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The Harry Hocks Scandal: Click on the link below for a front page, Cincinnati Enquirer story from
November 24, 2001, and see how Firstar (now US Bank) allowed a sleazy car dealer to defraud them of millions
of dollars. And think about how this bank responded; how it treated the customers caught in the middle of this
fraud.
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- The Business Version of the U.S. Bank Five Star Screw
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When Jerry Grundhofer's Star Bank took over Firstar (predecessor to the current US Bank), he immediately
canceled data processing services that Firstar had been providing to community banks. This left the
banks in a lurch, and scrambling to find alternate data processing service. A dozen or so community banks
in Illinois filed suit against Firstar in US District Court, alleging breach of agreement and seeking a minimum
of $ 900,000 in damages.
(Melissa Allison, Chicago Tribune, December 17, 2000: CLICK HERE to view a free abstract of the article; you
have to pay to get a complete copy of the article from online archives)
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US BANK
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FIVE STAR SCREWED
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In case you hadn't figured it out yet, this non-commercial gripe and consumer information site is not
associated with, or condoned or otherwise sanctioned by USBank. In fact, they are doing everything they can to make this site disappear. If you really wanted to go the the official Web site for US Bank, they are at: |
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MORE DISCLAIMERS: U.S. BANK, U S BANK, USBANK, USBANK.COM, WWW.USBANK.COM, FIVE STAR GUARANTEE and USBANCORP
are registered trademarks of U.S. Bancorp, and are used herein for non-commercial, fair-use identification purposes only. This Web site is in no way affiliated with U.S. Bancorp. Acknowledgement of these registered marks is not an acknowledgement that U.S. Bancorp holds rights to any marks, or variation of marks, beyond those specific and limited marks that it has registered.
Banner and "pop-up" advertising is placed on this Web site by the Web host, in lieu of our paying a monthly hosting fee. We have no
control over the specific placement, or content, of this advertising, and we receive absolutely no revenue or other "commercial gain" from this advertising. We have no knowledge of anyone authorized to place "click-thru" advertising on this Web site. We apologize for the annoyance of these ads.
We also apologize for the slowness and "clunkiness" of this site ("inartful" construction according to US Bank's lawyers): We have never
pretended to be Web site designers. But content is, after all, probably more important than fanciful presentation. |
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[ More disclaimers and information at bottom of this page ]
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MY NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE WITH U.S. BANK:
This is what it's all about. I started this Web site to relate to the world what US Bank did to me as a customer. Within days
of launching the site, I received tons of feedback from people with their own USBank horror stories, and from folks directing us to information and links about how this bank has been conducting itself the past few years. So by default I guess this site has become the official US Bank gripe site: The central repository of information that U.S. Bank just as soon would not have you see. But please take the time to look over my story. It's almost unbelievable what they did to me, and what they might be capable of doing to you. A classic case of a Five Star Screwing. |
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This is the Web site U.S. Bank does not want you to see. CLICK HERE to find out what they've done to try to
suppress this site. |
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U.S. BANK EXPOSED - The USBancorp Hall of Shame
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Selling Your Private Information: Did you know that Jack Grundhofer's US Bank / USBancorp was
selling confidential customer information to telemarketers (1998/1999: for $ 4 Million plus sales commissions) in apparent violation of both law and the bank's stated policy? Here are some links:
Government Lawsuits:
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Free Checking for Life? A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those U.S. Bank customers
enticed to become customers with a promise of "free checking for life". "Life" was apparently very short,
because US Bank reneged on the promise and canceled the program, and customers began once again being
charged monthly checking fees. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO |
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U.S. Bank Employees Get Five Star Screwed Too! You can tell a lot about a company (and how they'll
treat you) from how they treat their employees. US Bank allegedly screwed a significant group of employees out of overtime pay. The US Department of Labor investigated, and USBank "agreed" to pay $ 3.8 Million in back pay to the
affected workers.
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FRAUD Anyone? Better check this article out: From the Oregonian (Portland, OR), December 23, 2001.
It tells of a ring of US Bank employees who allegedly engaged in FRAUD, and how USBank allegedly fired the
people who uncovered the fraud, and then tried to cover up the extent of the fraudulent activity within the bank:
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Consumer Class Action Lawsuit:
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- SCANDALS, SCANDALS, SCANDALS!
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The Erpenbeck Scandal: Firstar (now US Bank) claims to have been defrauded of $ 16 Million or more
when they allowed a prominent home builder (Erpenbeck) to divert customer payments to its own bank accounts. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
But the plot thickens! One of the other defrauded banks is suing all parties that it thinks are responsible for
allowing the fraud to happen. In a recently-filed lawsuit, the bank alleges that: (1) U.S. Bank (then Firstar) authorized Erpenbeck to serve as its agent and directly collect monies from customers at closings, (2) that
USBank knew of the builder's financial problems, and, (3) that U.S. Bank knew that Erpenbeck was engaging
in questionable transactions that could have a devastating effect on customers.
More information on this scandal in the "Found on the Message Boards" Section
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USBancorp - Piper Jaffray Under Seige: US Bank's brokerage and investment banking arm, USBancorp -
Piper Jaffray, just seems to stumble into one scandal after another. Here are links to four (4) related articles about US Bancorp - Piper Jaffray scandals to get you started. Also, be sure to check out the "Found on the Message Boards" section for stories and information about USBancorp - Piper Jaffray. |
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US Bank is one of three banks being sued by a prominent land investment company in Oregon. The suit
alleges breach of contract, unjust enrichment, intentional intereference with business relationships, breach
of fiduciary duty, and civil conspiracy. The plaintiffs are asking $ 86 Million for loss of profits.
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Don't Stop Now! There's Still More Information to View
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EMBEZZLEMENT, EMBEZZLEMENT: WHO'S MINDING THE MONEY ?
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These links are to official law enforcement or court sites. Some of US Bank's employees sure seem to have
been busy, but not necessarily watching out for your money. More on still other embezzlement scandals in
the "Found on the Message Boards" section.
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SUPPORT THE CAUSE!
You can help us get the word out about USBank / USBancorp (and maybe protect someone you know or love
from being the next victim of the Five Star Screw):
Post our link (http://www.usbank-5starscrewed.0catch.com) to your Web site or Blog,
E-mail the link to everyone you think might be interested or potentially affected,
Suggest/submit our URL to your favorite search engine (help us get a higher search engine ranking, so
more people will see this information),
Concerned or outraged? Let U.S. Bank know! Contact them at:
and let them know what you think about their conduct. Try the e-mail subject line,
"To Jerry Grundhofer, from www.usbank-5starscrewed".
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- The Charitable US Bancorp Five Star Screwing
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December 2, 2002: USBancorp - Piper Jaffray was threatened with a fine of up to $ 60 Million by the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) for improperly retaining e-mail communication records:
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Why U.S. Bank Sucks: Check out this Website, with message board (lots of unhappy customer & employee
stories!). Be sure to go to the "archives" and see the whole story of this family's U.S. Bank horror story, starting in
May 2002. A classis example of Five Star Guaranteed Service! http://www.hill-kleerup.org/blog/mtarchive/001149.html
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= the latest information posted to this Website
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But they settled out today for a mere $ 1.65 Million.
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Over 375,000 unique visitors
to this site as of 3/1/03
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This is the Web Site U.S. Bank doesn't want you to see
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- Disgruntled Customer Web Sites
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U.S. Bank: Where You Can't Get Good Service & They Try To Lock You Up: This poor guy
got smart and tried to simply close out his U.S. Bank accounts. Instead he got a close encounter with the
U.S. Bank Psycho Teller from Hell, and arrested too!. http://www.nampasoccer.com/US%20Bank.html
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- The U.S. Bank Five Star Screw
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(Customer complaints; "insider" information; more on the scandals)
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(Feedback we've received)
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(Suggestions/resources for dealing with problems with this bank)
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(Find out who's behind the Five Star Screw, and how they got there)
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Use the feedback form below to make comments, ask for more information (media and regulatory/enforcement agencies),
or to tell your own U.S. Bank story. Let me know if you find any typographical errors or dead links on this site too.
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Please post our link (http://www.usbank-5starscrewed.0catch.com) to your Web site or Blog
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Acknowledgements: I would like to thank all of the people who have passed along information or links, allowed us to
use their story here, posted our link on their Web site or Blog, or have assisted with the editing and maintenance of this
site. Your help is most appreciated: Thanx!
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Many More Disgruntled US Bank / US Bancorp Sites: CLICK HERE
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No Five Star Service For You If You're Black And Wearing Sunglasses! But the white guys
in sunglasses still got served. U.S. Bank Racial Profiling? |
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U.S. Bank / USBancorp: Customer & Employee Complaints; Abuses; Scandals; Fraud
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Disappearing USBank Deposits: The story, reported by a major Seattle TV station seattleinsiderkrotv.
More stories of lost deposits and loan payments in the "found on the message boards" section. |
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December 30, 2002: Still more trouble for USBancorp - Piper Jaffray. A combined multi-state and federal
investigation into analyst conflict of interest resulted in a $ 32.5 Million fine against them. Lead investigators indicated that Piper Jaffray was one of the two worst offenders for issuing tainted investment recommendations for the purpose of attractingor retaining investment banking clients. |
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This is not the end of Piper Jaffray's troubles though. An investigation is ongoing in Montana involving churning
of customer investment accounts. Penalties in that case could potentially amount to $ 1 Billion. MORE |
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Are YOU next in line for a US Bank Five Star Screwing? Bet none of the folks whose stories are
posted here thought that they were at risk for being screwed either. |
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A Five Star Guaranteed Arrest: US Bank screws up this guy's accounts, and then has him arrested
when he protests and tries to fix the damage. And they apparently lay claim to $ 40,000 more than they are legitimately entitled to. http://www.usbank.cc |
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NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE, DEJA VU! More than 4 years after our nightmare experience (see above)
and US Bank is still at it. Another poor soul who had a simple ATM transaction bungled by the bank, checks bounced, penalty fees assessed, and then a nightmare trying to get the bank to straighten out their mistakes. This story is so close to our own, it's almost scary. Apparently USBank doesn't learn from experience, or maybe just doesn't care. CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY |
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- This person alleges he was denied a checking account because of his ethnic background: CLICK HERE
- Apparently 198 female employees of USBancorp-Piper Jaffray filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company in
2001. Reference to the suit is in the middle of this document: http://dukeemployees.com/newsseptember2001.html
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More Discrimination?
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More US Bank Screwed Customer and Employee Stories: See the "Other Peoples' Stories" section
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Think it's just individuals that are at risk for the USBank Five Star Screw? Think again!! Here are some businesses customers
that have felt the US Bank Five Star Guaranteed Shaft (and check out the Web site, www.ellysonaudio.com, above): |
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USBancorp - Piper Jaffray: Screwing The Customers! US Bancorp - Piper Jaffray has recently been sued
by two major brokerage customers over their allegedly unethical conduct: |
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Former US Bank customer Medical Supply Chain, Inc (MSCI) filed an anti-trust lawsuit against USBancorp -
Piper Jaffray, for potentially up to $ 2.7 Billion. The company alleges that USB-PJ exercised monopoly power and mis-appropriated trade secrets to interfere with MSCI entering the healthcare market. CLICK FOR MORE |
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Antigenics recently sued USBancorp - Piper Jaffray, accusing the brokerage of threatening, and then
following through with discontinuation of research and analyst coverage of the company, when they selected a rival firm to launch a stock offering. CLICK HERE FOR MORE |
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Thanks for nothing, U.S. Bank !
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[New information as of February 2003]
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US Bancorp - Piper Jaffray rated one of the top 3 brokerages receiving the most investor complaints!
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February 19, 2003: Jerry Grundhofer gives up, and apparently attempts to distance USBancorp from the
mounting liabilities of Piper Jaffray by spinning off the brokerage/investment bank as a stand alone company. CLICK HERE |
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GAO ASKS, "WHO'S MINDING THE MONEY? US Bank has a contract with the Internal
Revenue Service, to serve as a "lock box" facility: A "secure" location where taxpayers can send their tax payments. But the U.S. General Accounting Office, after auditing US Bank's operation, has raised serious questions about the security of these funds. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY |
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Merchant Run Out of Business: This small business was put out of business by US Bank's errors and
incompetence! A MEGA-Dose of Five Star Guaranteed Screw. http://www.ellysonaudio.com/ |
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(DON'T MISS SOME OF THE BEST INFORMATION ON THIS SITE!)
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Class Action Lawsuit by US Bank Employees, for uncompensated overtime:
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Lots of good stuff in the "Interesting & Relevant Links" section too -- Don't Miss It!
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(COMPLAINTS, COMPLAINTS, COMPLAINTS)
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(STILL MORE COMPLAINTS)
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