<prompt> Human: An absolute nightmare. Ive been a Fifth Third customer for 8 years. Ive had some minor issues with them in the past, such as charging a 4 fee for checking your balance at the ATM, but nothing prepared me for this. A firm for whom I did work sent me an automated check. It was made out in my name and was from a large, reputable bank. Fifth Third credited my account. I wrote checks online against that deposit. I deposited another check from the same source, and wrote checks against that. A day or two later, I attempt to make a purchase with my debit card. Denied. I return home and log on to my account. Access denied. I call first thing Monday morning theres no one who can assist with my concern over the weekend. Im told that my account is suspected for fraud. They say that the checks Ive been depositing have been bouncing. I go back to the payer, asking whats going on. He looks up his account, and shows me: heres your check clearing. Heres everyone else checks clearing. Youve been paid. We call his bank. They insist: its been paid, its been deducted from the account and the funds have been sent. I go back to Fifth Third, they refuse to cooperate, I say lets set aside those checks while this is sorted out, and let me access my account to pay bills, etc. No. Whats my balance? We cant tell you. Are my scheduled bills being paid? We cant say.I ask them how long will their investigation take - they say they dont know and I wont have access to my account until its completed. Keep in mind: I have committed no fraud of any sort. Nothing. Theres no outside issues court orders, garnishments, etc.. None. What recourse do I have?UPDATE: I thought Id share with you all my resolution. I filed a report with the state department of financial regulation. Thats relatively easy and creates a neutral paper trail for both sides to reference. I should have done this immediately, the moment I realized something was amiss when it couldnt be solved in a 5-minute call to customer service. Remember, time is money. And talking to a customer service person reading from a script costs them relatively nothing. Dont waste a second talking to them. Occupying the most important, most senior staff is key. Thus, on a Thursday afternoon, I took paper copies of everything I had into a bank branch - about 15 minutes before closing. I calmly explained the whole affair, told them I had NO funds, and was prepared to resolve this right there and then. On no less than 5 occasions they used some form of theres nothing we can do right now ... on me. I told them that I couldnt leave. I had no phone, no internet, lost it due to their fiasco. They began locking up, the staff started to leave, but I wasnt moving from that chair. Calls, meetings to the side, etc. I wasnt moving. We have to close ... Thats fine, but I need this resolved, I gave you more than enough time, I need this resolved. They even got the security guard to stand over me. I just kept insisting I need access to those funds ... call corporate ... call anyone ... this needs to be resolved. I was prepared to be arrested. Keep in mind, I never threatened but I insisted. Call it resolute, call it stubborn. I told them that Id spent more than all the hours of everyone in this office working on this - and I was the only one not getting paid. Lo and behold. A full 2 hours after closing time, sitting in that chair, not budging, they re-opened my account and released the funds. Assistant: Have you tried moving up the chain? Call and, if they cant help you ask to speak with a supervisor. Keep asking for a supervisor. And keep asking until someone will help you. Speak to their fraud division. Get proof of the checks clearing to provide to your bank. Your word means nothingHuman: Yes I have. Ive called every human theyve let me speak to over the phone. Ive gone into the branch and theyve been powerless to provide answers. I even have automated deposits that are going into the account, but am not allowed to even see if they are being credited to my account or are being returned. Assistant: Go back into the branch and get the branch manager. Have them sit down and call fifth third from their desk, while you sit with them. Try and have them escalate it up the chain.Human: Ive done that. At 2 separate locations. Theyve said our fraud department has placed a hold ... they tell us that they are doing an investigation ... Keep in mind, my account has been frozen for over a week. The checks written immediately before and after mine have cleared without issue. The payer shows that the funds have cleared. I responded within an hour to them after finding they froze my account. They offer no way that Ive discovered of me actually talking to the fraud department. Im not interested in causing a scene. Ive called them multiple times, sat on hold, spoken to a variety of customer service drones, gone into bank branches. Nothing.  <response>: Im not interested in causing a scene.Then youre out of your mind. I would be absolutely livid if this happened to me, and I would make it very clear that I would be taking my business elsewhere and broadcasting my complaint as widely as possible. As others have said, track everything including phone calls and talk to a lawyer if you end up losing money because of this. 