Ripoff Report Needs Your Help!
X  |  CLOSE
Report: #1264520

Complaint Review: Citizens Bank - Nationwide

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Legalbabe666 — Escondido California USA
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
  • Why?
  • Citizens Bank Nationwide USA

Show customers why they should trust your business over your competitors...

Is this
Report about YOU
listed on other sites?
Those sites steal
Ripoff Report's
content.
We can get those
removed for you!
Find out more here.
How to fix
Ripoff Report
If your business is
willing to make a
commitment to
customer satisfaction
Click here now..

I had moved to Cleveland, OH in October of 2014. I had been with another bank for almost 17 years. However, the closest branch was 3 hours away! Since I insist on the ability to bank "in person" at times, I felt I had to switch banks.

I opened an account with, what was Chase Bank at the time. Imagine my surprise when three days later I see that their "shingle" now read Citizens Bank! I was never told about this.

Upon opening my account I told the woman that I did not want overdraft protection! It's a wonderful tool banks have used for years to rake in more money for themselves. I also discovered that Citizens Bank is the only bank in the Country that charges, not only the $35.00 overdraft fee (which should become history soon) but they also charge $6.99 a day for up to 10 days! Did I mention that this additional fee is nowhere to be found in any of the documentation I was given when I opened my account?

I also made it clear I was disabled, thus living on a fixed income. I told them I would set up  two payees that would come out of my checking account automatically. I succinctly explained all my needs and, mistakenly thought that I had covered all my bases. Was I ever wrong!

After leaving Ohio I couldn't wait to go back to my old bank. So I phoned the bank manager of the branch I used and told him of my intentions to close my account once every item had cleared. I was then given the balance and wrote a check to open my new account. 

All seemed fine...until I called Citizens on a whim to assure that my account was closed. OOPS, seems one of those automatic payments went through even though the account was supposedly closed! I'm shocked when I find out that I had a negative balance of $131.00!!!!!! WHAT??? Seems a payment to my life insurance company for $34.16 was paid after I closed the account!

Not one to be taken for a fool, I sent a letter to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs.  I also wrote to the State and Federal members of Congress in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. Not surprisingly I found out I wasn't alone.  Please go to the following link if you are interested in the success of the lawsuit against Citizens Bank. There is always the possibility of a secondary lawsuit if anyone has since felt raped by this particular bank.

citizensocerdraftsettlement.com/Documents/Settlement Agreement.pdf.

To anyone who wants to know if I balance my checking and savings account...I DO...once in the morning and at night if I had used my debit card at all that day. My greivance is that these charges ensued after closing my account, and I was told that since it was an automatic payment it's paid anyway...even when there was no money in an account that was supposed to be closed!

And to think this country bailed out the banks! The US Banking Regulations are a designed to protect the consumer, yet it's the banks that get all the protection. I was delighted to see the above referenced Class Action Suit succeed. I will not give up until the wrong done to me is righted.

Perhaps a big clue as to part of the how obama got in office was that within 2 months of his first term in office, the head of Bank of America and Senior Officials of many other banks set up shop in Washington, D.C....just a limo ride away from the guy they helped put in office!

I'll leave you with this...the monetary system we have now will be changing quite literally overnight...just be ready to get up early one morning next year to make certain you get to your bank of choice in time to get, hopefully, all your money out in time!

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 10/29/2015 02:26 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/citizens-bank/nationwide/citizens-bank-re-class-action-lawsuit-against-citizens-bank-rewreckless-use-of-overdra-1264520. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

Search for additional reports

If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:

Report & Rebuttal
Respond to this report!
What's this?
Also a victim?
What's this?
Repair Your Reputation!
What's this?

Updates & Rebuttals

REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
2Author
4Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#6 Author of original report

Dear Jim

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Monday, November 02, 2015

First of all, I don't care wasting my time writing to a complete anagonistic jacka**. I have better things to do with my time. I am sick of your ranting and bullying of just about everyone who has a complaint! I spoke with someone familiar with this site and they assured me that your are most likely a lesser educated person who gets paid to offend, persecute, and demean decent people who, unfortunately believed this site served a most welcomed purpose of informing and educating consumers.

By the way, you failed to read rules regarding all reports...you're not allowed to use capital letters. However, since you use them constantly, I am truly convinced you work for this bogus, b.s. site. 

You win, I have no intention of returning. One more thing...the CEO of Citizens Bank sent me a letter of apology along with a check for the unlawful overdraft fee they charged. Why don't you put that tidbit in your next alcoholic drink and mix it with whatever pills you take. You have tremendous rage and found a place to use it, completely unfettered.

Fortunately I have a License to carry a weapon...so consider yourself lucky that we will never meet in person because the chances of you becoming agressive are pretty d**n high!

 

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#5 Consumer Comment

Yep...I've Been Around A Long Time And...

AUTHOR: Jim - (USA)

POSTED: Saturday, October 31, 2015

...The common thread is whenever somebody hits the nail very directly and very squarely on the head, the orginal complainer can't come back with an intelligent rebuttal.  In that instance, out comes the immature "you must work for them" response!  We've seen it here hundreds if not thousands of times!

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#4 General Comment

Class action lawsuits...

AUTHOR: Striderq - (USA)

POSTED: Friday, October 30, 2015

You insinuate that the majority of the money went to account holders. However, this site: citizensoverdraftsettlement.com/FAQ.aspx#faq18  reveals that " And, of the Overdraft Fees that were eligible, only a portion or a percentage of those fees is payable to each Settlement Class Member as their pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund."

So, account holders got a portion of their eligible OD fees returned to them. The lawyers each pocketed far more money. Class lawsuits, medical; financial; all, make big monet forthe lawyers. That's why their willing to take this cases on. Each lawyer took home far more than each account holder.

And as a lot of posters do, when you can't argue with the message try to discredit it by complaining of grammer, spelling, etc. And also resort to the "you must work for them" which is so old and overused that anyone who responds to reports puts on the rebuttal that we don't work for them. And yet the OP still plays that card.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#3 Author of original report

Cowardly Response

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Friday, October 30, 2015

Not only did I close the account, but I immediately enrolled BOTH payees with my new bank. When the payee i mentioned received payment from Citizens Bank, they called me to let me know they had received TWO payments for one month. THAT is how I found out about the unauthorized payment from Citizens Bank.

Whoever you are, you are terribly contentious and appear on this site quite often, perhaps as a shill, to scream "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT" as loud as one possibly can in writing. You do not bother me in the least. Since this site is for relaying a variety of consumer complaints, which can thus act as an informational and educational forum for others who are living in this same debt ridden country, I'm going to "GUESS" that you're either a bank employee, politician or lazy bureaucrat who's own insecurities are quite obvious.

Having practiced Constitutional Law for 27 years, I can assure you that not all class action suits are designed to line the pockets of lawyers...those would mostly be MEDICAL class actions. The suit I referenced in my original complaint had, as most class action suits of this nature do, set up a separate monetary fund from which the attorneys had to SPLIT a prescribed amount of money. The majority of the funds distributed in this class action was SO LARGE for the consumers that it had to be split up in two parts on two different dates. 

Before you go off on your childish tantrems, may I suggest you take something for you grammatically incorrect and bullied outbursts! It also appears that your rebuttals are almost exactly the same...perhaps you just "cut & paste" to rebut ANY comments on the banking industry. Hence I conclude you have no original thought or care to share positive critiques for those of us with real concerns. 

I hope you get the help you need, and I hope my comment will help others avoid a similar situation. After all, isn't that what this site is for? Stop obfuscating peoples concerns with your, obviously liberal minded bias. 

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#2 Consumer Comment

Ownership

AUTHOR: Jim - (USA)

POSTED: Thursday, October 29, 2015

It was YOUR account and its up to YOU to manage it!  It was UP TO YOU to advise any merchant who YOU gave permission to automatically debit YOUR account, the account was going to change and up to YOU to cancel said automatic debit.  It was YOU who failed to do that and it was YOU who GAVE YOURSELF the overdraft fee, plain and simple.

You can blame any government agency you wish or and government official you wish as nothing more than a sorry, immature smokescreen to deflect the blame.  However, its all pretty easy to see it was YOUR failure to manage YOUR OWN account.

Let me save you the effort.  Don't bother writing back, "You must work for them".  I don't!

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#1 General Comment

A few things for you...

AUTHOR: Striderq - (USA)

POSTED: Thursday, October 29, 2015

1. " Upon opening my account I told the woman that I did not want overdraft protection"  Actually overdraft protection provides the protection for the account holder and limits OD fees charged. The protection is prvided by another account (credit card, savings, line of credit, etc). If something presents against the checking account and there's not enough money to cover it, the money is transferred from the protection account to the checking account. There's a one time per transfer fee accessed instead of a one per item (up to seven per day) OD fee. If you told them you didn't want protection that means you left your account open to OD fees.

2. "but they also charge $6.99 a day for up to 10 days! Did I mention that this additional fee is nowhere to be found in any of the documentation I was given when I opened my account?" It would be on the Schedule of Fees & Services. I found it here on their website:  https://www.citizensbank.com/pdf/overdraft/RegE_Citizens_4-27-14.pdf

3. " I told them I would set up  two payees" You don't mention if you set the automatic payments up with the companies or with the bank. Either way it would have been your responsibility to cancel the payments once you decided to close your account. Telling the bank you intend to close the account does not cancel any automated payments you ave set up in bill pay. YOU must go in and cancel these, with the company or with the bank. When the item is presented the bank's decision is "do we pay or do we not pay", this decision is made by back office who would not have been aware of your intentions to close the account.

4. The class action lawsuit was settled in 2012, good luck on starting a "secondary" one. By the way, the only people who make any money on a class action lawsuit is the lawyers. The people in the class , if they get anything, get far less than they were charged.

5. The only "wrong" done you was by yourself not cancelling the autopays. The bank did everything per their standards as explained in the paperwork you got at account opening.

6. To anyone who wants to know if I work for this bank, I don't. Just trying to explain why what happened, happened. It would have at any bank.

Respond to this report!
What's this?
Featured Reports

Advertisers above have met our
strict standards for business conduct.

X
What do hackers,
questionable attorneys and
fake court orders have in common?
...Dishonest Reputation Management Investigates Reputation Repair
Free speech rights compromised

WATCH News
Segment Now