REGIONS BANK You may missing a finger, count them after deal with REGIONS.... Memphis, Tennessee

You make a very good point with the unavailable funds fee..that is quite an effective way for the bank to bulk customers for unjust reason.

What gets me as well is that your online statement..or when you call the bank they clearly tell the customer what their.."available funds" are..but as is often the case..they really were not available. Why use the term then?

Also what gets me is even with checks these days..the banks know about it instantly if the check is scanned..similar to a debit card. But we must wonder why some transactions do not show up on the statement..when the bank had to know about it. Because if the banks "system" didn't communicate with the merchants reader..then how did the merchant know if the funds were there or to decline the check or card?

How do the banks get away with this..has no one in our legal system noticed this?? Or do the banks have a loophole around this?

To be fair, I forgot to mention in my last post, that Regions has joined the quickly expanding chorus of banks all back pedalling on it's overdraft fee policies.

Announced yesterday, the new policy goes into effect January 1. Similar revisions as all of the large national banks. No more fees when overdrawn by less than $5, and max number of OD fees per day will be 4.

I give the banks credit for exploiting this criminal, ripoff fee for as long as they have, but surely it's days are numbered.

This report is a classic example. A merchant places a hold on the customer's account. Because of this hold, and because of Region's Terms and Conditions and the way they do things, the hold causes numerous fees. So who's responsible? The customer didn't overdraft their account, but they're left stuck in the middle, holding the bag....full of OD fees.

Enter the merchant. They will say, sure they put a hold on the customer's card. In fact it turned out to be a mistake and they withdrew the hold. How much money did the merchant withdraw from the customer's account? $0. A big fat zero! On day one of the hold, how much did the actual account balance decrease because of the hold? Zero. The balance of physical cash in the account was still the same in spite of the hold. The physical cash balance was more than sufficient to pay for all items posting. The hold had nothing to do with the physical cash in the account. The same is true for day two and day three.

The very first court case against this practice will be an open/shut win for the consumer. Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable.

Here is a question for you. Who caused the damage in this instance? Hint: You already alluded to it.

I'm not well versed with Florida's court system, but generally speaking a suit in small claims court against a merchant who does something like this will have better odds than some of the class action lawsuits that we have seen mentioned here.

..with trying to get the merchant to pay all the fees. I agree that technically they are responsible for you having the overdrafts..but in the meantime...who is holding YOUR money????

One guess. Here's a hint....it is at a place you trusted to keep it safe.

If the hold wasn't authorized, you may have a strong case against the merchant. Try contacting them, explaining your case and requesting a refund of the overdraft fees. If they refuse, consider filing a suit in small claims court. After the merchant is served, they will probably contact you about a settlement.

You should be able to get $420 ($560 minus the $140 refunded to you) plus court costs and possibly a little more money for the time you spent dealing with the situation. If you have to take time off from work, add the lost wages into your total.

..well you know...

It used to be that if a merchant error or fraud caused overdraft fees....that the bank would refund said fees if the money was returned by the merchant..which would give YOU (the customer and truster of the bank with YOUR money) the benefit of a doubt that you had no intent to overdraft..and had no knowledge of the unauthorized transaction.

But I read here now on some of these reports that this is no longer the case.

Now some may agree with the bank..stating it is not their fault the merchant or whomever charge an unauthorized transaction..and perhaps that is true..but..is it YOUR fault the bank charged all those fees for something that is COMPLETELY not your fault?

All logic would dictate that you are reasonably the victim of the unauthorized transaction..AND the banks excessive fees. But you are left holding the bag..right? The bank owes you no favors.right? I mean who do you think you are..a customer of theirs??  Oh wait..you are a customer..wow..just wow.

The way I see it is you trusted the bank with your money..and they gave it out unauthorized..did not contact you that they were doing this..AND by doing so would bring your account into overdraft..and then allow it to add excessive additional fees to the total "bill"..massive rip off here.

A question...find out if your bank allowed you to opt out of overdraft protection when you first joined..and if so..did they offer you to opt out..or did they ask you to sign on for this type of service. because think about this...if you were opted out of OD protection..or how many banks so lovingly refer to it as "courtesy" overdraft protection..that unauthorized transaction would have been declined..as it should have been in the first place..and then the bank would have not been able to charge all those fees...oh..but wait..that would not be a good thing for the bank now..would it? Something to think about as you plan what you should do about this.