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 excessive overdraft charges
Posted Wed February 21, 2007 1:59 pm, by Emerald N. written to Wells Fargo
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To date, I have suffered major losses from ridiculous and excessive overdraft fees. I am a single mom with two jobs--both of which do a direct deposit to my checking account. I HAVE to stay with wellsfargo b/c of my account arrangements with my ex-husband. So I receive child support payments--again, direct deposit. My problem is why do they always have to clear the large amount checks BEFORE they clear all the little charges or check card activities? This is the 3rd time I've had this problem and WellsFargo refuses to change the way they bank using the lame excuse of "that's how all banks do it"! My child support payments have been late for the past year and although that is a different problem that I am fighting in the courts right now, Wellsfargo doesn't help with the way they do withdrawals on my account. The most recent was in January. On January 8th, my account showed 5 check card activity withdrawals as "charges pending" which, when those went through, would still leave my account on the +-side (of about $100). However, my child support payment of $375 that is supposed to be received on the 1st had not posted. By 10 pm on Jan 8th, my account was still on the positive. But come 8 a.m. on the 9th, 2 checks that I had mailed late in order to allow time for my child support payment to deposit in my account showed as received and cleared--DATED for January 8th (even though they weren't there on the 8th). My complaint to them was, why not date them for clearing on the 9th when they technically DID clear on the 9th--b/c I ended up receiving the child support payment on the 9th--therefore, if those 2 cleared checks were dated for the 9th THEN I would have NO overdraft charges. BUT not only did this cause my account to go into the negative b/c they were dated for the 8th BUT I also got hit for several more overdraft charges because the bank decided to clear the 2 larger check amounts, and THEN clear the 5 smaller ones (the ones that actually showed as pending on the 8th). So, instead of my account going under by 2 overdrawn amounts, they went under by 6: the 5 smaller amounts and part of the 2nd check (e.g. they cleared the larger check first so they could take the largest amount out of my account, leaving very little to cover all the smaller amounts). What they needed to do is take all the smaller amounts--that obviously hit my account first, then do the larger 2 last, so I would have been hit by only one $34 overdraft fee...instead, they charged me for 6 overdraft charges==so that when my $375 child support payment made it in, they took $204 of it for their overdraft fees!!!
I would like them to reverse those charges. They have done so in the past when it was excessive b/c it's ridiculous and poor customer service to take all my hard earned money for overdraft fees. They need to take responsibility for several reasons (and I have had this conversation with several of their representatives):
1) A year ago, I set up a savings account with some of my tax return money so they could link my accounts to protect from overdraft. They said the type of savings account that I have did not qualify for my accounts to be linked for overdraft protection.
2) So they told me to apply for one of their credit cards for overdraft protection--which I was rejected due to my credit rating b/c of the divorce
3) THEN, b/c even though I check my account EVERY DAY and try to predict when I need to transfer from my savings account to my checkings to protect from overdrafts, I STILL miss b/c of the fact that they will NOT show "checks pending" like they do with check card activity pendings, I tried to do the direct deposit requests where you can petition for up to $500 to be added to your account to be repaid to Wellsfargo when your direct deposit hits (but for a fee, of course) which is cheaper than getting overdrafts==THEY EVENTUALLY DENIED ME THAT TOO--so i can't protect my accounts that way either
4)The nickle and diming has to stop: why clear the large check first so that you can hit me with a dozen overdrafts instead of catering to the customer and clearing all the little ones first--especially when all the little ones were pending FIRST==then clear the big one so that only ONE overdraft fee is charged as opposed to 6?
It's time these banks stop taking advantage of their customers--especially someone like Wellsfargo. All I want is MY $200-300 back from this last set of charges--even though they've taken over $600 in overdraft charges through this year b/c they refuse to give customer service.
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by Karney Posted Wed May 23, 2007 @ 9:51 PM
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Try small claims. It worked for me vs. Wells Fargo.
http://www.overdrawnmovie.net
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Maybe there computers can "think" like BOA's can (rep actually told me
that there computers can think??)
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by S. Brown Posted Wed February 21, 2007 @ 6:04 PM
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Wells Fargo's statement "that's how all banks do it" is correct. And
writing a check for money that's not in your account is called an
overdraft.
I understand that your finances are tight and that you're also dealing
with late child support payments, but Wells Fargo (and any other bank
you may use) doesn't care. You either have enough money to cover all
of the checks and debits presented in any order the bank selects or
you don't - - and if you don't, you will get charge an overdraft fee
in accordance with your account holder agreement.
And relying on on-line banking information is not the way to go - - I
personally prefer the good old fashioned paper check register because
that way I know all credits and debits pending.
I'm afraid Wells Fargo is not going to change the way they debit your
account and are also not going to refund your overdraft fees because
you did, in fact and by your own admission, overdraft your account.
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by tickytack Posted Wed February 21, 2007 @ 4:47 PM
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With all due respect, mailing a check before you actually have the
money in the account is, in fact, overdrafting.
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by Harleycat Posted Wed February 21, 2007 @ 4:46 PM
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I'm sorry but this is your fault, not the banks. You cannot spend
money that you "expect" to be deposited in your account. It is up to
you to verify that the child support money has actually been deposited
before writing checks or using your debit card.
Do not rely on online balances. These do not take into consideration
any outstanding checks that have not been presented to the bank for
payment or any scheduled automatic payments.
Most, if not all, banks process the debits from the highest to the
lowest. They claim this is to your advantage but, for the most part,
it is for theirs.
If you cannot leave a cushion in your account as someone else has
suggested, consider using a paper check register and do not spend any
money until deposits have cleared. I know that, as a single parent,
this can be difficult but the resulting overdraft charges make things
even more difficult.
If your ex-husband is constantly late with the child support, perhaps
you may want to petition the court to have his check garnished by the
state and have the state send you the money. This would, of course,
depend on the laws in your state but many women need to resort to this
to obtain the child support on time.
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by PaintedLady Posted Wed February 21, 2007 @ 4:15 PM
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I hate to break it to you, they're right; other banks also clear the
larger amounts first. The original explanation was that larger
amounts were deemed "more important", i.e., rent, bills, car payments,
and they were "helping" you by not bouncing those important ones.
Personally, I think Calm is right, that way they make more money.
They gave you good customer service by forgiving other overdraft fees
previously; it's supposed to be a one or two time thing, not something
you come to rely on them doing, and refusing this time is not bad
customer service.
You have bad credit, that's between you and your ex, but it's not the
banks fault that you do not qualify for some of their programs, and
they're not being unreasonable, they're following policy.
I'd like to make one suggestion: Take a chunk out of your savings
account to put into your checking as a cushion, then "forget" it's
there--DO NOT TOUCH IT. You are paying more than you'll ever make in
interest with those overdraft fees, so let it do some good.
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by calm Posted Wed February 21, 2007 @ 3:19 PM
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They do it that way because that's part of how they make money. Other
banks will do it that way too because that's part of how *they* make
money.
While I sympathize that your kids have expenses for which you have to
front your share and your ex's share when he is late, and that you
don't have a whole lot of spare money lying around with which to do
that, I wonder whether you could find a way to tighten the purse
strings (more than you already do) just long enough to build up a bit
of a cushion in your account. Down the road you would end up saving
hundreds of dollars if you could pull that off, and I'm sure you have
much better uses for that money than the enrichment of the bank.
Or if these things result from the child support money being late, is
there a way to get a judge to require that your ex help you pay these
charges? If nothing else, I bet the checks would suddenly be in the
account the moment they were due.
But they're within their rights; and switching to another bank is
unlikely to solve that problem.
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