Fifth Third Bank / 53.com
Reviews and Complaints

I have waited in line for more than 40 minutes so many times I can’t count, just to deposit money at our local 5/3. I can be the first to drive up in the drive thru but the last one to be waited on. They merged two branches in to one to become more efficient but very often there are just two tellers to wait on three drive thru lanes and two inside windows. The people who work here are very nice and I like 5/3 otherwise, but this constant waiting to get customer service has me seriously considering finding another bank. It’s very frustrating. I’ve been very patient hoping it was just a “short of help” situation but this has been going on since the merge a few years ago. So not only do I have to drive farther every week to get to the new branch, but I have to wait more than twice as long to get waited on. You need more tellers to help. 40-45 minutes waiting to cash my check is way too long.

Our monthly Fifth Third mortgage payment increased by $215 a month this year. This can be devastating for seniors on fixed income. The puzzling thing about this is that the increase is based on "Estimated" taxes for the coming year. Fifth Third justifies this increase by telling customers that they must maintain a "cushion" in their escrow accounts just in case next year's taxes are more that "they" project. This has happened to us before. However, the question is this: if their projection for the year turns out to be less than what they "estimated", do customers get a refund?

In November these fine and talented individuals at 53rd raised my monthly mortgage payment to account for a shortage of funds in the escrow account in an effort to not raise the monthly payment for my Mom and her family we found a better insurance policy which was paid in full from my personal account. The escrow account was refunded with money from my personal account again. When the evaluation was requested i was assured the process whould take 7-10 days and I would have the evaluation completed. However going into the third month of waiting on one of the 19,793 employees they boost of, not one of them has been able to tell me what if anything is being done with this evaluation. Didn't take long to raise the monthly!

My name is John Hyde h y d e in my account number is [protected]. And so reason being for this is over the holiday weekend I got scammed and frauded in which that matter was resolved. However over the New Year weekend since it was a three-day holiday I had light stream finance deposit some money into my account for a loan. And since their policy requires them to withdraw it after 48 hours if no one claims it they went to withdrawal and you guys called it fraud. You froze my account up and I have no way of getting my assets as well as you sent me a card in the mail today my new debit card in which I have no access to. This is the worst banking experience I have ever had and I don't think I will refer you guys to anyone. As of nothing of my fault that I did to make this happen. I would appreciate it if you guys would resolve this matter and unfreeze my account even my mobile banking app because I have money in that bank. If not I will give you a poor rating and I will never refer you to anybody. It is not my fault that the finance company withdrew their money because of their policy and your policy sucks. Please help me resolve this matter and if not give me my money back

5/3 bank bough our mortgage over and unfortunately, we had no say. We bought our house 4 years ago and never had any issues with our mortgage, as soon as this "company" bought us out all our issues with payments began. The holds on the phone are hours, the reps barely speak any English, no one knows what going on. They deduct money from our account and harass us daily that we need to pay our mortgage, we try to call and let them know they deducted for this month they say we see the money but don't know how to apply it to your mortgage, i have never seen anything like this in my life. They took down our account number wrong and didn't apply an escrow payment to our account which we made. My husband called several times to create an online portal, and no one can help, and they don't understand why he can't log in, so we need to call every month to make a payment which takes hours. I do not have enough words for this company, I have no idea how they are in business, i don't know how to get resold to get out of this mortgage company, they make our life a living hell. Every beginning of the month we get anxiety. My husband called there several times to complain to a manager or supervisor the Habibis on the phone say there is no managers or supervisors, this company is a joke would never recommend to anyone.

I have no idea about the date, but whenever their mobile app was updated it went to crap. It does not say exactly what date the money is taken out and where it is going, where it was spent. It use to come out right away and now it takes a day or so to update, which has caused a couple problems for several people I know. This new updated app is terrible! At least if an app is going to be updated, make it better and easier to follow. There are no dates for anything! It is very frustrating. Also, this happened today (Jan. 18, 2023) to my boyfriend; he has been paying off the advance he had gotten every two weeks. Every payday he pays a certain amount to get it paid off. Today without permission they had taken all of his money from a different account to pay towards the advance that he just made a payment on! They had NO permission to touch that other account and yet they pulled all his money out of that account to pay towards another account. That should be illegal! If you do do not have permission to take anything out of another account, don't do it! We will both be looking for another bank. This bank, along with their mobile app has gone downhill and is turning into scam artists and thieves, very unacceptable. They should be ashamed of themselves.

For 1 1/2 years the bank charged me for flood insurance. I called the bank upon notice and explained the fact that evidently, a survey was never done when the mortgage was opened some 20+ years ago and that why now is there a charge. I completed the survey in nov 2022. The bank (insurance dept) told me that when I showed the survey was taken and my home was above flood stage, I would be refunded my money. Because I was told I would get my money back, I waited to get survey completed. (27 yrs at my home and never even had standing water in my yard). Upon the bank recognizing the survey, they never refunded my money. I recieved a letter from tyler justice at 5/3rd bank office of the president. I called tyler more than 6 times and left messages at513-358-5637. He never called back at [protected] (cell).

Tyler never mentioned that the bank would or would not refund my money.

On Fri Dec 30, woke to find an email that there was unusual activity on my account, and to call customer service. Did so. After verifying recent charges on my account, was told the hold was released. Imagine my surprise three hours later, when I tried to pay for pizza, but alas, the debit card wouldn't work. Had little cash, and couldn't get more from the atm, because, the debit card hold. Called back late that afternoon, and the customer service agent passed me off to fraud department. Will (may have been Bill, I was a little angry...) was able to calmly explain why the hold happened to begin with (holidays, charges to specific merchants that can sometimes be flagged, etc.). He went on to say that the hold I was told had been released, had in fact NOT been. And then he removed the hold.

So glad to be able to use the account and actually spend my money. But wait, there's more!

A few days later (Jan 3), jumped online to set up some bill payments. Couldn't access my account through a web browser. Directed me to the previously unhelpful customer service #, so instead, I cleared cache, and then tried a different browser as well. Neither worked. Next, I sent a chat through the mobile app, and was advised to wait 'at least 24 hours' before trying to access my account on a web browser. Four days later, well outside the window, I tried to access my account using a web browser. Guess what? Didn't work. Same message.

Called (unhelpful) customer support yet again, on Jan 9. First, was told there was no indication of a problem with accessing my account using a web browser. Next, was told to clear cache (done, repeatedly), and try a different browser (also done, repeatedly). And finally, told to wait a day and try again. So today, two days later, I tried to access my account on the web.

To my surprise and delight, it still won't allow access. So, after what feels like a lil more hassle than what is reasonable, I am left to pursue other avenues, in the slightest of chances SOMEONE at Fifth Third, where we're a "Fifth Third Better," might actually FIX THE PROBLEM.

Working for a financial institution myself, we go above and beyond for our members.

This company has stated a title was mailed out to us after pay off as of 11/11/22 when the phyical title wasnt even issued until 11/21/22 per the state of alabama.

They released a lien satisfaction so that our company can pay the duplicate title fee when they are the ones who have "lost" this.

After speaking to a young man who started off very pleasant, he turned out to be absolutley no help.

Again, how can you send out a title before its even printed/issued.

I wouldnt work with such a huge company because they dont care to help you as a customer.

"Hello ,My name is Dwight Cash. I have been banking with 5th 3rd Bank for about 6 months now. . Recently I have had the worst banking experience you can have. I went into the branch on Som Center rd in Willoughby Hills Ohio, and was trying to deposit some comdata checks into my business account. The teller and manager had no clue as to what to do or the process of depositing these checks. Eventhough, I told them the process(they Didn’t believe me) Tricia, under The manager Wendy's order re authorized my checks after I told them the authorization was already done. I also had told them to Call Joe, or Joy, or Aaron down at the 185th branch in Cleveland, Ohio. But they refused. So I had asked for my checks back and told them they would mess my account up and they disregared that. Now this has been going on for 5 days as of December 19, 2022. And now the fraud department is trying to close my account because of the tellers inability to do their job. Now I have nearly 30k on hold for no reason. I deposit these checks all the time. And not one has ever come back bad. I found out at the gas station trying to gas my trucks up for my drivers. So embarrassing. Im being penalized thousands daily because i dont have the cash on hand to fill all my trucks up. This is going to ruin my kids Christmas. My 13 yr old son and his mom were supposed to come visit for a few weeks over the holidays, but now I can't even send his mom the money because 5th 3rd bank has the money on hold. And I did absolutely nothing wrong or different than usual but go to a branch where my kind does not frequent often. I felt the tension and was so uncomfortable the last time I went in there when the manager Robert was hovering over me. He was really acting like he was waiting in line for a teller. Treating me like a hoodlum. Maybe it's how I dress. (Urban gear, hoodie and jeans) or maybe the color of my skin. The fact that I'm not sure is an indictment on the professionalism of this Branch. And the kicker is when I first approached the tell/manager Wendy today. I was very pleasant and respectful. The 1st thing she said to me was she was advised by the fraud department to call the police on me if I came to the branch, eventhough I told her the fraud department was who told me to come up there and get them to call and agree that the teller was responsible. But they don't want to take accountability, but I have Wendy on camera admitting it and it's on the banks camera. The see everything. Worst Banking Branch ever."

With the above review publicly posted online, this is not the first time that I have heard no have been told that Fifth Third bank has been causing a lot of problems and using the cover-up as an excuse that it is the "Fraud departments" policy to handle the situations that have been causing MANY customers to have not only filed complaints about the company but also lives that have been ruined. It is sad that despite all of this reviews that the company has been getting, it is still continuing to do the very same thing that all these customers are saying that has been occuring to them over and over again. As stated above, I actually relate VERY well to Mr. Dwight's dilemma with him being told that "this is the only thing that we can do, is to show documents and go to the bank and show proof."

As of yesterday, 12/20/22, I personally went inside the bank to do EXACTLY what the customer service has told me to do to try to fix my case, and when I left that facility, I was told that my account is "Under review"

Fifth Third Bank, listen to me very carefully. I speak for those that are not willing to speak their mind about what has been taking place for MANY YEARS it seems and even just these past few WEEKS and this MONTH.

The employees that are hired in this company has the responsibility to NOT take advantage of their position, nor play with actual client's financial lives by not doing their job.

I have already contacted and have called Customer Service multiple times about my situation and I will not stop contacting them, until they open up their minds and realize that I am not the person to try to finesse as so many clients have been going through because it has worked on them.

I expect to be answered tomorrow and all this week as I will continue to file a complaint professionally, through the website, through phone calls, and will get whoever needs to be involved for the company to not only play games and hide under "the fraud department" detection and actually do their job.

If no compliance or actual improvement is being done, action will be taken.

Sincerely,

fifth third bank customer

On December 2, 2022, I attempted to login to my online account. I entered my username and password; however, I was also required to enter a 4-digit confirmation code sent to my old phone number (had forgotten to update my phone contact info to my new phone number). My old phone number was no longer in service. I contacted a representative at [protected], and she successfully updated my contact info to reflect my new phone number. When attempting to login again, it refused access and didn't give any other options, except to call the customer service number. Ever since that day, I have been unable to access my account. No one will answer at the customer service number, or they simply hang up after answering. On December 5, I went in-person to my local branch. A personal banker attempted to help me regain online access to my account and failed. Her supervisor came in, and she also failed to find a solution. The personal banker said she would seek help and would find a solution by the end of the day. She never called me back. I called her back two days later and she stated that she had not yet found a solution. In my opinion, they simply don't care enough to help me. As a result, I will be escalating this complaint by contacting Fifth Third Corporate Headquarters in Cincinnati. If this doesn't yield results, I will then enlist the assistance of congressional staff members at the state level since I live in Ohio.

I have tried for days to log into my account through the app and website both keep telling me I have wrong log in information. I click forgot sign in and then it tells me that information is wrong which it is not. Then I try to call and it asks me for my 4 digit card pin number which I don't have because I don't have a card with the bank I only have a loan and now I'm almost a week late making a payment and will probably get charged because of it. The worst bank I have ever had to deal with! Everything single month has some sort of issue while trying to pay.

my name is Eleanor Mezzacappa my husband passed away on august 8th 2021 my name is on his account as well fifth third has been holding his social security check for over a year saying that social security has to lift the hold i have called social security numerous times and they claim they dont have a hold on my money i finally after almost a year and a half social security gave me a letter to fax to fifth third and im still waiting for them to respond im so heart broken for losing my husband and so aggravated with this bank all i want is the money put back into my account ASAP thank you

I took out a secured loan with Fifth Third over a five-year period payoff for a lower interest rate. I have large accounts in the bank. The loan proceeds were put into my money market account but the bank would not release the money. Apparently I had to pay off the loan completely before I got the proceeds of the loan. The explanation to me was it was a secured note and I could take out another loan, pay off the secured, and get an unsecured with huge interest increases. I believe it is a scam! I am not sure if my age and health were a factor. I fear this situation is being foisted on to many seniors who tried to do business with them.

The upshot of the situation is I paid off the loan in full which I was able to do then waited days for the bank to release the loan proceeds. It was a wash! The whole transaction cost me $148 in interest and I never got the funds I needed. As a long time customer I will be closing both accounts with this unethical institution. I am also reporting the situation to appropriate federal banking areas.

I had a Dobot account which I opened in 8/2020. Your bank stopped the app & indicated we could open an official account with your bank, which I did not do. In August of 2022 I tried to get the money back. It is $1027.00. After being tossed around in your automated system & unable to talk to a live person, I decided to try later. On October 12, 2022 I was able to talk to someone who indicated they, the bank, would not be able to transfer the funds back to my source bank account & would have to issue a check. She indicated I should have the check within 10 days. 10 business days would have been on 10/26. Today is 10/27 & there isn't any check. I have spent most of the day trying to talk to someone at your bank. I was told I would have to go to a branch, of which there aren't any in Georgia. There are some in Florida & I called 1. She couldn't access any notes regarding my account. She said there was a branch in Georgia & gave me the number. I talked to some very rude people in Atlanta on Peachtree street. I tried 1 last time & a nice guy told me I wasn't on a list to get a check. This seems like a fraudulent practice.

I accidentally deposited a check to my checking account through the mobile app. on October 12, 2022. Even though the check required two signatures (there was only one) and was to be deposited into my IRA account( check made out to my IRA), it was deposited anyway to my Fifth Third checking account. After numerous calls to customer service and getting different answers, I stopped into the branch. One of the advisors stated that she did not think the check would go through because it did not have the required signatures. I was concerned about errors but she said that the process was computerized and that it probably would not go through. Now I am stuck paying taxes on a check that was not properly authorized. Please advise

I have been unable to access my online account for a week. I have tried every solution offered by your company to no avail. The system does not recognize my SS NUMBER. Last year somebody hacked my accounts and stole over $700.00 from my checking account which was at my expense. I believe either my account has been hacked again or your system is screwed up. If my account has been hacked is 5/3 bank responsable for the $16,000.00 + that I have in it? When I call your published customer service numbers I get continued request for my info, told my call is being and get hung up on. Ususlly after 1 1/2 to 2 hours on hold. Today is 10/9/2022. I will wait until Tuesday 10/11/2022, and if I can't count on your help by that time, I will be closwing my accounts and opening new accounts at another bank.I run a small internet business ande have to make a payment on my credit card but can't until know that the money is in my account, and if you can't help me I will not risk overdraft charges with your bank. Will 5/3 bank responsable for fixing my credit if I can't get any help? Awaiting costomer service IF you still have it!

I need the loan payoff for my auto loan but don't have my account number. I've been on the phone with Fifth Third Bank for over 2 hours total today (10/6/22), and still nobody answers. They ask me to input my social, but if I don't have the account number I can do nothing.

My social ends in 4430, and I purchased a 2017 Subaru Outback from Kline Nissan in Maplewood, Minnesota on July 21, 2021. Kline financed my loan thru First Third Bank.

I am 80 years old. I have been blocked from using my on-line account, because of too many login attempts. Your (rude) phone representative insisted that I MUST change my password to regain access. I refused. I have the same password for ALL my online accounts, because I'm too old to remember more than one. I would have to change ALL my passwords to be able to continue using online services. Thus, I DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE MY PASSWORD. Your Customer Service needs to recognize the needs of elderly customers.

ALSO, I asked the last representative I talked to please speak more slowly. Her speech pattern was extremely fast, unlike that of most reps. I couldn't understand her, and when I could, at 80, I cannot rapidly process the terminology she used to understand. Instead of slowing down, she defended her fast speech, insisting that I was repeating what she said, so she said that I obviously understood her. No, I was GUESSING at what I thought she said. I asked to speak to her supervisor. SHE REFUSED MY REQUEST.

Please allow me to view my accounts without changing my password. Too many passwords create hardships for senior citizens.