banks

[maz]

they suck. all of them. go to a credit union. it's your only hope.

My bank has a new policy. When you deposit a check that is not drawn on their bank, they only make $100 of it available to you from midnight-6 am when they process all of the day's business on your account.

SO, I depost a $1400 payroll check and they only put $100 in my account while they take out all the ATM transactions, checks, etc. for the day. Then at 6 am, once they've determined I don't have enough money to cover the above debits, and they've assessed me $220.00 in NSF fees, they go ahead and make the other $1300 of my check available.

The check was a payroll check. I've never had a bank hold a payroll check. Oh, it was also from a bank in California. Do you think that they actually cleared that check at 4 am PDT?? yeah right. It has nothing to do with making sure the check clears.

Their response? "It's in the disclosure." Yeah, and if I was a lawyer I'd understand it.

If any of you are in the south and bank with AmSouth, you better be aware of this policy.

[andrewstadium]

How is a credit union better?

[psychicoctopus]

How is a credit union better?

I don't know that this wouldn't work at a bank, but I've been able to get refunds for NSF fees by going to my credit union and acting like a sad bastard to the service representative... they refunded about $140 in NSF fees. But after the third visit like this, they basically showed me the door and put a permanent tag on my account that says "no fee refunds!"

Whenever I think about NSF fees, I start feeling like starting a violent revolution. NSF fees are a FINE FOR BEING POOR. That is so fucked up.

[Kyle Motor]

Whenever I think about NSF fees, I start feeling like starting a violent revolution. NSF fees are a FINE FOR BEING POOR. That is so fucked up.

You took the words right outta my mouth...and I used to work at a bank. People would yell at me when they got NSF fees, and all I could do was get angry with them and say "I know, it's totally wrong, but there's nothing I can do about it, I just work here". Needless to say I don't work there anymore. Charging someone money for not having money.....dirty dirty bastards. It might be fair if they gave a warning or two first, THEN charge the fee.

[maz]

Well, my credit union has much lower fees first of all. They also don't charge you for overdraft protection, and finally, they don't do the slimy thing of holding your deposits for 6 hours while they run the rest of the debits on your account. That's what is just unbelievable.

I've tried to get the NSF fees reversed on the phone, I'm going to try at my branch right now.

I only switched to this bank 'cause my credit union only has one branch and they are far away. But at least they have a much better customer service attitude.

[maz]

Charging someone money for not having money.....dirty dirty bastards. It might be fair if they gave a warning or two first, THEN charge the fee.

Or it might be fair to just charge ONE fee per day... I got hit with 7 consecutive fees all based on one transaction.

[EasyGo]

I dunno if you are in a similar situation, but at my bank (Bank One) you can ask to designate a savings account to draw from if you go in the red. It still costs something like $10.00 per instance, but it's better than $35 or whatever they're charging now for NSF. In the past, I've been hit with over $120 in a single day.

[maz]

yeah, they did that, but since I had just changed banks I still hadn't filled my savings account. It was still sitting in my old savings. So that was my fault. I only had the initial $100 deposit for them to draw from.

But score another point for the credit union, they do that overdraft protection thing for free... not $10 a pop.

[jamoo]

How is a credit union better?

Technically, credit unions are owned by their depositors (ie. you), though it may never feel like it. They're subject to different regulations, usually less stringent.

Usually they're so much better than banks in terms of fees are rates that when you have a choice, there really isn't one...

Some banks have good deals though.

[puffpastry]

I have a checking account at a bank that will let you overdraw your ATM card! If that isn't an obvious money making scheme, I don't know what is!
I don't know why I keep money there...mostly because I get lazy about changing that account from one bank to another, I suppose.

Read this story, maybe it will make you feel better

[A.L.]

I have a checking account at a bank that will let you overdraw your ATM card! If that isn't an obvious money making scheme, I don't know what is!
I don't know why I keep money there...mostly because I get lazy about changing that account from one bank to another, I suppose.

Read this story, maybe it will make you feel better

That link is a classic, BTW, check it out people.

Yeah my bank lets me too. Say I have $150 left it'll say "$500 available for withdrawl" or something. Actually I have overdraft protection that automatically pulls the dough from the credit card I specify, I haven't seriously investigated the fees though. Maybe I should, jeez

[maz]

Read this story, maybe it will make you feel better

Yeah- I've read that story- that's awesome.