Commerce Bank of St. Louis

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/10) */
Commerce Bank received this complaint about the closing of this customer's credit cardAs he knows, we had security concerns around the use of the card and concerns that it was difficult to verify the identity of people who called us
claiming to be the card holderWe made the decision to close the cardWe are sorry that this consumer is unhappy about the closingHe is still responsible for the balance on the accountHe may want to search for another card opportunity and transfer the Commerce balance to a new card

The transaction was returned due to insufficient funds and the resulting fee was assessedThe Bank is not able to run the transaction again; the customer needs to make arrangements with the merchant to present the transaction for payment againAs a courtesy, the fee was refundedPer the request
for transaction history, the Bank mailed the last year worth of bank statements to the customer

This customer’s account had a debit card transaction on February 7, for $Previous to this debit the account was at a zero balance, so this item made the account negativeWe regret that the customer was not aware of this until they were notified by collectionsUpon review of the
account, the bank believes it was the customer’s intention to close this account in January and this recurring debit charge should have been rejectedThe bank has removed the amount owed, on April 26, 2017, and the account is at a zero balance and closedWe apologize for any inconvenience this may have causedThe bank does not report a negative balance to the credit bureaus, so there was no impact on the customer’s credit

I've been banking with Commerce for foreverMy childhood savings, my 1st checking acct (which is still in service after 16+ years) and I have my small business checking here and another savingsAll accts have been in good standing and can count on hand the number of times checks bounced in yrs, which were all refunded as it was the payees fault for double chargingI've had car loans which were all paid in full, ahead of scheduleI'm closing all accounts
For the 1st time in the history of me having a checking acct, I was charged a "service charge" of $I called to ask about it and the cust svc rep had no idea why as I've always had the free checking optionsI hadn't changed my use, met the minimum balance and deposit requirements, and as a small business owner, paid myself from my Commerce business acct on the regular and had not been charged for this beforeShe said she would refund it, put me on hold, came back to the phone and told me it was a legit charge and there would be no refundI asked for a supervisor
The supervisor was the most rude and surly person I've ever spoken toShe dances around the issue giving me a new excuse for the charge when her reasons fail to upholdOne minute it's I don't have a "formal" direct deposit, but as I'm my own payroll and have a business account there, that would seem to be a "self-employed, bigger customer with more accts here" feeI've been operating this way over a year and it would seem odd that only now do they charge for thatShe essentially called me a liar about the acct age on the basis that the acct "title" was not in use when she started yrs ago and thus, this acct was not as old as I claimed even though, had she bothered to check, should have been able to see this number has never changed in over a decade! She claimed it was a legit svc fee for that acct type and she had no idea why I wasn't charged before though I should have been and more / less made it seem she was doing me a favorWhat happened- for the 2nd time in history I might add- was that they changed my "free" acct terms without clear notice, started charging for it, made a new type of "free" acct, and offered it when the customer complainsI thought it was a fluke before, but as a 2nd time around, I'm pretty sure it was intentionalShe rudely said that she would offer a "one time only" courtesy refund, sarcastically made me wait while she checked to see if I had has this refund in the past year, again more / less calling me a liar and changed my acct title to whatever their latest "free" acct type isThe title changed almost immediately, but the refund never came
I call a week later to find out why and was made to wait for min to talk to a repI'm pretty sure it was the same rude supervisor that answered, and she put me on hold and disconnected the lineI called again, agreed to a survey after my call and after another min wait finally get through to another personInfo was verified, and I was told I need a different department and put on hold yet againFinally the person I spoke to went through the transcripts of the previous call and said she saw where I was promised a refund and it was not put in the acctColor me shockedShe put the refund in and it was almost immediately visible on my online accountIn summation, it was a total of min hold time to get them to give what was promised (min is a long time to make detailed notes), for a charge which should not have been in the first placeTo add serious, ironic insult to injury, while I was on hold for the umpteenth time, the line was ringing on call waiting which was the survey people! How insane is that?! I didn't answer as I was afraid of having to call a 3rd time
I'm doneAs soon as everything clears as far as deposits and checks, I will be demanding my money to take elsewhereAwful placeRun away- fast, far and NOW!

The bank has no record of this consumer speaking with a representative prior to the cash withdrawal mentioned in this complaintThe balance stated was the available balance prior to the ATM withdrawal; however, two more transactions posted to the account in which there were insufficient funds to
cover these itemsBecause these items were paid, as requested by the consumer per their consent to courtesy overdraft, they resulted in two overdraft feesAs a courtesy, the bank has refunded one feeBecause this was not a bank error, we would not be able to refund any additional fees

The Bank regrets that the account was not closed as this customer states they requestedWe have refunded all fees and closed the account on October 18, A letter stating this was mailed to the customer, per their request

See attached letter sent to customer for the Bank's response

Please see the attached response that was mailed to the consumer.

We recognize that there are new financial solutions in the marketplace today (like Goggle Wallet) that send credits to our customers using their debit card credentials. We are in the process of making adjustments to our core systems so these transactions are handled differently from other debit...

card transactions. Today, all debit card transactions (debits and credits) are handled the same. The available balance is updated at the time we receive the initial message (authorization). However, your Google Wallet deposit may not be actually available for withdrawal (or use) until the following business day. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please check your account on the next business day before planning on using the funds. If you are concerned about overdrawing your account, please wait until the funds are reflected in the Current Balance before use. As a courtesy, the Bank is refunding a total of 11 overdraft fees to the account.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:   I had to deal with my grandmother having a massive stroke and that was the most important and I stayed in contact with Jeanine who was the manager of the bank and I made and stayed in contact with the branch . I made them aware that I had to care for my grandmother in Florida and that there was no commerce bank in Florida and I was advised by the president of the bank that it was ok and that I had a free account and no charges would apply. I did not do an address change due to that some of my family still resided in the home. I am not and did not put the address change in at all. We live in an area that is not the most reliable and there has been many complaints made on the Postal Company in this area. I am very upset and not happy at all that you would do this to a customer who had to experience such a tragic experience. I will be sure to let many people know just how little compassion Commerce Bank has for their customers and how they have Employees in a position to cheat lie and steal money from consumers. This is not right and I will be reaching out to the Attorney General and to FCC in regards to this. I am not happy at all. I had to rush to care for my family member and while I am in distress you feel that you would take the opportunity to steal from me. So sad   
Sincerely,
[redacted]

The Bank regrets to hear that this customer feels their service was less than satisfactory and we would like to address his concerns. First, the Bank, like all other banks, sets their fees themselves. While we are required to disclose these fees and any changes to these fees, we set the fees...

directly. Bank personal are aware of this, so the Bank does not know why the customer would have been informed otherwise, and regret if this did occur. Second, in regards to the claims that the Bank would not refund for the place this customer stayed, the Bank has no record of a dispute case involving anything such as a hotel or other type of place to stay. However, if a customer does stay and use the services of a business, the Bank would not be within dispute rights to dispute the charge. Third, when an account is brought to a zero balance, it goes into a temporary close. Credits may post to the account while it is in the temporary close until it would permanently close. Fourth, this customer’s account, along with other accounts at the Bank, was converted to a different account type in August of 2017. All customers, including this customer, were notified prior to the change on their monthly statement. This customer was notified on their June statement that effective August 7, 2017, the account would change to another type of checking account. The requirements for this new checking account type were disclosed. The customer was asked to call customer service if they had any questions or wished to discuss an account that would better fit their needs. At the date of account change, August, the service charge brought the account to a zero balance and the account has since closed due to no deposits or credits to the account. With each change to the account over the 17 plus years the account was open, the Bank informed the customer ahead of time of any change and ways to avoid any fees. There was no bank error and will therefore be no refund.

The Bank never received this complaint under complaint number [redacted]. We did however receive a complaint from this customer under complaint number [redacted]. The complaint was the same and we responded to [redacted] on 1/17/18. Attached is a copy of our response that was also mailed to the consumer.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/05/13) */
The Bank has reviewed this complaint and we will not be issuing any refunds on the overdraft fees. This customer was properly notified at the time of the deposit that the check would be placed on hold due to excessive overdrafts on the account....

The mentioned message on the receipt actually states "If you did not receive this notice at the time you made the deposit and the check you deposited is paid, we will refund to you any bank fees for overdrafts of returned checks that result solely from the delay that we are imposing. To obtain refund of such fees, contact a bank representative". Since the customer was notified of the hold at time of the deposit, this does not apply. The Bank has already issued courtesy refunds on this account in the past and we will not be issuing any future refunds unless due to a Bank error.

The Bank regrets that the customer was not monitoring their account; however, the customer is responsible to review their statements and provide the Bank with any address changes. Bank records show the first statement returned undeliverable by the USPS was in March of 2012. The address was not...

updated by the customer until January of 2013 and this address was only valid for a few months. The statements were again returned undeliverable starting April of 2013. And, they remained undeliverable until the account closed in June of 2015. There is no record that the customer ever contacted the Bank during this time to inquire on why they were not receiving statements or to change their address. The service charge was disclosed on the statement in August of 2012. The customer is responsible to know what is happening on their account. The charges, which began September of 2012, were valid as the customer was not meeting the minimum requirements of their account.  As a courtesy, we have mailed the customer copies of their statements ranging from January of 2012 to the time of account closing in 2015.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/02) */
This consumer applied for a home equity loan and has complained that the loan is taking too long to process and close. The Bank apologizes for the amount of time involved in this process and agrees with the customer that it has taken too long to...

process. At one point, the terms of the loan were changed, which necessitated new paperwork and required some additional time. This customer's loan is scheduled to close on Sept 2, 2015. We again apologize for the length of time required before closing.

See attached.

The bank monitors all accounts for certain risk indicators and, in order to protect the best interest of the bank and its customers, close those accounts that have a high potential for misuse or fraud. We apologize to this customer for any inconvenience this may have caused.

see attached

Complaint: [redacted]
I...

am rejecting this response because:  They should express this concern upfront to customers. My account didn't have fraud so I shouldn't have been affected. Also, show me in writing where this disclaimer is posted!!! After opening the account & speaking with [redacted] my wife & I was about to move all our financial assets to this one location as we were trying to avoid the continuance of dealing with multiple banks. We have CDs, safe deposits & auto loans we wanted to move to Commerce but the way I was treated without warning is definitely unacceptable!!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

This customer recently closed his credit card with the Bank. When the card closed, he no longer can access the account online in the Bank's Online Banking system. He is unhappy that he cannot make his payments through the Online Banking system since the card is closed. He wants the Bank to reopen...

the system so that he can pay his account bill online. I am sorry but we are unable to reopen Online Banking for the customer. His account is closed and the Bank's systems are set up to close Online Banking once the account associated with it is closed. However, the customer has a balance on the card that he is paying. He can make his payments by calling the Bank and using our 24 Hour Automated Account Line and make his payment at no cost to him over the phone. If he needs assistance, he can call Customer Service at [redacted] (the same number as the automated line) and speak with a Bank representative who can assist him with his payment. He can also mail a check to the Bank or visit a branch and make his payment there. Or, he can make his payments via his bank's Online Banking Billpay service. We are sorry that our Online Banking system cannot be made available to him since his account is closed.