Overdraft Fees

Yes. Compass Bank basically did that to me a few years ago. I didn't know I had overdrawn for a few days, so I went about making little charges here and there, for lunches and whatnot, and without knowing it I'd accrue about four overdraft charges. Now I feel obliged to tell everyone how shitty Compass Bank is. When I was closing my account, I went in and withdrew all of my money. They physically gave it to me. The next day, they called and left me a message saying that I still needed to withdraw all my money to close my account. I thought for a second that it might be an opportunity to take them for the 100-odd dollars I had in there, but I decided I just never wanted to deal with them ever again.

Be sure to turn on the heat if it gets below freezing. Busted pipes are much more expensive than a heating bill.

If you have $100......................Don't spend more than $100.

If for some retarded reason you screwed up and overspent..................Don't act like it is the Banks fault.

Yes, and then I learned not to spend more than I had. Its also good practice to carry some cash, withdraw $40 and use the cash instead of always charging to your debit. This prevents you from getting multiple charges at least.

Mine occurred when I was 18 and I learned quickly not to let it happen again. My $5 meal ended up costing ~$55, but my bank dropped the overdraft when I called.

You should call them if you haven't already. Some banks are very understanding and even if you can get one/a few of them dropped, that'd be helpful.

like a box of chocolates wrote:

If you have $100......................Don't spend more than $100.

If for some retarded reason you screwed up and overspent..................Don't act like it is the Banks fault.

Agreed, however what the banks will do is process pending charges and checks in the most harmful way to the customer.

For instance, you have $100 in the bank. You have charges for $10, $5, $3, and $6. But you forgot about a $99 check you wrote 3 months ago.

What banks will do is process from biggest to smallest, so in the example above you get 4 bounced check fees ($120 if you are at Chase).

However if the bank had your best interest in mind, they would process smallest to largest, thereby only having one bounced check fee.

If I recall, congress has passed a bill that will require banks to clean up this habit.

Been, there... they will usually drop half of the charges if you call and explain.

I hate how they let you keep charging though, they make billions per year on these charges... it just isn't fair.

Yeah ultimately it's my fault, and to those who told me to call, I did. They offered to give one back (of 7) and I told them they were thieves (I had been nice before they started bargaining with me, mind you). They won't be my bank anymore, and I know they don't really care anyway but what they did is still unethical (and yes, soon to be illegal). It wasn't a clear cut case of spending more than I had, though, because they use the online system to obfuscate how much you have (keep a register, I know, but we are all busy and that doesn't make what they do right, it just makes me a sucker). Charges come up on your account and then disappear for a week and then come up when they post, and they furthermore shuffled my charges from biggest to smallest and made them post prior to the deposit I had made (i.e. shuffled them in time-they basically pretended the day I made the purchase is the day it posted, and so ordered the account that way--like a bank getting a check you wrote and saying yeah you have 100 dollars now but when you wrote the check you had 70 so you overdrafted). Then they had the nerve to tell me they order the charges from the biggest to smallest for my convenience because the bigger charges are more important (implying that if I had say a bill come out of the account it would not go through if I didn't have enough in the account--but that is precisely what "overdraft protection" (which i never wanted) protects against!). So did I leave myself open to this? Yes. It is still, however, blatant extortion. And I hope my pipes don't freeze, you have a good point. Not much I can do because I can't pay the bill now.

You kids all carry these iCraps why not use them to check your balances.

If you are stupid and have no idea how much balance you have available, set yourself up with overdraft protection - basically a line of credit - where the bank turns the overdraft into a loan for a much much smaller fee. Just pay the loan off when deposited funds get unlocked.

here by inteligent design wrote:

You kids all carry these iCraps why not use them to check your balances.

If you are stupid and have no idea how much balance you have available, set yourself up with overdraft protection - basically a line of credit - where the bank turns the overdraft into a loan for a much much smaller fee. Just pay the loan off when deposited funds get unlocked.

We do use the icraps, and the banks know this, so they disinform us through our icraps. There are two flavors of overdraft protection at my current bank, to my knowledge:1) you have a savings account and if you overdraft that account dispenses into your checking account (I don't have enough money right now for this) 2)The form of "overdraft protection" I just got. That is, the bank will cover a charge for you (be it your rent or a coke) if you don't have the funds, however this comes with a $32 penalty each time. Not having overdraft protection would be much better. Then, if I didn't have the money, my "check card" would be declined. Simple and helpful. Or, you know they could just call me.

No sympathy here. You might as well learn sooner rather than later that you NEED to keep track of your funds. It's called being grown up and responsible.

How about banks stop letting people overdraft? No one wants to be able to overdraw their accounts, and banks just do it to generate fees. I never opted in for this great ability.

I got hit with a 20 dollar and 35 dollar fee from Bank of America for two purchases made at the same time, both under 5 dollars. I called up and tried to get them to drop it, and this woman just kept telling me that I should have kept better track-sure, but why does that warrant two fees? At 10 times what I overdrafted? Can't they just drop one of them to keep from losing a customer? I did eventually get another person on the line who dropped one of the fees.

This will come as a shock to many of you. Banks don't need your business if you have less than $100k in the bank. Making a couple hundred bucks on overdraft charges on people that keep less than $1,000 in their account will not pay the bills. Taking your business elsewhere means nothing unless your pulling 6 figures out of their bank.

Banks made 40 billion dollars last year with those "little fees." Also the world is set up so that you have to have an account (certain jobs require etc.). Banks are supposed to build relationships! Do you think when I'm no longer a student, if I happen to make some money that I'll go back to this bank (or any bank--and yeah maybe I'll never have a lot of money, but they are certainly screwing people that will every day)? I'm better off throwing my money in the stock market. Personal Responsibility is important, but come on man, this stuff is ridiculous. If someone robs you on the street, then do you want the police to just tell you that you should walk in groups and stay indoors at night? Also, my bank took bailout funds after it bankrupted itself doing other stuff it knew was illegal. I don't need their business either.

like a box of chocolates wrote:

This will come as a shock to many of you. Banks don't need your business if you have less than $100k in the bank. Making a couple hundred bucks on overdraft charges on people that keep less than $1,000 in their account will not pay the bills. Taking your business elsewhere means nothing unless your pulling 6 figures out of their bank.

Shank of America wrote:

How about banks stop letting people overdraft? No one wants to be able to overdraw their accounts, and banks just do it to generate fees.

Go in to the bank, and talk with one of the bank managers face to face. They should remove all or at least most of the charges. Point out the issue with the way they ordered the charges.

Next time you get an account, get it at a credit union not a bank.

Not a Gazelle wrote:

No sympathy here. You might as well learn sooner rather than later that you NEED to keep track of your funds. It's called being grown up and responsible.

You have a point. Now I am much better about it. But it also helps that B of A is much more timely in posting my charges to my account online. And at the time, I bitterly resented having to dig myself out of such a big hole when having no money was the problem in the first place. I wasn't charging jewelry or tricked out cell phones or anything.

Most people don't call and just pay it. That's how the banks pay for off-site office meeting junkets. Drop that account and out your money in a credit union.

Aside from keeping better track of your finances, look into a credit union--far, far better to deal with.

I would probably be about $2000 richer if it weren't for overdraft fees. Sometimes I just don't know any other way to pay for the things I need to pay for, so I accept the charge, but usually it's just my own stupidity. My latest was going sixteen cents into the red--or should I say $34.16.