Charter One Bank scammers liars crooks are they for real? Utica New York

Charter One had a promotional, flooding us with Free checking, no fees, free checks, $100 bonus for signing up for Direct Deposit, etc. I took the bait. I am sure many Senior Citizens did, too. They even opened a bank branch in a local grocery store close to Senior housing.

I opened the account downtown 7/8/03. They wanted to see my license for my name which is legally Regina...I have used Jeanne all my life (I'm 72) except for house deed and birth certificates of my children. I explained it and showed them my other bank checks in the name of Jeanne. Bank official said ok. No problem.

Which problem do you want to hear about first? The ATM card came in the wrong name so he stopped the checks from being sent with the wrong name. Did not receive my $100 as promised and when it did come through, it was for $50. I called. They said I did not open the account in July...I opened it in April. I told them to check when the first SS deposit came in. They said their computers did not go back that far.

I called several Charter One banks. The one applied for looked like an operation that would be gone the next day. Dirty office, 2 employees, empty desks. Not professional at all. People were not trained well, sometimes rude.

They finally determined I was correct. They had given me a bank account number of a person who closed an account and said that was the problem.

The fees were getting ridiculous. The number to call for your balance was never correct...always behind necessitating several calls for which I was charged. I have never been so confused.

To date (I am no longer using the account and changed my SS depository bank) I have about $6 in the account...was afraid to close it thinking their fees might make me overdrawn and they could start their rip-off every other day usurious charges.

When they changed from Regina to Jeanne, they spelled Jeanne wrong and continue to do so in spite of being told several times.

I convinced a son to open an account and am so sorry. Their computers were down one day when he tried to make a large deposit having sold his car. He was advised "not to". The girl did not want to do the paperwork. Went back later, computers were still down. His girlfriend (also on the account) knew he was making a large deposit, went shopping.

I still cannot figure out what happened. He became leery of the bank and deposited enough to cover the checks that were out. The bank said insufficient funds, started imposing fee after fee, and ended up keeping his check....a Social Security disability check which I always thought was against the law.

He is now being threatened by a lawyer whom I am sending your site too complete with complaints.

Next letter goes to the Attorney General. How the hell did they get a charter to operate?

We should get together and sue them under a Class Action.

Keep up the good work...so good to have a site like this.



Jeanne
Utica, New York
U.S.A.