Bank of America screws me out of money with overdrafts. Help!?
Question by tneelilsupaguy: Bank of America screws me out of money with overdrafts. Help!?
So this has happened a few times with them. I write checks for random bills on Wednesday or Thursday before my Friday payday direct deposit. They don’t post them, and the transactions don’t show up on my online account even as late as Thursday between 11pm and midnight. They don’t even show as “Processing” transactions. My direct deposit goes in around 2am Friday morning. Just before it is put into my account (though they will not give me specific times of any transactions when I call to dispute overdraft fees) they shove thru all of the checks in descending order of the amount. They said this is their policy. This means, for example, that a 0 check I wrote for whatever bill is taken out before the fifty to debit card transactions go thru even if the debit/credit transactions happened before they received the 0 check. So if I start with 9 in my account Thursday morning and I buy gum and coffee and food somewhere on that Thursday morning with my card and they receive a 0 check that evening, the 0 is taken out, overdrafting me, before the 3 smaller transactions which happened before the large one go thru causing 3 additional overdraft fees. I know that may sound confusing and it is.
I understand that if you write a check, you need the funds to cover it. I understand that if I do screw up, miscalculate something, and legitimately overdraft, it is my fault and I owe the fee. In the above scenario, the three small transactions from the morning should have cleared fine, but the 0 would cause a fee. I get that. However, the system they have in place is set up to get as much money as possible from my account whether it is right or not. What am I going to do afterall? They are the bank. I am just some guy.
So I considered opening an account elsewhere, then overdrafting the hell out of BofA before completely ignoring them. I also thought about throwing bricks thru their windows to at least make myself feel like we were tit for tat. I ALSO considered wearing a hoody, sunglasses, and fake facial hair and squirting super glue into all of their atm card slots. I will not do any of these things, but it is nice to fantasize about.
So I guess my actual question is, besides resorting to vigilante justice, what can I do to get the money back that they screw me out of? This has happened a couple of times over the years. I know I need to just switch banks, but I want justice. I feel like I’ve been scammed.
Sorry. I’m just annoyed and at my rope’s end at this point. Thanks for any help you can offer.
Best answer:
Answer by Caveat Emptor
Grow up, find a new bank, properly close out your BofA account and move on.
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7 Responses to “Bank of America screws me out of money with overdrafts. Help!?”
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Well, I am glad you aren’t going to follow through on any of your “fantasies” because that would only get you in more trouble and wouldn’t really make a difference to BA. Yes, they have a legal right to do business the way they are. You can either wait until your check is actually deposited and you have all the funds BEFORE writing checks or making purchases, or you can see if a different bank has a different policy. They may not, so be careful. And yes, you do owe them the overdraft fees because you incurred them. Negligence of their policies or a dislike for them does not absolve you of your debt. Live and learn and move on!
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_6849.shtml
There are a bunch of articles on the web about Bof A’s obnoxious policies. I thought that a law went into effect this summer that they couldn’t allow debit card transactions, and then later charge you for them as overdrafts.
I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you can do other than not spending the money before its safely in your account.
~~BofA does this because they can, and their customers are stuck with their rotten way of doing business until they close their accounts.
The best thing you can do is move your money to a new bank (find out their processing procedures before opening your account). You will find credit unions and your small local branches have the best customer service. However they aren’t conveniently located so some people put up with the alternative “big banks.”
For retribution you need to go to all the consumer outlets you can find and let consumers know what happened to you, how they do business, etc. and warn other people to use different banks. Online sites reach thousands of people in a few minutes, so letting their system be known is the only thing that will hurt their business. It’s an honest and helpful way to feel better.
I know of ecomplaints off hand, but google consumer complaints and you will see a host of forums to report this.~~
Don’t write checks until you have the money in your account to cover them.
Period, end of story, problem solved.
I concur with some of the other responses – don’t write checks until you have money in the account.
Their system changed August 14th, so debit card transactions will not cause overdraft fees anymore. If you received fees for any of the smaller transactions, they must have been either checks or bill payments, but not debit card transactions.
evmoney
You need to keep better track of how much you have available. If you know you wrote a $300 check and it does not show up on your online account, you still need to make sure the money is there to pay it. You understand all that, and it sounds like it is the little debit card transactions that muddy the waters for you.
Simply keeping $50 as your spending money per week for little items and paying only in cash, might work for you. When the $50 is gone, then do without the gum or the cup of coffee. Don’t use the debit card. You will soon learn to spend no more than your daily allowance.
The best way to get even with your bank is to beat them at their own game. Don’t give them the chance to squeeze more out of you by being scrupulous with the way you maintain your account. Investigate the policies of other banks and credit unions – many of them will process checks and debits as they come in, and seeing your true balance online may help you avoid all these extra charges.
Yes, it looks very much like sharp practice to process the items in a way that they can charge 3 fees instead of one, but if that is their policy, there isn’t much you can do to change it except change banks and take your business elsewhere. I think your chances of getting any of those fees back are zero. Suss out your local credit union – you may find they provide a much better service, and they are basically non-profit, unlike the banks who aim to make billions out of small customers like you.
This has been a learning experience for you. Now you know what they are up to, you can take steps to prevent it happening again.
Then stop kiting checks that is illegal. You don’t get paid till Friday then you need to wait till Monday to write the checks.