legal theft...

[one_voice]

Fuming mad, that's what my mom was when she called me.

My mom called me this afternoon fuming mad. She's retired and living on a fixed income. She checked her bank account today and was overdrawn $105.00. She had no idea why.

So she looks at her transactions and she'd overdrawn her account $2 for which the bank charged her $35 then $5 dollars more and the bank charged another $35 and $5 dollars more and the bank took another $35.

So she apparently made a mistake in addition and which overdrew her acct the original $2 then the additional two $5 for a grand total of $12 for which the bank charged her $105 in overdraft charges.

She's been banking with the same bank for 30 years--though they've changed hands multiple times. I remember when they were a local bank and this never would have happened.

She called them and they gave her a small amount back, but said they couldn't give her anymore back because no one could over ride the system.

Just ridiculous.

I think she's going to look into going with a credit union.

[Warpy]

1. The credit union is a great idea.

Big banks always post the big checks first. If there is an overdraft, any subsequent small checks are then charged an additional overdraft fee in order to maximize the benefit to the bank. It's a practice that needs to be stopped but so far, Congress is more loyal to bank lobbyists than to the people who elected them.

Check in to see what the credit union charges for overdraft protection. It wouldn't have to be much, maybe $100. That would protect her against future errors in addition.

That big bank is a criminal enterprise when it comes to dealing with human beings. They're only remotely fair when they're dealing with big institutions.

[one_voice]

2. That's exactly what this bank does...

I was going to include that in my OP, but I didn't think anyone would know what I was talking about.

Used to be when my husbands check was auto deposited--back like 15 years ago--it was there and all checks came in against it.

Now, all checks come in and THEN his check is deposited. They do it the opposite. I've had a check bounce and call the bank and ask how it was possible when his check was auto deposited and they told me the check came in a few minutes before the check.

Now I can see what time the checks are posted vs what time the deposits are posted and the checks are always first.

They'll keep posting checks even if it keeps overdrawing your acct THEN post your deposits. It's so freakin' shady.

We don't ever get into that position anymore, now that we know how they work. They're no better than organized crime.

Oh, the bank is Wells Fargo---yeah I know the worst one out there.

[unblock]

3. paging senator warren....