Got hit with $240 of bank overdraft fees..

[SardonicSmile]

From 8 dollars worth of overdrafts! I bank at wachovia and there were a couple 1 and $2 overdrafts. They would not work with me at all, even though I didn't "blow my top". Anyone else experienced this?

I just found out that banks will allow you to get a credit card and tie it to the checking account.. preventing overdrafts. Looks like the way to go.

[Whitlock]

Banks suck that's why I don't use them. Had that happen to the wife once. She was .27 over and it was a 35.00 over draft charge
What's up with not being able to get to your money in times of need.
Bankers hours are a joke.

[RainDog]

Yeah, overdraft charges can be killer. I'm unaware of any program where the bank pulls money out of a credit card account if you write a hot check, but there may be one. If they were referring to a debit card, that would certainly eliminate overdrafts, because if you don't have the money to cover a charge, it will simply be denied.

[SardonicSmile]

Yeah, overdraft charges can be killer. I'm unaware of any program where the bank pulls money out of a credit card account if you write a hot check, but there may be one. If they were referring to a debit card, that would certainly eliminate overdrafts, because if you don't have the money to cover a charge, it will simply be denied.

This was on a debit card.. (I have never written a check with this bank)

The guy from wachovia said I could get a credit card associated with my checking account that would protect me if I accidentally went over on my debit card or checks.

I used to think debit cards wouldnt work if they had no money in them.. But it takes banks up to 3 days to process your debit charges so you can still easily overdraft. Automatic monthly payments will overdraft your debit card also.

[Squirl]

This is actually how the TARP is being paid back by most banks.  Not kidding.

PNC just got sued in NJ in a class action consumer fraud suit over this.  Happened to me a few times.  Withdrew small dollar amounts when there was money in the account and went over on one charge.  There computer system reorders transactions on the same day to maximize overdrafts.  Check that this didn't happen to you.  Armed with this information they may be more cooperative.

[StinkerBell]

Over draft fees are someting the branch office relys on. It's how te branch makes its money. However banks are set up in a way to get the most out of you. Say you have 5 checks clearing the bank, 4 of them can clear no problem but the 5th one can not. Lets say the other four checks are 10.00 each and you have 45.00 in your account, but the 5th check is 36.00. The banks will always pay the bigger check first because they will get more money from you in these service fee's then pay the smaller checks. More money per over draft check. The banks claim will always pay the checks in the order they receive them, not true. Before workin at an ER I spent 10 years workng at bank of hell.

I do not like that practice when I know it is an outright lie, but what really makes me mad is when they pay the item without your approval then charge you 35.00 in an overdraft fee per check then charge your account again a 25.00 fee for being overdrawn per check.  A situation they created by honoring a check knowing you do not have the funds to cover the check. "NSF" non sufficient funds does not pay as well as overdrafting your account. 

They tell you that its part of your agreement, the agreement that is on your signature card. Try to get a copy of it, they will not release or provider you with a copy of the signed contract.

[rick91351]

I think these predatory rates were in effect way way before the bail out.  Several years ago I had a line a credit through US Bank on our house for a little remodel I was doing.  They claimed it required two checking accounts.  One on the line of credit the other on a personal account they claimed I had to set up.  So my personal one only had like $20.00 in it.  I got the wrong check book when I went to the store.  Wow did I ever pay to learn there.  One check written on a Friday over drafted on that day.  They waited until the following Friday to send out a notice of over draft at $10 a day.  So it was not until the following Monday did I get a chance go in cover everything and close everything out.  Still had $120 or so in fees.  Don't know if this is still their policy but would only assume so.  But then my wife says our credit union does the exact same thing.

Pay cash -  avoid the hassle.  We learned a few years ago if we can't afford it today how can we afford to pay it off tomorrow with interest and banking fees?

 

       

[poppy]

Yea, I hate banks too.

Clearing the largest checks first has been a common practice for a long time.

I have "over draft protection" on our checking accounts (it's actually an automatic loan deal rather than a credit card), but it still costs $10 for each check beyond the over draft, plus the interest if you don't clear it right away.

[bayview]

   Keep an additional $500.00 in your checking account.  Assume its never there.  You will never get overdraft charges . . .

   Sort of like filling up your gas tank . . . I always fill when the tank is still 1/2 full.  Always working on the top half instead of the bottom half. 


/

[Redoverfarm]

Yea, I hate banks too.

Clearing the largest checks first has been a common practice for a long time.

I have "over draft protection" on our checking accounts (it's actually an automatic loan deal rather than a credit card), but it still costs $10 for each check beyond the over draft, plus the interest if you don't clear it right away.

Poppy I have that as well.  I think  mine is up to $1,000.  But my biggest gripe is that they will advance on that plan but not notify you except through your statement monthly.  So if you have some after the cycle ended there is no way to know for 30 days until you get your statement.  Then of course they charge 17% intrest on what they loaned you plus a percentage of the advance as a payment.  The only way they will call is if you went over that 1K advance funds.

[poppy]

John

but not notify you except through your statement monthly.

When I complained about that very thing to my bank, their response was that I should be checking my account daily on line. 

[devildog]

My wife made a miscalculation one time and we didnt catch it quick enough, and got about $360 dollars in over draft charges . I called the bank and explained our mistake. reminded them that weve banked there for several years, and asked them to remove the charges and they did. Now if this was the 2nd time this had happened in a year, they probably wouldnt have done this.

So, its worth calling the bank, and giving it a shot.

Now I have my wife keep a phantom $100 in there,that we dont count, just in case she makes another "miscalculation".

[MountainDon]

Some of what has been going on and is going on with regards to banks will change in early 2010. Some for the better maybe, some for the worse. I will admit I have not followed them all with the same interest I showed in the past. I should point out I am a retired employee of a large bank. I've watched some iof the changes more than others; the ones that affect me most.

I sympathize with most people who run afoul of the overdraft fees. They have been somewhat outrageous for some time. I especially have sympathy for those who have a big pile of crap happen all at once and who are experiencing this for the first time. I don't have a lot of sympathy for the people who repeatedly, on a monthly or near monthly basis overdraw their accounts.  Different banks do have different policies though there are great similarities too

This thread makes me want to point out a couple things.

If your bank allows using a credit card (of their issue, MTL) they will treat that as a cash advance. Cash advances have interest due from the moment it is taken. No grace period. Also a higher rate of interest. Depending on the bank, if you do not pay off the entire months statement in full, that cash advance amount, with the higher interest rate, may not have its principle reduced until the 'revolving credit' part of the account is paid off.     That is going to change with the new laws. I believe the higher interest amounts will be paid down first after feb 2010, or maybe it's just any amount over the minimum payment. Check with your bank or card issuer.

Most banks would allow overdraft protection to be set up drawing money from a savings account if the checking account went dry. That used to carry a $10 charge which was better than $33 or whatever for each check or purchase that overdrew the account. People who have a large enough average monthly balance in all combined accounts are, or at leasdt were, eligible for an account that would waive those fees. But you may have to ask.

The more money you have with a bank the more important you become to the bank. The better you handle the account the more leniency you might get, with a polite phone call. By that I mean if you have never overdraw the account in the past year you might be able to get some charges back.

Debit cards will get you into trouble if you rely on the banks hold mechanism to prevent an overdraft. The only thing that can prevent overdrafts is meticulous record keeping on the part of the card holder, the bank account owner. We gave a way mini registers so people could keep tally, however I know very few people ever used them.

If it's too hard to keep track of all the expenditures, then leaving an "unspendable" amount in the account will work. Takes some discipline.

Over the years I made a few errors and had a penalty assessed. This has happened on both bank accounts and credit card accounts, some with my then employer, some not. I was always able to get the fees returned to me, because we did not make a habit of overdrawing or being a day or two late on a payment. When you call up, or drop into the banking center there's a line on the computer screen where the number of occasions (number of days) and the total number of checks, or debit card transactions you have overdrawn the account in the past 30, 90 and 365 days will appear. If there are any numbers in those slots your chances of a refund spiral downwards rapidly. The computers that issue the statements are programmed to assess the fees and penalties without looking at the customer history. It takes a customer service rep or local banker to reverse them.

My bank, I use the one where I worked, allows a customer to set up all kinds of online account alerts. You can get an email if the balance gets below a certain self defined amount. You can get an email for any transaction over a certain minimum threshold. Ditto for deposits. Ditto for just about any transaction you can imagine. That lets me keep tabs on what is happening without having to login to the accounts everyday. With the number of crooks out there who will clean you out in the bat of an eyelash I believe it pays to either use alerts such as that or monitor the bank accounts a few times a week.

I know personally of a case where the customer was able to stop a fraudulent transfer from their account to an overseas bank. Some one had somehow learned the account ID, password, and even knew the authenticator and other personal details. They were very lucky.

[poppy]

The most frustrating insident of overdraft on my account was not of my doing.  Another customer who had an account number that was close to ours accidentally gained access to our account and withdrew enough to exhaust our account.

When I went in to complain, they quickly found the problem and corrected it, but again their only response on how to avoid the problem was to check our account frequently. 

It kind of reminds me of the IRS or Social Security Admin.; if there is a problem, it is up to the customer/tax payer to get it fixed.