My3cents.com - Bank of America Complaint - Predatory Over Draft Fees, Over Draft Fees

Bank of America Complaint

Predatory Over Draft Fees - Over Draft Fees

12
Helpful Votes

Posted By: john1026 on 6/19/2008

Location: Miami, FL

Hi I had been with Bank of America for 11 yrs. I got my parents to open a personal and commercial account with them.

Our whole family was on Bank of America.

Recently, I ran into trouble by over drafting my account on 3 items. It was my responsibility to pay for my mistakes so that's what I did.

Until pay day, my account remained close to $0.

Usually floating around $20. My mistakes started when I assumed that the online banking system showed all transactions immediately.

I checked my bank account everyday watching for any item to come in so I can borrow the money and deposit it before the end of the day.

I started noticing a trend where if I bought 3 $1 items in the morning and made a $200 purchase at 11:00 pm they will rearrange the items so that I overdraft for each little item.

I called customer service and they told me that they were doing us a favor by doing this because they survived their customers and the majority wanted the larger amount to come out first. The good thing is that will also put the deposits first.

Once again, I was like alright well, what can you do. So I paid it again.

After paying my bills and the overdrafts my bank account again floated around $20. So I stopped using my card.

The Wednesday before payday, I made a check to my doctor that was post dated for Friday. One of my doctor's staff didn't notice and deposited it on Thursday. All the while I'm keeping a check on my bank account online.

At 2:00 am on Friday morning, I checked my account and was happy to find that my account made it to payday without over drafting. Come morning (5 hours later), my account said I had over drafted on Thursday for 2 items, (1) The check and (2) a $3 purchase.

I was livid so I called customer service and the lady went into a script on how their system works.

1 | 2 Next Page >

Next Bank of America Review >>>

Related Sponsor Links:

Did you find this review helpful? Very Helpful Not what I was looking for

Bank of America Reviews By Product:

Got something to say? Help other consumers by sharing your experiences on My3cents...

Community Tools:

Read comments (14)

Consumers: Add your 3 cents to this review!

Business Owner? Post your company response!

Write a review on this company

More reviews on this company

Related reviews:

More reviews on Bank of America:

advertise here

User Discussion - Add your 3 cents!

(06/19/2008)

You should not write checks for money not in your account. Post dating a check means nothing, the bank accepts it when it comes in. The overdraft fees are serious money so you have to be very careful not to go negative. You can change banks but you've really got to change your habits and watch you check register and AVAILABLE balance closely. A helpful hint might be to pay cash instead of using a debit card for small transactions, then if you do go negative you won't have a bunch of small charges.

(06/19/2008)

"I checked my bank account everyday watching for any item to come in so I can borrow the money and deposit it before the end of the day."

If you can see it, you're already overdrawn. Do yourself a favor and cut up the debit card. If you use cash only, you'll find you have all those overdraft fees back in your pocket available to spend.

Ghost of Doc J

(06/19/2008)

Post-dating is little more than check kiting. Always write the correct date on a check. If you wanted the doctor to hold the check, you should attach a note to the check and put both in an envelope marked 'hold'. Clear it with the office manager. No business is obligated to hold a check or honor a post-dated check. The days of interest-free, short term loans via one's checking account are over.

(06/19/2008)

Keep track of ALL transactions in a check register- checks/debit card transactions/ATM withdrawls and balance your checkbook every day. This is how you know exactly how much money you have in your account. Online banking is a convenience to have, but it is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate at all times. As BobJohn said, you can change banks, but you also need to change your habits, or this will just happen again.

madconsumer

(06/19/2008)

without even finishing this, i stopped when the poster said,
" checked my bank account everyday watching for any item to come in so I can borrow the money and deposit it before the end of the day."

here is a radical idea, make the deposit first. then go spend the money that is available. days of floating checks is over.

Trixta (06/19/2008)

"I was livid so I called customer service and the lady went into a script on how their system works."

Hope you listened. Your post indicates that you don't know how to manage a checking account.

CrazyRedHead

(06/20/2008)

Never rely solely on the online system or the telephone system. You should keep an accurate check register. You don't seem to know how to manage a checking account properly. I have been with BOA for close to 20 years and I don't have a lot of money, and I haven't had an overdraft or any problems in the last 10 years. I keep a checking register and keep, at most, 10 dollars in the account and I only get paid once a month. I should keep more but when you don't have more it is kinda hard.

Stop post dating checks, they will only get you into trouble, and quit floating checks. When you deposit wait until the funds are available, even if ... more >>

speedy relief (06/21/2008)

I agree with you . BOa is a preditor in no uncertain terms. They hit me for the tune of 300.00 in overdrafts, due to Their practice of paying in decending order. I made purchases over the weekend with my debit card (using my PIN) cuz they tell me they take the $ out immediatly (or so they say) I made a cash deposit before 5pm to cover another purchase to be made on the following day, and they paid that purchase first, and let everything alse (all my debits) kick out as over drafts.

steve12 (06/30/2008)

Post-dating checks does not work anymore. These rules have been in place for awhile. You give someone a check, they can deposit it immediately and the funds can be taken from your account immediately.
It's time that you learn how to budget your money.

(06/30/2008)

'...(contrary to what their commercials advertise).' I've seen a lot of BOA ads, both print and TV, and in none of them do they infer if you don't have money left in your account they'll gladly float a loan at no charge to you. I don't think you should have a bank account. Looking at your history, that may become true. Banks are not too happy to sign up new customers who have had a problem balancing their checking accounts in the past.

speedy relief, you also need Basic Finance 101. I'd have a heart attack if I had to pay $300 in overdraft fees due to my inability to add and subtract.

speedy relief (07/01/2008)

such sarcasm in the previous posts. maybe these people work for the bank

(07/01/2008)

speedy, no we don't work for the bank. We just use common sense. I have never in my entire life had an overdraft fee. I suppose that could be because I don't try to spend what I don't have.

PolishGirl (07/07/2008)

First of all, never post date a check, it never works. Second of all keep more money in your account. Third, keep a check register. Forth, never never never spend money on something if you don't have it, that way you do not overdraw the account.

the_victim (08/07/2008)

You are right about Bank of America. I only use them because they have a lot of ATM machines. But once I catch up I will transfer my business elsewhere. They are crooks and they move things around to create multiple overdrafts. They just stole $175.00 dollars from me. What would have been an about a 12 dollar over draft turned into 175 dollars in a few minutes. They apparently tell each customer the same reason.

Now why would anyone prefer the bank to pay a higher draft but instead pay multiple overdraft fees that exceed the one highest charge. They manipulated my account to steal money. I will make sure they get as much negative publicity ... more >>

Add your 3 cents!

Bank of America Tools & Resources:

Company Rating:

(2 out of 4 / 2001 votes)

View company contact info

Compare ratings of other companies in this industry

Bank of America Consumer Report Overview

Browse more reviews in category Financial or subcategory Banks/Credit Cards

Consumer Marketplace

Get Firefox!

Consumer Tools | My Account | Write a Review | Compare Company Ratings | Company Contact Directory | Local Reviews

Businesses: Respond to Consumers | Product Recalls Directory from Google | Consumer News & Recall Info from Yahoo

HOME | FAQ | Advertise | About Us | Site Rules | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Press | Site Map | RSS

Copyright 2000-2010 My3cents, LLC Browse in another language