09-14-2011
To: Bill Nelson, Attn: Dolly
225 E. Robinson St Ste. 410
Orlando FL 32801
From: Robert Johnson
***
Saint Petersburg FL 33704
Dear Senator Nelson,
Thank you for your letter dated September 7th 2011. I would like to inform you that I had already made contact with the NCUA when this incident had recently happened. They basically informed Grow to respond to my inquiry and to send them a copy of the response. After a month or so had gone by, Grow finally responded to the NCUA letter, and they (NCUA) forwarded a copy to me. Grow’s response was not truthful and incorrectly stated that they had informed me of the fee and that I made my choice to go ahead with the transaction. Why somebody in his right mind would forfeit $885.00 and go ahead with the transaction when they (me) could have NOT been charged this fee is beyond my rational thinking, but this is what Grow is stating. I was furious with them resorting to deceitfulness about this situation and informed the NCUA that they were “lying” and that “I had proof that they were lying”. I never heard from the NCUA again until just last week when a new representative called out of the blue to respond to a telephone message that I had left with them several weeks earlier. After calling them back and finally being able to speak to someone there instead of an answering machine I once again informed them of my situation. The lady I spoke to said she would search out the previous correspondence and she has just got back to me last week to inform me that she spoke to the regional office who was familiar with the complaint and that they had informed her that they were satisfied with Grow’s actions and response to them. So they are essentially condoning Grow charging hidden fees to their customers and then lying about it! I ask you, does any of this sound familiar in regards to financial institutions and the regulatory agencies in cahoots with each other. I was under the assumption that the government was here to protect its citizens and ensure that this type of behavior was not tolerated and liable to be punished by law. Looking back at what happened with the housing fiasco and all the illegal happenings makes that last sentence seem laughable, and I see now that nothing has changed. Nobody was punished then, not even 1 arrest- so what makes me think that anything will be done about this!?
I would like to ask you this Mr. Nelson. If it was YOU or a family member that this happened to, would you not seek some kind of action against the institution that hid their fees from you, and without your consent or comprehension went into your checking account and quite simply stole $885.00 out of it? And if the only agency protecting you from the thief were simply taking the thief’s word for it that they had the “right” to take YOUR money from you because they stated they had the fees hidden on their website somewhere and never mentioned to you, what would your recourse be? I want to know what YOU would do? It most likely would have never gotten to this stage quite simply because you are YOU and I am ME.
With my utmost respect,
Robert Johnson