Bank Of America Excessive overdraft fees ripoff Sacramento California

i have a checking and savings account with them also. i recently found out over the weekend that they charge you if you use your overdraft protection account more than 3 times. i was never informed of that and only use my savings when i have checks out. i add up the amount of checks and ach's that are to come out then transfer them into my savings account then as each check clears with the money i have left in checkings i transfer that amount from savings back into my checkings, so each time i do that they charge me a fee. and i have been doing this for about 6 mths now and no one bothered to mention anything. it didn't state it in the book of fees, and the person i set up the overdraft protection didn't mention anything either.

so now my "overdraft" protection is overdrawn because they charged me the fee for over 3 overdraft or transfers. i get charged less if i just withdrew money from an atm. they also said that if you transfer money or use your overdraft protection more than 6 times in 3 statment cycles in a 12 month period, they convert it to a checking account. to me, seems useless to have a savings account to me. i have banked at 4 other banks in my life, and none of them talked about doing this. i had overdraft protection at everybank to. in fact one bank had it to where my husband direct deposit would be deposited directly into his savings and i would have to transfer it to checkings every payday.

I suspect that you will find this to be true most places... I know that the credit union where I bank will do it also. Here's the reason... you get peanuts for interest in a checking account. You don't get a whole lot in a savings account, but it it generally double or more than in a checking account. This being true, why wouldn't I keep ALL my money in the higher rate account, and just let them transfer each time I write a check?

In addition to that, there are federal regulations which determine the number of electronic transfers that can be performed in a statement period.

Although I have said it before I will say it again, there are going to be people in the world (like me) who have a BofA account and have never, not once had a problem with them, because let me say again…they take personal responsibility and keep track of the account!!! Of course the fees are high, but if they were fees you had to pay (meaning you could not control it, like charging $500 for a license would be crazy, because you have to have it, but $500 for speeding, well that could be avoided) say all banks charging $5.00 a day just to have an account, would be ridiculous. Overdraft/NSF and most all other fees can be AVOIDED, meaning if you don't do what you are not supposed to; you will not have a problem, so they could charge $100 for all I care, that is there choice.

It is a penalty, something to deter you from doing it again!! When it comes to anyone paying service fees that is crazy most all banks offer a menu of choices and if you take the time, you can find the account that is right for you. If you don't spend money you don't have to begin with and monitor your account you can wipe out any chance of overdrafting.

Most banks give you several ways to help you keep track…all free, if you just take the responsibility to do it. And no, I don't work at BofA, which I am sure I will be accused of because I “defended” them.

Well you are either PERFECT or you don't live pay day to pay day, so I take my hat off to you. I never said I didn't take the blame, I just wish they would deduct the money I spend as I spend it same as if I have cash. And 34.00 to process a overdraft should be illegal. You make a error (well us unperfect people anyway), and it sets you back for 2 months while you try to catch up. Meanwhile they are making a huge profit off our errors.

The more I thought about your rebuttal, the more I have to say to you.

First of all, if you don't have a complaint why are you reading the posts? Is it just to make those of us who make mistakes feel bad? And also I would like to share what did happen to me.

I checked my account on Tuesday, I had 293.00 in, I remembered I had paid a bill that was 412.00 and I realized I didn't have enough to cover it, but luckily (at least I thought) I had enough cash, if I had gone and deposited it it wouldn't of posted in time. So I went down and paid said bill in cash. When I check my account the next day they had paid the $412.00 charge (for which I didn't have funds to cover), and charged me a overdraft fee on all 10 transactions. I thought I was doing what was right by running down and paying the bill I had PROMISED to pay, but it ended up costing me big time.

Now you are very fortunate that this hasn't happened to you, and this is the first time it happened to me. I have banked with them for the last 5 years. I am a responsible person, but sometimes bad things happen to good people.

I'm not Michelle, but I'm in her camp, so I'll take the liberty of responding.

"Well you are either PERFECT or you don't live pay day to pay day, so I take my hat off to you. I never said I didn't take the blame, I just wish they would deduct the money I spend as I spend it same as if I have cash. And 34.00 to process a overdraft should be illegal. You make a error (well us unperfect people anyway), and it sets you back for 2 months while you try to catch up. Meanwhile they are making a huge profit off our errors."

I do live paycheck to paycheck, and I'm not perfect by any stretch, but I do keep a check register so I know precisely what's available at any given time. It's simply a question of not spending more than you have available. Why should $34 per OD be illegal? You violated the terms of your deposit agreement, why shouldn't you be penalized? Also, BofA doesn't start their OD fees at $34, they start lower than that, so you've been overdrawn before several times. Why haven't you kept a register to prevent this from happening again. That way you can avoid making errors.

"First of all, if you don't have a complaint why are you reading the posts? Is it just to make those of us who make mistakes feel bad? And also I would like to share what did happen to me."

Michelle (as I found out on another thread) works in the financial services industry, as do I, though neither of us for BofA. We're not out to make anyone feel bad, but it isn't a rip off when you overdraw your account, because there are only 2 ways this can happen: Negligence or Malice of Forethought. Either you intentionally spent too much, or you're not performing due diligence on your account. In either case, the bank is within its rights to penalize you for failing to live up to your account responsibilities.

"I checked my account on Tuesday, I had 293.00 in, I remembered I had paid a bill that was 412.00 and I realized I didn't have enough to cover it, but luckily (at least I thought) I had enough cash, if I had gone and deposited it it wouldn't of posted in time. So I went down and paid said bill in cash. When I check my account the next day they had paid the $412.00 charge (for which I didn't have funds to cover), and charged me a overdraft fee on all 10 transactions. I thought I was doing what was right by running down and paying the bill I had PROMISED to pay, but it ended up costing me big time."

Now this is a slightly different story than your initial story, and in fact this affords you some options. Call Bank of America and ask to speak to their claims department. Tell them you want to dispute the $412 charge because you paid it by other means. The claims rep will open a claim and give you a fax number to send in your receipt. Then the bank will recover the funds from the merchant, and refund the related overdraft fees. But remember going forward to track your account so you save yourself this trouble in the future.

"Now you are very fortunate that this hasn't happened to you, and this is the first time it happened to me. I have banked with them for the last 5 years. I am a responsible person, but sometimes bad things happen to good people."

Bad things do happen to good people, but this isn't a question of good or bad, it's a question of maintaining a check register. Do this, and I promise you'll never have a fee again. In the meantime, call the claims department and you'll get your money back probably within 1 business day.

I agree with everything you have said, and like I said in my last post this is not something I do normally, and yes I do keep a check register. It was a error on my part which I tried to correct and I made the wrong decision. You mentioned I must of been overdrawn before, no I haven't been the first 5 overdraft fees were $18.00, then they went up to 34.00. I ended up paying a total of $260.00 in overdraft fees.

I did call the bank and tried to explain what I had done wrong, I took full responsibility since it was my error. But they wouldn't help me at all, basically the rep made me feel like a horrible person I even told her to look over my account so she could see that I don't just spend money I don't have. But they were of no help and would not reverse even one overdraft fee, so I have closed my accounts including my savings and retirement account. I have gone to a credit union, when I opened my account there I explained
what happened to me and they assured me this is not there practice and a lot of the customers they get from BofA, Wells Fargo etc. etc. come with the same complaints.

Thanks again for spending the time to respond, I guess I just needed to vent and wollow in self pity for a bit : )

I recently had similar problems with my account at Bank of The West. I saw an advertisement about Washington Mutual Banks free checking and went to the nearest one to get more info. They don't charge you any monthly fee with only $1 in your checking account. The first overdraft per year is free and then they are $25 dollars. So far they have treated me well and I have $5 in my account. Most banks cater to the Rich and prey on the poor and struggling. I hope this will help. My thinking is you are part of the solution to a problem or you are part of the problem.

If i'm not mistaken there has been recent legislation that overdraft fees are, in most cases, illegal.  Contracts are not supposed to have 'punitive' terms in them.  The problem is that the average person isn't going to spend the time getting a lawyer or going down to small claims court to file a case over the occassional $35.  However, with BofA, i had an issue while on vacationwhere a hotel debited my account $50/day as a deposit for room incidentals (which put $200 in hold). I never used any of the in-room services/items.  I went about my vacation time spending in normal habits and never got a 'denial' for anything I tried to purchase.

Subsequently, upon returning home, I discovered $350 in overdraft fees!  It was somewhat the hotel's fault but in my back and forth between them and BofA... although my account was never actually overdrawn at any time... BofA only credited about half the overdraft money back.  (I resolved the rest of it with the hotel). 

So, take it for what it's worth.  If an overdraft is a rare occurence for you, most of the time, banks will waive one or two per year.  If it's a regular thing for you then you're probably "S.O.L."  But, regardless, $35 is definitely usury.  In the old days, you could make the arguement that people actually had to waste time keying in the information, doing the paperwork, sending the check back in the mail, etc.  There is a cost associated with a person's time in doing these tasks.  Now - everything is electronic... it's done instantly.  If you get a notice in the mail, it's computer generated.  There is no actual 'time/labor loss' with an overdraft item - check or debit.  So, $35 does seem excessive. 

CONSTANT PURSUIT TO FINANCIALLY INJURE THE INNOCENT PEOPLE LIVING HERE, & ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Hi,

 

I just wanted you to know the EXACT same thing happend to me over the last weekend, and I still have not spoken to one person at their customer service department who is willing to refund me $140.00 in overdraft fees. The practice is totally dishonest, and I cannot wait to clear up my account and close it for good.  It is unethical because the money shows on-line as available (including all "pending" charges) throughout the weekend, and you wake up on Tuesday morning with $140 in overdraft charges. It's dishonest, and truly a rip-off for their long-time customers with direct deposit (like me).  I will be front & center for any action which can be taken against this fraudulent company.

Concerned customer, San Diego, California

Legal System in America, along with the Mainstream Media in America, are CORRUPT!