What’s wrong with this picture?
First of all, when I went online to check my account balance on 7/24 there was no “-$135.00″ for Check 123, which means everything was just dandy. But, apparently, when someone cashes a check of yours it may not be posted for several days AND when it eventually does post it can show up earlier on the timeline, at the time the person cashing the check brought it to the bank. So when I checked my account on 7/27 there was a mysterious check, which, though it slipped into the timeline at 7/24, did not show up on my online banking account until 7/27. This means that everything I spent on and after 7/24 is now slapped with a–gasp–$35.00 overdraft fee. Yes, okay, this only happened because I stupidly forgot about a check that I had written out earlier that month, but, way to capitalize on my slip-up Bank of America. Is that customer service?
Furthermore, if you look closely you’ll notice that the payment subtractions are neatly ordered from highest to lowest amount, as opposed to the natural timeline in which they occured. This ensures that Bank of America can slap you with the maximum number of overdraft fees. For instance, if you have $500 on your account, and these four charges: $490, $11, $5, and $4, they can give you three overdraft charges if they charge them in that order—never mind whether that was the order in which you actually used your card. For example, say you bought something for $4, then $11, then $5, and then $490. That should only give you one overdraft fee, because you didn’t go into the negative until your last purchase. But if you made all those purchases in one day, “customer-friendly” Bank of America will neatly rearrange the payments to give you three overdraft fees. At $35.00 per fee, that’s a $105.00 slap in the face.
So, that’s how they screwed me. Yes, I screwed up first… but, still, is it fair? Is it even legal? It certainly isn’t good customer service. In the end, they hit me with $245.00 in overdraft fees for one weekend.
And, oh yea, when I went to check my account on 7/25 the Bank of America website was experiencing technical difficulties and I couldn’t see my pending items. The customer service lady later told me on the phone that I should have called and checked my balance over the phone because “you shouldn’t just expect the online banking system to work all the time.”
Lastly, check this out.
7 Comments
July 29, 2009 at 8:00 am
Wow, that if F’ed. Sorry that happened to you..
On a side note, I got this site some traffic yesterday while wearing my idtik shirt! haha
July 29, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I cannot believe this story Phil. Bank of America is so ridiculous and you should not rest until you get your money back!
I have another question about this whole scenario. How does it make any sense to incur a $35 overdraft fee for trying to make a purchase for $6.48?? That’s a 540% charge on top of the $6.48 itself.
I will now start bashing B of A publicly as much as I can
August 10, 2009 at 6:15 am
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32355831
US Banks to Make $38 Billion From Overdraft Fees
Published: Monday, 10 Aug 2009 | 5:33 AM ET
Text Size
By: Reuters
Banks in the United States are poised to make $38.5 billion in customer overdraft fees this year, the Financial Times said, citing research by Moebs Services.
A large portion of the revenue is likely to come from the most financially stretched consumers, according to the paper.
It said the research showed that many banks have increased charges on overdrafts and credit cards in order to boost profits.
The median bank overdraft fee rose this year by one dollar to $26, the paper said, citing the Moebs data.
“Banks are returning to a fee-driven model and overdraft fees are the mother lode,” Mike Moebs, the company’s founder was quoted by the paper as saying.
Overdraft fees accounted for more than 75 percent of service fees charged on customer deposits, the paper cited Moebs as saying.
Last year the U.S. Federal Reserve approved credit card rules to curb “unfair” practices such as surprise fees and interest rate hikes, and new mortgage lending rules are expected this summer.
It is also mulling rules to give bank customers the chance to opt out of overdraft schemes that can involve fees.
August 10, 2009 at 7:34 am
Yes!! Come on Government! Make it happen!
Thanks for the link Dave. I guess I gotta keep researching to see if there’s any progress…
August 12, 2009 at 9:39 pm
You should tweet this post to http://twitter.com/BofA_Help
August 19, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I hate BofA too — too bad there are so many convenient locations…otherwise I’d give the heave-ho!
January 23, 2010 at 12:46 am
Philipp, I think the real question is how exactly did you spend $59 to the penny at Shaws? That in itself should have saved you from the overdraft charge. Whenever I go, it is always .36 or .78, but I can never get an exact dollar amount. That is impressive!