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Is my bank trying to screw me?
Bucketman
Call meSkraggRegistered User regular
Call meSkraggRegistered User regular
Ok so Chase bank.
On the 5th I had $278 in my account. I had my WoW fee come out of my account, so -$15. where at $263 now. On the 6th I had a transaction at Staples for $5.08, so where at 275.92. Ok then LAST NIGHT at midnight, my rent check went through for $275. Shit OK, I overspent a bit, so I expect a $35 overdraft fee.
I log in today and I have a $70 overdraft fee. Looking at it, they moved the transaction of my check getting cashed DOWN 2 spaces on there list. Meaning that I went from $278 to $3 then had two withdraws AFTER that for 2 overdrafts.
But the check is still dated 2 days AFTER the other two transactions took place, so even if my landlords took the check to the bank on the 2nd or third that means the bank sat on it for 6 days before putting it in. So the money wasn't taken out until yesterday.
So am I crazy, or is my bank screwing with me to get more cash in overdraft fees? I feel I have a case to get my $35 back, do I?
Thanks in advance.
On the 5th I had $278 in my account. I had my WoW fee come out of my account, so -$15. where at $263 now. On the 6th I had a transaction at Staples for $5.08, so where at 275.92. Ok then LAST NIGHT at midnight, my rent check went through for $275. Shit OK, I overspent a bit, so I expect a $35 overdraft fee.
I log in today and I have a $70 overdraft fee. Looking at it, they moved the transaction of my check getting cashed DOWN 2 spaces on there list. Meaning that I went from $278 to $3 then had two withdraws AFTER that for 2 overdrafts.
But the check is still dated 2 days AFTER the other two transactions took place, so even if my landlords took the check to the bank on the 2nd or third that means the bank sat on it for 6 days before putting it in. So the money wasn't taken out until yesterday.
So am I crazy, or is my bank screwing with me to get more cash in overdraft fees? I feel I have a case to get my $35 back, do I?
Thanks in advance.
Bucketman on
0
Posts
Your bank can pretty much screw you eight ways to Sunday if they want to. If you call, and are polite yet firm, odds are you can get at least one of the overdraft fees thrown out.
From what I've seen in other cases, they are are pretty much trying to screw you, shifting around deposits and withdrawal orders to get more overdraft fees. They pretty much count on you not noticing that they reordered the transactions.
This is very similar to how some credit card or debit card thieves will only use the stolen info for small transactions, "milking" the account for much more in the long run and attempting to avoid detection.
If your landlords do not have the same bank you do, it would not be unusual for their bank to hold your check for processing, which can take up to a week. From both banks' perspective, however, the transaction was STARTED when your check was first deposited. And once you get a negative balance, all transactions will engender an overdraft fee.
To avoid this in the future, get a check register, and use it. Regardless of the order that funds were drawn from your account, you clearly let it overdraft. Keep track of your balance better, and you won't ever have to deal with this again. If that's too much trouble, pay by cashier's check or money order.
That said, joining a credit union is usually a good idea, where it's an option.
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My friend, you've been hosed. Don't feel too bad, banks have been doing this for years.
If I could , let me direct you here.
There's a link to a USAtoday article, and some comments that you can read about folks who've gone through similar woes.
However, we also will apply any credits to your account coming in that day FIRST before any debits.
In the case of the OP, it looks like he didn't have any kind of deposit going in at the same time.
The reason the bank does this is beccause we don't just automatically pay any check that goes into the negative. Instead, any overdrafted transaction is actually reviewed, and there is always the chance that the bank will decide not to pay it. Meaning, you suddenly have a bounced check, a NSF fee, and whatever fees the store you made your purchase at will charge you.
We put the largest check in first because we'd rather your gas purchase come back bad then your rent or some bill.
Of course, that may just be what they tell me to say, and really they want more overdraft charges. Who knows, that's where a bank makes most of there money.
Like Thanatos said, if you're polite, and this hasn't happened recently (in the past year or so), you can probably get at least one of the fees reversed. But, I wouldn't advise calling. I would actually go to a branch and talk to the Branch Manager. If you're polite, explain what happeend with the transactions, and be a little persistant, you can probably get one waived.
Yes, they are trying to screw you.
They refused to close my account and have now charged me 278 dollars in overdraft fees. A collector called me and I told her that I had asked Chase to close my account, they refused, and I now have no intention of paying anything and was going to pursue legal action against them. Her reaction was funny...she got flustered and got off the phone quickly.
YES!
I once had my ATM card stolen during Christmas. I called into the 1-800 number and used the automatic feature to deactivate my card and got my confirmation number. At the beginning of February I got a statement and they had continued to charge my card up until the last week in January. When I was able to get leave from my unit to go back and talk to the bank, they refused to remove the charges or overdraft fees, no matter when my card was reported stolen or that I was in a different state when the charges occurred. That cost me $1100, a little over half of which was NSF fees. At the time I lived in a really small town where this was the only bank. This bank was bought by another bank and I had hoped it would change things.
It didn't. About a year later, I wrote a check expecting that my direct deposit had already gone through. That didn't happen. I overdrafted my account by $17.
Within the 2 weeks it took for my direct deposit to actually go in, my bank charged me the following:
$25 returned check fee
$8.34 a day my account was negative 116.76
$60, 90, and 200 NSF charges every 3 days
for a total of
$1891.76
I did manage to get them to knock it down to
$491.76
But, damn. Why couldn't they have notified me when it happened? I had cash on me, I could have put money in the bank. I just don't see how a $17 overdraft = $491.76 profit for a bank because I made a mistake.
Banks are evil and their manager's souls are so cold and dark that Satan himself would deny them entrance to Hell for fear that Hell would literally freeze over... and Satan tends to bounce checks.
It is also a major issue, and, depending on how they are doing it, illegal. If you go to them and just show them the transaction history they should fix it right there at the branch. That has been my experience.
One day when I was in college, I found myself on the wrong end of $200 in overdraft fees, and I wasn't even doing things like rent at the time. It was just $5 here and $2 here that I kept forgetting that just kept adding up and up and up. From then on I made sure that I kept track of everything I spent money on, I'd write it down on something, even if it wasn't a register. I follow my account online religiously to see what has and hasn't come out of my account yet (most will show you a transaction history). If it's not listed on the history, I assume it's not out yet, and mentally deduct it from my balance.
I've never had an overdraft issue since then.