BB&T Branch Bank & Trust
Debit card fraud drained accounts, then account was closed

On February 11, fraudulent charges were made by someone using my Visa/BBT debit card in North Carolina. This was the second time this had occurred in two months, but the first time was a small amount of $203. Because my savings account was attached as overdraft protection, the charges were approved until both my checking and savings accounts were depleted. I had no money and lots of overdraft charges. My husband and I were at the branch office at 9:00 AM the following morning to file the paperwork with BB&T.

At that time we were told that the charges had not posted to the account and they could not begin their "investigation" until the posting occurred, which could take 2-3 more days. I asked them how we were supposed to live since we literally had no money. The response was pathetic. We were told there was nothing they could do to help us, to use credit cards until the money returned, and that it would take 10-14 days for the money to be returned. Needless to say, I was quite upset and was crying, but there was no help for this good customer.

The young woman also told us that the fraudulent charges were most likely coming from a local Mexican restaurant, as other people had reported fraudulent charges and another person had also eaten at that restaurant shortly before the fraudulent charges occurred. We were quite shocked, as this is a restaurant we had been going to for over two years. My husband could not believe it was happening at the restaurant, so he went back and looked at the time we charged our meal at the restaurant. The fraudulent charges occurred at least 20 minutes BEFORE the server was given our card. This woman at BB&T chose to accuse a local business owner with no thought or hesitation. We do plan to notify the restaurant of this conversation so they can stop this woman from ruining reputations.

We received our money 10 days after the items posted, which was 13 days after the charges occurred. When I checked the credits, the bank had not issued all the overdraft credits, and I had to call them back. The Branch Manager proceeded to argue with me, stating that they had given me all my credits. But once she looked at the statement, she retracted her denial and issued me the remaining credit. The point is, I had to check to make sure everything was done properly. In my opinion, they would not have checked the credits to let me know anything was missing.

Of course, we decided to move our account to another bank, but we planned to keep one account open with BB&T for a short time as we had some automatic drafts coming out. But we got a letter, after we had moved our savings account, stating that they were closing our account. When I went to the branch, they stated that they did not want to do business with us. The young woman we dealt with took pleasure in closing the account, and so did her branch manager. I was appalled at the treatment. We have never had an overdraft there and were not problem customers until OUR money was taken. They stated that this was not a bank error, but their name is on the card and so is Visa's. BB&T and Visa should aggressively pursue the thieves and treat honest customers with respect and concern.

PLEASE beware of this bank and its practices. In my opinion, they have no regard for good customers and truly don't care that they caused a hardship for us. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool, and I hope people will read this and stay away from BB&T.

Company: BB&T Branch Bank & Trust
Country: USA
State: Florida
City: Bradenton
Address: 59th St. West

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