#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ashley - Springfield (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
POSTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
First of all, your first complaint is on the bank trying to protect their customers. You should be happy they are so diligent.
Second you state that you do not want a lecture on using a check register.
then you state:
"I keep track of what I spend and I pay attention to my AVAILABLE balance, not my account balance. "
That is your problem. Your available balance will always differ from your actual account balance. the only way to know for sure what your actual account balance is, is to keep a check register. There are many transactions that will not show up properly on an online register until they clear.
So yes, this is your mistake. You need to keep a check register and balance your checkbook. Stop using the online register to figure out how much money you have. It is inaccurate.
#2 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Edgeman - Chico (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
POSTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
From the report:
"I understand I should keep a check register and it's my own fault I didn't, but they make online banking convenient and tell you by clicking on each balance you can see what your available balance was at that time."
You should never use online banking as a replacement for a check register. It was never intended to be used that way as you discovered:
"One would show I had an available balance of $23 and the next one above it after a $120 transaction went through would show an available balance of $500. I want to know why it's not right? Sometimes it will show accurate information and other times it is completely off."
By it's very nature, online banking can't be completely accurate all of the time. Every week I buy gasoline at my preferred Chevron station and they always place a $1 hold against my account no matter how much I have actually spent. Let's say that I buy $50 worth of gas. My online banking page would show a balance of $49 higher than it actually is. The bank has no idea how much I actually spent until the merchant gets around to actually submitting the charge.
Furthermore, US Bank will release holds prior to hard posting the day's transactions. Let's say that I have $300 in the account and $115 in pending transactions. I'd have a balance of $185 but when those holds are released my online banking page will show a balance of $300. A little later the transactions will hard post and the true $185 balance is shown. This tends to happen late at night but if you check your account during that little window you'd think that you have more money than you actually do.
This is why a written check register is a necessity. In the above example, the check register would have shown a balance of $185 and we wouldn't have to worry about the accuracy of online banking. If you go to your favorite search engine and look for "free check register", you should find a number of printable check registers in a variety of sizes.
No ripoff here.
Best of luck to you.
#3 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ronny G - North Hollywood (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
POSTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
That's strange that the gas station is doing the hold. How come then when I use my paypal VISA debit card the transaction and exact amount INSTANTLY show up on my on-line statement? And if I attempt to spend a PENNY more then my "AVAILABLE" balance..the transaction is declined.
It is hard for me to understand why my WACHOVIA VISA debit card does not operate the same way (well not really that hard to understand, the bank makes money by this)..which would prevent more then one overdraw to even occur..much less the re-sequencing which is what wipes customers out and sends their accounts way negative..legal or not..and customers fault or not for over drafting..I still think it's an unfair practice which in it's very nature is targeting lower income and/or financially struggling customers.
Hopefully something can be done about this as a register itself does nothing to get customers back any money they feel were unfairly charged to their accounts.
#4 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Edgeman - Chico (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, August 06, 2009
POSTED: Thursday, August 06, 2009
I can't speak to how your preferred station does business, but the local Chevrons put a $1 hold against my account when I pay at the pump whether I use my US Bank debit card, my BofA debit card or my Paypal Mastercard debit card.
That's also true of Chevrons I've stopped at while travelling.
#5 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: ReactorCore - Victoria (Canada)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, August 06, 2009
POSTED: Thursday, August 06, 2009
Once again, Ronny "Don Quixote" G rides in without having learned anything from what's already been explained to him. However, he's really irrelevant in regards to the question anyway
Wachovia = Financial institution
PayPal = Pure business venture.
Wachovia, despite Ronny's bleatings, is bound by law to follow FDIC procedures in order to benefit from inclusion as an FDIC bank. If they lose their FDIC charter, they're pretty much finished.
PayPal is under no such obligations. None. They're in it to make as much money as possible and will waste no time making that money, even if the means are questionable (as they are in other aspects of their business), and enforcement under actual business laws is far looser than FDIC mandates.
Thus, it makes more sense to the PayPal fat cats to process every transaction as soon as humanly possible, since they get a cut of processing fees from whatever establishment will honor a card issued by them (in conjunction with Visa, who also gets their cut). The faster they push the purchase through, the faster they get their percentage. Simple.
The problem with this is that there are actually LESS safeguards for the consumer with regards to fraudulent activity... Someone could lift your card and drain it completely before you could lift a finger. At least with holds, such as they are, done by FDIC institutions, if you're fast enough in discovering the loss of a card, anything in the hold queue can be recouped before it leaves your account, and if you have access to a fraudulent use protection service through whatever bank or credit union you're using, all the better, since that heads off the NSF/OD fees.
If Ronny here lost his PayPal card to a thief today and didn't notice til tomorrow, he'd be pooched.
Now, as for the OP, you say you use a check register, and that's great. I applaud you for it. I think you'll find what others have said to be true, and you can put it to the test yourself... For one month, check every transaction in an "online vs. physical register" test. See how they stack up against each other each time. It may take some extra effort and time, but the realization that the online version of your funds DOESN'T always match the physical register in your hands will be well worth it as a learning experience, and it takes only that one test run to see the true value of NOT taking the online balance as true and correct every time.
#6 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ronny G - North Hollywood (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, August 06, 2009
POSTED: Thursday, August 06, 2009
Yeah, I know you hate when I title the posts like that..but you keep on acting like a little bi*ch with your name calling..I will disregard your requests for respect as well.
To make this short and sweet, I am aware of the differences between a financial institution and a business..but they both have customers..and they both have measures to protect the customer from fraudulent activity, including the debit cards.
My main point was that I do wish the banks VISA debit card worked more like the paypal VISA debit card only because the paypal debit is not set up to make it easy to overdraw for the sake of re-sequencing the transactions to rock us with an avalanche of fees. If Wachovia simply declined the card if an overdraw was to occur...or if an overdraw does occur, to charge the corresponding fees ONLY to the transaction that caused the initial overdraw, and not to subsequent transaction in which funds were available..I would have no problem with them whatsoever. But you don't understand so is there even a point to explaining this to you again..and again..and again???...oh and again??? Aye?
And..to educate you a little more if this is even possible (you know how pigheaded canucks are)..here is what I got from Paypals debit terms and conditions regarding fraudulent use/theft...
2. Section 12 of the PayPal user agreement is amended for clarification purposes. The new section 12 will read as follows:
12. Unauthorized Transactions
12.1 What does 100% protection for unauthorized transactions mean?
PayPal will cover you for the full amount of every eligible unauthorized transaction.
12.3 What are the eligibility requirements?
To be eligible for 100% protection for unauthorized transactions, you must notify us within 60 days after the unauthorized transaction first appears in your Account history. Otherwise, you will be liable for related losses that occur on day 61 and beyond, if we can prove that we could have stopped the losses had you told us in time. We will extend the 60-day time period if a good reason, such as a hospital stay, kept you from notifying us within 60 days.
Now...that is PLAIN ENGLISH, even can you understand it?
#7 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Tim - Grand Haven (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, August 07, 2009
POSTED: Friday, August 07, 2009
This is not on the topic of the report, but apparently worth note.
Bickering between posters is better reserved for chatrooms and role playing games.
If you want your advice (and this site) to be taken seriously, ditch the name-calling and keep things on a professional level.
You both had solid advice and/or solid points. Don't cloud them with sophomoric evidence of your dislike for one-another.
Best regards!
#8 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ronny G - North Hollywood (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, August 08, 2009
POSTED: Saturday, August 08, 2009
I don't know if I should thank you for claiming the role of rip off report moderator, but it was needed. Reactorcore seems to personally hate my guts for some reason. He doesn't like when anyone has a problem with the banks..Is he a moderator or some expert on banks? Just curious.
Thanks,
Ronny
#9 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: I Am The Law - Cincinnati (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Monday, August 10, 2009
POSTED: Monday, August 10, 2009
1. You're upset with the bank shutting off your debit card because they thought someone was using it fraudulently? Um, ok. Maybe next time when someone does actually use it that way, the bank should leave the card on and let some criminal wipe out your life savings. It's just common sense to tell your bank and credit card companies that you'll be in a different geographic area using the card.
2. The USB website is extremely easy to use. As you've discovered, they actually have the ability to show your available balance per transaction. Here's an easy way to figure out where you went wrong: add all of the overdraft fees back in and compare that to the previous business days available balance. I GUARANTEE you'll have some sort of shortage.
Before you say it, no, I don't work for USB.
#10 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Chris - Chesterfield (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, December 11, 2009
POSTED: Friday, December 11, 2009
"You're upset with the bank shutting off your debit card because they
thought someone was using it fraudulently? Um, ok. Maybe next time when
someone does actually use it that way, the bank should leave the card
on and let some criminal wipe out your life savings."
*Sigh*. As usual, you missed the point. If the bank suspects fraud, they should at least attempt to contact the customer to ask about it before they start deactivating debit cards. It didn't even occur to them that perhaps, just perhaps, someone may travel outside their home state?
" It's just common
sense to tell your bank and
credit card companies that you'll be in a different geographic area using the card."
So now I have to tell my bank when I leave the state? I have an even better idea. Why don't we skip the pleasantries and just install a GPS tracker and some surveillance equipment on our cars so the bank knows where we are and what we're doing at all times! Sound good?
Why file a report here? Ripoff Report is a permanent record! Other complaint sites copy our content then remove reports for money.
