ING Customer Service

Although ING has very competitive rates, they should not be used for mortgages. They set a variety of tricks and traps for unwary consumers to capture bogus fees. Many comments on this website will attest to this problem, I will describe our issue.

We refinanced our home, starting in October 2010. It took nearly five months to complete the refinancing, which was irritating, but not the focus of this note. In May of 2011 we decided to move for reasons unrelated to the mortgage. I knew that we had agreed to a 1% pre-payment penalty, but asked, and was told, that this penalty would be waived if we financed the new purchase with ING.

We got contract on a new house prior to selling our first property. When we went to finance our new purchase with ING, we were rejected. The reason given was that we were attempting to hold two primary residences. ING insisted that this was our intention even though we had contracted with a realtor to list the home, and the homes were approximately five miles apart. ING would not accept that we were trying to sell the house. When we asked for a waiver of prepayment penalty, since we had attempted to purchase the new home from ING they refused, again claiming that we were trying to own two primary residences. When we pointed out that if we wanted to hold both homes, we wouldn’t care about prepayment they sent the following message:

Hi XXXX,

We will review the 1% penalty if/when you decide to sell your current home. If you have additional questions, please give us a call at 1-877-464-2151.

Thanks,

Justen

ING DIRECT USA
Member FDIC
Equal Housing Lender

Less than a month later, we received an offer on our existing home (the one financed by ING). At this time, we had already gone through financing with another institution, one that realized that we probably weren’t trying to own two primary residences in the same city.

However, when I called to check on the waiver of the prepayment penalty I was refused. Crystal (Employee number 701590) told me that regardless of what I had been told, or what had been written previously, they would not waive the prepayment penalty. She instructed me to apply again. When I told her that ING was not trustworthy enough for me to reapply, and that we had furthermore already paid some fees to arrange our new mortgage, she told me that ING would enforce the penalties. She did promise that Justen would get a slap on the wrist for what he had written us, I’m not sure how that will help me.

$1800 is certainly not enough for me to ever trust ING again. They are a very poorly run operation. Hold times for any discussion or decision are eternal. In our case, instead of financing our new purchase, they decided to grab our money and run with it. This bank neither wants nor deserves new customers. Do not be fooled by their rates. Do not finance your loan with ING. I have learned my lesson.

My 95 year old mother had a annuity with ING that matured on 5-1-09. I, as POA, set it up to be paid out monthly over 5 years with myself listed as beneficiary. I asked how this would be handled in the event of her death and was told that the beneficiary could either continue the payments or take a lump sum payout for the balance. She died in July of 2009 and I opted for a lump sum payout of this annuity. The check I was sent was almost 11% (more than $14, 000) less than what was owed. I was told that this was a "commuted" value that basically reflected a "surrender charge". This had in no way been mentioned or explained to me before. I filed a complaint with the "Compliance Department" at ING and requested a review of this decision. After 2 months this company sent me a check for the remaining 11%. I would strongly urge anyone dealing with ING or any other company with regard to an annuity payout to get all details straightened out and in writing before entering to any agreement. ING attempted to steal from me and would have stolen from me had I not complained and I'm sure is currently stealing from people as you read this. They are NOT to be trusted.

I use ING for my companies 401K administration. They provide the worse service I have ever seen and there are also extremely expensive. Root of the problem they do not train their employees you call 6 people, which I did, and you get 6 different answers. Also their bureaucracy makes the Federal Govt. look efficient. I asked for a loan of my own money. I sent the form that was required, but the funds were not available. I call and the funds are available, they ask me to refax the same form which they have in their possession. I asked the lady on the phone, does it make sense that I have to send a form to you which you have already in your sytem...she paused and said no but that's how it is. In short avoid this company, there has to be someone better. We are looking for a new 401K admin Co.

My family & I have an account with ING. We had just left our church in So. California on 4-6-2008, & saw one of your billboards. It states: Fees: Ditch them like a Cheating Husband". As a faithful father, I am deeply offended and insulted by this cheap message that differentiates and singles out men, as if they are the only ones who "cheat" on their spouses. Does Ing truly have to resort to this type of base and degrading advertising? I thought your company didn't have to use such trashy advertising to attract customers. Maybe I was wrong. What type of customers do you want anyway? Is business that bad? I demand an apology. If I don't receive one, from an Ing Corporate Officer, by this time next week 4-13-2008, I will close my account + will recommend the same to everyone I know, esp. the ones that I recommended to Ing.
Timothy OBrien