Complaints

This profile includes complaints for First Merchants Bank's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  First Merchants Bank

  200 E Jackson St Muncie, IN 47305-2835

• 

  First Merchants Bank

  4621 Reed Rd Columbus, OH 43220-3042

• 

  First Merchants Bank

  6950 E Main St Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-2250

• 

  First Merchants Bank

  1616 E Dublin Granville Rd Columbus, OH 43229-3503

• 

  First Merchants Bank

  5090 N High St Columbus, OH 43214-1526

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Thursday, I called and had my card taken off a bill that was to come out. So Friday they assured me it wouldnt come out , so I didnt even check. But I am supposed to get texts now when my bank is under 5$ and never got that text. I didnt notice it until Tuesday, its Christmas time, and I have been a customer for 8 + years. Im not saying it was the banks fault but the fact that they cant help me with 30$ in fees after Ive tried to get it taken care of and paid over 130$ now in just fees, simply bc they said I had too many already refunded. But they refunded those based on bank error of an atm not working and kept my money from me for ten days so they said they would help with any fees up to that amount. Now Im being punished because of it when I need the help. I explained everything I could to the guy at the bank and he said he only ever refunds an overdraft fee for a bank error but customer service told me the bank manager has the option and authority to do so. Whom I spoke with. Not to mention i called and left messages with a teller to be called back for three separate days and no one ever got back with me every time. They are charging outrageous amounts in fees and I only asked for help with 30$ I paid everything else. Its Christmas and I have been a loyal customer even when the bank has screwed me several times before. If you cant help with 30$ then I must not be very important to the bank and I will go with chime or other banks that dont steal money from the poor.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2023

  January 6, 2023
  Better Business Bureau
  ATTN: Ms. ************************** Dispute Resolution Specialist
  2601 *************************************************
  ************, ** *****
  
  Dear **************, 
  
  We are contacting you in response to the complaint we received on December 29, 2022, that was submitted by *********************************** (18652611).   First Merchants Bank strives to be the most responsive, knowledgeable, and high performing financial organization for our clients and consumers.  We have investigated this situation and respond as follows.
  
  ******************** authorized various transactions from December 16 to December 23 of 2022, which resulted in a negative balance.  Although deposits were made,there were not enough funds to bring the account positive.  As a result of Ms. ********* communication,************************* of First Merchants contacted ******************** to provide instruction on setting alerts and other tips to avoid incurring fees.  As part of that discussion, ************** agreed to provide a courtesy refund of the fee incurred due to the December 23 transaction as well as 4 - $8 non-sufficient fund fees for a total of $69.00 in courtesy fee waivers.  
  
  Please understand that while bank management has discretion to waive fees in certain situations, this represents an exception to bank policy and the account agreement. Fee waivers are not meant to be a standard practice and are never guaranteed. It is the customers responsibility to ensure that he or she manages finances appropriately in order to cover transactions, as well as any fees incurred due to legitimate overdrafts. As mentioned above and discussed with ********************,the bank offers services which may help to decrease the occurrence of overdrafts and associated fees. We encourage ******************** to consider utilizing those services in the future to help manage her account.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/09/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  

  Regards,

  ***********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/14/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am a new mother and I just got a new house. Ive been in for a year now. I have a mortgage with First Merchants Bank who Ive made a payment to on time every single month and I wanted to buy a new vehicle so I checked my credit score and it dropped 120 points due to my escrow going up that I did not get a call about and I was told that its my fault that I need to check my mail from ********************* the loan officer that has help me I think its very unfair to talk to me that way . I check my mail just as every other person does and do not go through every single piece of mail when most of it is junk from the bank talking about rates. Working at a bank myself I know that we make exceptions for customers if its understandable and if its within reason. I made one small mistake and I excepted the mistake and told them it was my fault that I missed $9.11 and I paid it back immediately. I have made every single payment on time with the bank and I didnt realize my escrow went up and because of the small mistake all of my hard work building my credit throughout my life went down the drain because First Merchants Bank would not help a good standing customer out. Ive had two mortgages with **************** they didnt take that into consideration nor did they not take in consideration that Ive been on time every single payment nor did they take into consideration that their mortgage representative was not nice at all on the phone. I am very dis satisfied with this bank and the loan department.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2022

  Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/21/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I went to an un manned atm downtown *************** ******* , I tried to get money out of the atm there. The atm kept messing up , opening and closing, finally it just popped open , I heard money being counted or whatever, and then it just printed a receipt that said transaction not completed. Well then I go to another atm to get the money , and it was taken out of the account anyways. No one cares, and have told me that it will be ten business days to get my money refunded after filing a dispute and everything. With technology the way it is today, I dont understand how they can make you wait ten business days for something like this. It s rediculous and theh should come up with a better way of helpin GB people that did nothing wrong . This was all the money I had for the week. But if I have 2$ overdraft ** they charge me 37 plus 8$ each day after that. Now I have an overdraft because I dont have the money for it, and they will still charge ME. Wheres MY interest from you stealing my money for ten business days? It should have went right back on my card theres no reason it shouldnt.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/07/2022

  Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi I went to the first time homebuyers program and I require my certificate and I start working with ******************************* in June 2022 I filled out the paperwork me and my dad and we received a pre-approval notice went out looking for houses I found a few houses never once was I told that it had to be in a certain census track for me to qualify ,that was the first strike,so finally I found a house that I like I went back to ******** and she approved the house. That qualify for the program I would get the down payment assistance. I went through had the appraisal done every piece of information that she asked for for me and my dad provided her in a timely matter, she told me that I was scheduled to close August 29 of 22 her communication is horrible. I was calling and texting her and nothing happened I went through acquiring quotes for insurance as she instructed she told me that I was closing so I went to my landlord and gave my 30 day notice. I am due to be out of my house by September 15, 2022 .I gave her all the forms she asked for, as she was preparing my file for underwriting me filing chapter 7 in 2007 and 2015 became a issue,which both were dismiss and both occur because of circumstances which I had no control over one, being that I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and didnt have health insurance and my bills were piling up ,she had me to write a letter explaining that to get to the underwriter in my file, she said it was perfect then as I was waiting on a final decision from her about the letter she said out of her own MOUTH they went back and found a bankruptcy case from 2021 which was over 20 years ago I WOULD HAVE BEEN APPROVED with the 2 cases, as I explain to her I never went through with that case because I did not want to work with the particular lawyer. I wrote a letter about that Still have not heard from her in over a week and I am due to be out of my house within seven days if my landlord does not Agree to extend my lease I explain to her

  Business Response

  Date: 09/22/2022

  Dear **************,

  Enclosed please find First Merchants Banks response to Complaint ******** for ******************************  Please let me know if you need anything else on this.  Thank you.
  

  Sincerely,
  

   

  Alyssa *****

  Compliance Officer

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/12/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I got scammed by a man fixing my AC unit and after I saw this I wanted to stop payment on my debit which is backed by MasterCard..I went Monday first thing and they said nope..I filed a investigation report with papers saying he didn't finish work but took full amount..so now bank says they see nothing wrong and storm ac sent statement to them saying work was done in full!!..I gave them pics and paperwork from ***** stating the opposite...now I find out they couldn't read the paperwork he gv me and nobody contacted me..now bank has taken money back out of my account and says file small claim...this bank is suppose to protect me!!.nobody called me at all..payment should have been stopped..I'm contacting channel 6 news on all of this..I tried to cancel work with storm ac and he said no..I'm disabled and feel like I'm being scammed all over again!!...this bank is not protecting it's customers at all..this took 3 months..again nobody called me..or asked to see paperwork again from company!!!...I will go to another bank...this bank is the worst..

  Business Response

  Date: 08/18/2022

  Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/18/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
  I gave all pictures to first merchant showing company never cleaned unit or did complete the job!!...i showed them the paper work where he States he didn't continue the job..company..company sent bank what he quoted and how much it would cost in total of work..that paper was NOT what he did..I asked him to put that on the paper but didn't.. nobody called me on my complaint and it took me three times to get paper work on their decision..this man has scammed tons of people and I have witness to unit being dirty and he didn't clean this!!..animal was a cat that scared him and this was a excuse he used to not finish job and took my savings!!...bank never contacted me on this matter and after I callex tons of times..they never looked into this at all..they asked company to send over paper and he sent over. Quote that he gave me and they accepted this!!..they could have stopped payment since my card is backed up by MasterCard and didn't!!..they don't look after their customers at all..now I have to call channel 6 and go file in court...this bank is terrible!!...they should have called me since I gave them all proof I was scammed..no call back..
  Regards,
  
  *****************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/05/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  incedent #1 I had made a deposit of ****. dollors via square electronic deposit, funds were shown to be avilable later that day. I transfered some money from one account at first merchant to another at first merchant. I then withdrew a small amount. two days later i find that the bank had reversed my transfer, charged me mutiple overdraft fees and transfer fee. I went to bank talked to management they explained that electronic money isnt avilable same day. however account balance was positive and avilable as well as atm despenced money to me. they fixed some of the problem at the time but didnt refund all my fees.Incedent #2 I had enterd the bank to deposit some funds for atomatic withdraws that came tru on a monthly basis and was informed that my account was in the negative, 2 charges i was told, i deposited that amount and some to cover auto withdraws and was totally in the positive. two days later i recieved overdraft notices again. i go into the bank again to see what had happend, I was told buy managment that there was some policy changes and i shoud have been notifed. Should is not good enough, i simply was not aware. Nor was i aware that there wer additional overdraft fees. in just a short few days. I asked if we cold resolve the overdraft fees she said the had already excused previous fees so they would not these, even tho there system is the one that caused *********** and transfers to go bad in the first place. i tried to explain i cant put money in faster than they charge me in overdrafts and late fees days later i got the covid. now my overdraft and late fees are nearly ****** Absolutely 0 of that was principal payout. all bank implied fees. ive recently tryed again to negotiate the most they would do is lower it buy 100 dollars.. intrestingly enough when you use online banking it notifys you of all transactions except ther implied overdrafts.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/12/2022

  Please see attached.