Suntrust charged me today massive charges bounced items that did not need to be bounced - charged me $36 for 5 and 6 dollar charges that had cleared view web page - when I went to the centerville branch none of the managers even cared or would help - Kamm Begga (branch manager) gave me the complete brush off - when I asked for the next level up-she said there wasnt one - her assist manager Eron Norris was no better - went to 2 other branches basically begging for help - no one care nor wanted to help me - $ 400 in bounce fees for $125 in charges - crazy !! and all unnecessary - this is a shame that this bank ( which I was with for 15 year !) would treat someone so bad in a recession - when I had money a few years back they were all over me, but now that I have none they dont care one hoot. There needs to be some type of action taking against them for this. I am a single dad and live check to check yet they decided yo charge me $400 in fees for 10 $6, 7, 10 charges that again - had cleared via the web page on my acct login. how do I escalate this to national level and make America aware of these type of practices by suntrust?

BEEN WITH SUNTRUST 10 YEARS HAD DEBIT TRANS ACTIONES HELD OUT . HAD OVERDRAFT FEES ADD ON PAYED THEM UP. NEXT DAY CHECK MY ACC 25 DOLLER EXTENED OVER FEE ADD TALK TO THE BANK SAID IT IS A FEE FOR WAINTIN G A COUPLE OF DAYES TO BRING CURRENT. WENT CLOSED MY ACCOUNT WOULD NOT RECOMEND SUNTRUST TO NO ONE . THE BIGGEST RIP BANK EVER SEEN. HAVE HAD AS MUCH AS THOUSANDS IN THERE AND AS LITTLE AS HUNDRED DOES NOT MATTER TO THES ASSES

I called and asked if I could place a stop payment on a check that I created via Suntrust's Bill Pay -- after I gave the young lady that took my call the details, she asked me to hold on while she checked. I was on extended hold for over 15 minutes. Once she returned she told me that she verified that I could place a stop payment and asked me who did I make the check payable to, the amount and the check number -- I gave her the information and told her that bill pay does not provide check numbers. She read me the disclosure and I acknowledged that I understood.

The following day (Saturday) the check which was for $2500 processed through my account and all of the small checks that processed afterwards were returned with a fee of $360. I called the bank on Saturday to see why wasn't the check stopped and the customer service representative told me that the check amount was $0 and the check number was 2500.

At the end of all of this, I was told that it was nothing they could do -- no reversal of charges, only that they read me the discolsure that said that if the check was processing that it might get paid -- no am I stupid or what...how in the hell could the system stop payment on a check that they could not identify? Suntrust is extremely devious with regard to their overdraft fees and will do whatever is necessary to take your money.

I advice anyone out there looking for a bank to pass by Suntrust...they have NO committment to providing excellent customer care nor holding themselves responsible for mistakes that they make -- especially when they can reap the benefits.

Vicki

I open a checking account online. make the opening deposit in a branch and believe everything is fine. A week later I try to check my balance over the phone and im sent directly to a CS rep who tells me suntrust has closed my account and will send me the remaining balance by check in the mail in 7 to 10 days. 10 days pass and no check. I call and the CS rep says he doesnt know how long exactly it will take. He says that the account has been closed (cant tell me why) and the funds have been moved to an account that holds the all the funds of accounts closing with suntrust. I mean i really don't know what to do or say at this point. You have my money, give me my money..

***ALERT: HIGHLY ENTERTAINING WHISTLE BLOWER BLOG***

These bozos are the absolute worst. It makes me upset to see so many stories with the same theme, "NSF" fees and lack of customer support. I am absolutely removing all their money from their account, oops I mean my money from my account as soon as I am able to.

And to think I use to work for these rat b@st@rds.

Yes, I was the guy behind the counter processing checks and providing you, the valued customer, with the infamous Suntrust Customer Service smile. Right. I stopped smiling once I started attending the Financial Service Rep meetings I was forced to attend. I can tell you firsthand that you, the valued Suntrust Customer, are not so valued after all, and that in fact this company is out to fleece you at any which way they can. Does not matter whether you have millions of dollars and several accounts or are struggling to make $10 a week.

These were low level meetings that occurred during the initial days of the real estate bubble bust and it was obvious from the start that you, the valued Suntrust Customer, were going to pay high and tight for the fact that their stock worth had gone down. I can only imagine that the high level meetings were more cut throat and disgustingly greedy.

Lets start with the infamous NSF fees.

Each branch is allocated to a regional manager who is more or less in charge of "bringing home the bacon". These regional managers are the "capos" of the organization. They are the ones that order the hits but don't get their hands dirty. It is up the discretion of the regional manager whether or not NSF fees are refunded. The misconception is that bank managers hold that power. This is true but if a manager starts to refund too many NSF fees, a report is printed out. This report goes out to the hired goons of the regional manager, or floating managers as they are sometimes called. They in turn inform the regional manager who in turn issues the order that no more refunds are to be issued out for that particular branch. Refunds are only to be issued out when it is a bank error. Bank errors at Suntrust occur less than .01% of the time so figure out your odds. On the other side of the coin, if a branch does not issue out any refunds or very little of them, the manager gets rewarded and their branch receives some sort of accolade from the regional manager.

A note on RM's: Their power extends beyond NSF fees (of course). They are the dogs on leashes for the executives and hundreds of Bank Vice Presidents. As their power is to carry out the wishes of the executives, the RM's have alot of power. So much in fact that most succumb to their own egos and power trips. Perhaps these people were once decent human beings but its hard to tell since they are so submerged in their own cult of personality. This is not a hyperbole. Perhaps it is because I was at the whipping end of RM's that my attitude is so negative on them but I am sure I am portraying an accurate description of most of them. These people act like they own the many branches they are responsible for without recognizing that they are tools. Tools for the six-figure making execs above them.

The high-end clients rarely get to see NSF fees but they get what is called "out of bracket" fees. If their account falls below say, $100, 000 dollars then they get charged a fee for not being in the "correct" account because they fail to maintain the minimum for that account. My experience with those clients always resulted in weeks and weeks of negotiations between manager (who assumes responsibility since the client is beneficial to the bank) and RM. Most of these clients are retained by the bank but not after a lengthy period of negotiations whether or not to refund hundreds of dollars worth of fees accumulated over months. I have had the pleasure to experience one fed up customer with over $200, 000 in their account simply remove all their money and move to another bank because of Suntrust's manipulative ways.

I wish I could fill in more info on their mortgage, equity line and credit card scams but unfortunately the extent of my knowledge is limited since most FSR's that work with the client are kept out of the loop of whatever underhand schemes go on in those departments. I am sure we were kept uninformed or informed as little as possible for a reason. Our job was to simply push these products on to you like chocolate covered golden eggs that offered some sort of financial benefit to you, the valued Suntrust customer. The only beneficiaries are the bank execs. I only made $15-$30 commission on approved loans or equity lines which I would never see since I had a $150 thresh-hold to meet and then I would take home anything over that. If my recollection is correct I believe new accounts were worth according to the size of the initial deposit but never exceeded more than $5 and debit cards were worth $1. A lot of times I found myself offering debit cards to people who couldn't manage to tie the buttons on their shirt properly but Suntrust loved it because these are the same valued Suntrust Customers that will collect NSF fees and thus, well you get the idea. If you ever wonder why FSR's are so pushy and chatty it is for this reason. They want to push as many products on to you as possible so that they can take home an extra $30 at the end of the month. Very sad.

I could go on and give you examples and stories but will limit it to this final bit of information. There is a particularly sneaky NSF fee which is called a UAF charge. Please, if you still have a Suntrust account ask the FSR to describe exactly what this charge is. I guarantee you will not get a clear answer because I do not think they can provide you with one. It is so sneaky and underhanded that explaining it requires a doctorate in economics. Understanding it requires a degree in linguistics. As an FSR I got so tired of trying to explain this to the poor slob trying to make ends meet that I just refunded any UAF fees that I saw. Without my manager or RM's approval. It is basically Suntrust way of saying, "We can do whatever we want with our money".

EPILOGUE: I worked for Suntrust for nearly 2 years as an FSR. I never rose beyond FSR level 2 or 3, not because I couldn't but wouldn't. I did not want to be a sleazy bank guy and never bought into their brainwashing meetings. I was finally let go last year under new bank management for being 5 minutes late to another god-awful phone conference between branch managers and the RM. The then acting manager did not have the required testicular fortitude to fire me on the spot but instead called the RM to terminate me at the end of my 10 hour shift. She in turn threated me not to file for unemployment as the bank would do everything possible for me not to receive any benefits. Two months later I was receiving my benefits after the unemployment commission deemed my termination, "unfair". Today they charged me an additional $36 as an extended overdraft fee on an account that I had overdrafted on, I brought up my account to the positive on exactly the seventh day after it went negative. I could not do it earlier because of the Easter holiday and delayed pay. It did not matter to these bozos. Even after my account went to the positive they charged me again with another fee. They failed to see my side of the story. I fail to see why they still have customers. I have been silent for too long and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. If only one person pulls their money from their account after reading this it will be enough to make me happy. Unfortunately, it won't be enough to shut this bank down for good.