Terry Reel sent a message to Greg D. Carmichael - Chief Executive Officer of Fifth Third Bancorp - Email Address that said:
Mr. Carmichael - As President of 5th 3rd Bank, who previously was in charge of both Technology and Customer Experience for the bank, I feel the need to relate my customer experience to you. I received a Fifth Third gift card in 2012, misplaced it, and later found it this year. When I statused the account it showed that the account had been closed. (Closed in 2015.) A call to customer service on the back of the card, got me in contact with a representative who told me the card was closed for Escheatment and that I needed to file a Customer Statement of Disputed Transaction form to request that the funds be sent to me - which I submitted that day. After over a month passed, I called to check on the account, and talked to another rep who said the funds were escheated (sent to the state) and that I would need to go thru the state to get the funds. When I asked which state they were sent to, she said Ohio, but later said they were sent to Illinois (which is where I live). She indicated that she would send me a claim form which is needed to request the money. When I asked why I was earlier told I needed to submit a disputed transaction form - she didnt know. I confirmed that she had my correct address as she said the only way to get the form to me was via the U.S. Mail and that I should allow 4-6 weeks for the claim form to arrive. While the U.S. Mail is often called snail mail, I have yet to experience such a delay by the postal service. I can only assume that the majority of the time allotment is for Card Services, or someone affiliated with the bank, to get the form into the mail system. I inquired if there were any other method of getting the claim form to me sooner (ie. fax, email, availability to obtain the form on-line, etc.) but was told the only way to get the form was via U.S. mail and to allow 3-4 weeks (Earlier it was 4-6).
Having been frustrated and thinking I must have talked to someone that really didnt know how things work, I called back to try another customer service rep. Needless to say the next person basically told me the same story. He said allow 5 weeks to get the form and again, there was no other method to get it sooner.
In looking at your bio on the Fifth Third website, it said you were previously Chief Executive officer in charge of technology and also that you were in charge of Customer Experience I thought you should know that your people, or people working for a company contracted to service your customers, do not have access to any modern technological means of getting a form from point A to point B in less than 3 weeks! My customer experience has been less than satisfactory and this too should be passed on up the ladder to someone who needs to know. Thanks for letting me vent and clear my chest. I will wait for my claim form along with acknowledgement of your receipt of this email. Im giving you 6 weeks, and even though I dont live on a body of water, a note in a bottle may get to me quickest!
