Unjust Overdraft Fee

My mom taught me something that I absolutely love. When I write a
check for $23.20 or whatever, I will enter it into my check register
for $24.00. My deposits are always entered as less than I actually
put in. This way I can create a cushion. I can't tell you how many
times that I have wrote a check for my car payment and have been lucky
to have that cushion.

I think it was Chase that charged my sister an overdraft fee once for
being $.89 short in her checking. They waived her fee but also warned
her that they wouldn't do it again. I have been lucky with my small
bank.

Wouldn't it be nice if people would READ the comments b4 adding their
own 2 cents?

Well when I originally called I got one fee back, which was all I
wanted. But yesterday BofA contacted me and let me know that they took
the second one off.

They stated that their SOP is to let a customer have one. Not everyone
but in most circumstances they'll credit them one fee, it gives them
the opportunity to explain the policy in full and then the customer
can't pull the 'I didn't know' stunt. Because the second fee (the one
they already credited) was a computer mistake and not a finacial one
they decided not to count it as my one and credited the first fee
too.

They also told me that in the future if I should make a computer error
then I should call customer service and ask to speak to the online
banking department right away so they can cancel the transaction.

Now, I hope everyone looks at your letter, and others like it, the
clear, to the point, rational letters usually get action. Maybe not
the action the writer wants, but at least you know they read it.
Letters ranting and raving and demanding freebies, or even requesting
freebies, almost never get replies.

They had every right to charge you an overdraft fee.

I feel for your financial situation, but when you say you're in this
situation because of Christmas, I can't feel sorry for you. During
the holiday season, you buy what you can afford ... and if you can't
afford anything, you don't buy anything . . . the holiday season is
not only about gifts.

It sounds like you don't need a checking account. If you can only put
$2.00 in to "cover" you, there's a problem, along with the other
transferring of money. Why don't you learn how to budget properly?
Just do without certain things, for example, if you eat out a lot,
quit. The bank is not going to "loosen" their policies, they really
don't care what your excuse is for your over-spending.

Hey Brennie... (Bank teller cap going on)
Have you ever considered a Christmas Club account? We did this thing
att he bank where we put or Christmas tree up in Octber. EVERYONE was
asking why we had it up, but what they didn't notcie was the ornaments
were the passbooks used for the Christmas Clubs (Now referred to as CC
so I don't wanna type it out anymore). I then proceeded to ask if they
are ready for Christmas, and 9 times out of 10, I recieved a "NO"
response. :::Window of opportunity:::

"Well I can help you get started for next year so it will come a lot
easier for you! Are you interested in hearing more?"

MOST people opened on up right away.
*I* am putting ten dollars away each pay (Direct deposit mind you)
...and it's going to add up nicely, and I'll even get some interest
(nt much) at the end.

If your bank doesn't have this option (which I think most do) I would
suggest finding a nearbybank , or even doing that anyway so you are
less tempted to spend it through the year.

OK...Bank teller cap coming off...

Personally, I think your budget is off. You have another account from
which you transfer into your checking account. Perhaps, you need to
sit down and see what your expenses are and how much you really need
in your checking account... or use cash.

This would avoid the overdraft and the need to constantly transfer, as
the money would be in the checking account to begin with. Since you
are tight on cash, you must also tighten your belt with your budget.
The bank will always charge you (they ARE a business, after all) for
whatever amount you go over, be it $0.01 or $1000!

Why do you even have that little in the account?

I personally LOVE all the people suggesting keeping a cushion. I wish
I had money to keep a cushion. I live pay to pay... BLAH...anyone
wanna donate so I can have said cushion????

Keep more money in your account and you won't have this problem. If
you kept a $50 "cushion" that you never draw on you'll never have an
overdraft fee.

I've had a checking account (the same one) for 23 years. This has
always worked for me.

Over draft fees are pretty much bs. I don't mind spending the money
when they cover me for an over draft, but they really skew it in their
favor with shady business practices.
If you have $1000 in an account and have 5 checks, 4 for $100 and 1
for $900 hit the same day, they will clear the $900 first
automatically and hit you for 3 over draft fees instead of doing it
the other way around.- To make it even better, a lot of times if you
put a cahs deposit in that day, they will process that after they
clear the checks so that they can hit you for the fees.

Well, $33 does seem a bit expensive but you did make a mistake and
they did give you a break on the second charge.Has it ever occured to
you to maybe keep some actual money in the checking account instead of
having to go through all that transfer silliness every time you go
shopping?

This type of account is not a good one for you unless you can
establish a consistant higher balance. It is going to cost you much
more in fees and stress to micromanage this than it would to get money
orders from the post office and the gasoline spent included. I would
say keep a higher balance or look for a better way, or vehicle to
store your money in.

The only thing your letter is missing is your home phone and your
account number. Please provide that information and I'll be able to
better judge the merits of your letter.

;)

Unfortunately this is what we have these days. This is one way the
bank makes money, IMO. Everything she told you is what my bank (not
BOA) told me the one time I messed up. Actually I messed up twice.
The first time, the CSR credited me. The second time, there was no
leniency coming my way. There was no mention of a previous
indiscretion. I noted to myself that I had been given a chance once,
so I didn't see any reason to press the point (ie beg).

So, they were nice to credit you the fee, but don't count on it again.
After the episode. my bank told me about a free overdraft protection,
and I believe I sent in the application. BOA doesn't give out too
much stuff for free, but you may want to check into it. I think
basically I get charged interest on the overdraft. I haven't done it
and I hope I don't.

I haven't kept a checkbook in my life. For the cost of the one
overdraft of $20-30, I feel like I am doing alright. All that labor,
and them the frustration when the balance is .06 off. Yock.

Sorry, this really was your fault, mistake or not. Personally, I
think that as a courtesy they should waive the fee but, in general,
you did make the mistake and they're entitled to charge you the fee.

Everyone pretty much said it all. These were your mistakes, no matter
how the bank processes transactions. A computer cannot decide not to
charge you the fee for a small overdraft and a check register is very
important. It also really helps to keep a small "hedge" in your
account. I keep an extra $100 in my checking just in case of errors.
We also have overdraft protection which will transfer funds from our
savings to our checking if we overdraw. It is a $20 fee for each time
you use it but it's better than multiple NSF fees. We've only used it
once.

I found out something nifty about my banks online bill paying
recently. I have all my bills on a spreadsheet, add them up and then
transfer the money to checking. I had an error in my formula and
transferred too little. Instead of just letting them go through and
generating a fee for the overdraft, the software told me I didn't have
enough in checking and highlighted which payment put me over the
limit. I was impressed.

Bank accounts are managed by computers these days and there is no
longer a bank employee analyzing your account and deciding whether or
not to charge you an overdraft fee. Banks are in the business of
making money so they will charge you an overdraft fee if at any point
in time debits are presented for which you don't have the funds to
cover - - and this includes "simple errors" or any amount no matter
how small. They will also process your transactions in any order they
so chose so it's important not to run you account down to such a low
balance.


Although I check my account on-line frequently, I still maintain a
paper check register and balance it everyday. Sometimes the old
fashioned way is still the best.

You overdrew your account. If you wait until it shows up online, you
are too late.
You screwed up. It wasn't an "unjust" overdraft fee. It was legit.
Someone suggested you get a check register, and that is the perfect
suggestion. Pay attention to what you are doing with your money, or
your money will become the bank's money.

You should get a checking register and keep track of "all"
transactions, and don't do anything without first consulting the book.
If you write down everything at the time of doing it, then you
shouldn't have a problem forgetting anything.

I had a bad habit of not writing down everything, and to wait till I
got home and then would forget to do it, and later would finally get a
reminder in the form of an overdraft fee. The books don't cost
anything through the bank and it is a lot cheaper than a $35.00 NSF
fee. BTW, don't ever solely depend on the phone or the internet to
balance your checkbook, write everything down and all you would need
the internet or phone is to check things off as they show.

I know and understand how you can make an oversite and hope that you
take my advise so this doens't happen again. It is no fun losing half
or 75% of your paycheck to late fees, I can attest to that.

I would just like to say that I love my credit union! If I had $2 in
my account and I knew something would be coming out in the afternoon,
I could call and transfer money and they would take the money out of
the transfer. No over-drafting...

I'm not sure how to say this nicely... In both cases, it was your
mistake. So, while I agree that the method of calculation might seem
unfair... all of this was as a result of your (honest) mistake.

Yes, there does exist extenuating circumstances. And banks rarely
give back the fee in cases where there was a darn good reason. In
this case, the circumstances were error, on your part.

It may be rotten that they have such a way of calculating overdrafts,
but I'm sure this is all spelled out in the agreement you signed.

As an aside, some banks DO give you a margin so that you won't be
nabbed by a margin of only $1.11. If you think you'll make this
mistake again, you might want to find a bank that offers this kind of
margin.

Or, of course, you could just try to keep an amount in the account
that'd cover what you'd reasonably expect you could ever go over.
$100? $500?