Eric Amaral

@CitizensBank you also didn't provide me with a wriiten reason for the hold as required by the relevant statute (the receipt only says there is a hold) so I have no ability to dispute the hold in a timely manner. Now you can explain yourselves to our friends at the @USOCC !

As a former employee I hate to do this, but @CitizensBank customer service is atrocious and no one should bank with them. I spend most of the day in the branch and on the phone with the contact center and not one person made even a minimal attempt to help resolve my issue.

So @CitizensBank, you didnt help me out with my issue (a hold on a cash equivalent), show even a basic level of concern that your hold was going to cause me an issue with party I need to pay, or provide me with any option to address the fact that I was twice given false info.

Oh and @CitizensBank AI chat bot who wanted me to DM them to resolve this issue?? As useless as the call center... they are sorry but can't help.

So to recap: 1.) The branch manager can't help. Call the Contact Center. 2.) Contact Center staff can't help, wait... it's a systems thing, it will resolve itself shortly. 3.) Contact Center supervisor can't help, won't transfer me to someone who can, puts me on hold and hangs up

10 minutes more of hold music and , click.... the call disconnects!! @CitizensBank your "Contact Center Supervisor" disconnected the call rather than help me. Classy.

"I'm not authorized to transfer you to anyone else. I am a supervisor. Who did you speak with earlier?" My guy, you tell me!! It is in the notes on my account! @CitizensBank is this really happening? "OK, let me contact her. May I put you on a brief hold...?" Sure, why not?

"I'm not going to do that now. I can put in a ticket and..." Enough is enough at this point. @CitizensBank Contact Center totally misinformed me earlier in the day and now is refusing to even listen to the call to hear what I was told. I ask to be transferred to his supervisor.

Good news Contact Center friend! All the calls are recorded and associated to my account, so we have a solution. I ask him to.put me on hold and listen to the call. "I can not go listen to that call" Wait, you are a supervisor and you can't pull up the call to see what was said?

Frustration now sets in. Ok, well you are a supervisor, can you explain why one of your colleagues told me at 12:30 that it was an automatic hold that would be lifted in 3 hours? "I wasn't on that call, I don't know what you were told."

@CitizensBank, customer service at its finest! So I try a different approach. OK, I understand you can't assist me, but someone at the bank can. Can you please transfer me to a supervisor? Guess what, I was already talking to a supervisor!! Who could have seen that coming!

I explain, again, the branch said they couldn't help and, besides, now they are closed and this needs to be resolved today! "I'm very sorry to hear, as I said, I can not help resolve this issue in the Contact Center " Oh, good, the only two options I have can't/won't help.

10 minute hokd this time. I MUST FINALLY BE GETTING AN ANSWER! Click back... "So here is the information I have for you. Because the hold was placed by the teller I can not assist you in removing it." Ahhh... spent 10 minutes finding the correct @CitizensBank authorized script.

Contact Center, round 2. I take a deep breath and calmly explain the situation to rep #2 (still no name, tough to understand the first 30 seconds of the call). I just need to speak with someone authorized to actually resolve. "I see... let me put you on a brief hold to research"

@CitizensBank guess what?? The three hour hold that would be automatically removed??? Not true. Not true at all. So now it is 3:30. Branch will be closed before I can get back. Excellent. Well, let's try the Contact Center again, they were so helpful the last time!

And wait 3 hours from when I depositedthe check, as instructed.

Are you sure? The receipt said it would be released Thuraday, and the teller said the same. "Yes! Absolutely! It will come off automatically after 3 hours". OK, seems odd but maybe that is how it works now. After another round of assurances that we were good, we end the call.

Terrible hold music, BTW. Finally, she clicks back! "Good news! The hold is placed by the system on all cashier's checks and will be automatically removed in three hours." Ummm... what? I spent 20 years in financial services and almost 5 at @CitizensBank . I know this isn't true

At first, she told me the hold was put on the account by the teller, so she couldn't help me. I let her know Sean at the branch said HE couldn't help me, either. "Let me put you on a brief 3-4 minute hold while I research the issue." OK, fair, look into it an get an answer.

I leave, head back to my shop and call the Contact Center. If your never had the opportunity to call the @CitizensBank contact center don't bother, maybe stick a pencil in your eye instead, it would be less painful. I didn't catch the name of the rep that answered.

I explain that I understand Sean might not have the authority to remove the hold, but someone at Citizens could, so can he help my identify that person? "You can try the Contact Center?" - Sean. I am having a major issue with my account... thanks for the effort Sean.