Complaint Review: NetBank

S. from Kennesaw must be an employee of Net Bank, I would disregard that post entirely.

I do not see my original post, possibly because the way things can get filed on here: ie: Net Bank or Netbank, but I do see my reply above to the OP. B. Atlanta

This Net Bank bunch is still having regulatory problems as you can see here:

"NetBank warned of delisting
Atlanta Business Chronicle - 8:01 PM EDT Friday, March 23, 2007

NetBank Inc. reported Friday notification from NASDAQ its stock could be delisted for being late filing its annual report for 2006.

Atlanta-based NetBank (NASDAQ: NTBK) said NASDAQ warned it on March 20 and that it was late filing its 10-K because it hired new independent auditor Porter Keadle Moore LLP when its former independent auditor Ernst & Young LLP resigned in November 2006. NetBank expects to file its 10-K by June 30.

In the meantime, NetBank will ask for a hearing before a NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel to outline its plan for regaining compliance."

This has been a shady operation since I first dealt with them around 2001 when they would not give me back my 98K and I had to hire an attorney to force them to return it.

If anyone is reading this that has money with them now I would suggest that they immediately get it OUT OF NETBANK, this bunch is in my opinion crooked and I think that shows when your auditors 'resign' as did Ernst & Young. That should tell you that something stinks at Net Bank.

So if you have $ there get it out before they go under. Your accounts are only insured up to $100,000 by the Govt so if they do go belly up and you have over 100k there, then that is all you will get back.

Get your $ out of this bank NOW!

B. Atlanta

Now, let's look at this two different ways:

1: You are who you say you are. Identity theft is a growing, rampant crime. NetBank is a natural target of identity theives because they are branchless and they can't look at your ID and look at you. The only interaction you've really had with them is electronic. They can't see you as you click the button. They rely on their affidavits of identity and the supporting documents to fight the crime.

The liability for account takeover and identity falls squarely on them. How would you like it if I stole your full name, address, social security number, date of birth, printed up some fake payroll checks (from your employer, of course), a fake ID and bought a nice new Mercedes in your name with your good credit? You wouldn't be happy, would you?

It'd be on your credit report. The collectors would be calling you. You'd be stalked by repo men. But, as I sped away from the dealership with your car, I get a HUGE speeding ticket. My driver's license is in your name and has your number on it, so guess where the police are going to go when I don't pay your ticket. Yup. Your place... for you. And do you think they'll believe you when you say, "It wasn't me officer, really"?

Now...

Option 2: You're not who you say you are. Well, you tried... and it didn't go as planned. Leave them alone. They work very closely with law enforcement.

Granted, MOST theives aren't going to bother to post complaints to this site, so I'll assume you are who you say you are and nothing on your application was not falsified. These are my suggestions:

1- Minimize the personal damage. Do what you have to do to get the bills paid. Explain what has happened to everyone and ask to have the fees waived. If you wrote the checks out before your deposit was accepted, well... that's your fault. Never write a check until you see it is AVAILABLE in your account. You said they sent back one of your deposits, so why not write your checks off of the account you tried to make that deposit from?

2- Be patient with them. By calling and writing daily, you're just going to slow down the process. The time they have to take to respond to you, is less time they have to review your documents and resolve the situation. They are correct when they tell you that they can not give you a timeframe on when the review will be complete. Some documents are more difficult to authenticate than others. You WILL get a resolution stating the documents have been accepted or not and what the followup steps will be.

3- They are not stealing your money. There is no conversion. There is no need for an attorney. They have them too... and it's really unlikely you'd get anything out of them. Since 9/11, the banks are REQUIRED to verify the information on financial accounts. They have the backing of the Federal Government. As long as you have been properly notified, you have no case. As you can see, if I had enough information about you, I could make your life hell. I could have you arrested, debt collectors would be after you and law enforcement would be looking for you. Consumers should appreciate the efforts taken by an agressive Loss Prevention department. Sure, standard security reviews can make things difficult sometimes. But, not having a Loss Prevention department would make things even worse for you and your money.

You may have finally seen my post 'after' your problem, same thing happened to me. (reports on this company show up both as NetBank and Net Bank, check both variations).

This bunch also froze my account nearly 100K. Living 20 miles from their HQ I went in person after I was told by their MD. customer non-service people that I could get a check immediately if I went there to pick it up. All I got was a 2 hr. run around, an interview with some Sec mgr and other official and I left after 5PM without any check AND the 'security guard' followed me out in the parking lot to try to get my license number (he was too stupid to even do that right).

I hired an attorney who both wrote them and phoned. The magic word there was that they were told that the failure to promptly return my funds would be considered 'conversion' and result in criminal and civil proceedings. They sent back the money via the attorney. Magic word: "Conversion".

You need an attorney who will both write and call, I had absolutely NO success working at it on my own.

I even spoke on the phone to the then 'President' of the firm (believe they have changed top mgmt since my experience) by phone, he asked certain oddly phrased questions and I knew immediately that he was taping the phone call, so I told him that we should get together for lunch and compare tapes to see who had the best equipment. The call ended almost immediately after that (5 yrs or so ago).

So stop screwing around and hire an attorney, the meaner the better. Print out some of these complaints and take them along for his 'case file' so he will know what to expect from them (ie: promises and no action).