Complaint Review: U.S. Bank

Your real complaint should have been filed against the credit management company, not the bank; I don't think anyone would have even responded to your posting had you done that because they gave you some really bad advice.  The problem with most of these companies is that there is a limited amount of good that they can do on your behalf that you could not do on your own, and you pay them a load of money for it.  Yes, the bank took money you needed to live from someone you owed, and I'm sure you wish you still had those funds in your possession - not to mention the overdraft fees.  But that isn't the source of your problem.

The real problem is that your creditors would eventually find you, regardless of how much game-playing the credit management company can tell you to do, because, of course, your creditors also play games and they have more resources at their disposal to find you and your money.  Even if you had moved the account to another bank, it would have taken your creditor another 30 days (maybe) to find the funds and collect on them.  So instead of losing the money on 11/15, it would have been 12/15.  Yup, 10 days before Christmas.  You think losing that money last Friday was bad?  Try 30 days later.  Would that be the fault of the new bank?  No.  So all of this game playing would still result in the creditor seizing your funds.

Yeah, this is a public website and if we interpreted your complaint the way we did, then there's no question others who come across this complaint will read it the same way.  Your responses don't really help your case at all, not because this was your fault (it isn't your fault), but because you continue to stand up for a company you don't wish to criticize - which I don't understand.  If that had been me, I would have been gone back to that credit management company and skewering them over their advice.  They would have blamed the bank because that's easy for them to do and pointing fingers elsewhere feels good for them.  I wouldn't let them off the hook that easy because it isn't just the funds you owed your creditor - that stunt they suggested cost you overdraft fees.  Who is going to pay you back for that?  You want the bank to refund you those fees, but that wasn't the bank's fault your creditor got your funds.  The credit management company will absolve themselves of blame because....stuff happens.

You should have also put down the name of the credit management company who gave you such ridiculous advice.  I think the public should absolutely know this information as well...

I really don't care any more. You have interpereted things as you wanted to and the reality of the situation is not quite as you choose to see if but whatever. It was not exactly an attempt to defraud or to get out of paying something that I owe but the reality and character of someone in a situation doesn't matter to a couple of keyboard martyrs and there is no point in changing another's perception when the only interaction is via a page on the Internet.

I could give accounts of responsible things I am doing but it's not wanted nor appreciated and it all boils down to that fact that I came on to a site which I have not been on in quite a while only to fall prey to a few self-appointed, righteous keyboard gatekeepers and with this experience, I will hesitate to use this platform again. 

The events that I experienced will not change, nor will the perception you have of me whether it be correct or not and it doesn't really matter because your counterpart has clearly stated he does not wish to me to explain myself further. Therefore I won't. 

Whether the advice I was given outside or here was sound or unsound is irrelevant and in the end, we go our separate ways and will most likely never interact again. My takeaway from all this is that although one may have the perception of wrongdoing or unfairness; do not voice it publicly because you will become fodder for the online warriors. This is the best advice I have received in quite a while. You may applaud yourselves.

We really only can read what you write, and based on your update I do totally understand where it comes down to this one statement. The things that we ignore are things that have no bearing on your situation.

I personally had received not one word of correspondance from the company in question so I was not expecting this to happen.
- Nice try, but if that is the case then why were you in such a rush to change bank accounts to make sure that your paycheck was "safe"? The answer is simple. You knew this company was going to attempt to take your funds, because doing what you did is not the action of someone who has no idea a company was about to take their funds.

The point was that I was told that everything was taken care of and that was not the case.
- That is a false statement. You asked the bank to open another account and transfer your funds. The bank did exactly what you asked them to do. The issue you have is that they did their job too well, in also doing what they are required to do in allow the company to take the debt that they were apparently entitled to.

I was also told that I could refute the charge, which I am.
- Oh please don't say you were told this by the same company that told you to open a new account. By the way even if they "temporarily" issue you a credit.  The bank will investigate and likely put back the debit again.

I had not been aware that I should have sought you out to gain insight on how I should have handled this situation differently and perhaps better and I suppose that is my loss. I feel so much better now that I have gotten expert advice on how to handle my life and feel much richer. I now have no need to request a "couple of bars of gold"
- You are very welcome.  If you pay attention to just a fraction of what was stated here then it is a success.

I am so grateful for both of you for telling me precisely what I have done wrong with my life in regards to this incident. I don't know how I managed to survive before.

I will not bore you with  a recount of my existance as you have catagorically stated you do not wish it but I am glad that I was able to provide both of you a sense of empowerment with my apparently incorrect experience.

My life is that much richer; knowing that I have provided a springboard for both of you. I hope you both can provide much needed insight to other naive people on this site.

Your life situation is completely irrelevant.  However, perhaps you could use the lecture.  After all, you keep digging a hole for yourself....whether it's with your finances, or with your response here.

Robert was 100% correct when he said that you needed to open a new account at another bank - due to the right of offset with every account.  You made it easy for those you owe money to, to find your $$ by opting to do otherwise. 

And yes, the credit management company gave you some really horrible advice if all they told you was to open another account - without telling you to switch banks.  Ultimately, your creditors would have found funds from which they could have taken your money - it just would have taken them maybe another 30 days or so to find it, at which point you could have been better prepared to handle what happened. 

However, since you opened another account at the same bank, and the debt was yours,  they had authority to collect funds owed to them.  You didn't have to authorize the debt from your account and they didn't have to perform a hunting expedition to find your funds.

But then, you defend the credit management company by indicating they have an A+ rating with the BBB.  WOW!!  Please don't come here and tell us that's what you're basing their innocence on?  Let's be clear here:  The BBB is a membership driven organization. 

If you see a company with an A+ rating with the BBB, all that means is that they are PAID members of the BBB.  It doesn't necessarily mean they are a good company.  They could have many complaints, BUT complaints of a member organization do not affect their rating.  The company PAYS money to the BBB to get that rating; it isn't earned. 

In a famous case in FL, the BBB gave an A- rating to one of their members - a member with more than 600 complaints in 36 months, none of which were answered.  Membership has its privileges.  In addition, the BBB has no authority to act upon any complaint anyone makes - they are not some governmental organization that can compel anyone to do anything.  They're a business just like any other.

What you should now do is go back to the credit management company and ask them why they told you open a new account at the same bank, if all your debtor was going to do is take my money from the new account? 

My guess is they're going to say either (a) we asked that you go to a different bank and setup that account, or (b) I had no idea a bank would allow that, or (c) Oops, S... happens.  If they tell you anything else other than (c), then it's time you find another company that knows WTH they're doing, because C is the correct answer you need to hear from them.

The point was that I was told that everything was taken care of and that was not the case. I would be upset if I had lost ten dollars as an error instead of close to $500. I have filed complaints with the BBB, Federal Reserve and the FTC. It was a mistake and it appears to be a fairly common on, given the response I received on their toll-free line.

I was also told that I could refute the charge, which I am. However, If it is commonplace then it needs to be addressed. And, judging by the tone on various consumer review sites, this institution has some questionable practices.

As for the credit company and yes it is a company because I have done business with them before and they are certified, have a A+ rating with the BBB; they were in contact with the business who took the funds from the supposedly closed card. I personally had received not one word of correspondance from the company in question so I was not expecting this to happen.

I'm not going to argue with you nor explain my entire life to you on this page. You've taken what you wanted to out of my report, excluded what you wished to exclude and made your own interpretations as to my character, plus lectured me on it.

I had not been aware that I should have sought you out to gain insight on how I should have handled this situation differently and perhaps better and I suppose that is my loss. I feel so much better now that I have gotten expert advice on how to handle my life and feel much richer. I now have no need to request a "couple of bars of gold".

The point was that I was told that everything was taken care of and that was not the case. I would be upset if I had lost ten dollars as an error instead of close to $500. I have filed complaints with the BBB, Federal Reserve and the FTC.

It was a mistake and it appears to be a fairly common on, given the response I received on their toll-free line. I was also told that I could refute the charge, which I am. However, If it is commonplace then it needs to be addressed. And, judging by the tone on various consumer review sites, this institution has some questionable practices.

I'm not going to argue with you nor explain my entire life to you on this page. You've taken what you wanted to out of my report, excluded what you wished to exclude and made your own interpretations, as well as lectured me on it.

I had not been aware that I should have sought you out to gain insight on how I should have handled this situation differently and perhaps better and I suppose that is my loss.

Not sure exactly who told you to do this, but basically you got bad advice, or at at a minimum you interpeted the advice incorrectly.

What it appears they were telling you is to get your money out of your bank before they froze those funds to offset another delinquency. Instead of moving your money to another account at another bank(which is what you should have done), you just opened up a new account at the same bank. So of course when you moved the account, the debt moved with it.

I do not think it's too much to ask that the fees I have been assessed be reversed and the money returned.
- Since you don't think it's too much to ask, why not ask for a few bars of gold while you are at it.

When you signed up for your accounts(every one of them), you gave the bank the "right of offset", which basically means that they can take the funds from one account to pay a delinquency in another account at their bank. This is so that you don't do exactly what you are trying to do, have a balance in one account while failing to pay another debt.

Regardless what you think, they are not going to give you your funds back. In fact since you are now overdrawn you can expect additional fees and likely having that account closed if you can't get current.

I did what I was told and why should I have questioned them? They are professionals. At least, I thought they were.
- They are being very professional. As they are following the terms of the account that gave them this right and doing exactly what they said.

Now, as for your "Credit Management Company". They should not be putting you in a position where your funds were at risk, unless they were already at risk due to you being delinquent. They should not be telling you to stop making payments in the hopes you can "settle" for less.  Regardless of how bright and hopeful they make it sound, there is no legal requirement that a bank must settle. 

In fact many will still go to court over as little as $200.  If they are suggesting this, in the end you are likely going to have more problems and need to look elsewhere. Legitimate companies will work with the creditors directly to reduce your payments and interest.