Complaint Review: Fifth Third Bank

Beware of 5/3 Bank - Read below!

Privacy Breach:

5/3 Bank gave my personal info to three different 'mailing lists' companies between '04-'06, even though I 'opted out' as to not have my personal info sold to 3rd parties in '04. This has caused me to have to halt my business, fly to California, and pull my two small children & their mother from an apartment who's protected wereabouts became for sale on internet 'people-finder' and/or 'locator' websites (ultimately due to 5/3 Bank selling my protected privacy), thus Violating United States Privacy Law(s).

Illegal Account Transfer to other unknown Bank:

I was stranded in a rental car for two days/nights and could not get a hotel or buy gasoline because my 5/3 Credit Card stopped working - with no explanation. It turns out 5/3 Bank supposedly mailed me an ultimatum of my account being sold to another bank May of '07. I was in another State/City at that entire time & had no reasonable way of knowing what was going on. AND - it took 5/3 Bank 2 entire days to figure out why my my 5/3 Credit Card wouldn't work - meanwhile I'm stranded (homeless) in a converable rental car with near empty gas tank in the sweltering Miami heat/humidity for 54 solid, hopeless hours thinking I had been frauded, or I had somehow overused my credit card. I'm not perfect, however, 5/3 Bank offered NO COMPASSION WHATSOEVER after appalling damaging & avoidable mistakes. In addition - the Bank they sold my account/private information to doesn't even have a branch/office/atm for over 1,200 miles from where I live (!!!) across the United States.

Apart from countless [admitted] Bank errors on my accounts in 2004/05 {and apart from my giving compliments to 5/3 Bank while they swiftly caught credit card fraud on the account in 2007}- I have tried repeatedly and exhaustively to resolve any of the ongoing issues utilizing their telephone banking representatives via their toll-free number (800 972-3030) to no avail.

** At one point I was finally promised a phone call by a Senior Manager, but it had been over thirteen (13) weeks since that promised essential communication to help resolve multiple issues**.

Additionally, Ive found much of their customer service to be grossly under-trained, insensitive, and appallingly immature.

You, the consumer, have been warned of Fifth Third (5/3) Bank!

Mark
DC, District of Columbia
U.S.A.