At the end of January I purchased a used 2006 Volkswagon from a Volkswagon dealer. The dealer arranged financing for me and said he got a good rate with Fifth Third Bank. I hesitated before I signed and thought a moment.
Flash back eight years ago and I was a Fifth Third Bank customer with a Checking and Savings account. I also took advantage of their online bill pay which proved to be a mistake.
When I received a bill in the mail I would immediately (and I mean that very evening) log onto the Fifth Third Website and pay the bill. After I set the payment to go, I would dutifully record Fifth Third'ss confirmation of transaction number in my personal finance program (Microsoft Money). I was shocked to see during the next month's bills from some utilities that there was a non-payment fee attached to the bill along with the previous month's charges.
After several calls to Fifth Third Customer Service, I learned that for some vendors, the bank physically cuts a check and mails it (just as if I had done the same thing myself). I also learned that although the Bank immediately deducts the funds from my account the instant I send the payment, the Bank had no way to actually verify they really did print the check or even if they really did mail the check.
In other words, their confirmation number was on to confirm that money was deducted from my account, and not necessarily that the money was on its way as payment of a bill. As infuriated as I was, I quickly closed the account and swore never to be a Fifth Third Bank customer again.
Back in the present, I decided that maybe Fifth Third has changed and they might just be able to handle servicing a simple auto loan. Rather than tell the dealership that I didn't want Fifth Third to have the auto loan and have them re-run the paperwork, I signed the document and was soon on my way home with my newly acquired car.
Then I got my payment coupon book from Fifth Third. My name was not correctly spelled on all the payment coupons. I immediately called Fifth Third's customer service and after remaining on hold for about half an hour, explained there was a mistake and that I would like to have the bank correct the mistake and send me new payment coupon books.
The customer service representative explained that since the payment coupons had the bank account information correct, that my name misspelling wasn't important. My reaction: WHAT?! I explained that I couldn't accept that answer and requested again they reprint my coupon book to which they said they could do that for a $5 charge. My reaction: You've got to be kidding me! I explained that I was not going to pay $5, nor any other amount of money to fix a Fifth Third Bank error. The customer service representative once again said she could only send me new coupon books for a $5 fee. I then asked to speak to her supervisor. I was once again placed on hold for another 15 minutes waiting to speak to a supervisor.
Once the supervisor came on the phone, I once again explained the mistake on the payment coupon book and that I could not accept it with my name not printed correctly on it. The supervisor replied that my name was correctly spelled in her computer system and that the coupon books had the correct account numbers on them, so there was nothing wrong with them. I told her that the name did not match the promissory note I signed at the car dealership and it absolutely must match on the payment coupon books. She agreed with me, but said that she could not waive the $5 fee to fix their printing error.
My blood is really beginning to boil as I feel more and more like the Bank doesn't care a bit about making sure all their loan paperwork is correct and matching, nor do they care that whoever prints their coupon books has no quality control, or the mere fact that I the customer just want a simple fix of having them correct my name on the coupon book, send them to me, and not charge me to do it. I asked to speak to the supervisor's supervisor to which she said that her manager would tell me the same thing and she would not transfer me. At this point, I decided I'd have just as much luck talking to a brick wall and hung up.
I then contacted one of the local television station's consumer advocacy departments to see if maybe they could help. The person I spoke to through emails was very kind and helpful. She contacted Fifth Third and had them agree to reprint my coupon books with the corrected information. At last! Some satisfaction I thought. I couldn't believe it took a consumer unit with the local television station to actually get Fifth Third to realize I wasn't asking for the moon.
So I patiently waited until I got the new coupon book.in the meantime, I went to a local branch of Fifth Third to make my first payment. I gave them a check with my account information on it, but not the payment coupon as I wouldn't give credence and didn't consider them valid since my name was not correct.
When I got the new coupon books, I couldn't believe it. My name was misspelled exactly as it was on the original payment coupon books. All Fifth Third did was duplicate the exact same problem as before. This tells me that not only do they not have any quality control measures in place, but when they decide they actually want to act on a complaint, they have absolutely no follow up to ensure the same mistake doesn't happen again.
For me, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'd had enough with them - again. I decided to refinance the loan with another bank so I don't have to put up with Fifth Third any more. My payoff check is in the mail and Fifth Third will once again be the bad memory it was eight years ago the only bank I'll NEVER need!
If you're considering doing business with Fifth Third I strongly urge you not to. Save yourself the trouble. If you're currently a Fifth Third bank customer, I strongly urge you to switch banks before they eventually screw you over.
Trevor
Grove City, Ohio
U.S.A.
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