American Servicing Company - Wells Fargo Bank excessive overdraft fees wont/cant discontinue overdraft service for my account Stataeline , Nevada

I fully agree that not choosing to be enrolled in overdraft protection on the debit card is an excellent way to prevent a mistake or an unknown charge from having this kind of snowball effect of fees that can wipe you out.

But it is hard to defend you in this case as well since you were a bit too careless and depended on the bank to control your spending. I will say however that banks do not like for customers to opt out of the protection, because customers that are not careful, or maintain a low balance, are prime targets for them to profit off of using these tactics.

By August of this year, a new law is going into effect that prevents any bank or financial institution from automatically enrolling every customer into standard OD protection on a debit card without full disclosure.

There is a chance you may get something back if the lawsuits end in a substantial settlement, but don't let this make you think you have no responsibility to watch your spending. If you depend on the bank to do this for you..eventually they will find a way to profit off it.

You will be notified in the future by mail how much if any you will be receiving from the class action lawsuits. You have no other recourse at this time other then to try to work this out with the bank. Don't admit to anything, just keep telling them you were supposed to be opted out of OD protection hence the card should have been declined if would put the account into the negative, and therefore all related fees that resulted from the overdraft should be reimbursed. Best of luck.

You should have done what I did back when I was with Wachovia. The bank did not want to do this, but I was persistent. I got it in writing from the bank manager, that all ATM transactions would be declined if the account would be drawn into the negative, but this advice may be too late for you.

You should consider Chase bank as they will hand you a real contract regarding the debit card policies, you can sign that you do not want overdraft protection, and you will then have the additional safeguard. Other banks will be following suit in time, expect an email or letter soon regarding the changes.

Now don't get me wrong, I did not do this to get out of keeping track of my spending. I did it because a shady rent a car place in Los Angeles was charging the card for fees that they "mistakenly" did not disclose, and for a "deposit" that stated would not be charged to the card for 28 days, but they did it in 2 weeks. Of course I was unaware of the charge, hence my register did no good and it caused overdrafts, which the bank compounded by re-sequencing tactics, causing hundreds and hundreds of dollars in fees being charge from the result of a SINGLE legitimate overdraft. Fortunately for me, I was able to have all the charges reversed, but it took time and trips to the bank.

Another time a restaurant placed a $50.00 hold on my card and did not inform me. I caught it in time by checking the account online before it caused any overdraft, but things like this are why I prefer not to have overdraft coverage, guess if you live in LA you learn that soon enough.

 And now I read here on other reports, that the banks won't even reverse the charges if the merchant ripped you off or placed an unauthorized charge or hold..they just tell you "there is nothing we can do"..which if the customer is not aware the bank must investigate and reverse the charges BY LAW, they are out of luck and swindled not only by the merchant, but their own bank.

So opting out of OD protection is not only to protect you from yourself making a mistake, but to protect you from a merchant error or fraud, and most of all, it will protect you from the BANK.

With all that said, you are subjecting yourself to potential ridicule, mockery and insult by posting here what happened. Some "bank defenders" or self proclaimed "advocates of responsibility" will only see this one sided..that you were irresponsible, hence you deserved whatever you got regardless of the banks lack of ethics and lack of disclosure, and lack of customer service, and lack of opting you out of OD coverage when they agreed you do not have it.

The way I see it, you were careless no doubt, but the bank went against it's word by approving transactions that did not have available funds, when you specifically told them not to. After all, if a rat goes into a rat trap and loses it's tail, it was not only the rats fault, but whomever set the trap as well. All parties responsible, share a percentage of the responsibility..can't be any more reasonable then that. By you trying to reach an agreement of paying 50%, seems fair to me.

In the meantime, you may have to find a way to pay this (borrow it maybe) or you will have all the problems you listed in your report. The only suggestion is make sure everything you agree to is in writing, that you understand the implications, and that you watch the spending to the penny. If this was caused by a merchant error or fraud you would have a much better leg to stand on then being it was from your overspending that caused it..sad to say. Once you pay them they will be off your back at least but it doesn't mean you still can not pursue recourse. It just will take more time then you have right now. Pay them, close the account, and find a bank with better policies for you.