Sovereign Bank Scamming people into 'opting-in' for overdraft protection at $35 a pop Reading, Pennsylvania

Sovereign Bank just slammed us with $175 in unavailable fund fees and overdraft fees over a two week period, claiming ATM withdrawals and debit card charges were made against 'unavailable funds' from a personal check that had not yet cleared.  These unavailable funds fees then caused an overdraft condition the following day which resulted in even more fees.  The most recent fee was called a 'sustained overdraft fee', which was another $35.  

The account was never overdrawn if not for all the $35 fees, which we didn't even know we were being charged until postcards were received a week later, after more fees had already piled up.  Sovereign didn't bother to call us when the first fee was applied to warn us about the overdrawn account status, but now they call 3-4 times a day to collect their fees.

After arguing with a service rep for half an hour about how an ATM could possibly let me withdraw money against unavailable funds, they told me we 'opted-in' for overdraft protection, yet they could not tell me how or when we opted in.  The new Federal Reserve laws are supposed to protect us against these frivolous charges, yet Sovereign has clearly found a way to trick people back into this practice of ripping people off.

I am now being threatened with collection action, credit agency reporting, and being blocked from opening checking accounts at any U.S. bank.

Whatever you do, don't go anywhere near Sovereign Bank.  They are one of the shadiest banks I have ever dealt with.