CITIZENS BANK WHITESBORO

I am a very dissatisfied customer. My husband and I have been customers for 40 years. On Thursday, August 3, I requested a currency exchange for $500 American to Canadian $$. The teller, Alyssa, very pleasantly completed my paperwork, including using my debit card to pay for the transaction. She told me that the bank would charge $15.00 as a fee. I asked Alyssa what the current exchange rate was, and she told me .8177. I questioned this, saying that I had recently checked the exchange rates and thought it was .75. She said that was not so and that the current exchange rate was .8177 and that the rate changed frequently. Foolishly, I completed the transaction. The teller told me the Canadian money would be available either Friday or Monday.

On the way out, i checked my phone, only to see the current exchange rate was .75. I stopped to talk with one of the officials seated at a desk. After explaining what had happened, she told me there was nothing she could do; I had agreed to the exchange rate. I said that I thought the .8177 rate I was quoted was the internationally accepted exchange rate. The teller did not specify that the .8177 rate was Citizen's Bank's rate. I asked to have the transaction canceled, but she told me that could not happen.

Once home, I checked the currency exchange rates and again saw .75 , it was past 4 o'clock and the bank was closed. My husband Salvatore called the customer service number to voice a complaint. He was told that I should resolve the issue at the bank's branch. The customer rep suggested I go back to the bank.

On Monday after I picked up the Canadian money, I spoke with the branch manager again. I reiterated that the teller never specified that the rate I was quoted was Citizen Bank's rate. The bank not only charged me a $15 fee for the service, but they also penalized me by over 6% by using a rate table that was not the rate I had every right to expect. The teller never informed me that the .8177 rate was the bank's rate, quite different from the internationally accepted rate. The woman was very reluctant to give me the name of the regional manager of Citizen's Bank. She told me to call customer service. I told her I already did that and was told to go to the bank branch to complain.

I have no problem paying the $15 fee for my transaction. I have a big problem with the bank misrepresenting the generally accepted exchange rate and not clarifying that the rate I was given was Citizen's rate. I believe the bank owes me about $30.00 in overcharges.

Nancy Farina