Ing Now sucks

[SimpleMind]

Up till a few days ago, I really enjoyed ING Direct. They offered attractive Savings Accounts. Excellent Customer Service. I've been with ING Direct almost since they started. I recommended them to friends, and praised them on the internet.

About 6 months ago, I was offered an Electronic Orange account. I thought the account was really nice. I used it quite a bit and there were a lot of local ATM's in the area.

A few days ago, I got an e-mail saying my Checking account with ING Direct is being closed because of low credit score. I never abused this account, and as far as I know the account was in very good standing..

They used to advertise they were different than a branch bank. The last 6 months the rates on accounts have not been competitive. There were other things. ING no longer had 24 hour telephone Customer Service. But the closing of my account is the last draw. They are pulling the same crap as the local branch banks.

My question is.. Is ING required by law to give me a written notice with a date the account will be closed? All I got so far was an e-mailed notice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on your credit score, which was provided by a consumer-reporting
agency, we have decided to close your account. We have reduced your
Overdraft Line of Credit to zero ($0). We feel this action is in your best
interest as well as ours.

Because we want to make sure you have time to manage the transition of
your account, we will leave the deposit portion of your account open for
the next 30 days. Please use that time to:

Change any direct deposits you currently have scheduled for your Electric
Orange.
Update any bill payments that are currently set up for your Electric
Orange.

Repay any outstanding balance you might have on the Overdraft Line of
Credit.
Allow any pending transactions to clear.
After 30 days, you will not be able to use your Electric Orange - it will
be restricted from all account activity. This means you will not be able
to transfer funds in to or out of your Electric Orange or use your
MasterCardR debit card.

Any account balance plus any interest earned on your Electric Orange will
be transferred back to your external, linked checking account five
business days later. However, if we know of transactions that have not
cleared within those five days, we will wait to transfer funds until those
transactions have been processed.

Please keep in mind, that while information from a consumer-reporting
agency in whole or in part influenced our decision, the reporting agency
did not make this decision and cannot provide information about it.
However, if you have any specific questions regarding your credit report,
you can contact that agency directly using the following information:

Equifax
Consumer Services
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

 

[efflandt]

It doesn't really matter if you have had any credit problems with specifically. Apparently they became aware of something else on your credit reports that raised a red flag. You might want to check your free credit reports to see if there is something you are unaware of or if your identity is being stolen.

Banks, and especially credit cards, have policies where they can take action based on anything in your credit reports, even if you have had no issues with them. They are just trying to protect their backsides if you have signs of other potential problems.

 

[Zigner]

As for notification...I'm sure that when you signed up for the "electronic" account, you also agreed that notifications would be provided "electronically".

 

[brybert]

Well..fair? No..but I don't expect fair.

Hi!
I, too, got a letter today. From what I have read elsewhere..this action is sad. It did not matter if you handled the credit line properly or not..if your credit score was low..Bye-bye.

I think some clarification is needed here..this was no ordinary "overdraft protection" as it was called. It was a open line of credit..that was a bit odd. First..when they granted it..they did not pull a credit report. Unlike the small $165 I was granted..many were given $1K or more. Even odder..they did not report it to any of the bureaus. Hence..if you managed it properly in the hope of putting a positve line on your credit reports..forget it.

This account did not..could not have...normal paper checks for you to write. This credit line was accessable not only online..but through a debit card as well...therefore making it easy to access. You could direct them to mail paper checks..but that was not without serious problems as I discovered. No minimum payments either...and I think they woke up and realiszed this could be a very, very serious problem. I highly suspect many people will not be able as I am to pay the balance in the next thirty days.

I think some suits are going to lose their jobs over this..and a very large writedown will be taken for the stockholders to digest. What a bizarre situation indeed...reminds me of the providian debacle many years ago..giving $1k lines anybody that asked for it.

Truly bizarre.

I am sorry you feel like you are the victim in this..but they were well within their rights to do as they did. In fact..when you signed up for this account..it's in there..the agreement.

 

[brybert]

Well well. Guess who got a letter from Jim Kelly today?

Hi!
You thought it was bizarre before? I just got a email from ING's Jim Kelly telling me everything is fine and the account will not be closed after all.

I wonder how many others got a apology today as well?

It was easy to find this thread with Google..hopefully others will find it as well..and followup.

Bryon
Financial Consultant

<giggle>

 

[moburkes]

What's bizarre is your confusing story and your lack of proper punctuation which aids the reader in understading your post. And, your propensity to talk back to yourself.

 

[kevinm07]

I just went through this same exact scenario. Unfortunately for me I was using this account for direct deposit (for 2/3 of my pay) and they closed me on the 14th and my direct deposit bounced back on the 15th and now I get an email yesterday (the 16th) that my account is re-opened. Oh and it was from Jim Kelly....

"On behalf of my colleagues at ING DIRECT, I wish to sincerely apologize for the email you received regarding the closure of your Electric Orange. Your checking account will not be closed as indicated in the email correspondence. Also, your overdraft line of credit will be active within 48 hours. You are a valued Customer and we encourage you to continue to use this account. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience this mistake may have caused you.

If you have any questions, give us a call at
1-888-464-0727.

Jim Kelly
Chief Operating Officer
ING DIRECT"

This has actually caused finanical hardship for me until I get my paycheck. I love using ING's bill pay system. Too bad I'm going to be looking for another bank. I can't have these kind of "mistakes" occur. I don't even know why they bothered re opening it. Granted my credit score is shockingly low (due to my own mistakes), but if they are going to do credit checks they should do them at the time you are opening the account. I read someone on ING's site before applying that they would not check my credit for the ODP line of credit. I would not be surprised to see a lawsuit of some sort resulting from this. Just the mental state this has caused me to be in probably shortened my life in some way. I have no intention to continue my banking relationship with ING because obviously they don't know what they are doing.

The sad thing is I actually work for a bank myself and when I call ING I am shocked at their lack of knowledge on even the simple things (they didn't even know what ACH was and I had to explain the difference between a direct deposit and the bank to bank funds transfer that they are so used to)....

Good luck,

Kevin McClellan

p.s. this is my first post ever on here...

Hi!
You thought it was bizarre before? I just got a email from ING's Jim Kelly telling me everything is fine and the account will not be closed after all.

I wonder how many others got a apology today as well?

It was easy to find this thread with Google..hopefully others will find it as well..and followup.

Bryon
Financial Consultant

<giggle>

 

[kevinm07]

Actually I could care less if they close the line of credit. I knew going in that my credit score was not good.

Here is a solution I think they should consider. Close the line of credit portion, move it away from the checking account and allow us to make payments on it for 90 days to pay it off while still having access to the checking account. If they prefer not to offer a checking without the line of credit I don't mind them closing my account either.

The right thing to do in this situation would have been for them to provide advanced notice and offer what I said in my last paragraph.

As soon as my line of credit is paid off I'm just going to leave ING. Like I said before this kind of mistake in the banking industry is not acceptable and from what I understand does have legal implications (which I am looking into now by the way)....

I think by them reopening accounts they are trying to avoid being sued. I'm sure they will close them again but hopefully they will do it right the next time.

I am sorry you feel like you are the victim in this..but they were well within their rights to do as they did. In fact..when you signed up for this account..it's in there..the agreement.

 

[moburkes]

It may have simply been a HUGE mistake, and they are correcting it.

 

[SimpleMind]

Mine is still closed..

Not a mistake, my EO account is closed. it will remain closed because of my credit score.

I have the Old Terms of the account...

Here's what they said...
Are you sure you don’t pull my credit to get the Overdraft Line of Credit?
Yes – positive. We do not check or ‘ding’ your credit. The standard $1,000 line does not even show up on your credit report, unless of course you don’t pay us back.

I have the new terms of the account. Here's what they said.

Do you pull my credit if I apply for Electric Orange and the Overdraft Line of Credit?
Yes. As part of your application, ING DIRECT will obtain information about you from a consumer credit reporting agency (a “hard pull”) to confirm that you are eligible for Electric Orange.

I am not happy about this. I already went to another bank. But.. I do have a problem with the terms being changed to do a "hard pull". They told us there will be no credit check. Now all of a sudden the terms were changed to do a hard pull. I think any finanical institution needs the account holder's permission to do a soft or hard pull at anytime. I suppose ING has the right to change the terms with little or no notice and probably if you have an account they now have the right to do a "hard pull" at any time.

 

[moburkes]

If you already have an open account with a bank, opening another account counts as a soft hit, not a hard hit. The initial account opening inquiry counts as a hard hit.

 

[muohio]

Same thing here

I also received an email last week from ING letting me know that my EO "over-draft" protection" (aka credit card in disguise) was being reduced from $ 1000 to $ 25! Fortunately I never used it anyways or I would have been pretty mad. I checked my credit score and it's fine... no problems. I've been with ING since 2004, but after this I removed all my money and will be closing the account shortly.

My legal question is: Who can I contact regarding this shaddy business practice. I know they probably cover their butts in both their Terms of Use statement, and in the account agreement, but state law makers should still have the power to legislate against it.

Muohio

 

[hermes202]

Steer clear of ING Direct

I am concerned about ING Direct's shady business practice as well. I was recently denied opening an Electric Orange checking account with the explanation that my credit score was too low after a "hard pull" of my credit report. My suspicion is that this is arbitrary. My credit score is decent, and I make well over $175,000 annually. Requests for clarification (specifically what constitutes a 'low credit score' in their eyes) yield only the generic reply:

We received your email and wanted to follow up with you regarding your Electric
Orange application. According to our records, a technical error occurred
causing your Electric Orange application to be declined. Please accept our
apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please know that we are
working diligently to find the root cause of the problem and a resolution. Rest
assured, we will contact you when the issue has been resolved. We appreciate
your patience in this matter. If you have any other questions or concerns,
please don't hesitate to follow up with us.

According to ING, "The Overdraft Line of Credit (OLOC) is a necessary feature of our electronic checking account and it's not possible to have one without the other. Because you are ineligible for the Overdraft Line of Credit, you cannot open Electric Orange." Clearly, the OLOC (Overdraft Line Of Credit) is being leveraged as a tool to shut down (or in my case, not open) accounts that ING feels are "not worthy", which is assumed to be arbitrarily defined, as they have been unwilling to define their criteria upon request.

This is not an unusual practice for ING. Admittedly, ING picks and chooses their clients based on how much "maintenance" they require. From CCN Money Oct 3, 2005: "We fire our customers is a colorful way of putting it," said ING Direct's Arkadi Kuhlmann. "While the banking business says the customer is always right, we're online guys and you can only do business with us in a certain way." He added that it just isn't cost effective to maintain high maintenance customers that need more personalized attention.

My dealings over the telephone with representatives has echoed the CEO's directive. The representatives have been very rude and extremely unhelpful, suggesting that I email my questions to mailboxes that generate nothing more than automated replies.

My advice is to steer clear of this bank! Do not encourage such business practice by giving them your money.

 

[moburkes]

What does your income have to do with your credt score?

 

[ecmst12]

Isn't income vs. debt and/or income vs. available credit used in calculating credit scores?