UPDATE: ING Got Noah a new debit card.

Noah says he yanked his money out of his compromised ING Direct account after an unauthorized charge from the Middle East popped up. He reported the problem, found the CSRs unhelpful in freezing the charge to get the money back, then told them he needed his card to remain valid until he could pull out some money he needed. But when Noah tried to use an ATM, he discovered his card had been canceled.

He writes:

Although I am an avid reader of your site and know anything can happen to anyone, I fell into the “it’ll never happen to me” mind set. Well, after being with ING Direct for years, liking their quick customer service response time and actually liking the no paper check thing, I found out when it comes to real problems and issues, everyone touts the new company line, “there’s nothing we can do.”

It started with a $300+ charge showing up on my ING account from Reliance Mobile, some company based in the Middle East I believe. I have never done business with that company, have no idea how they got my bank info and charged me, and the only number I can find to ask them what’s going on is an international number. I live in the US and don’t really want to incur the high charges that would come with making such a call. (The whole Reliance Mobile thing is probably a separate issue for Consumerist!)

So, as I sat there wondering who this company was, I was comforted in the fact that I banked with ING. All other issues I have had with them were easily resolved, and I thought this encounter would be no different. Jokes on me I guess.

I first dealt with a CSR who said, “sorry, there’s nothing we can do,” until the money had actually been debited from my account. Due to the fact that it was pending and had not actually posted, which is ridiculous, they said, “there’s nothing we can do.” I then spoke with a supervisor that told me the same thing, and I soon came to realize that ING’s new company motto must be, “there’s nothing we can do.”

The only option was to cancel my debit card or my account. I told them that I didn’t want to do either because got paid the next day, and I needed access to my money. They assured me nothing would be canceled, and that as soon as the pending charge from Reliance Mobile posted, I could dispute it and they would handle the problem.

Ok ING, it was time to work and I didn’t have time for your shenanigans anymore. I planned on just withdrawing the money I needed the following day, and transferring the rest of my money into a savings account. Then about an hour later I get a call from 800-830-1925, which was a company who handled risk/fraud issues for MasterCard and ING. I call back, they ask about the charge from Reliance Mobile, and I ask if they will resolve the issue. They say no, that they just verify the charge and cancel cards if the customer wants. I told him I didn’t want my card canceled, and the issue is being handled directly with ING. They didn’t say the card was being canceled or anything like that. I ended the call and I thought that was the end of it.

Well fast forward to this afternoon. I make a transfer from my checking account with ING to my savings account, and leave just enough cash in my checking so I can stop at the ATM after work and go pay what needed to be paid. So, there I am, standing at an ATM and I get the dreaded message….”transaction not authorized.” I try again, and I get the same message. That’s where my hour and a half conversations took place with ING.

I was told my card was canceled because of the fraudulent activity I reported. I told the CSR that I had specifically told everyone under the sun that I spoke with to NOT cancel my card. Well I got the new company motto…..”there’s nothing we can do.” He didn’t know why they didn’t tell me my card was being canceled, so I asked for a supervisor. I was not surprised when I got the standard line of “there’s nothing we can do,” and they could send me a new card if I want. SO, not only did they cancel my card when I was assured it would not be, but they didn’t send me a new one right away? I mean REALLY?

After not being helped out by John the supervisor, I got transferred to Bonnie Florex, the “St. Cloud call center manager.” Same story from her about “there’s nothing we can do”, and she eventually just hung up on me. I wasn’t being nasty on the phone to anyone, I was simply just trying to figure out a way to get me the money I really needed.

I called back and spoke with a CSR who said…well you can guess…and got transferred to another supervisor. She just said the same old thing….I asked them to overnight a card to me, and they acted like I was crazy. It simply ended with her telling me the card would be sent tomorrow, regular mail, not expedited, just plain old regular mail. Gee, thanks a lot, I will just search the couch for some spare change I guess!

I was really surprised that ING, the company that is so highly regarded for their customer service, wouldn’t do anything to help me out, and canceled my card without telling me. If they would have simply told me on the very first call that my card was going to be canceled, I would have had time to figure something out regarding my important thing that needed taken care of today. Now I am suffering because of their mistakes, and here I sit, no way to access any money for several days. I don’t have any other options to get cash. HELP!

So Consumerist:

1. What the heck should I do about the Reliance Mobile issue, and has anyone else dealt with this issue?

2. Any ideas, solutions, comments about the ING issue?

If you have any answers for Noah, please leave them in the comments.

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