Associated Bank
Reviews and Complaints

I have listed my complaint under silverado02. I have printed a form from "the Comptroller of the currency" administrator of national banks. The banking commission does not handle associated. They have a website you can file a complaint, whether on line, fax, or mail. I am doing it. I hope everyone does the same, as this crooked bank should get investigated. I know other people they have scammed too. A real double sided set of rules-they make as they go along. Good luck.

I bank at Associated but not for long. I went there to withdraw money and my balance was off so I talked to a banker and even though they said my checkbook was correct and everything on my account in the computer was correct, I was still short $40 and had not used my debit so nothing else was going to come through. I said since everything seems to be up to date, can you refund me the $40 because it was obviously a bank error. The REGIONAL MANAGER says "Well, I just don't have slush fund I can give you money out of" in a sarcastic manner. I said "Well, I can't have my money dissappearing for no appearent reason. You just lost a customer" This was AFTER a few days before when they made a "bank error" of subtracting $100 from my account. Had I not noticed, i'd have been out $140 because of "bank error". I'm aware that people make mistakes, but consistently and frequently making them especially in a profession that they've been educated for and that deals with people's money is not acceptable. I did try to solve the problem by compromising and waiting it out and talking to various bankers and the problem was not resolved so it would be crazy for me to stay at Associated when there has been a consistent history of error with my money.

Associated Bank posts debits from largest to smallest on a certain day. So, if you had $200 in your account on Monday, and you spent $5, $15, $25, $40, $10, and $175 on Tuesday in that order, the bank

would post the items at the end of the day in order from largest to smallest. $175, $40, $25, $15,

$10, and $5. Then, they assess NSFs based on that so you would get charged for 3 NSFs instead of 1.

WHAT A RIPOFF!

I took out a vacant land loan with Associated Bank. Every year I get 1 payment book and one tax form per year. No statements. When I paid a large sum to be applied straight to principal, there was no way to verify that it truly was...again because I do not receive a statement. I had to request one (at a cost) to make sure they are correctly crediting my account. When the online banking is accessed it has a transaction download which does nothing and a e-statement tab which displays nothing. What is the bank hiding? Chase has online statements for free. Once this loan is paid off (which of I have no idea when since there isn't a statement), I will never bank there again.

Michael and Liam,

I can completely relate to both of you. I have had nothing but challenges when working with Associated Bank. Dont you love that one overdraft fee that turns to 6 and 9 causing all deposits to be made to the bank! And the manipulation of when items are withdrawn from accounts - gotta love it!

In fact the only reason I've continued banking with them is my lack of desire in stopping all of my auto deposits and withdrawals. WHAT A MISTAKE.

What I am looking for now is other people who have experienced issues with the bank.

If you have any insight or ideas, I'd greatly appreciate them.

Brenda

I have had an account with associated bank for quite some time now and I feel they manipulate transactions on an individual's account when they see the chance to do so. Today, I found that I had three overdrafts on my account because they cashed a check that I had sent them for a car payment on the very same day they received it. Because of that, the next three transactions all overdrew my account. Why is it that I can go to the bank with a check and have to wait unitl the next business day to get the money, but they can cash a check and get the money the very same day? I did not authorize any type of transfer. Also, as of 3am this morning I had a positive balance already in there after the three transactions had already gone through and there was no cashing of the check I gave them. Now today all of a sudden, it shows they cashed the check yesterday (which never showed up) and then overdrew my account with three transactions that were already on my account the previous day. Something isn't right and will probably be closing my account with them also. I have had with them.

Dear Liam,
I can certainly see and understand your frustration about the encoding errors that happened to your account, more than once.
Unfortunately (or sometimes not so much), in spite of all the technology and use of computers, a big amount of processes are done by real people. Real people, like you and me, make mistakes.
Of course no one likes to be in a situation which is the result of someone else's mistake, but it happens. To all of us. And we have all been there: a victim or the reason for someone to be a victim.

The lack of empathy of the bank employee is sad, not to mention unprofessional. But you can't judge them for that. It sounds like what needed to be done was done: a mistake was made and the mistake was fixed.

The overdraft fees are a whole different story. As a general rule of thumb: a checking account is a deposit account. You spend money you have on deposit. Whether you write a check or use your card, you use the money you have at that moment. If you don't have it right that moment and until that transaction clears your account, then it is no longer your money, it is the banks money. And since you had opened a checking account, not a loan, the bank is penalizing you.
You had a good point about the courtesy reversal. I would have suggested you go back to your personal banker (the person who opened your account) or the person who helped you the first time, instead of calling a call center and deal over the phone with someone who is not familiar with such a particular situation.

My advice to you would be to try and solve this issue instead of walking away from it, even if it means paying the negative balance. The bank will not sue you. Not for this amount. They will write it off. What will happen to you however is, you will have a Chex record files, which will stay out there for 7 years and will haunt you like a ghost. Almost any bank (at least any respectable bank) you go into afterwards and try to open a checking account will refuse, due to the negative Chex record.

In addition, I can not help but comment on your comment about the friend's debited account. From your words, it sounds like you are implying that the bank took money from your friend's account to compensate your negative balance. If this is really what you were trying to say, I can assure you that this is impossible.
Maybe the friend happened to incur overdraft fees because of an error?

It is sad that you had such an unpleasant and costly experience.
The obviously did not performed in a perfect manner, however, I honestly think that you shouldn't blame the particular brand...this same scenario would have happened at any other bank.

Just something to think about...
Good luck with your next financial institution!