important bill, and the $74 that they took out brought the balance down to a point where there is not enough to cover the payment. They both said that was not their problem.

Shauna Payne kept talking over everything I said. At the end of the call, she claimed she would transfer me to a manager's voice mail, and transferred me to a disconnected Verizon mobile phone.

I can't imagine how they can get away with this. Think twice before opening up ANY account with Citizens Bank at this point!

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

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13 comments
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An Educated Consumer
Acton, US
Apr 26, 2011 8:31 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Did you know you can't pay your excise tax from your Bill Pay online? I found out the expensive way when I got a Demand Notice with $80 worth of fees for not paying on time... I thought it was all taken care of, since I had paid my 1st quarter excise tax with no problems. When I called, not only was I on hold for 25 minutes, but they told me it was "A Glitch" the excise tax was paid the first time - So, I was SOL. I went in to the Branch, still pissed, and 6 days later, have not heard from the Branch Manager who started out updating me the first day, but I have not heard from since. They make it riduculous and expensive to close your account. Not a happy camper.

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HukE31
, US
Jan 25, 2010 11:18 am EST

On January 9th at 8:50am, I was awakened to a call stating I had not paid my car payment. Not only had I made the payment, but it was taken out of my account on January 4th. After stating this, the rep asked if I wanted to reverse my payments since I had doubled my payments for a year and been sending extra money. The rep stated if I did this, I would not have another payment until some time in 2017, but Citizens would go back and reapply the interest to my account. I stated I did not want to do this because my intent was to reduce the principal amount. On January 22nd, I received my statement which listed over $440.00 had been applied to interest, while a little over $100 had been applied to the principal. I immediately called to find out why this had happened. After awhile, I was told there was a "gliche in the system" which caused no interest to be taken out of my payments for the entire year of 2017. I checked my statements and found that I did pay some interest in 2017. I then realized the call on January 9th was to try to get me to reverse my payments so they could go back and apply the interest and I would not notice a difference, but since I did not do that, they took the money out of the next payment, without any explanation. Thank God I only have an automobile loan with Citizens Bank. I will be having my account reviewed.

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nlho
State College, US
Apr 20, 2010 4:04 pm EDT

I opened a checking account last December to take advantage of their $100 promotion. I completed all required actions.

Firstly, the customer service told me the bonus would be credited by Feb 28. I was charged $100 for overdrafting by account in early March. The bank only refunded $25. But if had the bonus in my account as promised, I would not have to pay for any overfees.

Secondly I received a message from the bank, saying that the corrected the system and the bonus *will* be credited by 4/15. I specially confirmed with them I satify all conditions of receiving the bonus. Now it's already 4/20 I still have not heard anything from them.

Citizens Bank is a bank that never keeps their promises. I'd close the account after I earned enough from their Green$ense.

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Timothy RI
Warwick, US
Aug 12, 2011 11:29 pm EDT

Just adding my recent experience to all the others. Apparently Citizens Bank sent a letter out in March about changing checking account types. Like all the other junk mail, I tossed it. My mistake! Since I didn't contact them they automatically changed my checking account to one that requires a $5000.00 balance to avoid a $17+ dollar service charge.

Hmmm...unemployed for two years and never had more than a $650 balance after direct deposit. I was informed that they do have a regular checking account with a $4.95 service charge. I wonder why they don't default people to that checking account?

Ahhhh...money! I had $5.00 in my account, but doing it this way; they hit me for $17 and $6.95 every two days in penalties. So when I checked my account, in just over one weeks time; I now owe over $70.

Here's the real gotchya part, since I don't have $70 they won't close the account and are gonna continue charging $17 a month + $6.95 every few days. Now if this wasn't about ripping people off, wouldn't it be more reasonable to default unanswered customers to the cheaper of the two accounts; especially, since we all know that most unsolicted mail never gets read? And maybe charge 18% interest instead of $6.95 every 2 days.

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SallyJ
Wappingers Falls, US
Aug 14, 2011 9:41 pm EDT

On 8/11/11 I had $22620.01 in my business checking account a check came throught for 26.18. they bounced it and charged me a 39.00 bounce fee because A charge was on hold for 2246.84 but had not yet posted to the account. I ran that morning before the charge was posted and deposited cash to cover the 22620.01 before it posted to my account. I don't understand how they bounced the check when that charge was not posted to my account. The charge was also dated to post to the account 8/15/11 but came out of my account 8/12/11. The Check posted on 8/11/11. Citizens also lost 2 deposits I had made on 2 seperate occasions and told me it was my problem to find out where they went. So I had to get my customers to there bank info and track down the checks they paid us with. It was kind of embarassing. I found out where the money went ! They deposited the money in someone elses account. I am truly sick of this bank. When you call the bank you never get the right information. I have been banking with citizens since 2017 and I notice they change practices and DO NOT inform the customer, But when you call them they say it has always been that way. Belive me I do not want to bounce things and give citizens my money. It seems things are one way for a while then they change to the advantage of the bank.

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D Larkin
Attleboro, US
Dec 07, 2009 7:53 am EST

My 17 year old daughter opened up her first account with Citizens Bank this past year when she just started working. Due to the fact that she was charged fees that she was not expecting when she did a wd from a non Citizens ATM - (Citizens AND the ATM charged her a couple of $$$) - her account was overdrawn a whopping 27 CENTS.
They immediately hit her with a $22 Overdraft charge - and sent out a letter a couple days later stating that they were also charging her $35 because the account was overdrawn for 5 days ... and by the time we got to the Bank the next weekend ... they tacked on another $35 because it was overdrawn on the 11th day. This is an OUTRAGE .. I spoke to the manager at Citizens Bank and he basically said that there was nothing they could do except waive the initial $22 fee .. but they still charged us - and I paid - $72 for a 27 CENTS mistake. Thank you Citizens for your compassion and understanding - I encourage EVERYONE to stay away from these theives ... they have absolutely no scruples whatsoever - and this is the second issue I have had with them in two months .. the first time - they charged my account in error $200 - (Long story) ... and it took me over two months to get it back - they finally corrected it just recently. I intend oin contacting the BBB - but I think these banks can charge what they want - all we can do is stay away .. and encorage others to do the same. DO NOT BANK WITH CITIZENS BANK

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FrankOfBos
Boston, US
Oct 18, 2010 6:07 pm EDT

I have an ongoing problem with Citizens Bank gift cards. The bottom line is this: they cancelled my two active gift card before their expiration date, but they continued to charge me a monthly 'service charge' for these cards, cards which were no longer in service. Think about that: a service fee when they had cancelled the service! When I complained, they refused to reimburse me for service charges on the out of service cards. Doesn't a service charge mean that you are paying for a service? If Citizens cancelled the service (i.e. use of the gift cards), how can the service fee continue to be charged?

I am just as angry about the very poor way I have been treated. Citizens could have made it easy to find out that the cards had been deactived, but they did not. I used the card and it didn't go thru at one business. Odd I thought, so I tried a second time, different place, a few weeks later. Still no luck. I went to the citizensbankgiftcard.com website, typed in my card info, and all looked fine (i.e. there was money on the cards). Figuring my website verification might have activated something on my cards, a few weeks later I tried a purchase again, and still no luck. I tried the 800#. There was no option to talk to an operator, and pressing 0 did nothing, but I keyed in my card info, and the system said there was money on the cards. I shopped again. No luck again. Back to the 800# to do the optional card registration, figuring this might solve my problem. I was surprised that this option lead to a human operator, who told me that citizens had cancelled the cards.

I was sent checks for the card balance LESS card service charges. The 800# person gave me a Massachusetts Citizens bank address to write to for service charge reimbursement. I wrote. Citizens ignored my letter. They didn't even respond! Am I not worthy of a response? I emailed Citizens customer service. They said they couldn't help me, but gave me an address, this time in Atlanta, to send yet another letter to. I did so. Once again, I never got a response! I am pretty shocked at this. Is this the practice now, to just ignore letters from customers? I wrote to the places Citizens told me to write to, and they just ignored me.

I didn't give up though. I wrote to the head of Citizens at their Providence HQ and I actually, finally, got a response. It was a short letter saying that Citizens was just following service charge policy as outlined in the gift card rules they had attached to the letter. They presented no justification for charging a service charge for cards that they had taken out of service, nor did their gift card rules address this situation. What I felt even more disappointed about was that Citizens HQ did not offer one word of apology for ignoring both of my previous letters, when I had sent those letters to the very people Citizens told me to contact in order to resolve this issue. Ignoring a customer letter once is bad enough, but twice is pretty rotten, and then failing to apologize when I told them about this says to me that the people at Citizens HQ care very little about their customers.

I know I share blame, as service charges don't start until the "13th month after issuance". I got the two $300 giftcards from my siblings. It was their way of thanking me for taking care of our 92 year-old mother as she needed 24/7 care, and my job had been outsourced to India, so I had time to do so. To be honest I felt guilty taking money from my siblings to take care of our mother so I just had a hard time using the gift cards. Weird, I know, but it didn't sit right with me. I did use one of the cards once, but after that I just put them aside.

I lost $45 in service charges ($2.50/mo for 9 months, on two cards). The 800# person told me that Citizens cancelled the cards on 6/3/2017, and I got my check, less service fees, in December 2017. Of the nine months of service fees, 3 months were while the card was active, and 6 months (June thru December) are service charges on cards that had been put out of service. Those service fees bought me nothing but bad service! They made it so difficult even to find out why my cards were suddenly not working, and they expect me to pay them service fees for all this aggravation. It is beyond belief to me that Citizens would, when I have repeatedly presented them with these facts, all the way up to the very top of the corporation, would not make things right. I am really very surprised how little they care about doing the right thing for their customers, and it is obvious that this poor attitude is prevalent at the very top of the corporate ladder.

I am left to again ponder the question in Citizens online ads: “Is this how you define a good bank?”

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Tired of Being Taken by the Bank
Cortlandt Manor, US
Oct 12, 2011 8:19 pm EDT

I am so tired of Citizens. I have been with them since about 2017 myself and they are the most deceptive sleezy bank I have ever had. Over the long weekend I used my debit card for several purchases including one small one for $6.00. I accidentally on Tuesday morning made a withdrawl not realizing that an error had been made. It was my mistake I will take the blame and the $39 charge but they instead withdrew my large withdrawl which was my last transac tion first and then all the other small ones from the 5 day weekend and now want to charge me $350 in charges. I tried to explain to them that the large withdrawl was my last transaction and should not effect the transactions prior. They would not even try to listen or help. There reasoning is that they put the larger transactions through first in case it is a mortgage payment. But you tell me would you rather have one check bounce or a bunch of small ones in the $20 range and spend $39 on each transaction. Yeah they do it for the customers I don't think so its there way of raping the customer. Well they just lost another customer and I hope they go under.

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SFCAJOHN
North Providence, US
Oct 06, 2010 9:30 pm EDT

Please, please lodge your complaint with the OCC. Visit occ.treas.gov/customer.htm There you'll find an online form, complete it and leave the rest to the Government. We can flood the OCC with our complaints and keep Citizens Bank very, very busy

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nofearman
, US
Aug 19, 2010 11:14 pm EDT

Citizens bank i sone of the most UNETHICAL banks in the country. Their overdraft policy is Very Aggressive for the sole purpose of maximizing their revenues. They makes MILLIONS a year from overdrafts. And they tarin their employees to defend the bank with the most shameful, pathetic rationale for their Overdraft Scam. There are a number of class action suits against Citizens Bank for the deceptive way they Manipulate Transactoin to Multiple their overdraft charges against their customers. In my 30 years of banking no bank has come close to the sleezy operation at Citizens.

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smelvin07
Sioux Falls, US
Aug 18, 2010 9:59 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

How do you get your account reviewed? I am going through some thing very similar. They keep trying to tell me that I have missed a car payment but yet every time i call them and talk to a manager they give me a different month of a different year of the payment Im missing mean while they keep tagging on late fees when my payments arent even late. I have been calling them for a MONTH to get this cleared up and am still trying to get it resolved. So any help would be appreciated.

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brenboo1
Erie, US
Mar 25, 2010 3:51 pm EDT

I also have incurred many fees, I didn't even have my last disability check direct deposited for this month of March, 2017.
I feared the bank would take so much money from me, I would not be able to pay bills and survive for the month for the measly amount I do receive.
It seems I cannot resolve this problem with Citizen's Bank. I always get stupid answers like keep a ledger, etc. Well when I signed up for checking acct. almost 5 years ago, I did fine, a purchase would simply be denied at "point of purchase" which of course then no overdrafts were occurring then.
Now there is even a "sustained overdraft fee" that the bank has tacked on.
I don't think I'll keep my money in any bank at this point due to the abuses by the banks against their clients.
Just outrageous!
I've received some mail from the bank a couple of days ago and I am actually afraid to open it and read it!
Can the banks sue people like me for the overdraft and "sustained overdraft fee"?

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Mike who hates Citizens bank
, US
Dec 15, 2009 4:41 pm EST

They are terrible people, The employee i ask to help recover my 234 in fees for being 6 dollars over draft.. I asked him how he sleeps at night, he said its not personal, but it is TO ME..its my money .. and i am full of rage and furios at Citizens bank and thier insincere ways.. they have ZERO compassion, I wish only the worst on the executives who devise the plan of look at the with drawal as one number but charge fees as individual.. i am writting to Massachusetts Attorney general, and loading up customer service with emails..i will get my 234.00 worth of thier time, if they dont give it back. which they will not.