Complaints

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:04/20/2025

  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.

  I found out that First BANK was not issuing my refunds. When I called in, I received such terrible customer service. I said I was going to move to a different bank so I asked them to do things. I canceled my checks since I had not received them yet. When I checked my bank statement. I saw they charged me $33 to stop payment on the checks even though those were only $28. I was not refunded the check payment charge. So now *** paid over $60 for literally nothing but stress.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/24/2025

  This complaint is from the same customer as the Farmersburg Theater complaint, just under their personal name, email and phone number. The allegations have already been addressed and resolved. The fees for checks ($27.30) and the stop payment ($33.00) were refunded and credited to the customer's account on 4/17 and 4/21/25, respectively.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/04/2025

  This is the first time I ever received a communication for the Better Business Bureau. I dont know why you close the case. It has not been resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/16/2025

  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.

  I ordered checks did not receive them.I pay monthly banking fees, but I cannot get customer service because they do not like that. I am hearing impaired.When I call the bank, I identify myself as being here and disabled, and they argue with me and say nasty things about my disability and then they hang up on **** had a refund and I had a refund receipt from the vendor. I tried to give the receipt to the bank because I still haven't received my refund and they spent an hour hanging up on me. They would not follow the dispute. They would not look into the refund, they would not look at my receipt. They just complained about my disability and hung up on me.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/24/2025

  Regarding the allegations made the in the Complaint:

  Checks were ordered by the customer and shipped on 4/4/25, but were apparently not received. The customer called on and requested a stop be placed and the charges reversed.  This call was received by our ************** and the customer was rerouted to the local Farmersburg Branch Manager, ***** *********.  Ms. ********* and the ************** associate worked together and stopped the payment on the checks and refunded $27.30 to the customer on 4/17.  At the time, the customer informed our staff she did not want to reorder checks.   She has since called the Farmersburg branch to complain about not receiving the refund, but we have confirmed that it has been credited to her account.  The bank also refunded (and she has received the credit for) the stop payment fee associated with the payment for the checks. The merchant/vendor refund the customer references was credited to her account on 4/18/25. She complained directly to the bank before the typical processing timeframe for the return had expired. The customer appears to believe that refunds and credits should happen immediately, even though the processing timelines have been explained to her by the Farmersburg branch staff and Treasury Management.

  As far as the customer's complaints regarding her disability, two contact center staff provided notes where the customer stated she was having trouble hearing them, but when they would talk louder to accommodate the customer, she would complain the staff were yelling at her.  The customer does not utilize a relay service often used by those who are hard of hearing.  The bank has attempted to work with the customer every time she has called, whether it's the **************, Treasury Management or the Farmersburg branch. There is no record of our staff ever hanging up on the customer.  The branch did ask for the customer's ID one day and it seemed to upset her, but it's a standard operating procedure.

  Fees have been refunded to the customer as requested. All associates have made attempts to accommodate the customer's claims of hearing impairment. The bank feels as though all requests by the customer have been satisfied.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/16/2025

  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.

  The bank closed my account without notice, charged me a $40 dormancy fee AFTER telling me they would not, I was not given notice of closure, no calls or letters.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/02/2025

  Ms. ****** account had very little activity for the last two years and no activity after August of 2023 through August 23, 2024 when she started being assessed the $5.00 monthly dormancy fee. This fee is part of the account terms and conditions disclosed to Ms. ***** and is placed on accounts that are dormant (inactive) for more than 1 calendar and have a balance of $500 or less.  Ms. ****** account was assessed this monthly fee from August 2024 through February 2025. On March 4, 2025, she was sent a letter notifying her that her account had gone into the negative during her February statement cycle, with a balance of -$1.31.  Ms. ***** was again assessed the $5.00 fee in March, leaving her with a balance of -$6.31.  Ms. ***** received additional notification letters in March on the 12th and the 25th respectively and finally a pending closure letter was sent on March 27, 2025. On April 1, 2025, Ms. ***** informed the North ********** First Financial Branch that she would make a deposit to clear the negative balance of her account. The branch staff were uncertain about whether Ms. ***** intent was to return her account to a positive balance and begin utilizing it again or whether she intended to bring it to a zero balance to close it.  First Financial Bank did not receive any additional communications from Ms. ****** nor was the promised deposit made, so on April 9, 2025 Ms. ***** account was administratively credited $6.31 to bring it to a $0.00 balance and the account was waived to close. 

  First Financial Bank did provide adequate notice and made several attempts at communication with Ms. ***** regarding the status of her account and the fees she was accruing.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/29/2025

  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 have a car loan through this bank and have been trying to get in touch with them for weeks. I need a loan payoff sheet so we can sell the vehicle, but no matter when we call or how many voicemails we leave, no one will answer or return our calls. We have looked for other methods of contact, like email, but none are available. All I want is for someone to contact us who can provide us with the documentation we need.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/06/2025

  Our Installment Lending Servicing Team has made several attempts at outreach to Ms. ******* regarding her payoff amount.  It appears that the associate Ms. ******* was attempting to reach directly is no longer with the Bank, which was why she wasn't getting ahold of that person. But, we have records of recent attempted phone calls to Ms. ******* where it rings 3 times then goes silent and at least 1 voicemail has been left for Ms. ******* by Installment Lending staff as well in the past couple of weeks. As of last week, an email was sent to the email address provided by Ms. ******* in this Complaint, providing her with the payoff info and contact numbers for her to reach an FFB associate directly to discuss.  As of this morning, Ms. ******* had not returned any of the calls or messages left for her by First Financial Bank N.A. We feel the grounds of Ms. ********* complaint are unfounded, as we have been trying to reach her to provide her with the information requested.  It is our hope that, at this point, Ms. ******* has received the information she requested via email and feels this matter is resolved. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/06/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  So, I had a few checks out they were not charged for 2 weeks so I pulled money out after banking hours Because I knew 2600$ would be deposited that day around 11pm, they never processed the check during the banking hours, and I watched the account until 5 pm and they still didn't charge the checks, so I pulled all but 9$ out knowing 2600$ was gonna be in that account by 11pm, I looked at 11pm and the 2600$ from my employer was there and they charged me 38 dollar for two checks knowing the money was there.... and then manipulated/programmed the online banking to make it look like I overdrafted that day but they didnt switch it until the next day... It was very dirty... On top of that they charge me 6 dollars a month just to have a bank account .. They have over draft me automatically on their own because there's no set day to take the 6 dollar fee out...

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/20/2024

  Type:Billing 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.

  Lied to and mislead by First Financial Bank

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2024

  ********************** application was submitted on 4/18/24.  FFB pulled credit on her that day and her score was a 702.  Because it took more than 30 days to get the loan to closing, a new credit pull was required before FFB could proceed with the loan.  FFB repulled credit on ****************** on 5/22/24 and as of that date her score did drop, but nominally to a 694.  Per internal procedures, Home Equity always prices off the most recent credit pull. Because of the credit score change, ********************** rate did increase from the originally disclosed rate of 8.75% to 9.25%, as it took her to a different tier on the rate sheet. There were two factors that cause the rate to increase - The drop in credit score caused a .25% increase and fact that interest rates increased by .25% from the time of application and redisclosure, together added up to the .50% increase in rate. But, as noted by the dates, the time frame from when the rate was initially quoted to ****************** and the final rate was over a month (4/18 - 5/22), not "overnight."
  
  As for the credit score, ****************** was sent a credit score disclosure (Your Credit and the Price You Pay for Credit) in the original early disclosure packet after her 4/18 application (score of 702).   We sent an updated disclosure on 5/22 when FFB repulled credit (score of 694). The scores quoted by ****************** in her complaint were not accurate per our records.
  
  The only change on the credit report was her total outstanding credit card balance increased by about $2200 from her initial credit pull on 4/18 to the second credit pull on 5/22. ****************** was never lied to or mislead about her rate or credit scores. There was nothing that FFB did to impact her credit score, aside from pulling her credit, which FFB had a permissible purpose for.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/09/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 have a loan with First Financial Bank for a 2013 Kia ******* in which I have had since 2020. The payment amount was set at $385 per month. Recently, I fell behind in payments due to the motor blowing. I am faced with a motor and labor costs that will amount to around $5,000-$6,000 as well as owing about $7,000 on the **** As a single mom with four kids, I have to have transportation in order to maintain employment and care for the children of course. I have a financial hardship at this point and I reached out to First Financial, dealing with (***************) and explained the situation and told her I would still like to pay and do the right thing but I was seeking a refinance or in other terms a collection rewrite. I had many issues with the treatment and ***** treating me as if their were no options. I even spoke w/*****'s supervisor and explained I did not like dealing with her because I was trying to find a resolution and I felt she was working against me. I was ref back to ***** with no help. I then reached out to ****, a bank branch manager in *********, ** that also spoke to ***** and we were told to make 2 payment amounts by March 29th. Although this caused major strain and more financial burden, I made sure I held up my end and the **** was paid. ***** never did the collection rewrite. The paperwork was to go to **** and **** was to call me to come sign. After making payments, ***** also sent a man to my home to try and repossess the truck. After the payments were made other than $100 and agreement was already reached. I received a phone call today in which a banker was asking for another pymt. I explained I was waiting on the rewrite paperwork. She said she would need to call me back. I then receive an email from a *************************** stating that ***** no longer works there and I guess because of that, she is justifying a broken agreement in which I did my part and telling me now I have to make another $385 in days in which I can't do and wasnt agreed that way.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/15/2024

  Here are screen shots with important information. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/04/2023

  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 have a car loan through first financial bank. I have gotten letters in the mail of complaints I am not making my payments on time. I tried to pay online, and they denied my debit card. I couldn't make my payments and ran farther behind. They only took money order payments and I ran behind because it was being mailed. I have gotten false information on how much I owe. I get letters and threats of repossession. They claim I am over 40 days late on my payments, but I have made small payments more than twice times month trying to catch up. They claim I owe 750$, when I call they tell me I only need to pay ******. They won't give me clear answers and keep harassing me and using scare tactics to have me pay. I don't have proof from them that my money orders went through.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/18/2023

  We have searched our internal files by name, address, email and phone number and ****************** does not appear to be our customer.  We believe that this complaint was directed to the wrong First Financial Bank and needs to instead be sent to the one that is HQ'd out of ****, but has several branches in *******, including some closer down to the ************** area where ****************** resides.  We are sorry for ********************** experience and hope for a quick resolution of her issues, but First Financial Bank N.A. (headquartered in ***************), is not the lender in this matter and not responsible for the concerns listed ** this complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 called First Financial Bank in **************** *************** on Wednesday November.29,2023 I seen a charge on my Bank App I bought cigarettes on November.16,2024 which is not true there is no transaction on my Bank App this is not listed on my Bank App so I asked them did Circle K let me walk out the door with the cigarettes that would be shoplifting but I paid for them with my Bank Debit Card I bought cigarettes on November.24,2023 the last time and First Financial Bank did not put it on there computer until November.24,2023 computer they did not put in the transaction it was pending it was approved they got paid I got charged a Over Draft Fee of $35.00 Negative - and I was charged $35.00 Late Fee Charge Im negative on my bank Account I used to have $22.00 Positive + in my Bank Account there Computers messed up Human Error or Computer Error

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/17/2023

  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 was issued a cashiers check from First Financial Bank, ******, ** South branch. The check was stolen in the mail. It was reported to police. The police have said there is a postal inspector IG investigation with this fraud, and the police have contacted the bank fraud and security department, only getting the voicemail and no return call. When I spoke with the bank requesting stop payment on the check, I was told I had to wait 90 days due to federal bank secrecy laws. In researching, I can not find a law or a first financial policy in writing stating a 90 day federal waiting period on stopping a cashier check. Also the issuer of the check has gone to see the bank manager requesting the cashier check have a stop payment, and he was told the same thing. The branch tells us to call the ** customer service line, but when they are ontacted the woman at the desk puts your call to voicemail.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/30/2023

  ****************, who has lodged this complaint, was the intended recipient of a cashier's check #****** purchased by an *** customer on 9/27/23. The check was sent by mail and at some point prior to arriving to its intended destination, the check was stolen from the mail. **************** communicated this to the account owner, *** and filed a police report. Typically, a declaration of loss is not enforceable until 90 days after a check is issued, which is what **************** was told by *** staff. A cashier's check is a different tool than a regular personal check and is considered "guaranteed funds, so the usual stop payment rules do not apply to Cashier's Checks, Money Orders, etc... This timeframe has been established to allow for time for the circumstances to be researched/investigated and for the check to possibly be found.  If a cashier's check isn't found within 90 days, then usually it is declared null and void and can be reissued (if the parties wish) after that time.  In the interim, the stolen check was altered (i.e. the name of the payee was changed) and was presented for payment on 10/19/23.  The check number had been flagged due to the reports of theft, so the *** Fraud Team caught this and stopped the payment. In this instance, since the check was presented in an altered form for payment, once *** was able to confirm with the purchaser of the check that the altered name was NOT the intended recipient, the check was cancelled, and the funds were credited back to the original account on 10/24/23.  The customer is free to purchase a new check or make payment to **************** however they agree upon, but there was no wrongdoing on the part of *** and there is no recourse for this customer with ***.  Communications regarding payment by **************** should be directed to the account owner, not the bank.