Bank Of America Overdraft Fee Scam Ripoff Class Action Lawsuit Please! Tampa Florida

Bank of America has now switched the process it handles the credit and debits. This is due to the Class action Lawsuit.  

On Their own website "Credits are generally posted first, then debits..." 

The new ATM machines are great.  Sometimes when there is a sign posted stating that you can deposit Cash and checks before 8PM Monday to Friday and would post the same day.   That is including after hours banking.  

This is how it use to be:
your account balance  says $25
Deposit a check say for $100.  (Account should say $125)
Take out $75 from the ATM machine. (I have enough money now.)
But when the money clears it use to come up this way.

Account balance: $25
ATM withdrawal  $75   (now you start the overdraft fee)
Account balance now -$50
Overdraft FEE              $35
Account balance now -$85
Check Deposit           $100
Account Balance:      $25. 
But you would spent more and every single transaction is another $35 overdraft fee.

Now The bank would accept and clear a payroll check first now to cover all debts.

my girlfriend account

Account balance: $40
Deposit              $100 (Clears in one day via ATM)(Posts the same day)
Withdrawal            $80
Account Balance    $60    

Note If she used a teller, the deposit would have to be on hold for 3 to 5 business days. 
Then if she took out $80 from the teller and only had $40 should would owe $75 to the bank until the $100 cleared.   So she would only be left with $25 in the bank account but the account would still say $80 left in the account. 


Try to keep an up date check ledger.  Or register.   As soon as I use my card, I write it in the check book ASAP!   You know how much you have, not the bank. 

My wife and I set up a lot of our bills ahead of time online, making sure cheques we write or things we buy are accounted for, and the odd time, we mess up, and pay for our mistakes.. But one time, our credit card company (cap1) inadvertantly took our payment out 5 days early, and o/c, the money in there could not cover it, and since it was a big payment, got pushed to the front of the line, and pushed all our pending (but posted) charges to the end, we got (in 2 days), almost 600 in fees, and wiped us out! so not only were we in red, but money we had budgeted for groceries, gas and other life expenses (we have 2 small kids). We informed the bank of the CC companies mistake, even has someone from the CC company call and back us up. BOA informed us that until the payment was put back, they WOULD NOT refund the fees. O/C the CC company needed 7 days to refund the payment, so , luckily my inlaws lent us money for thr week, but say we didn;t have family able to help, how would we feed our kids, get to work etc. BOA did eventually refund the money (1week later), but not before our rent and  car payments bounced (great for my  credit). All they had to do was temporarily refund the fees, so we could live, since it was not our mistake. But they wouldn't, they could, but didnt want to!! 

""'6)Instead of using your pin, use the credit mode of your debit card during Non-business days. BOA states that it takes a few days from Visa/Master Card to show up on their system. So if you have a few pending deposits, use the Credit side of your debit card. Do not use the PIN side. The pin side is like Cash being taking out of your account. Credit Side of a debit card is like writing a check out to the store and has to wait to clear.""

""- Once again you can not 'FLOAT' transactions, and I would love to know where BofA says that it takes a few says to 'show up' and what they mean by that. Using it as 'credit' is the same as taking the money out of your account when you swipe your card. There is no float anymore. By the way if it was really like writing a check and you didn't have the money, that is once again..now say it with me..CHECK FRAUD.""

I'll explain why this is bad advice so folks will understand.

The bank cards are administered by a major credit card company. Even if you use the "credit" side of the card, you're going to be hit by your bank with an OD/NSF fee if there is not enough money AVAILABLE in your account at the TIME YOU SWIPE the card.

There will be TWO actions recorded with any "credit side" use of a bank card; the transaction date/time and the POSTED date/time. The transaction date/time is the actual date/time that the card is swiped-swiped at the checkout at Walmart. The posted date/time is the actual date/time that your bank reconsiles the debit with your bank account.

Robert is correct that you CANNOT float a check (charge) with ANY bank card. Here's an example: On Tuesday, you have an available balance of $50. You go to Walmart and use the "credit side" of your bank card at 3 PM to purchase that $75 DVD player. On Wednesday you run to the bank at 10 AM to deposit $75 to cover the Walmart purchase. You think you're safe from an OD/NSF fee because it takes a business day or two for the transaction to POST to your account. You ARE NOT.

On Thursday, the Walmart transaction is posted to your account at 1 AM. You will be assessed the OD/NSF fee for the Walmart transaction because at the time of the TRANSACTION, you did not have enough available funds. Further, this OD/NSF fee will be immediately assessed to your account on Wednesday-remember, they process debits before credits. Come Thursday your account is going to reflect your $50 previous balance minus the $75 Walmart transaction, minus the OD/NSF fee, plus your $75 deposit that was made Wednesday. Depending on the amount of the OD/NSF fee, you may have a negative available balance after this. If so, your bank is going to assess a "negative balance fee" (daily fee, sometimes as high as $8) each day until you bring the available balance positive.

The person who suggested "floating" a transaction clearly does not understand how these CC administered bank cards work and this advice will only serve to cause some folks to incur additional OD/NSF fees.

I don't know where you got some of your "information" but if you really believe all of what you wrote you are just asking for trouble, not only with additional fees but with the criminal court system.

"If I put Money at the Teller on a Saturday, It says it is in there on Saturday.
BOA Puts Money in After 3:00PM on Friday night, it would still show pending until Monday or even Tuesday! Even if it is Cash!"
- You are right it is "there" on Saturday but it is NOT available. NO BANK posts transactions on Non-Banking Days. If you put money in on Saturday it will still get posted on the evening of the next banking day. Go into them and ask them for their Funds AVAILABILITY Policy.

"Back to Hudson City Savings Bank, When looking at my account on-line, they even show the time I used my debit card and the date, so you can always go back to them and say, 'This is a mistake, I was at work.'"
- Yes, and as far as I am aware every other bank does this exact same thing.

"Some Scam artists are using fake checks and telling them to cash them and wire some of the money back to them. Once you cash a check they have your account number, address, telephone, and whatever they got from phishing you. Then they pretend to be you and open another account without you knowing and withdrawal all of your money without you knowing and once you try to pay a bill, you get hit hard."
- So what does this have to do with what bank you are at?

"1)If you receive a check that you did not know you had coming, go to the bank that is written on the check and cash it there. (Most of the time there is no charge for cashing their own checks)"
- Again you are asking for trouble. Because that bank will take all of your information. If it comes back as bad, not only will you be responsible for the money. But because you presented the check as good you will be the one charged with Check Fraud. Also, most banks also do charge non-customers a fee for cashing a check drawn on their bank. Better advise is if you get a check you didn't know you had coming, then assume it is a fraud and DON'T cash it until you can verify what is going on.

"2)Make sure you have enough money to cover your checks that are cashed in the bank or the hold can be up to 7 BUSINESS DAYS for a check to clear."
- This falls into the DUH category, but again does not matter what bank you are with.

"3)If you do not have enough to clear the check, go to a Check Cashing Center and pay a small fee Like $1.00 per ever $100 for the check depending on the company. "
- I don't know if you are suggesting that if people need to get money they don't have to do this. Again if you are attempting to withdraw money from your account that you don't have that is FRAUD.

"4)DO NOT USE THE ATM! Use a teller, or talk to the bank manager instead. ATM is just a machine."
- A teller has the same info as the ATM. If you have a check outstanding that has not been received yet. Neither the ATM or the teller is going to know that.

"5)...But the government states that you can take the money on 'Good faith' Stating that is in there..."
- Please tell us where this "good faith" clause is.

"6)Instead of using your pin, use the credit mode of your debit card during Non-business days. BOA states that it takes a few days from Visa/Master Card to show up on their system. So if you have a few pending deposits, use the Credit side of your debit card. Do not use the PIN side. The pin side is like Cash being taking out of your account. Credit Side of a debit card is like writing a check out to the store and has to wait to clear."
- Once again you can not "FLOAT" transactions, and I would love to know where BofA says that it takes a few says to "show up" and what they mean by that. Using it as "credit" is the same as taking the money out of your account when you swipe your card. There is no float anymore. By the way if it was really like writing a check and you didn't have the money, that is once again..now say it with me..CHECK FRAUD.

"So do not look at the Available amount, always look at your pending. And balance the checkbook Ever Week!"
- Your AVAILABLE amount is your actual amount minus your pending(deposits and credits). But remember the pending is only what has been submited. As for balancing your checkbook. You should be writing down each and every transaction WHEN you make it. This way you have an accurate available balance in your register.

"Check with banks that use what the call 'Same day deposits' Not like Bank of America, PNC, and others that wait until the 'Business days Only'
I believe that if they do not want to do business on Saturday or Sunday, they should not even have an ATM machine and keep their banks closed until Monday."
- Again NO bank posts transactions on Non-Business days. As to them closing ATM's on non-banking days, perhaps they should close them for people who don't have a clue of how to manage a banking account. But leave them open for the other 99% of the population that does.

I am in NJ. I use Hudson City Savings Bank.
If I put Money at the Teller on a Saturday, It says it is in there on Saturday.
BOA Puts Money in After 3:00PM on Friday night, it would still show pending until Monday or even Tuesday! Even if it is Cash!

Check with banks in your town. One to make sure as soon a deposit goes in.
Checks have to clear before they are to be posted, but there is a catch from the feds, (Your check money is all ready to be taken out before the check has time to clear).
Meaning you can take the money out of the bank before the bank has the money from the check.

Back to Hudson City Savings Bank, When looking at my account on-line, they even show the time I used my debit card and the date, so you can always go back to them and say, "This is a mistake, I was at work."

Some Scam artists are using fake checks and telling them to cash them and wire some of the money back to them. Once you cash a check they have your account number, address, telephone, and whatever they got from phishing you. Then they pretend to be you and open another account without you knowing and withdrawal all of your money without you knowing and once you try to pay a bill, you get hit hard.

To help prevent NSF or Overdrafts do the following:

1)If you receive a check that you did not know you had coming, go to the bank that is written on the check and cash it there. (Most of the time there is no charge for cashing their own checks)

2)Make sure you have enough money to cover your checks that are cashed in the bank or the hold can be up to 7 BUSINESS DAYS for a check to clear.

3)If you do not have enough to clear the check, go to a Check Cashing Center and pay a small fee Like $1.00 per ever $100 for the check depending on the company.

4)DO NOT USE THE ATM! Use a teller, or talk to the bank manager instead. ATM is just a machine.
5)Watch out for Non-Business days. That is when the banks love us. If you read the receipt from the ATM, Please look at the date. It could be 4 days later. So even if you put money in, it would take some time for it to clear.
Example: You put a check into the ATM on Friday Night after 4.00. The ATM date is set for Monday Night at around 4:00PM so your money might not clear until Tuesday. But the government states that you can take the money on "Good faith" Stating that is in there. But here is the catch. Using your Debit card in a store before the Check or cash Cleared because the date is a Saturday, then all of a sudden, the Overdraft begins. Because the two dates are not set the same way.

6)Instead of using your pin, use the credit mode of your debit card during Non-business days. BOA states that it takes a few days from Visa/Master Card to show up on their system. So if you have a few pending deposits, use the Credit side of your debit card. Do not use the PIN side. The pin side is like Cash being taking out of your account. Credit Side of a debit card is like writing a check out to the store and has to wait to clear.

The only reason why BOA would want to do this in spite of the money, is say you are low on your funds and your phone company takes out the automatic payment twice. The check for your rent did not clear yet but if it tries to, you would be bounds for over $1,000. So in a way, it is to help you and the bank at the same time. or the old days would you be out on the street with a cup full of pencils.
So do not look at the Available amount, always look at your pending. And balance the checkbook Ever Week!
and remember that Keep the Change is also taking money away from your checking into your savings.

Bank of America is starting to have Fast deposit ATM machines. Stating that the deposit you put into them will be posted no later then 8:00Pm that business day.
I believe that is the cash deposits NOT checks!

Check with banks that use what the call "Same day deposits" Not like Bank of America, PNC, and others that wait until the "Business days Only"
I believe that if they do not want to do business on Saturday or Sunday, they should not even have an ATM machine and keep their banks closed until Monday.

Using an account register and reconciling that register with a monthly account statement from the bank will prevent any account holder from causing any NSF/OD fees.

The majority (if not all) of the reports I've read about NSF/OD fees have common behaviors of the account holders:

using atm cards for everyday purchases.
using more than ONE card attached to the account (husband and wife)
using atm cards for online purchases.
using atm cards for 'auto-bill pay' (autodebits)
relying upon telephone or online account balances to determine what money is available for that shopping trip to Walmart.
*NOT using an account register.
*not reconciling an account register with the scheduled monthly account statement generated by the bank.

Ways to avoid these NSF/OD fees:

1. Use an account register and reconcile the account register with a monthly written statement generated by the bank. If the bank is not mailing statements, contact customer service to have monthly statements MAILED to you.

1a. Be aware of ATM fees, such as the 'non-bank ATM fee' that most banks charge when you use an ATM that is not owned by your bank to make a withdrawal and post that fee in your account register immediately.

1b. Also be aware of any monthly 'account service fee' charged by your bank and post that to your register on the appropriate date.

2. Do NOT GIVE bank account information (or ATM card info) to any merchant, service provider, utility, online service to pay for services and goods. Use a REAL credit card for this purpose (either secured cc or unsecured cc.) Do not setup any automatic deposit to an account that is attached to said cc-NO auto payments to CC company-mail a check each month. If the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're gonna have a host of problems and risk OD/NSF fees.

3. Do NOT use an ATM card for everyday expenses-USE CASH. Establish a monthly budget and withdrawal a weekly 'allowance' for every day expenses such as 'milk and bread' from the corner store, Burger King, etc. This will reduce the amount of transactions on the bank account which in turn makes RECONCILING the account and detecting ERRORS easier to accomplish. Again, if the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're gonna risk NSF/OD fees.

4. Do not shop with the ATM card-use a real credit card. A real credit card offers protections that you don't have with an ATM card. If the merchant/service makes a mistake, you can dispute it with the CC company WITHOUT getting any OD/NSF. Not true if you use an ATM card-if the merchant makes a mistake, your money is gone until you can convince your bank to give it back, as well as OD/NSF fees.

5. ONLY ONE ATM CARD to one account. Do NOT have 2 or more atm cards for one bank account. Having 'his and hers' ATM cards attached to the same account is the same as in the old days when some folks would have 2 checkbooks for writing checks. It was an invitation to disaster then, and it is today.

6. Verify that deposits to the account have actually cleared. Deposits can take anywhere between 1 and 5 BUSINESS days to clear depending on the type and/or source of the deposit. Deposits over $5000 can take even LONGER before they are posted to the account.

The Federal Reserve publishes a Consumer Compliance Handbook which gives detailed information about what banks can and cannot do with deposits, holds, and funds availability. You can download this handbook at http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/200711/cch200711.pdf

Follow ALL of these suggestions and you will NEVER cause an OD/NSF fee again unless it is a LEGITIMATE bank error or caused by a merchant. If it is caused by a bank error the bank will gladly and quickly rectify the situation and credit any fees generated as well as contact payees and cover any fees the payees assess to you. If the fee is caused by a merchant error, you will need to hold the merchant accountable for the fees, although in many cases the bank may reverse the fees as a courtesy.

This is a tried and true method to avoid these fees. It works EVERY TIME it's tried.

Thissal wrote: "To the person who said one should update their little ledger every day with debits and credits has never had any children that used their debit card or had access to their bank accounts when away at school."

Response: That is just begging for overdraft fees! When more than one person has a debit card to the same account (be it spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc), that requires extreme attention to detail and communication. Obviously all parties with a debit card to the account need to know about any new transactions as soon as they are made and that just isn't realistic.

Give the kids a cash allowance if they are young. If we're talking about high school or college age students, they should have their own checking accounts.

Thissal, giving your children your debit card is not very bright; it's not a matter of whether they overdraw your account. The more of your debit cards out and exposed, the more of a chance you expose yourself to fraud. Get them their own account and teach them something from this.

Getting around the NSF fees are tricky and takes detailed knowledge of the bank's practices -- which is different from state to state and even city to city -- so check if you are in doubt.

In central California -- the B of A banks do all their debiting and crediting starting at about 10pm -- so that is the cut off time for doing any online or internet transfers if you want it counted for that day.

This doesn't apply to making ATM deposits or withdrawals -- the cutoff time may be different for every single ATM machine. It's suppose to be written somewhere on the machine -- these cutoff times can range anywhere from noon up to about 10pm for the day's transactions -- so this is good to know.

Every merchant swipe also has different times they go to completion -- or whether they wait in pending for a day or two.

These rules change rather often -- and the bank rarely lets their customers know about such changes, not even in fine print -- so you have to continually upgrade these rules.

There is no problem observing all the above rules if you usually have a large bank balance, but if your funds are ever a little tight, or down to the line, that's the time to use cash only. However, that still leaves the problem of finding any outstanding charges that the bank waits 2 to 3 days or even a week before posting.

To the person who said one should update their little ledger every day with debits and credits has never had any children that used their debit card or had access to their bank accounts when away at school.

How many times did you learn that you are supposed to write down in your check register every time you make a transaction? If you had done this, and deducted the amount from the balance, you would have KNOWN that you didn't really have that much money.

After all, you wouldn't be upset if the bank told you that you had $200, and then later that day a check cleared that you had written the day before, would you? The bank doesn't know what you did until the activity posts at the bank. So how is the bank supposed to know that you made check-card transactions that haven't posted yet?

DUH. Exercise a little fiscal responsibility and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS!!!

that's what is wrong in this world - everybody wants it to be somebody else's fault!

I already had items presented from my check cashing card and they showed on the internet with the money already having been deducted from the cash available. Last time they refunded half the money because the dumbos found out it was their fault and they caused the overdraft. If anyone intends to win a class action suit you MUST print a daily balance sheet with all transactions showing. This way you have a record of what is showing daily. Then when they reorganize debits and so on you have proof. what happened was we filed a dispute for two charges that weren't ours - after they refunded the money they went back in to our account and took out two overdraft fees that these charges caused. We are still waiting for the $70 to be refunded. Strange thing though they gave us the moeny back for the charges and haven't given back the overdraft fees. So you see it was their fault. They went in and took money without warning and messed up my balance.

Point is they DO NOT bank in real time - if they did they wouldn't tell you we deposit in order from largest to smallest regardless of time. if you have a checking account do not write checks when you use your check card. As of today we had a check for over $800 go through our account and the ACH charges we made the week before (the check card charges) that had already been deducted from the account have now been re-arranged to appear as though they were processed after this check had been depostied. Luckily we keep track of everything and there were enough funds and they did not get away with any fees.

If there is a class action against them for this let me know - I'm IN! I don't and won't do business with people like this. We're in the process of moving four account including our business account to another bank that guranteed us they bank in real time! Thanks for your post.

Ebony wrote:

"I never had half the troubles at other banks than with BOA.... is there a bank better than BOA? I am really leaning to getting rid of the account I have with them."

Off the top of my head, perhaps the banks that you said you didn't have as many problems with?

Having said that, the problems that you have at BofA will follow you to your new bank. A change of banks isn't what's needed. A change in the way you manage your finances is.

I never had half the troubles at other banks than with BOA.... is there a bank better than BOA? I am really leaning to getting rid of the account I have with them.

I never had half the troubles at other banks than with BOA.... is there a bank better than BOA? I am really leaning to getting rid of the account I have with them.

I never had half the troubles at other banks than with BOA.... is there a bank better than BOA? I am really leaning to getting rid of the account I have with them.

I just got 3 overdraft fees from them as well. I transfered money to a differnt account so I really was overdrafted. My comment is why was my card excepted? I would have prefered the card (checkmate visa) be declined so I would have the choice to use alternate payment.
My partner used the card at a fast food rest for less than $6 and to get cigs for $4 and the 3rd was for topping off the tank at $20.00 so now the cigs cost $29 the gas $45 and the fast food $30 he had thje card for the other account with him and wpould have used it had that card been declined. I feel if the money is not available then they should let you know, decline the card thats thew way it was done years ago and the only reason they don't do it now is toi get all the fees.
Just another short comment. notice how many of us have paid a different amout for the same thing, should that not be a standard fee? I know on my other account htey charged me $39 not $25 I did get the $39 back after showing them I really did have the money in my account.

I just got 3 overdraft fees from them as well. I transfered money to a differnt account so I really was overdrafted. My comment is why was my card excepted? I would have prefered the card (checkmate visa) be declined so I would have the choice to use alternate payment.
My partner used the card at a fast food rest for less than $6 and to get cigs for $4 and the 3rd was for topping off the tank at $20.00 so now the cigs cost $29 the gas $45 and the fast food $30 he had thje card for the other account with him and wpould have used it had that card been declined. I feel if the money is not available then they should let you know, decline the card thats thew way it was done years ago and the only reason they don't do it now is toi get all the fees.
Just another short comment. notice how many of us have paid a different amout for the same thing, should that not be a standard fee? I know on my other account htey charged me $39 not $25 I did get the $39 back after showing them I really did have the money in my account.

I just got 3 overdraft fees from them as well. I transfered money to a differnt account so I really was overdrafted. My comment is why was my card excepted? I would have prefered the card (checkmate visa) be declined so I would have the choice to use alternate payment.
My partner used the card at a fast food rest for less than $6 and to get cigs for $4 and the 3rd was for topping off the tank at $20.00 so now the cigs cost $29 the gas $45 and the fast food $30 he had thje card for the other account with him and wpould have used it had that card been declined. I feel if the money is not available then they should let you know, decline the card thats thew way it was done years ago and the only reason they don't do it now is toi get all the fees.
Just another short comment. notice how many of us have paid a different amout for the same thing, should that not be a standard fee? I know on my other account htey charged me $39 not $25 I did get the $39 back after showing them I really did have the money in my account.

I agree BofA is scamming people of their own money. I've held an account with Bank of America over the past 6 years. I am one to say that I rarely look over my statement but for this month I did. I seen that I too was charged many overdraft fees for which I couldn't understand why. Looking back I seen that I was charged three overdraft fees taking out just over $100. Not knowing that I had overdraft fees taken out I was swiping my card, making small purchases for gas, lunch, etc but still I never exceeded the $100 that was suppose to be in there. So now I had my account overdrafted five more times totaling $175 plus the first $100 they charged me not counting the cost to buy whatever I purchased.

Well being that I have direct deosit and all this happened just days before payday my card never "DECLINED" itself. I was unaware of all this until I had looked at the statement. I called the bank and asked why I was charged almost $300 for overdraft fees. They tried telling me that I didn't keep track of my money making me feel very irresponsible. I then asked to talk to a manager about this, and explained my story. I told her that yes it is true that I swiped my card five times, I do understand that much but PRIOR to those transactions I was charged three NSF fees and how was that when my account never reached a negative balence. She stood quite for a good 45 seconds, until I said, "Hello?? Are you still there??" and she replyed, "Ummm... I can't explain that but I'll be sure to credit your account immediantly. Thank you for choosing Bank of America, have a good day" and hung up.

YES, there was SO MUCH more I had to say to her but instead I just walked into the bank the next day and closed out my account. I now know the importance of reading your statements. The thing that upsets me in all this is that if I woul have never seen it they would have gotten away with it; and even when I did bring it to their attention they tried overlooking it making it seem like my fault. Since then I opened an account xxxxxxxxxxxxwith x, it's been almost a year and I am SO MUCH MORE HAPPIER with them then I've EVER been with BofA.

My husband and I banked with BOA for 6 years, incurring overdraft charges from the very beginning that now number in the thousands, no matter how meticulously we balanced our checkbook. Earlier this year, we were fed up and closed down our BOA account.

We recently switched banks to a local credit union. We've been there for over six months and have not changed our spending habits at all.

We've yet to incur a single overdraft charge since we've changed banks from BOA to the credit union.

This proves to me that who you bank with does, indeed, make a difference.

Think about it...

If I have $100 in my account and I authorize several transactions that come to a total of $92, then the order that those transactions are processed doesn't matter because I am within my balance.

If I were to authorize $104 in transactions, then I have overdrafted my account and according to my banks (US BANK and BofA), I would be charged a fee for every transaction that ends with a negative balance.

How does keeping an accurate register help? I know when to stop authorizing transactions until I transfer funds or make a deposit.

There are several comments here that make all the OD's the customers fault, and several have said if you keep a check register, you won't spend money you don't have. Spending money you don't have ISN'T THE PROBLEM! The posting in order of amount of transactions instead of in the order received IS THE PROBLEM.

Though keeping a check register helps, it won't prevent the problem from occurring if you're one of many people who live from paycheck to paycheck, and the account is drawn down to $25.00 or less every pay period. The reason keeping a check register won't sovle the problem for such people is that transactions on a check register are subtracted IN THE ORDER THEY OCCUR - NOT THE AMOUNT. This is the thing that some of the above very arrogant commenters have not touched. The only way to keep OD's from happening is not to draw the account down to less than $100. When the check register reads $100, stop. But, how many people can do that, especially since bills have to be paid within a certain time frame? Businesses and utilities don't care about your bank's crooked policies. If you write a number of checks, say around the first of the month when many bills are due, and your check register shows less than $100, you're in danger of your transactions being rearranged by the bank in order of amount, and can lead to an OD situation anyway. How? Say you write your rent or mortgage check, pay the electric bill, water bill, and buy groceries. Your account shows about $15.00 in your check register. Then, you deposit your paycheck. Your register shows money in the bank, because you've already subtracted out everything, added your deposit, so things are OK. Then suppose you have three or four more bills to pay, and you write those checks because they are due in a few days. Guess what? The bank can rearrange all these transactions and hit you with some OD fees. That's because subtractions are shown as pending (pending what, I've never understood - if it's sent electronically by the merchant, what's the problem with it going ahead and posting?) and your deposit can be held up for several days. Therein lies the problem with the check register. It helps, but unless you keep $100 or more balance showing in your register, you're in danger of OD's anyway.

The only way to help fight this unethical and crooked pracitce is by withdrawing cash for everything except what you have to pay for by check such as a utility bill. If you withdraw the cash in a lump sum, and pay with cash, then you can pay for a variety of things without having all these "pending" transactions. That's the only thing I can think of to help guard against OD's.

As far as a lawsuit is concerned - won't happen. These practices are all legal, and will likely to stay that way since the banking lobby in Washington is very, very powerful and has been for many years. The politicians in Washington will never buck the banking industry since they all have many financial investments in this industry.

I too have been hit by insf fees..but nearly always it was my error.

In the above cases most of the problem is the user themselves.

Even if BofA is criminal as described...it is so easy to avoid it.

In my own case until I had a mortgage and a creditcard it was possible to have these fees... since then its impossible, because any overdraft results in BofA taking up to $100 from the CC (previously from a lineofcredit).

When this happens i usually immediately allocate future funds to effectively undo the 'draft'.

Btw, I too was laid off but for much longer.
I also went from making $85k a year to $27k.

So I had bigger $$ issues than all of you above.

The biggest offenders of overdrafts are those who constantly are closer to empty on funds than having $$.


Nowadays though still making less than $30k. I never have overdrafts and in fact its impossible as my income now matches my bills and are paid weekly since I get paid weekly.

Even bills that are not weekly in nature are still eft paid weekly with any shortage still autobilled (utiltiies,phone, etc).

My electric bill is typically around $100/mth, but I pay about $25 a week.
When that bill is over $100 they bill me the difference.. when the bill is under $100 or when I pay a extra $25 (in 5 week mths) I get credit for future bills.

While I understand the complaints...the fault is still mostly the consumer who failes to control spending and assumes that the atm will be accurate.

Even in Realtime, the ATM will not sure current transactions that are in the process but not yet updated.

You should never rely on a ATM receit or similar as a fact of statement.
To do so is stupid and always has been.

Note btw, that even your credit union will do the same to you if you let your accts get that bad. To think they wont makes one a fool.

I was a BOA victim about 3 years ago, until I got smart and closed my account and stuck with my local credit union. I had been a customer of Bank of America since 1986. When I got laid off of my job in 2004 and no longer had any income, my account was left with about $23 in it. About 2 months of getting laid off, I decided to open one of my statements and noticed that it was in the negative for $256. I called BOA and was told that I had a draft on my account from a life insurance policy, and that they attempted to draft two seperate charges and when it could not be processed, they drafted a second time, resulting in 4 overdraft charges of $32 each month, totalling $256 over a two month period.

I called the life insurance policy immediately to stop the draft, and was told that they could not cancel until the following month which would have resulted in another $128 worth of fees. I called BOA back and told them that I would like to close the account because I had no job or income. They told me that they could not close it, or bill me for the balance until it was put back into a 0 balance, and my only option was to let the account close on its own by default. Now, the account is in the Paychex system, and luckily I had an account with a credit union, that I did not use and was still active at the time, otherwise I would have never been able to open another account. I have since resolved the overdraft fees, however, I will remain in Paychex system for 5 years.

I despise BOA, and their exuberant fees. I think people should look at credit unions more closely. If you just happen to find yourself in a bad financial situation, their fees are a little more reasonable.

""While all that's a nifty idea, the REAL ISSUE is the large number of people who started overdrawing their checking account, as a result of the 'missing' funds from their checking account. Obviously, these very people did a poor job at tracking their account balance ... but, in my opinion, BofA has calculated this very action which has resulted in a plethora of Overdraft Fees being collected to their advantage.""

Simple solution: Keep a check register. When you write a check for $4.20, enter it in your check register as $5. Problem solved.

BofA's new scheme (scam) to generate Overdraft fees. It's called: "Keep The Change"

In short, BofA is (re)moving your own money from your checking account into a savings account, anticipating that you'll want to let the savings account grow.

Where they (intentionally) failed, in my opinion, is not clearly and simply explaining the process. I'm certain it was buried in the fine print .. but the majority of people don't read that stuff .. even though that's never a wise choice.

Here's an example: If your purchase was $1.20, BofA rounds up the total purchase amount to the next dollar and removes that adjusted amount from your checking account ($2.00 in this example). Again, an additional $0.80 is being removed from your checking account.

Now imagine these extra withdrawals from your account occurring with every transaction you charge using your check card.

BofA matches one's contributions at 100% for the first 3 months and then reduces their contribution to 5% for one additional year. Then, you're completely on your own.

While all that's a nifty idea, the REAL ISSUE is the large number of people who started overdrawing their checking account, as a result of the "missing" funds from their checking account. Obviously, these very people did a poor job at tracking their account balance ... but, in my opinion, BofA has calculated this very action which has resulted in a plethora of Overdraft Fees being collected to their advantage.

I would like to be a part of the class action and I know there are others experiencing this same posting of BOAs! I just was on the phone with them yesterday about a weekend transaction and they told me the same crap about "Highest amount to Lowest". I told him it was another way for them to make money off of people. So if this is Nationwide, we need to do something about it! I am in and know of several other people that are experiencing the same problem with BOA.

RE: Its not as much who is at fault, thats obviously the person who overdrafts. The "ripoff" is getting charged hundreds of $ for going over a tiny bit. I've had as much as $200-$300 in fees for going over less than $20. At that point its much easier to do it again and other bills have to get overlooked or postponed which means more fees with other companies.

I was charged once $385 in the course of 8 days for depositing my check 29 minutes to late. IF there are only 10% of the people out there who have experienced this kind of FRAUD from BOA, then here is what they earn from us:
$350 times 2.5 million= $875,000,000 (in 8 days mind you)

Let's say this just happens every OTHER month.
$875,000,000 times 6 months= $5,250,000,000 (5.25 BILLION/ year)

AND REMEMBER-that is based on apprx. 10% of customers!!!!

(Yes, BOA makes AT LEAST this much on NSF fees per year. No wonder they have so much money for advertising!)

You complain that they pay the larger items first so that they can collect fees on the smaller items. What would you prefer - they pay all these items and charge you a NSF fee for each item in the negative or they rejects all the items, assess an NSF fee for each item and then have to pay additional fees to the store, company etc. that you wrote the check to?

Another question. How many times have you heard people complain that they are in an emergency situation and need to pay for something right away or have access to cash right away? What would you prefer - to pay a fee to have access to cash or end up stuck in a situation that $100 could have got you our of?

I do not work for BofA, however you need to take responsibility of you account and understand the basics of math. Don't spend what you don't have. I agree this is the reason that fees are so high - people like you!

If you think your right and can prove it, take them to small claims court.

Electronic Fund Transfer Act. If a financial institution does not follow the provisions of the EFT Act, you may sue for actual damages (or in certain cases when the institution fails to correct an error or reaccredit an account, for three times actual damages) plus punitive damages of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000. You are also entitled to court costs and attorney's fees in a successful lawsuit. Class action suits are also permitted.

The safest thing to do is to wait for the deposits to post. But I do not think it is fair for them to tell you that your deposit is availble if it is NOT. That happened to me recently and I was very upset by it, especially since they say "available balance" means the money can be used immediately. It was funny when they were trying to explain to me that "available" does not actually mean "available".

I think they already have many sneaky tricks, but this one is unacceptable. This one means they blatantantly lie to you so they can charge you fees.

On more than one occasion I have been charged with FEES for overdraft AFTER making CASH deposits, AFTER checking to be sure the account was credited.

BofA has a problem with this RIP-OFF, a problem that I intend to encourage people to take action on by filing complaints with the government AND filing suit in civil (criminal?) courts. Anyone interested in a class action?

-=Wayne
Copperas Cove, TX

Bank of America's overdraft system is a crafty scam in my opinion. Here's why I feel this way:

I also am an account holder. I have two accounts with BofA that I manage using the same Online Access ID (I see and manage both accounts after logging in). One account "A" is where I keep the majority of my funds and the other "B" is from where I write checks, make credit-card purchases (card has a Visa logo), etc.

When I make a CREDIT purchase (not Debit) on a weekday (Monday-Thursday) using "B", I transfer funds from "A" to "B" using bankofamerica.com that same night. The snafu is, for my location, I need to make such a transfer BEFORE 10:45pm "cut off" for some unknown-to-me reason, or the funds will NOT hit the account in time to cover the credit transaction. In that scenario, BofA will charge me $35 PER transaction that it now considers in overdraft.

On a side note, their transfer confirmation page does NOT bother to list their server's current time for your records (eg: a print out). I find that equally as frustrating, since you would have NO proof to refute a claim that you did indeed transfer before their "cut off" time.

Why question is WHY would my transfer from "A" to "B" -- two BofA accounts BOTH managed by my one Online Access ID -- not be INSTANTANEOUS? The funds are MINE already (not from a recent deposit), so why not just consider the funds instantly moved when I do an online transfer (even if the physical funds still have to go thru a wire-transfer or similar process the next business day)??

I firmly believe that this is a HUGE money maker for Bank of America; to scam extra cash from their customers who are less fortunate, living paycheck to paycheck thereby keeping a low average balance.

Again I say, if the funds are already in my account "A" and I transfer them online to "B", why is that not immediate REGARDLESS of the transfer time?

I am exploring other banks and their policies at this time.

I feel I have been a victim for too long. Today I called BOA because I had been charged 3 overdraft fees for three transactions which occurred on 11/5. I deposited money to cover the transactions on 11/5 ( I had been told by customer service that if I did this I would avoid the OD fees and I had done this before with no problems). When I saw the charges after I had deposited the money, I picked up the phone and called customer service. I was told that each ATM has its own cut off time for deposits. Apparently I was supposed to know this and if I didn't I had to call customer service and ask. I do not understand why I incur charges if I made the deposit on that day and they have proof that I made the deposit on the same day....Whatever, I think it's a rip-off that they only tell you part of the facts, so that no matter what they still collect. I know very well that it was my fault for being careless, but at the same time, I did what I was supposed to do and somehow it's still not good enough. I wish there was a bank somewhere that just blocked off your card when you had reached a limit, like the good old days.

Let me know if you think this is valid for the lawsuit I would love to get my money back if the suit is won. I hate banks, I think I might join a credit union, a lot friendlier and they're local.

Christopher, you are correct that you will find my rants and ravings MOSTLY on the BofA complaint threads. This is in no way related to any hidden agenda on my part AGAINST Bank of America and IN FAVOR of any other bank that I secretly support.

The reason for this is because Bank of America is the ONLY bank whose practices I'm DIRECTLY familiar with having been a long time customer for over ten years before switching to a different bank, which shall remain nameless to be fair. You will not find very much feedback from me on other bank threads because I'm not directly familiar with how they do things day in day out. However, you WILL find an occasional post from me on those other threads if it's discussing general policy or practices and not something specific to that bank in question. But since you seem to be so concerned or suspicious about it, I'll try to peruse them more often and provide feedback WHERE I CAN, because let's be clear - I think all of them are crooks!

Getting back to BofA and your suggestion to keep a check register and READ and FOLLOW the Terms and Conditions, here's the problem. Which Terms and Conditions are you referring to from BofA? It seems as though their T&C's change about as rapidly as an Internet news website, where the top of the page reads "Updated three hours ago"...."updated two hours ago"....and so on.

I have been a Bank of America customer for many years now. I have never experienced ANY problems regarding overdraft fees. The reason for this is I do not spend money I do not have available. I educate myself and abide by rules of banking that I signed (what a concept!). Many spin-artists here attempt to eschew that concept in a rush to hurry on to their next bash session, but it is a concept that cannot be overlooked if a responsible alternative to this issue is to be reached.

READ the original OP's words and you will see the problem out of the gate. She says, 'On one occassion, I checked my account balance at the ATM and it showed a positive amount of over $200. We went on our trip, ate at a restaurant and purchased a few other items the same day. I was shocked when we got back to see 5 overdraft fees at $33.00 each posted on our account.'

DING DING DING...reality alert. SHE CHECKED HER ACCOUNT BALANCE AT AN ATM. Instead of keeping track of her finances like a responsible adult, she relied on an inherently unreliable method VIA ANY BANK of tracking her available balance. NO ATM balance is 100%, absolute real-time with EVERY transaction and EVERY bank has pending and posted transactions. It is not the bank's job to hold your hand and balance your checkbook. THE RESPONSIBILITY IS YOURS.

To Edward, all I can say is your logic regarding this matter is convoluted and incorrect in every way. You believe that Bank of America looks at long-time customers who previously lived by the float and/or a loophole that allowed them to manipulate transactions to spend money they didn't have without penalty. Now you p*** and moan because Bank of America puts a stop to it by actually calling customers on their irresponsibility by charging them when they do not choose to follow the Terms and Conditions they were advised of and signed.

What I find curious about you, Edward, is your motives with regards to this bank. Funny how I never see your name when complaints are made against Wells Fargo, Wachovia, or any other of a host of national banks that employ this EXACT SAME POSTING POLICY. Instead, you choose to focus your nonsense on this bank in particular which makes you come off like a stooge.

Again, NO RIPOFF HERE. Take a little adult responsibility and your problem is solved.

boa is stealing from customer's pockets. this is totally wrong. I've had th same experiences-- positive balances then tons of OD fees. to be told the same nonsense-- "keep track of your account".. what the heck is the online and balance inquiry there for? as a joke? no it's supposedly there to give u an 'estimate' of your balance.. but they don't say it's an 'estimate' when you sign up for your account. this seems to be a ploy of BOA's to steal from people. and OD fees of 35.00 are insane and ridiculous. when this happens I normally call my local branch and have someone remove the fees.. this has happened many many times, or i call boa and tell them and they'll remove some of the fees. eitehr way. this entire company is a joke-- their customer service is really bad too.

boa is stealing from customer's pockets. this is totally wrong. I've had th same experiences-- positive balances then tons of OD fees. to be told the same nonsense-- "keep track of your account".. what the heck is the online and balance inquiry there for? as a joke? no it's supposedly there to give u an 'estimate' of your balance.. but they don't say it's an 'estimate' when you sign up for your account. this seems to be a ploy of BOA's to steal from people. and OD fees of 35.00 are insane and ridiculous. when this happens I normally call my local branch and have someone remove the fees.. this has happened many many times, or i call boa and tell them and they'll remove some of the fees. eitehr way. this entire company is a joke-- their customer service is really bad too.

Prior to working there, I was getting OD fees left and right. Sometimes my entire pay check would go to paying them because I'd go by the online and ATM balances. I mistakingly thought "real time" was equal to what I actually had in my account. Not true. "Real time" is indicative of the balance the bank currently contends you have with the transactions that were already taken out of your account. For example, say you go to a gas station and purchase $30 in gas. For the first couple days, it is likely only a $1.00 will be held, therefore your balance would reflect $29 higher than it actually was, so you'd need to deduct another $29 out of the balance.

Without question, banks want people to overdraft their accounts. It boosts their revenue so it does behoove them to have debit cards work after the balance goes into the negative, but believe it or not there are people who get upset when the card is declined. There are people who call and say things to the effect of "why was my card refused? Usually it goes through and I just pay the fees after." Personally, I'd like there to be an OPT out ability for customers to have their card refused when it hits zero but to my knowledge there isn't a bank that offers one.

The only true way to guard yourself against OD fees is to keep a check ledger and know every purchase that comes through the account, and then keep an additional twenty or so dollars in there just in case something comes through you're not aware of...like service fees, or a membership. Then utilize online banking for fraud purposes. Make sure things are coming in for the right amount.

What I would suggest to the initial poster is to call the call center of BOA and insist on speaking to a Supervisor. Ask repeatedly for a refund. If you've been with them for 10 years and have not had a refund in the past two years, they should give you a refund. My bank would.

Otherwise, best of luck.

Hello to all,

I am a "former" BOA customer. The reason for leaving (at the time) was because I wanted to save on the monthly maintenance fee. I went back to a Bank that I had left for BOA. "Big Mistake". I realize, now, that all my problems began when I joined BOA. I am glad to see that others are realizing their mistakes, somewhat, and leaving BOA. If they treat their customers the way they do, they deserve to lose more. The Bank I'm with deserves my attention and me as a customer. They treat me very well.

As for the OD's. I do keep track of my check register often, like everyday. I have had an overdraft so I know what it's like. However, it wasn't earth trembling like the fees of Bank of America. I hope that they can realize that these corporate scams lead to, "What goes up, must come down". That will be the fate of Bank of America as far as loyal customers are concerned. Good luck BOA, you're gonna need it. We, as humans with families, jobs and checking accounts, weren't born yesterday. We have brains.


Zia

Since Christopher opened up this door, don't come down on me for walking right on in. What we have here are Double Standards all over the place.

Christopher says Steve 'hit the nail on the head'. Let's examine Steve's post. Steve said 'In the old days before real time debits and fast posting, people could write checks on the float. It cannot be done safely anymore'. Is Steve contradicting himself? He now preaches that no one should ever spend money they don't have, but is he condoning the fact that this was done in the past?

I don't think he is. I think he's saying people could do it more safely in the past and get away with it more often, but now they can't. That's true. But the complaints from customers is that once the bank realizes customers have wised up and know exactly how to push the limit without going over, the bank KEEPS CHANGING THE RULES in the MIDDLE OF THE GAME!

It's one thing if a customer pushes the limit and overdraws his account by his own doing, when banking procedures haven't changed. But it's different if a customer has pushed his balance to the limit for over 10 years, never overdrawn, then the bank realizes the spending pattern and changes the rules in their favor and the overdraft fees start rolling in unexpectedly.

It's interesting that Christopher is 'a little bothered that people keep trying to use an irrelevant lawsuit from 1999 that was filed and settled against NationsBank'. Where in this thread did anyone else mention this lawsuit? But since HE brough it up, let me address it as I layout the Double Standards.

1. The 1999 lawsuit was settled because NationsBank didn't DISCLOSE the new POSTING ORDER policy before they implemented it. Wait a minute. If the plaintiffs balanced their check books, the posting order is irrelevant right? So what difference did it make whether they knew about the new policy or not? As long as they don't spend money they don't have the posting order is irrelevant? With this stipulation, why didn't the court agree and throw out their case? Better yet, why did NationsBank give away $9 million - Double Standard.

2. The common complaint is the new posting order policy, Largest before smallest. The banks implemented this new policy because account holders were concerned their mortgage payments and car payments would get returned in lieu of fast food purchases. Wait a minute. If these customers balanced their checkbooks these BIG items would never get returned anyway - Double Standard.

It doesn't surprise me that so many have come out on both sides if this issue, but Steve really has hit the nail on the head. Any time you live on the 'float', you take a risk that will end in disaster most of the time. These fees are legal and will be imposed each and every time, without mercy.

I'm a little bothered that people keep trying to use an irrelevant lawsuit from 1999 that was filed and settled against NationsBank for disclosure of terms and conditions, not the fees themselves, as a reason to spend money they don't have. Take a little responsibility people. If it isn't available in your account, don't spend it.

No ripoff here.

Karen,

Visa has policies that strictly forbid this type of activity:
= = = = = = = =
In short, if you give Bellsouth your credit, charge or debit card number FOR ANY REASON, they can charge you ANY AMOUNT ANY TIME and you agree to it by simply by continuing to use their service. In fact, the only way you can express your disagreement for any the items contained within the Bellsouth Service Agreement is to cancel your service altogether.
= = = = = = = =

Taking one bullet point out of context is just that -- one bullet point under a main paragraph or section of a longer service agreement. Although your intentions are likely good, your interpretation is too broad to be legitimate. They are not a bank, and you don't pay them to provide banking services and pay transactions on your behalf. In order to fully understand the billing section of Bell South's agreement, you must evaluate the entire agreement as a whole, while also considering the legality and likeliness of such a practice and the type of service being provided under that agreement. Simply paying a merchant does not give the company a free pass on your bank account.

When you pay with a credit card, you are actually protecting yourself as your card includes fraud protection and ensures a merchant abides by the law. Of course, companies like BofA will make you fight for your rights.

It is irresponsible to post incorrect information on a consumer protection site, as the information is based on assumption and misinterpretation of a service agreement. You can't take one bullet out of a contract and expect it to have meaning outside of its intended context.

Ultimately, a company is given a privilege when you present your card and authorize payment. Simply presenting your card for one payment does not give a merchant a right to bill again. If you agree to recurring billing under a service contract, the company must still have your consent to debit your account for a particular amount or dollar range. However, this does not give a company the right to wreck havoc on your finances. It's a sad day when Americans believe a company can have a free pass to your debit your bank account.

Do you really think Visa, MC or Amex would allow this? Sure, a bad company like BofA may stand behind a merchant's policy, but when push comes to shove, BofA must dispute, if the merchant violated your rights by recording and billing your card without proper authorization for the billed amount. I'm truly amazed that any customer would willing accept such a policy as permissible.

I recommend researching the rules before you give out information. You really should not post information that you can't back up with any proof.

Procedures & Rules for Visa merchants and their back-office staff (read and learn):
visa.com/download/merchants/rules_for_visa_merchants.pdf

Something is wrong when we think companies have a right to screw us and debit any amount, for any reason. Consumer protection laws and rules put in place by card associations, like Visa's rules for card acceptance, ALWAYS trump a company's billing policy. If it's illegal, then it's illegal. If you authorized ONE purchase, it definitely doesn't give a merchant a free pass on your bank account. They can't write their own laws and rules, and if an amount varies by more than a pre-agreed range, the company does have to notify a customer well in advance of billing the amount.

It's scary when customers accept this type of statement as a legitimate billing policy. Such an open-ended policy would violate card association (Visa, Amex, MC) rules. In addition, such a practice would open BellSouth to valid chargebacks. A company can't assume an open-ended right to bill any amount, at any time, for any reason because a consumer used their card to make a payment. Recurring billing is an actual type of transaction, and the rules are very strict and specific. A Company can bill within a predetermined dollar range but it's definitely NOT open-ended. The company is expect to notify the customer in ADVANCE of billing, especially if the amount is inconsistent from billing to billing. A company definitely CAN'T record the customer's card and use it as they please without a specific agreement that outlines the billing agreement.

Simply looking at the class action lawsuit that PayPal settled a few years ago is B&W proof that companies, even financial institutions, do not have an open ticket to charge and debit as they please. Unfortunately, too many consumers don't understand their rights or the rules that do exist to protect consumers from corporate abuse. It's unfortunate when others also believe such a bogus policy as valid billing agreement.

Thankfully, bad companies don't set the rules and laws for banks or card associations

I agree. We have also had this problem. Do you know one night I had insomnia and got online and purchased a few things AFTER I checked my account to ensure my direct deposit was there. I ended up paying MANY fees because they processed the payments within 20 minutes, but didn't process my direct deposit until midnight - WHAT A SCAM!!!! I am looking for people like you, we need a collective voice to get the FTC to pay attention.

Howard,

That's called living "on the float"! That right there is why people pay NSF fees. Once you write that $150 check, the money needs to be considered gone at that moment, not when it hits your account.

Based on your "riddle" , money was spent that was not actually in the account.

By using an ACCURATE checkbook register would avoid this problem. The direct deposit should not even be written in your register until after it posts.

In the old days before real time debits and fast posting, people could write checks on the float. It cannot be done safely anymore. Those days are gone.

And, remember, at most banks checks /debits are posted before deposits/credits so that check will post before the deposit on the same business day even if the deposit actually came in first.

I check my balance and all transactions at 11pm on Thursday. My direct deposit hits at midnight. Debits go through at midnight. My balance is a hypothetical $100.00 on Thursday. My weekly direct deposit goes through midnight Friday for $700.00. The money is there. They can see it. Why charge me $35.00 for a $2.00 atm fee when they can see the money is there. I am in no way spending money I don't have. I know what my direct deposit will be. I know it's coming and the bank knows it's coming.

If I write Joe blow a $150 dollar check and he presents for payment on Thursday afternoon, I check my account Thursday at 5pm, it show's nothing about Joe Blow's check. I know a deposit will be made for $700.00 will go through at midnight. Why wouldn't be safe for me to assume I am covered and shouldn't have to woryy about Joe Blow's check? This is where this "pending" crap gets you.

Truly, Karen - wow! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION!

I have traditionally paid my bills from my bank account, in that I go online, tell the bank to issue payment to XXXX for $xx.xx. I feel way more in control, this way. I believe this works the same as writing a check, in that either electronically, or through a check the bank sends on my behalf, I haven't agreed to any type of automatic payments, or given consent for the business to withdraw funds.

But on another post, I had said, myself, that even I would be inclined to let utility companies have account information, as they don't seem to abuse it like every other entity under the sun. I don't have a home, so no mortgage, which I would stupidly, in light of so many posts, ALSO INCLINE TO TRUST! I DON'T do any auto withdrawal, but if someone had asked, should I?, guess I would've done them wrong!

However, I WAS actually thinking, in my mind, gas, electric, water, sewer. NOT PHONE. But, in "used to be" land!, the phone WAS a utility! I definitely didn't make a note NOT to trust the phone company, which is sure warranted!

To have your mortgage payment auto withdrawn is SO understandable. But, in light of Ocwen posts, alone, personal responsibility to get the bills paid before they're due is really the only true defense against getting your cash compromised.

Thank you, again, Karen, as I DO have Bellsouth. The immediacy of paying the bill with my debit card, if it's late, or in danger of that - wouldn'tve thought twice, if not for you!

Thank you for reading the small print I DIDN'T READ! Wishing you a very peaceful holiday season!

Truly, Karen - wow! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION!

I have traditionally paid my bills from my bank account, in that I go online, tell the bank to issue payment to XXXX for $xx.xx. I feel way more in control, this way. I believe this works the same as writing a check, in that either electronically, or through a check the bank sends on my behalf, I haven't agreed to any type of automatic payments, or given consent for the business to withdraw funds.

But on another post, I had said, myself, that even I would be inclined to let utility companies have account information, as they don't seem to abuse it like every other entity under the sun. I don't have a home, so no mortgage, which I would stupidly, in light of so many posts, ALSO INCLINE TO TRUST! I DON'T do any auto withdrawal, but if someone had asked, should I?, guess I would've done them wrong!

However, I WAS actually thinking, in my mind, gas, electric, water, sewer. NOT PHONE. But, in "used to be" land!, the phone WAS a utility! I definitely didn't make a note NOT to trust the phone company, which is sure warranted!

To have your mortgage payment auto withdrawn is SO understandable. But, in light of Ocwen posts, alone, personal responsibility to get the bills paid before they're due is really the only true defense against getting your cash compromised.

Thank you, again, Karen, as I DO have Bellsouth. The immediacy of paying the bill with my debit card, if it's late, or in danger of that - wouldn'tve thought twice, if not for you!

Thank you for reading the small print I DIDN'T READ! Wishing you a very peaceful holiday season!

Truly, Karen - wow! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION!

I have traditionally paid my bills from my bank account, in that I go online, tell the bank to issue payment to XXXX for $xx.xx. I feel way more in control, this way. I believe this works the same as writing a check, in that either electronically, or through a check the bank sends on my behalf, I haven't agreed to any type of automatic payments, or given consent for the business to withdraw funds.

But on another post, I had said, myself, that even I would be inclined to let utility companies have account information, as they don't seem to abuse it like every other entity under the sun. I don't have a home, so no mortgage, which I would stupidly, in light of so many posts, ALSO INCLINE TO TRUST! I DON'T do any auto withdrawal, but if someone had asked, should I?, guess I would've done them wrong!

However, I WAS actually thinking, in my mind, gas, electric, water, sewer. NOT PHONE. But, in "used to be" land!, the phone WAS a utility! I definitely didn't make a note NOT to trust the phone company, which is sure warranted!

To have your mortgage payment auto withdrawn is SO understandable. But, in light of Ocwen posts, alone, personal responsibility to get the bills paid before they're due is really the only true defense against getting your cash compromised.

Thank you, again, Karen, as I DO have Bellsouth. The immediacy of paying the bill with my debit card, if it's late, or in danger of that - wouldn'tve thought twice, if not for you!

Thank you for reading the small print I DIDN'T READ! Wishing you a very peaceful holiday season!

Truly, Karen - wow! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION!

I have traditionally paid my bills from my bank account, in that I go online, tell the bank to issue payment to XXXX for $xx.xx. I feel way more in control, this way. I believe this works the same as writing a check, in that either electronically, or through a check the bank sends on my behalf, I haven't agreed to any type of automatic payments, or given consent for the business to withdraw funds.

But on another post, I had said, myself, that even I would be inclined to let utility companies have account information, as they don't seem to abuse it like every other entity under the sun. I don't have a home, so no mortgage, which I would stupidly, in light of so many posts, ALSO INCLINE TO TRUST! I DON'T do any auto withdrawal, but if someone had asked, should I?, guess I would've done them wrong!

However, I WAS actually thinking, in my mind, gas, electric, water, sewer. NOT PHONE. But, in "used to be" land!, the phone WAS a utility! I definitely didn't make a note NOT to trust the phone company, which is sure warranted!

To have your mortgage payment auto withdrawn is SO understandable. But, in light of Ocwen posts, alone, personal responsibility to get the bills paid before they're due is really the only true defense against getting your cash compromised.

Thank you, again, Karen, as I DO have Bellsouth. The immediacy of paying the bill with my debit card, if it's late, or in danger of that - wouldn'tve thought twice, if not for you!

Thank you for reading the small print I DIDN'T READ! Wishing you a very peaceful holiday season!

I wanted to supplement Juliet from B'ham in regard to the following:

"NEVER give your debit card number, OR bank account information, for any kind of recurring payments or online/mail/phone transactions. THIS IS YOUR CASH YOU ARE PUTTING OUT TO BE COMPROMISED."

I received a pamphlet from Bellsouth in the mail about an "important message" about the "Bellsouth service agreement for residential services in Alabama."

Item 2c states "if you provide us with a valid credit, charge, or debit card number that we accept for payment of some or all of the charges, then You expressely authorize us to satisfy and pay all such authorized charges by charging that credit, charge, or debit card number and to demand immediate payment from the credit, charge or debit card issuer. You agree to pay the credit, charge or debit card issurer all amounts charged to Your credit, charge or debit card. No additional consent or notices are required for billing to that credit, charge or debit card or account."

In short, if you give Bellsouth your credit, charge or debit card number FOR ANY REASON, they can charge you ANY AMOUNT ANY TIME and you agree to it by simply by continuing to use their service. In fact, the only way you can express your disagreement for any the items contained within the Bellsouth Service Agreement is to cancel your service altogether.

Robbin - Huntsville, Texas writes:

Their complaint is that they charged them an overdraft for every small purchase they made because their policy is largest to smallest. You can't tell me that the policy was written to protect the consumers large bill payments. It was written to get more money from the consumer legally because they have a policy that says they can.

This is millicious and the bank does not care. I could tell the rep till I'm blue in the face I accept the rightfully earned fees but should not have to pay the others but they don't care. I can tell them I don't want a bank that would do this to me. They don't care. I said so you would rather loose a customer they don't care.

They have millions of idiots signing up every day that will give them their money for a few months before they too go elsewhere.

I can only hope a local bank manager might show some heart and reverse the fees to keep my business otherwise I have another bank through a credit union who will be getting my full business once again.

I quote the above because NO BANK CARES. Of course it is in the BANKS BEST INTEREST to process debits and credits as they do. BANKS DON'T CARE. They aren't here, to care. They are here to make a profit.

Yes, banks USED to be different. This is not used to be. This is how it is. If credit unions offer a better shade of white, then flock to the credit unions, by all means! Is there something negative about credit unions, that I am not aware of, that makes this a last resort for people? Do the banks provide more services, that the customers want, that credit unions don't, so that's why customers are still sticking with banks, when the credit unions are always referred to as the refuge for those tormented by bank policies?

John - Atlanta, Georgia writes:

I had to rely on Wachovia and BB&T(oustanding service btw) to rectify the problem. I still haven't gotten an explanation from them, just the usual BoA smugness & ineptitude.

I have no checks, so I have no register.

I looked up, loosely, how many complaints BofA has versus Wachovia and BB&T, and it IS shocking!!! 531 for BofA, with a COMBINED total of 278 for Wachovia and BB&T. So, yes, something is up. However, BofA's range, as to the number of states they operate in, is NATIONAL, versus regional. Therefore, there WOULD be substantially more complaints for a national bank, versus regional ones.

However, what people are repeatedly complaining about on this post, are the same things. Overdraft fees and posting of debits from highest to lowest. These two issues ARE NOT UNIQUE TO BofA. I AM a former bank employee, not BofA, and I took innumerable amounts of phone calls regarding these very same issues AT ANOTHER BANK. I always read the bank ripoff reports, regardless of who the bank is, and this IS standard operating procedure for the majority of the banks in the U.S. It's not news. The following may BE a BofA practice, the charging of, for instance, $6 a day for each day the account is overdrawn, but it hasn't been mentioned, that I recall. But there are banks who DO charge this daily overdraft charge, in addition to all the rest of the fees.

As for the statement I have no checks, so I have no register. GET ONE. You can get one from the bank branch, or call your bank's 800#, and if those fail, order one from a check printing company. A REGISTER IS VITAL. If your register is just keeping all your receipts for a given day, and writing them all down, once a week, and BALANCING YOUR ACCOUNT with your deposits and withdrawals - YOU HAVE TO DO IT.

Financial responsibility IS THE CONSUMER'S RESPONSIBILITY. The bank has no interest in watching out for you, nor should they. IT'S YOUR MONEY. Why should ANYONE watch out for it other than you?

With regard to Brett's post about being advised to get a new debit card with a new expiration date and security code, but NOT a new debit card number, Yes, he was terribly advised! Not only should he have gotten a new debit card account number, he should have closed the bank account, altogether, and THEN gotten the new debit card number. It IS shocking and, to say the least, irresponsible and appalling that he received such terrible advice. I can only hope that perhaps someone else will learn from this terrible experience what they need to do, as opposed to relying on the bank representatives to give them quality advice.

I don't fault Brett AT ALL for relying on the bank's advice. I would have done the same, although I do know I would have been apprehensive, BEFORE working for a bank, that not changing the whole account would be sufficient to stop these recurring charges.

I am also so sorry, as a FORMER bank employee, that anyone in such a position would be so ill-informed!! I know it's worth squat that I feel this way, but, I do, in any event.

The recommendations I've made to other people on ripoff reports are what I stand by.

NEVER give your debit card number, OR bank account information, for any kind of recurring payments or online/mail/phone transactions. THIS IS YOUR CASH YOU ARE PUTTING OUT TO BE COMPROMISED.

Always use a credit card, ideally, a pre-paid credit card. If that doesn't work for you, then at least, only use a credit card, where YOUR CASH IS NOT AT RISK.

But it's so convenient, I don't have to worry about xxx being paid on time or not.

Well, a recent Ripoff Report post disputes that. The consumer had his credit card payment coming out of his checking account each month, and the bank changed the payment due date. He doesn't check the due date on his statements each month, and now he is stuck paying late fees and other related issues.

No, IT'S NOT RIGHT. But - THIS IS HOW IT IS.

Being financially responsible IS WORK. We are adults. We are SUPPOSED TO WORK. It it's worth having it, it's worth taking care of it.

One person posted they thought that the point of the debit card was so they don't have to keep a running balance. Why? Why would you trust a bank, who DOESN'T CARE if you overdraft, to keep tabs on all your finances? Why would you LET THEM, even if they offer?

Trust no one! THAT should be the American rallying cry, regarding ALL business.

So never give out your bank account info or debit card number to any online/distant businesses. ONLY USE A CREDIT CARD, and ideally, that card would only be used for those types of transactions, so your usual activity is not lumped among the online ones, and fraudulent ones would stand out.

To catch fraudulent ones, however you do it, DOES NECESSITATE READING YOUR STATEMENTS. If you don't do it, no one else is going to! Yes, it's BORING and tedious. But it's YOUR MONEY! It's the only thing keeping you from homelessness and bankruptcy. NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO CARE. There IS only YOU.

This brings the question I don't have a credit card, I can't get one. Well, get a pre-paid one. They work just like a regular one, as far as online transactions go. If you don't want to do that, don't consider the debit card your only alternative. The alternative is to not order online at all. YOU ARE GIVING YOUR CASH AWAY if you get hooked up with a scam company. You are giving them full access to TAKE MONEY OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT. No, that's not what you agreed to, but that IS what you are doing.

As for getting the banks to change from their LEGAL, but UNETHICAL AND IMMORAL PRACTICES:

CONSUMERS have to light a fire under their representatives in their state, and Washington DC. No one is going to do it for us. As long as our representatives are not being plagued, day in and day out, BY THEIR CONSTITUENTS, regarding these issues, why would they stick their necks out and take on the banks? They won't. If they are not being made uncomfortable by an issue, how likely are they to make themselves uncomfortable? True, SOME WILL. But we clearly need A LOT MORE of them to do so.

As for a class action lawsuit, if the banks are behaving legally, THOUGH NOT ETHICALLY OR MORALLY, would it stand? Would it be worth enriching the lawyers, and NOT THE VICTIMS, to do so?

If it provided an avenue that brought about a change in the policies of debiting highest to lowest, and a massive reduction in overdraft fees, then YES, IT WOULD BE WORTH IT.

But who's going to pay the attorneys? Class action suits seem to take a minimum of five years, from what I've gathered over the last 20 years of paying attention to such matters. And the victims aren't typically made whole, either.

Effecting change - then by all means, institute a class action suit, please!!!! But someone's going to have to pay the lawyers. No idea who that will be.

Everyone wants to be in on it, and support it, and I am certain there are PLENTY of lawyers who have the balls, but no one wants to PAY FOR IT.

The only defense a consumer has against having their money LEGALLY taken from them, with THEIR PERMISSION, by agreeing to Terms and Conditions they found to be too annoying to read, is EDUCATION.

If you won't educate yourself on the ways of business, and face the facts as to how things ARE, instead of how they used to be, OR SHOULD BE, you are going to find these problems, sooner or later, all your life.

For the people who find the magical banks where transactions are stopped before being processed, because the customer called the bank, and fees are reversed and waived by the good grace of a hometown banker so to speak - COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. I do not say that facetiously, at all. The bottom line of most issues IS customer service, provided by humans. Find a good human at a bad bank, you will think the bank is good. Find a bad human, at a good bank, you will think the bank is bad.

For those who are so blessed with this type of bank, your fellow depositors may have very different experiences with that very same bank. The person you have a great relationship with may be the same person who has caused a fellow depositor to leave the bank, with much anger and frustration. It's all humans.

Bottom line - it's not just BofA. The reason for the extensive complaints on just this site probably has a lot to do with the difference in size between a national bank, as BofA is, and the regional banks that ARE expanding, but have not yet come near the size of BofA.

Banks suck. The alternative is cash only. It's a very alluring option.

AFTER A WAY TOO LENGTHY CONVERSATION THAT TURNED IN TO ME SCREAMING AND SPITTING IN RESPONSES TO THEIR CUSTOMER REPS ARROGANT PATRONIZING COMMENTS, I DECIDED TO SEE IF ANY ONE ELSE HAD THE SAME COMPLAINTS. YES THERE HAVE BEEN THE SAME COMPLAINTS AS I AM SURE YOU ALL KNOW BY NOW, BUT THERE HAS ALSO BEEN SEVERAL LAWSUITS. I AM CLOSING MY ACCOUNT WITH BOA ASAP, BUT WOULD STILL LIKE TO SEW THE HELL OUT OF THEM! THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR A COMPANY THAT PROFITS AS MUCH AS THEM TO CONTINUE WITH THIS RIP OFF POLICY. SAD THING IS THAT IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THIS LARGER CHECK FIRST POLICY IS COST EFFECTIVE FOR THEM EVEN WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS IT IS CAUSING. MY JOB IS IN FINANCES. I AM A BRANCH MANAGER FOR A LARGE MORTGAGE COMPANY ON THE EAST COAST, SO NO COMMENTS ABOUT MY MONEY MANAGING SKILLS ETC. THIS IS ABOUT A HARMFUL POLICY BY, I THINK, THE LARGEST BANK IN THE COUNTRY. THERE NEEDS TO MORE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY THAN THEY HAVE. OK, OK, CHARGE OVER DRAFT FEES, BUT NOT AS EXCESSIVE AS THEY CHARGE. HOW DO YOU JUSTIFY $35 FOR A $2 PURCHASE...LET ALONE 5 $35 CHARGES FOR A TOTAL OF $45 IN GAS STATION ETC. PURCHASES.

BOTTOM LINE. IF THERE IS A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT I WOULD JOIN AND SUPPORT. IF THERE IS NOT ONE CURRENTLY THEN I WOULD SUPPORT ONE STARTING. WE NEED A LAWYER WITH THE BALLS.

All of this NSF thing is totally irrelevant to anyone who keeps an accurate register! The order of posting transactions is irrelevant if you had money in the account and available when they were made.

It's real simple. If you don't spend money that is not in your account, you will never pay NSF fees!

This whole thread was started by someone who uses the ATM to determine her available balance. This is the root of the problem here and that is what should be addressed.

I have ben with BofA for over 15 years with multiple accounts in several states, and have never had 1 problem with NSF fees. I have never paid one.

This is because I know how to manage my account PROPERLY, and I use a checkbook register to do it. Not the ATM!

Let me first say that I have banked with BOA since I was 18. I quickly learned the difference between the available balance and ledger balance, and more importantly, that I could set up a savings account for overdraft protection.

Although I am an employee of the bank, I'm first a customer. I'm very unhappy with my present position at the bank, but I have no plans to take my business elsewhere.

The kind of claims made here are a big part of my dissatisfaction as an employee. Because no amount of apologizing, overdraft fee refunds - which I've seen only grudgingly mentioned, or rationale will get through to the socially irresponsible.

I'm a single-income single parent with a mortgage. I've heard every claim about why an account becomes overdrawn. It doesn't matter how much income you have. Basic arithmetic is all that's needed to keep an account balanced.

Of course, we're all bound to overdraw our accounts by a nickel. The main difference between customers is that some take responsibility, request a refund-that's usually granted, and set up overdraft protection immediately. The victims complain and continue to overdraw their accounts because they refuse to set up overdraft protection.

As a result of customer feedback, the overdraft fees were lowered and set on a tiered basis, according to occurrences. This set-up means that the once $30 overdraft fee at one time was as low as $17. It is based on a 12-month rolling period, but the fee will go up if the account is not maintained responsibly.

Also, I haven't noticed anyone complaining about the $40 fee a merchant can charge for a returned check. Overdraft protection eliminates this fee, which is usually higher than any bank's overdraft fee.

Most banks have the same high-to-low processing, and the same debit card processing. The key to not overdrawing your account without keeping a register (which is advisable) is to use your PIN when making purchases, so there is no pre-authorization hold. The bank is not responsible for the pre-auth hold being released. The merchant is the one who requests payment.

Everything mentioned in the complaints is covered by the deposit agreement. I only wish that it were given more importance when customers open accounts. I try to inform customers as much as possible, since I would have wanted the same when I opened my account.

Unlike most teenagers, I quickly learned and set up overdraft protection with a savings account. Showing this initiative probably helped me get a refund, although it was admittedly my fault. I can't seem to drive this point home to customers who can only see the overdraft fees. (By the time the fee has gone up to $35, no excuse is worth listening to.)

When I have customers wanting to switch TO BOA from other banks because of these same issues, I educate them, then let them decide whether a new account is what they need.

It is very exhausting getting these types of remarks, especially when the customer is speaking with the wrong department, but there are those of us who care about the customer. I think anyone who is willing to have a level-headed conversation can quickly see that banking doesn't require a degree in accounting. . . Case in point, a customer considering changing banks didn't feel so victimized in learning that these problems are common with banks.

My advice - education and prevention. The bank should make it a point to mention that overdraft protection, funds availability, and item processing are not as simple as one might think. The customer who is informed is a happier customer who usually brings more of his own business & family's business to the bank.

From a monetary perspective, why would a bank want a customer to overdraw an account, only to close it or leave it unpaid, and generate dissatisfaction with the bank? It's more profitable to have an educated customer, who also appreciates the consideration behind education, who refers family and friends to the bank. The best form of advertisement comes from happy customers.

A note to readers, I'm not on bank time, but will be in a few hours. Some of us just do care about customers and the general public. I may detest my job, but I love my accounts and services.

Any questions?

Deanne, You ROCK,
I like the way you handle all the unbelievable crap the negative responders have dished out. It's funny how they know so much about banking than the average Joe, scary.

It is not you fault, but sad to say that's how all Big Business does business. They do prey on us, the little people. I have had a lot of dealings with banks over the years and the bigger they are, the more power they have, the more they screw the little people.

Heres a stupid example of banking intelligence.
Years ago I deposited my pay check in the night drop or ATM but it didn't show even 24 hrs later. So the 2nd day I walk into the bank and ask an employee why my deposit isn't showing up and I am told that when I sign the back of the check I need to write underneath it for deposit only and it will go through faster. (24 hrs instead of 3 days) Why? I am depositing my check, and it's signed and there is a deposit slip. Where's the freakn problem? What are they doing with my money?

Watch out if you use any type of recurring payments. They can come through at any time that the company feels like running them through your account. Sometimes they come through 1 to 2 weeks early and sometimes 1 to 2 weeks late.That can wreak havoc on an account.

Why can't banks process your account so that the tie goes to the runner (runner being the customer) meaning that when you deposit money and charges come in and are pending or processing that you're not penalized for it.Why do they process your debits faster than they do your deposits?

I think that banks should be made to put a time stamp on when things are processed so we have better proof of when this is done. How do I know that all these debits came through that morning before my check cleared? Am I supposed to take the banks word for it? Yea right.

And nothing pisses me off more than to be 27 cents overdrawn on my account and charged 34 dollars. Why can't they charge you $5.00 for 5.00 o/d and under, $10.00 for 5.01-30.00 o/d and $34.00 for over 30.00 o/d?

This is why I don't use a BANK.I will let Coperate America bank at Coperate Banks.
I like my credit union. They are way more personal and way less greedy. (But not perfect by any stretch)

Deanne, You ROCK,
I like the way you handle all the unbelievable crap the negative responders have dished out. It's funny how they know so much about banking than the average Joe, scary.

It is not you fault, but sad to say that's how all Big Business does business. They do prey on us, the little people. I have had a lot of dealings with banks over the years and the bigger they are, the more power they have, the more they screw the little people.

Heres a stupid example of banking intelligence.
Years ago I deposited my pay check in the night drop or ATM but it didn't show even 24 hrs later. So the 2nd day I walk into the bank and ask an employee why my deposit isn't showing up and I am told that when I sign the back of the check I need to write underneath it for deposit only and it will go through faster. (24 hrs instead of 3 days) Why? I am depositing my check, and it's signed and there is a deposit slip. Where's the freakn problem? What are they doing with my money?

Watch out if you use any type of recurring payments. They can come through at any time that the company feels like running them through your account. Sometimes they come through 1 to 2 weeks early and sometimes 1 to 2 weeks late.That can wreak havoc on an account.

Why can't banks process your account so that the tie goes to the runner (runner being the customer) meaning that when you deposit money and charges come in and are pending or processing that you're not penalized for it.Why do they process your debits faster than they do your deposits?

I think that banks should be made to put a time stamp on when things are processed so we have better proof of when this is done. How do I know that all these debits came through that morning before my check cleared? Am I supposed to take the banks word for it? Yea right.

And nothing pisses me off more than to be 27 cents overdrawn on my account and charged 34 dollars. Why can't they charge you $5.00 for 5.00 o/d and under, $10.00 for 5.01-30.00 o/d and $34.00 for over 30.00 o/d?

This is why I don't use a BANK.I will let Coperate America bank at Coperate Banks.
I like my credit union. They are way more personal and way less greedy. (But not perfect by any stretch)

Deanne, You ROCK,
I like the way you handle all the unbelievable crap the negative responders have dished out. It's funny how they know so much about banking than the average Joe, scary.

It is not you fault, but sad to say that's how all Big Business does business. They do prey on us, the little people. I have had a lot of dealings with banks over the years and the bigger they are, the more power they have, the more they screw the little people.

Heres a stupid example of banking intelligence.
Years ago I deposited my pay check in the night drop or ATM but it didn't show even 24 hrs later. So the 2nd day I walk into the bank and ask an employee why my deposit isn't showing up and I am told that when I sign the back of the check I need to write underneath it for deposit only and it will go through faster. (24 hrs instead of 3 days) Why? I am depositing my check, and it's signed and there is a deposit slip. Where's the freakn problem? What are they doing with my money?

Watch out if you use any type of recurring payments. They can come through at any time that the company feels like running them through your account. Sometimes they come through 1 to 2 weeks early and sometimes 1 to 2 weeks late.That can wreak havoc on an account.

Why can't banks process your account so that the tie goes to the runner (runner being the customer) meaning that when you deposit money and charges come in and are pending or processing that you're not penalized for it.Why do they process your debits faster than they do your deposits?

I think that banks should be made to put a time stamp on when things are processed so we have better proof of when this is done. How do I know that all these debits came through that morning before my check cleared? Am I supposed to take the banks word for it? Yea right.

And nothing pisses me off more than to be 27 cents overdrawn on my account and charged 34 dollars. Why can't they charge you $5.00 for 5.00 o/d and under, $10.00 for 5.01-30.00 o/d and $34.00 for over 30.00 o/d?

This is why I don't use a BANK.I will let Coperate America bank at Coperate Banks.
I like my credit union. They are way more personal and way less greedy. (But not perfect by any stretch)

Hello. I have had some similar problems with Bank of America, and I've been a victim of the "largest debit clearing first" scam. However I'm in a different situation right now.

I've been lied to by their customer service representatives, and I've been mistreated when any reasonable person can see that Bank of America is at fault. Here's the short version of my story:

Last month, a company that I had done business with about two years ago charged my debit card for a large amount - this was unauthorized and I had not ordered anything from this company. A dispute was filed, settled in my favor, and the charge was removed.

About a month and a half later, this same company hit my debit card again, this time for a differentm but nearly as large amount.

I called Bank of America and disputed the second charge. The representatives were helpful, the money was put back in my account right away and overdraft fees associated with the charge were credited back to me, pending settlement of the claim.

It was at this point that it was determined that something had to be done to prevent this company from charging my card again. Since I just so happened to have conveniently memorized my debit card number, the phone representative decided the best course of action was to re-issue my debit card. This way, the new card would have a new expiration date, a new verification number (the three-digit code on the back of the card), and no company, including the malicious one, would be able to charge the old card. I was to keep the current debit card number, since it was a very large inconvenience to get a card with a new number.

I agreed this was a good idea. About a week later, for some reason, I received two identical debit cards in the mail. I'm sure I wasn't supposed to receive two - only one; this is not a joint account or anything like that. I called the phone number to activate the card, and I destroyed the extra card, as well as my old card.

Fast-forward two about three weeks later. I'm not normally one of those people that live check-to-check, but I'm certainly not rich - I don't have thousands of dollars sitting in my checking account. I have some recurring charges to my debit card every month, things like satellite radio, subscriptions, things of that nature. These are not for large amounts, the largest one is about $20.

Since, I had some added expenses for that month (I bought a new car, among other things), I figured, naturally, that since a Bank Of America representative told me that nobody would be able to charge my card using the old expiration date, then these small recurring monthly debits should be declined. After all, I was issued a new debit card so that a company that kept "accidentally" charging my debit card would no longer be able to charge the card. It is obviously implied that if this rogue company is unable to charge my debit card, neither would companies that charge my card monthly for various services.

Anyway, that weekend, six recurring monthly charges are authorized on my account, for which there are no available funds to cover. I was aware that these transactions were to be authorized, but again Bank of America's own representatives advice was that no company would be able to charge the card using the old expiration date. All of these transactions used the old card's expiration date to authorize the charges. The card, in Bank Of America's own words, should have been de-activated at the time my newly issued debit card was activated.

I contacted the Bank of America customer service. The first representative I spoke to said:

"I can see this is obviously a bank error. In theory, there is no way that the old card could have been used. I am going to go ahead and take care of these overdraft fees for you."

This is the first Bank of America representative to tell me that it is obviously in error (again, as any reasonable person would assume) that these charges were authorized. This is in addition to the employee that issued the order to re-issue the card, who also said that the old card could not be reused.

I then made the mistake of asking this guy about this rogue company, and whether or not they could still charge my card. He told me to hold, and he came back saying that the supervisor said that his supervisor says that even though a new card was issued with a different expiration date, that these 6 companies, as well as the original company that was maliciously charging my card, were still able to charge my card. I was informed that even if I was issued a totally new card number, the company can still charge my card. He said that unfortunately he is unable to issue a refund for the overdraft fees.

This, after two representatives at this point acknowledged that this was not possible.

I speak to a supervisor, and I am escalated from the supervisor to a manager. All employees acknowledge that even though these six transactions SHOULD HAVE BEEN declined, and should never have been able to be authorized on this account due to the fact that the old card with the old expiration date and verification number SHOULD HAVE BEEN deactivated, they tell me that any company with authorization to charge my credit card on a recurring basis can still charge the card, even though the old card is de-activated.

Again, they claim that even if I was issued a new card with a new account number, companies I have authorized to bill me on a recurring basis can still "piggy back" and charge my new card number. They said that this does not apply to a normal purchase, companies wishing to authorize my card for a one-time transaction would not be able to authorize it using the old expiration date.

This is a complete lie. Having worked in the retail industry for a few years, I know that there is no difference between a recurring charge to a card and a one-time charge, and I also know that charges should not be authorized if the wrong expiration date is used.

Nevermind that, though, as I said, I was explicitly told that no company, including the rogue company charging my card for large amounts without me making a purchase, would not be able to authorize any amount on my card without the correct expiration date and 3 digit security code.

To prove a point, I went that night to a gas station and had the attendant key in my debit card number and authorize a purchase using the old expiration date. The charge authorized without issue - the old card is still active!

I call back tonight, knowing that I have tongue-in-cheek evidence to prove my point. I am not lying, and I have recent phone conversations with Bank of America representatives stating that the charges should not have been authorized. Three more representatives (for a total of FIVE) acknowledge the fact that these six transactions should have been declined. These include a normal representative that answered the initial call (I was disconnected with them, d**n cell phones), a second representative that answered the phone, and a third representative, a 'manager'.

All of these representatives acknowledge that there was a problem, an "error", that caused my old card to be authorized.

Any reasonable person, at this point, would see that I was mis-informed, and that Bank Of America is directly at fault for having authorized those charges when they clearly should not have been authorized.

Guess what?

No refund.

I'm at fault, the charges came in, I'm not disputing the charges, they're valid. Even though they shouldn't have been authorized in the first place, and it was clearly an error that they were authorized and posted, I am at fault even though I was explicitly told, time and time again, that the transactions could not be and thus should not have been authorized by numerous representatives.

End result as of right now is $210 worth of overdraft fees, and the ever so common "we're going to have to agree to disagree" phrase that Bank of America likes to use with customers that refuse to accept "No" for an answer. It's funny, because that phrase brings back memories of the "largest item cleared first" scam which I've been a victim of, and that they've settled lawsuits over.

At this point I've gotten every possible excuse, ranging from "the computer won't let me refund it", to "it's your fault not ours, even though the transactions were clearly authorized in error", to "it's against the law for us to refund overdraft fees" (yeah ok, good one. lie to me some more).

I understand that overdraft fees are many banks' bread and butter. Consumers which are irresponsible with their checking account deserve to be assessed fees, as the bank covers these charges as a service to the consumer to prevent late payment fees, bad credit ratings and things of that nature. In turn, the consumer is assessed a fee for this service. But when the bank is clearly at fault, and it is clearly unfair to assess overdraft fees, the bank needs to take responsibility for the fees and refund them.

Bank of America has a long history of unfair and unjust overdraft fees, and their refusal to refund them. They recently settled a class action lawsuit in the sum of $9 million, and three states are currently investigating their practices The Boston Globe even got ahold of an internal memo.

Basically, it states that if customers overdraw their account, do not refund fees, unless there is a bank error or "extenuating and unusual circumstances". I believe my situation is an extenuating and unusual circumstance, due to the fact that I was mis-informed by several representatives of the company, and that a "bank error" occurred when these charges were authorized when they clearly should not have been.

I have been mistreated by customer service representatives, who (not in so many words), said that I was a liar. Again, I worked customer service and retail for some time, and I understand that customers routinely lie in order to prove a point or get their way. I am not a liar, and these people do not understand that, and they refuse to take my point into consideration even though evidence is immediately available which proves my point.

I wish everybody here good luck with their Bank of America situation. Personally, I will be filing suit in small claims court, talking to my attorney general in the state of NY, and filing a claim with my local BBB if I don't get my refund, in addition to closing out my account with this horrible, problematic bank.

If anybody has any advice for me, feel free to drop me a line Or you can post a rebuttal here.

I hope this story may help other people with similar issues.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

I, too, am a hard working American working paycheck to paycheck. I would like to say that not everyone who has been hit with this overdraft scam is at fault. OK, the first time, it truly was my fault, as I spent money I did not have. I paid my $133 dollars, bit the bullet, learned from my mistake, and moved on. Then about a year and a half ago, I had my purse snatched. It had my checkbook, ATM card, all my identification, etc in it. Even though I reported it immediatly to the police and my bank, the bank STILL allowed nearly 1000 dollars of charges to be put through on my account!!! Because they were made with a check card, they were not denied. Each and every transaction this thief made I was charged $34 dollars for TWICE, once when it came through originally, and once when it came through reposted. I fought with BOA for MONTHS to get this resolved, with little or no success. I finally, under the advice of a lawyer, closed my account, still $426 negative due to fees- and took my account elsewhere. Now, 18 months and 3 court dates later, I am waiting for BOA to honor the judge's ruling and return the money I had in there when the thief began making purchases, and to remove the negative item on my credit report. I don't owe them a dime, and I don't find it fair that they would REvictimize the victim of a theft or ID Scam. I feel perhaps BOA should re-evaluate thier overdraft policy and see where it leaves most of thier customers. Since I have left BOA, I have been banking at Bank, and I would recommend it to everyone!! I leave only $2.00 in my checking account, I do not have checks, I cash my paycheck and pay cash for everything. No fees, No OD, and they DO NOT ALLOW check card transactions if there isn't enough money to cover it. I appreciate these little things, and I will continue to bank with them for as long as they treat me like a person, not a number.

I, too, am a hard working American working paycheck to paycheck. I would like to say that not everyone who has been hit with this overdraft scam is at fault. OK, the first time, it truly was my fault, as I spent money I did not have. I paid my $133 dollars, bit the bullet, learned from my mistake, and moved on. Then about a year and a half ago, I had my purse snatched. It had my checkbook, ATM card, all my identification, etc in it. Even though I reported it immediatly to the police and my bank, the bank STILL allowed nearly 1000 dollars of charges to be put through on my account!!! Because they were made with a check card, they were not denied. Each and every transaction this thief made I was charged $34 dollars for TWICE, once when it came through originally, and once when it came through reposted. I fought with BOA for MONTHS to get this resolved, with little or no success. I finally, under the advice of a lawyer, closed my account, still $426 negative due to fees- and took my account elsewhere. Now, 18 months and 3 court dates later, I am waiting for BOA to honor the judge's ruling and return the money I had in there when the thief began making purchases, and to remove the negative item on my credit report. I don't owe them a dime, and I don't find it fair that they would REvictimize the victim of a theft or ID Scam. I feel perhaps BOA should re-evaluate thier overdraft policy and see where it leaves most of thier customers. Since I have left BOA, I have been banking at Bank, and I would recommend it to everyone!! I leave only $2.00 in my checking account, I do not have checks, I cash my paycheck and pay cash for everything. No fees, No OD, and they DO NOT ALLOW check card transactions if there isn't enough money to cover it. I appreciate these little things, and I will continue to bank with them for as long as they treat me like a person, not a number.

I, too, am a hard working American working paycheck to paycheck. I would like to say that not everyone who has been hit with this overdraft scam is at fault. OK, the first time, it truly was my fault, as I spent money I did not have. I paid my $133 dollars, bit the bullet, learned from my mistake, and moved on. Then about a year and a half ago, I had my purse snatched. It had my checkbook, ATM card, all my identification, etc in it. Even though I reported it immediatly to the police and my bank, the bank STILL allowed nearly 1000 dollars of charges to be put through on my account!!! Because they were made with a check card, they were not denied. Each and every transaction this thief made I was charged $34 dollars for TWICE, once when it came through originally, and once when it came through reposted. I fought with BOA for MONTHS to get this resolved, with little or no success. I finally, under the advice of a lawyer, closed my account, still $426 negative due to fees- and took my account elsewhere. Now, 18 months and 3 court dates later, I am waiting for BOA to honor the judge's ruling and return the money I had in there when the thief began making purchases, and to remove the negative item on my credit report. I don't owe them a dime, and I don't find it fair that they would REvictimize the victim of a theft or ID Scam. I feel perhaps BOA should re-evaluate thier overdraft policy and see where it leaves most of thier customers. Since I have left BOA, I have been banking at Bank, and I would recommend it to everyone!! I leave only $2.00 in my checking account, I do not have checks, I cash my paycheck and pay cash for everything. No fees, No OD, and they DO NOT ALLOW check card transactions if there isn't enough money to cover it. I appreciate these little things, and I will continue to bank with them for as long as they treat me like a person, not a number.

The overdraft fees are indeed a scam. Banks report on industry websites that they make 10 billion dollars a year from this practice. Independent surveys of bank customers show that 71% of those affected by these fees are low to low middle income persons.

Banks offer "free checking" rather than fee based checking as offered in the past. Rather than charge a customer $12.00 a month for the account and offer a number of free transactions to a limit, then charging $0.25 per transaction, they now draw the customer by the "free" offer.

The average new customer attracted by these offers are those who live paycheck to paycheck. They are enticed by the "free" offer or generally a small cash credit to their account or a virtually worthless "free gift".

Account disclosures. Reality - Most account disclosures #1 - DO NOT explain the "overdraft courtesy" lending practice nor the fees associated and #2 (Most important) Are written with so much legalese that the average person cannot understand much of what is included. They are generally also written in about a 3 pt. font which almost requires a microscope to read. If the banks want to be so forthcoming and honest, and truly want their customers to understand the account policies they should write the disclosures in plain wording and readable type.

From a letter by the Public Interest Research Group to Allen Greenspan regarding obtaining bank account disclosures:

"I have been conducting consumer surveys
myself for years, and was astonished that on two different occasions my simple request for a
detailed fee brochure was rejected at a local Bank of America branch. This experience has been
repeated by many of our volunteers and interns, at other banks as well. Bank of America is not
by any means the only bank that makes it hard to obtain fee information, merely the biggest."

Banks used to offer overdraft protection only to credit qualified account holders. Even these account holders had to apply for the service. If you did not have overdraft protection and a transaction exceeded your balance the banks would either pay it as a courtesy, charging a fee (much smaller than today's fee) or return it as NSF charging a smaller fee. The customer would then also pay the merchant a fee. In almost all cases these combined fees were LESS than a single "courtesy overdraft" loan fee today.

Industry insiders indicate that only a few years ago, prior to Check 21, processing paper checks cost the bank an average of $3.00. The same cost for good or bad checks. With Check 21 many checks are electronically presented reducing the cost to the bank for processing.

The "courtesy overdraft" loans are excluded under the Truth in Lending Act from prior disclosure to customers. The interest on these "loans" if compounded annually would be in the arena of 1000%. This is more expensive than a "payday loan".

The banks will tell you their policy of posting debits largest to smallest is for the benefit of the consumer, to ensure the customer's rent, utilities, etc are paid prior to smaller transactions thus ensuring the "essentials" are paid for. In reality FEW if any people pay their rent with a debit card. Most write a check for this expense, as well as for utilities.

This is simply a "spin" of the facts as they know an account flagged with multiple transactions in a day for an account holder with a small average balance is a money making cow in the area of fee income.

The point being made here is that even though the individual might be at fault, BoA takes advantage of them & creates systems & has policies to encourage the individual to make mistakes & incur fees.

I recently mistyped an online payment as $2200 instead of $200. My fault; I pay $19 for that. A few months ago I would have noticed that mistake right away, but BoA changed the workings of online billpay so that it's not easy to see. They then proceeded to PAY that because I had $300 in my overdraft acct. $300 doesn't = $2200.

Well that's just incompetent. Their customer service was of no help. I had to rely on Wachovia and BB&T(oustanding service btw) to rectify the problem. I still haven't gotten an explanation from them, just the usual BoA smugness & ineptitude.

I have no checks, so I have no register. I have two checking accts, one for bill pay & one for the check card. I never have to worry ab debit card use screwing up my bill pay & causing an overdraft.

The deposits are time based for the day a deposit posts on, so the "cutoff time" is the end of the business day. But at BOA the deposits post for the business day you make it first. Deposits, Debits (largest to smallest), and the bank fees. The day your item post depend on the merchant and when the merchant send in the proper paperwork to recieve payment, when the merchant sends in the paperwork the item posts in it's order largest to smallest.

Also, you paper checks don't post to your account until midnight, so if a check was presented that day you wouldn't see it in a pending status. Also, past items that have not been paid upon can come out of the account at anytime at the merchant's request with proper paperwork. For intance if you go the Exxon and get $20 of gas $1 will be in a pending status from your account making your available balance $1 less. If Exxon does not send in paperwork within 3 business days that $1 is added back into your available balance and then eventually a week later when Exxon sends in paperwork to recieve payment that's when the item is taken from your balance posting without a pending warning.

These are possibilities for having recieved a balance. Anyways no matter which way you add or subtract the balance never changes so unless you have unauthorized charges or a deposit hold that you were made unaware of, there really is no reason to file a lawsuit especially if you signed anything when you opened your account because all of these things are in you disclosures.

I accept that I screwed up and made a $20.79 gas debit on my account on Sunday. I meant to put it on my my credit card but was tired and not thinking and put it on my bank card. I accept I owe the fees for this last transaction and the overdraft protection even though I only had $1 in my savings account. I accept that I owed Bank of america $41 in fees for this screw up.

What I don't accept is the fact they think it is ok to charge me 5 overdraft fees of $31 each on small items that I purchased with my card knowing I had the money for it in the bank prior to this large gas purchase.

I ballance my account and do keep a registry of my purchases. But I made a mistake and when I was down to my last few cents in my account I was an idiot and put a tank of gas on there that I wish I never bought. When you pay at the pump you can't just reverse it and not getting paid till Wednesday doesn't give you the cash to put the money back.

The funny thing about this complaint is the original complainer admitted they accept that they owe for their $400 overdraft and the responsibility that goes with taking out that money. Their complaint is that they charged them an overdraft for every small purchase they made because their policy is largest to smallest. You can't tell me that the policy was written to protect the consumers large bill payments. It was written to get more money from the consumer legally because they have a policy that says they can.

This is millicious and the bank does not care. I could tell the rep till I'm blue in the face I accept the rightfully earned fees but should not have to pay the others but they don't care. I can tell them I don't want a bank that would do this to me. They don't care. I said so you would rather loose a customer they don't care.

They have millions of idiots signing up every day that will give them their money for a few months before they too go elsewhere.

I can only hope a local bank manager might show some heart and reverse the fees to keep my business otherwise I have another bank through a credit union who will be getting my full business once again.

I agree with you and have had personal experience with others in Missouri that are being unfairly targeted and charged overdraft fees. My son has had his paycheck returned because, when he deposited it at an ATM, someone (the machine?) determined that the signature was not valid. With no advance notice, the check was returned, taking 5 days to do so. Did Bank of America call to tell him this? No, they WANTED it to be returned so that they could overdraft the checks that had been written. This is because the bank knows that they can get away with it as the average person who does not keep alot in their account can easily rack up the fees when things start to s****.> I don't personally live this way, but I believe that when the bank has your number, they will take advantage of you. I have told my son to close his account and go back to cash because he will never win in this battle with the bank that can get away with anything that they want. They hide behind their "disclosures", so how can you fight it?

I'm sorry to say this, but i am 23, married, and have 2 children. I had my first checking account when i was 18 and have since changed banks because i wanted a smaller bank with more personal service. I have NEVER had an o/d on either of my accounts. up until about a year ago, we pretty much lived from check to check but we are getting ahead even more than we had thought possible :-D when balancing our checkbooks, we over estimate everything. if a check total is 23.09, we write in that it was 24.00. adds up to a nice little chunk that we can spend without worrying :-D if you don't want od fees, don't write checks that you KNOW you can't cover. if the money isn't there, don't buy it, or go borrow money from a person that you can pay CASH back to. also, if you have access to your account information online, check it every night. most banks clear a transaction sometime between midnight and 12:00 PM while if you don't get your deposite in before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it won't go through until the next night. oh well, hope this helps someone.

I'm sorry to say this, but i am 23, married, and have 2 children. I had my first checking account when i was 18 and have since changed banks because i wanted a smaller bank with more personal service. I have NEVER had an o/d on either of my accounts. up until about a year ago, we pretty much lived from check to check but we are getting ahead even more than we had thought possible :-D when balancing our checkbooks, we over estimate everything. if a check total is 23.09, we write in that it was 24.00. adds up to a nice little chunk that we can spend without worrying :-D if you don't want od fees, don't write checks that you KNOW you can't cover. if the money isn't there, don't buy it, or go borrow money from a person that you can pay CASH back to. also, if you have access to your account information online, check it every night. most banks clear a transaction sometime between midnight and 12:00 PM while if you don't get your deposite in before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it won't go through until the next night. oh well, hope this helps someone.

I'm sorry to say this, but i am 23, married, and have 2 children. I had my first checking account when i was 18 and have since changed banks because i wanted a smaller bank with more personal service. I have NEVER had an o/d on either of my accounts. up until about a year ago, we pretty much lived from check to check but we are getting ahead even more than we had thought possible :-D when balancing our checkbooks, we over estimate everything. if a check total is 23.09, we write in that it was 24.00. adds up to a nice little chunk that we can spend without worrying :-D if you don't want od fees, don't write checks that you KNOW you can't cover. if the money isn't there, don't buy it, or go borrow money from a person that you can pay CASH back to. also, if you have access to your account information online, check it every night. most banks clear a transaction sometime between midnight and 12:00 PM while if you don't get your deposite in before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it won't go through until the next night. oh well, hope this helps someone.

I'm sorry to say this, but i am 23, married, and have 2 children. I had my first checking account when i was 18 and have since changed banks because i wanted a smaller bank with more personal service. I have NEVER had an o/d on either of my accounts. up until about a year ago, we pretty much lived from check to check but we are getting ahead even more than we had thought possible :-D when balancing our checkbooks, we over estimate everything. if a check total is 23.09, we write in that it was 24.00. adds up to a nice little chunk that we can spend without worrying :-D if you don't want od fees, don't write checks that you KNOW you can't cover. if the money isn't there, don't buy it, or go borrow money from a person that you can pay CASH back to. also, if you have access to your account information online, check it every night. most banks clear a transaction sometime between midnight and 12:00 PM while if you don't get your deposite in before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it won't go through until the next night. oh well, hope this helps someone.

I am just going to ignore all the posts made here by people who know absolutely nothing about me or my situation, but still try to sit smugly back and tell me what I'M doing wrong and accuse me of lying, and being stupid, and all other sorts of ignorance. If it makes you feel better to dump your garbage of insults on me, then I have pity on you. Do what you must do to feed your own pathetic egos, but don't think that your insults do any justice here. You are just feeding the monster that will one day turn around and bite YOU in the butt.

This response is directed toward "Uncle Hako," aka Bank of America employee from Texas... You stated that I lied about how many overdraft fees I had... How would you know? And if true, are you sharing private information on a public forum? Isn't this illegal, if not at the very least, unethical? I will be forwarding a link to this page to the public relations department at BOA so they are aware that their employees are still up to no good. I have already done it once, and I'm sure if they had any brains at all, they would have already warned you all very strongly to cease and desist from all such posts. All you are doing is helping to ruin the name of the company that pays you. How stupid are you?

Anyway, I didn't lie about anything. If you had actually read my first post, I admitted to at least 10 overdraft fees in the post. We actually incurred a malicious overdraft fee after I posted. I say malicious, because my account was not overdrawn when they posted the fee. The bank statement shows my account as positive on the day they charged the fee. So, I know for a fact now that I have been targeted by Bank of America employees who are monitoring my account and punishing me for my comments made here. How else would you even presume to know who I am and look up my account? I didn't post my last name or my bank account number here. It just goes to show you that the people who work for this bank are morally bankrupt themselves and will downright punish their customers for exposing their unethical business practices.

Of all the Bank of America employees who posted here, none have addressed the real issues I brought up ... which is the fact that BOA manipulates their system to wrack up service fees that are not legitimate and to take advantage of one or two mistakes. That is the real crime here, whether you believe I balance my account or not.

Jeff... your true balance should be easy, you open up your check register and look to see what it is. Easy huh? Wait... you don't keep a check register?

Personally I agree with you that 24 hours is too short a time, but on the other hand lengthening the time isn't going to help you because the authorization that the merchant puts through is very often not the amount of the actual charge. For instance, gas stations usually only authorize for a dollar. All they want to know before pumping is that you have an account. You debit at a restaurant won't reflect the amount of the tip that you added after they ran your card. There are countless other instances where the memo post doesnt reflect the charge, so if you are depending on the bank to provide your balance, you're going to get burned. YOU are the only one who knows what debits are being made against that account.

From your comment:

"Seriously, who balances their checkbook when they use their card? I thought that was kind of the purpose of the card, the immediacy of it. So you don't have to pay attention to your balance as closely"...

I think has has more to do with convenience so that you do not have to carry a checkbook around with you. You still have to pay attention to your balance regardless.

"This is unacceptable to me. I frankly don't have the time nor do I want to keep a running tally of all my expenses; I expect the hold to be sufficient for the funds to actually be withdrawn, so that my balance is always accurate."

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, it is even more important to get off your lazy a*s and keep a running tally of your expenses. How much time do you think it takes?

Why should it matter when it gets posted. If the money from your account is spent, it is spent. Relying on the bank to keep an accurate and up to he minute balance on your account is just plain stupid.

Bank of America
I had an account with Fleet for 5 yearsnever had a problem. Now that Bank of America has taken control

With Fleet when you made a purchase with your checking card a pending debit appeared on your statement for 3-4 days, allowing enough time for the money to disappear. Now that Bank of America has tossed s**t up, that pending debit only stays on your account for 24 hours, which, no merchant takes money out of your account that fast. This makes using your card like writing checks, your balance is not really your balance, you have to keep track every time you use your card, because that money goes away for a day, then comes back for three days, then really goes away. Let's say I buy something for $150 on Thursday by Friday my account shows absolutely no record of that transaction for 2-3 days. Seriously, who balances their checkbook when they use their card? I thought that was kind of the purpose of the card, the immediacy of it. So you don't have to pay attention to your balance as closely

I had a similar problem, which I never had with Fleet until Bank of America took over. When all is said and done I was in fact overdrawn. My problem is how Bank of America handles debits when you use your card. Most banks post a pending debit (or hold) to your account for 3 to 5 days immediately after making the purchase. This leaves enough time for the merchant to withdraw the funds. Bank of America, on the other hand, only posts the pending debit for 24 hours-- not enough time for nearly all merchants to withdraw the funds. What ends up happening is a hold will be put on your account for the amount of the purchase, then after 24 hours any record of that transaction will vanish until the merchant pulls the money 3 to 5 days later. This practice shows an inaccurate and inflated balance for 48 hours, regardless of where you check it (phone, internet, or ATM).

24 hours is not enough time for most transactions to post (especially over the weekend, when no banking takes place). With this in place, to know your true balance you are required to keep track of every single purchase manually, like checks. I always thought of the card as a way to avoid recording every transaction by hand, and it was with Fleet (and after some research, most other banks). I could at any time check my balance online and get an accurate amount regardless of whether the merchant has withdrawn the funds. In other words, pending debits were posted long enough for the funds to be withdrawn without my balance yo-yoing' in between.

This would be no problem for people with a hefty balance, but I currently live paycheck to paycheck, and the few days before I get paid my balance is low, and I need to know my true balance so I can plan accordingly. I never had reason to mistrust my balance prior to Bank of America. So, unwittingly this past month, I checked my balance online and by phone and spent the funds accordingly. 5 days later I incurred over $150 in overdraft fees for minimal purchases ($5 to $40).

This is unacceptable to me. I frankly don't have the time nor do I want to keep a running tally of all my expenses; I expect the hold to be sufficient for the funds to actually be withdrawn, so that my balance is always accurate.

While I don't think Bank of America did anything legally wrong, I'm pretty sure the practice of the 24 hour hold is put in place to extract as many overdraft fees as possible from those that don't have the money to spend or the time to manually tally every purchase. Therefore, I am closing my Bank of America account and opening a Commerce account.

Deanne...

Nowhere in your original complaint did you mention that you balance/keep a close eye on your checkbook balance. If you DID, then you would NEVER rely on what the ATM or online statements say regarding the amount in your account. They are NEVER real-time. There's really no way for them to be, especially if you are a frequent ATM card user or a check writer.

The one time I was ever charged over draft fees was because I DESERVED it and did not keep track of my account. If you keep your check book properly maintained and continuously updated, you won't be 'wrongly charged' as you say you have here.

You are NOT a victim of the bank. You are a victim of your own laziness.

Sincerely,
Satisfied BOA customer

Deanne, you are not being honest. You make note that "this has never happened" to you before...and [you] incurred five $33 OD fees." This has happened to you before. In fact, it has happened not once, but at least twelve times in the past year.

The ATM balance is indeed "live feed" of your account. But, do you expect for little Bank of America elves to keep a register for you for every check you write and checkcard purchase that you make? That is impossible. If the ATM shows a balance of $200, it has no clue that you've written John Doe a check for $180 which he has not cashed from 5 days ago, nor does it keep a record of your checkcard transactions which are not necessarily guaranteed to be paid.

My question is, why have you overdrafted your account on 12 separate occasions this year? Why not use a check register to stay on top of your finances? Like you, I'm an average Joe; but, I have the common sense to make use of a little paper register to stay out of the kind of disasters which you have put yourself into at least a dozen times this year.

Bank of America gives all of its customers a checkcard register and check register with each new account--use it.

Regards,

Uncle Hako
Texas

You know, I didn't even read Aaron's comment above. I missed it before.

But, his comment is perfect for illustrating exactly what to do and what not to do.

First, the crux of his complaint is over the fees he's forced to pay for his bank account. He claims to have a net income of $1400 a month. Yet, in one instance he admits paying $122 in fees. That's 8% or 1/12 of his monthly income down the drain. For nothing.

Read my previous comment to understand how to put a stop to that. It's those d**n debit/atm cards. People think they're so hip and so trendy and so wired in to the whole online system. Instead, all this nonsense does is cost them a ton of fees. Bad, bad move. Hey, I'd love to just touch my index finger to a screen and have a computer automatically identify my fingerprint and remove the money from my account. But, I'm not willing to pay big bucks each month in order to do that.

The goal is to get reasonable bank services at reasonable rates. Paying $122 a month and having nothing to show for it is not reasonable. First rule. Avoid any bank services that end up costing you heavy money or unexpected fees. Screw me once, and I'm outta there. For good. You need to clamp down and put a stop to these fees.

Read my previous statement if you need to know exactly what to do.

Next, it's easy to see why this guy is always broke. Look at his numbers. Out of the $1400 he brings home, of it goes to his car. One whole week's pay. And, that doesn't include any gas. A weeks pay goes just to buy his car.

That's another mistake. When you make $1400 a month, you sure as hell shouldn't be driving around in a new or late model car. You simply don't make enough to support it.

Here's what I'd do. I'd sell the car and buy a '79 Dodge van. I put all my apartment trash in storage for $40 a month and go down and get a $25 single-bed mattress and put that in the back of the van. Now, I'm outta the apartment and the car. I own my transportation free and clear. At this point, I just freed up $1000 extra every month. The cell phone goes too.

Now, I got something to work with. I'm making $1400 a month, and it's costing me about $100 a week for food and gas. That means I can put a grand in my right a*s pocket every month.

I know what you're thinking. Yeah, you have an extra grand, but you're sleeping in an old van. Hell, that doesn't bother me a bit. I actually did this in my life. I had an old 65 Ford Econoline. One of those flat-nose vans. Now, they're antiques.

Anyway, after 60 to 90 days, I'd have enough money to go get a cheap, used motorhome. Maybe after only 45 days. It all depends on what's available. Old rvs go cheap. I find them in yards all the time. People have these things and they never use them anymore. Typically, the wife looks at it like it's a d**n eyesore in front of their home. She wants the d**n thing gone. Then, I come rolling up with a few bucks in my pocket.

Once you get into the rv, you're back living normal again. Now you got a place with a hot shower and a stove to cook your food on. It's like a mini-apartment without all the extra space. Now, you move all your trash out of the storage unit and into the rv. Dump any big stuff like furniture. Rvs come with everything you need built-in.

What you do is park the thing right at work. That way, you wake up at 7:50 each morning. You run a toothbrush over your teeth and a comb through your hair, and away you go. Everybody else had to leave at 7:00 and fight traffic. All you do is wake up and roll into work. No gas. No traffic.

Depending on the employer, they may even offer to run an extension cord outside for you to plug into. If not, rvs have generators. You make your own electricity.

At lunchtime, you go out and make a sandwich. You got roast beef and mayonnaise in the fridge. You can throw something in the microwave. You save both time and money by not having to drive to a fast-food restaurant.

Next, the Dodge van goes bye-bye. That puts another grand back in my pocket. Now, I'm sitting on two Gs and I own my home with no monthly payments. That means it's time to think of a way out of this dead-end job.

You see, $1400 a month doesn't cut it in this world. I need to be thinking more like $4,000 a month. That's four grand in my pocket, after I pay for my food and gas. A year of that, and I got 50 grand in my pocket. Now, I'm ready to merge out into the fast lane.

I'd start off with something small. Maybe a swap-meet resale deal on the weekends. Pull in an extra $400 from Saturday and Sunday. Shoes are good. Maybe clothes. Hell, I already have the rv to haul the stuff. I'd do a little side business for extra bucks.

In 3 or 4 months, I'd be outta that shithole call center nonsense. Sayonara, suckers. There's no way in hell I'm gonna sit around hooked up to a headset all day for $350 a week.

The key to financial independence is owning your own business. That way, you keep the profits. In a job, you typically produce twice what you're paid. Your employer keeps the profits. They pay you just enough to keep your a*s in the seat. If they can find somebody to do tech support for less, they throw you the hell out and bring Jose or Juan in to replace you.

I know what you're thinking. You're saying but, I don't know nothing about business. Hey, I didn't know nothing about business either. That's why, when I was in the Ford van, I went down to the library and checked out books like starting a business: a guide for the complete idiot.

Besides, how much brains does it take to sell shoes at a swap meet? You buy the shoes for $12 a pair and sell them for $25. It's not rocket science here folks.

A resale business is simple enough for anyone to run. You buy trash that people want, at a price that allows you to sell it for around double what you have in it. Whether you call your business wal-mart or widget world, the concept is all the same. Buy low, sell high. Keep the difference for yourself.

Maybe a few of you budding entrepreneurs might want to think about a service business. A long time ago, I used to make colored cement stuff. You know, walkways and patio slabs. Gazebo slabs. Mostly just walkways and driveways in front of people's houses.

Because it was such a novelty at the time, I could charge a lot. People loved the look. A green walkway that matched the color of the grass. It was nice. Now, everybody is doing it. In fact, I think you can order the cement right from the company in the color you want.

I got the idea from the back of a magazine. You don't need to be Einstein or Mr Inventor. All you need to be able to do is put stuff together. What do people need? And, what do I know how to do?

Are you telling me that you couldn't make a sandwich shop work? Hell, anybody can slice a roll and add meatballs and powdered cheese. We're not talking about rocket science here either.

You think there's no money in having a little sandwich shop? Yeah, explain that to Subway. These little mom-and-pop bullshit businesses can make you 10 grand a month once you're up and running. That's a far cry from working for $1400 a month, isn't it?

Right now, I've been eating at this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant for the last couple of weeks. The place has been there for 20 years or more. It's this tiny little place. Occupancy maybe 15 people. The kitchen is so small that the workers rub together as they pass each other. But, the place probably clears $300 to $400 a day in profits. Do the math. That's 10 grand. For a restaurant that's the size of somebody's living room.

Here's how you get started. Unload all or most of your debts each month. Dump the apartment and the car. The SUV either goes into the river (accidentally, of course) or gets parted out. Sometimes, they catch on fire. d**n gas leaks! The idea is to get the money back out of it. The cell phone. The extra trash that's weighing you down with bills each month. Free up your money. Then go down to the library and start learning.

Come up with a plan of attack and some funds for implementation. Like I said, there are only 3 ways to go here. You can either sell s**t. Make s**t. Or, do s**t. Selling things is the easiest because all you need to do is buy some stock and you're in business. Manufacturing a product is a little harder, but we're not talking about making computer systems that are destined for outer space.

Do you know what my first business was? Wood burning house plaques. I was just a kid and I got a wood burning kit. A week into the deal, I'm making house plaques with names and numbers on them. Hell, it may be just a piece of singed wood, but it counts as a manufactured item. Like I said, start with something small.

The idea is to get up and make a decision to quit working for others for chump change. You're not stuck. You only think you're trapped. All you need is a few bucks and a compass to point you in the right direction. Remember, Microsoft started with two guys in a garage. So did Apple. Plus, a million other companies that have grown into Fortune 500 successes today.

When it comes right down to it, you are only limited by your degree of motivation, inspiration and perspiration. The money is out there waiting for you if you want it.

Go down to the library. Get direction for starting a business. Then, free up some bucks to work with. That's how you start. Or, you can keep coming back here and complaining about overdraft fees. You can see how that will make you rich and financially independent, right?

Pretty much agree with Paul. Went to Kohl's last month. They had a bunch of clothes on sale for 70% off. If you applied for a Kohl's card you got an additional 15% off. 70% off + 15% off. Not too bad. Got some clothes for me, my wife and granddaughter. When the card came in the mail, I cut it up. When the bill came in the mail, I got a cashier's check for .49 and paid them off.

One last comment to Aaron, you write things are tight. I can well understand that. Been there, done that. I now own my own store. I take my lunch to work every day. If you spend $5 a day to eat "fast food", that $25 per week. For around $5 per week you can bring your lunch. You'll save $20 a week, $80 a month. It's a start and alot healthier. That's either a 5.75% raise or pays for your cell phone. Good luck.

Here's what I've done so far. At 47, I have maintained a bank account for approximately 30 years now. In all that time, I have never paid one cent for overdraft, late charges, excess this, or overdraft that. Nothing. Zero. Not a dime.

Here's who I am. I'm a high school dropout with a ninth grade education. No college. No night school. No GEDs. Nothing. Idiot. Uneducated loser. My last job was as a long-haul truck driver. Boy, those guys are all a bunch of geniuses, wouldn't you say?

Here's what I can't understand. Every time I come here, it's the same old complaints. The banks cheated me out of my money. I'm forced to pay hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees.

Why is it that I, a complete idiot, can figure out how to prevent this from happening, while others with far more education and income are powerless to do anything but fall into the same trap over and over again?

Common sense should tell you that if you get cheated once, leave the bank and never come back. Yet, nobody seems to figure this out. Except me, the idiot.

Frankly, I can't see how everybody ends up having this much trouble in the first place.

But, I'll try to explain to you geniuses once again how to avoid the fees. First, get a job that pays you a regular wage. That will provide the money you need to live.

You have two choices to convert your paycheck into spendable money. You can open a bank account and use it for the SOLE purpose of cashing your paychecks. Or, you can use a local merchant, such as a grocery store. Depending on the size of your check, many will elect to cash it if you purchase regularly from them.

As a last resort, you could pay a fee and use a check cashing business. In many cases, that would be cheaper than paying the fees that many people claim to be losing now.

Let's examine the bank account you will need. That's how most of these winners manage to screw up. You do not want to open a checking account. Checking accounts are for idiots. Why in the world would you want to walk into a store and offer the cashier a check? Why can't you just pay the person and get it over with? Instead, you offer them a piece of paper with your name on it. A check is like an IOU. I never understood the logic behind this. I always pay the person in cash right then and there. The merchant knows they have their money. They don't have to look at me closely and wonder if my check will turn out to be good. I've left no paper trail behind. Nobody can copy my name and account number off the $20 bills that I used to pay with. Plus, the transaction is faster.

Trust me, checks are a waste of time. A checking account is what trips most of these people up time and time again. So, you always open a savings account. Never a checking account. You DON'T accept the ATM card. Declined. People get robbed and killed at ATMs. Plus, there's a fee sometimes. And, it's more paper garbage that you have to keep track of. No ATM card. And, no debit card either. Declined.

You never go online and check anything. That's how you end up giving out your account number to hackers.

Here's how you use that one savings account you have. You place just enough money in the account to keep it open. Typically, it's a couple hundred bucks. BofA requires $300. And, you leave it there. The money serves two purposes. First, it maintains the account you will use when people pay you with a check. Second, it's an emergency fund if you should ever need it.

On payday, you take your check to the bank. You DO NOT get direct deposit. The minute you do that, the computers will screw up and your money will be lost in the banking system.

Instead, you walk in to a teller and present your paycheck and request cash. They will ask you if you have an account. You say yes and show them the number. You get your whole check back in cash. Nothing gets deposited. Nothing gets withdrawn. The savings account never changes. It stays at $300 plus 4 cents in interest.

Now, the average person earns about $700 a week. Take home is five something. Ask for 5 hundreds and the rest in twenties. That's not a lot of money. You could fold it up and it would be the size of a book of paper matches. Do you really think you will have any problem carrying that amount around until the next payday?

If you're worried about robbery, simply store the hundreds in a spot other than your wallet. If a robbery occurs, you can hand over less than $100, the contents of your wallet. The robber will assume that's all you have. Besides, how many times does this happen? The only people who I know that get robbed are the idiots that go in and get falling-down drunk, and then flash lots of cash.

As you go through the week, you spend money from your wallet. You do NOT live out of some bank account. Instead, you live on the money in your wallet. What's your balance? Not hard to figure that out. Open your wallet and count what's there. That's your balance.

Now, do you see how easy this is? You don't have to go online. Or call and check to see if something cleared yet. You pay merchants in cash. You get receipts in exchange. Now, if you have a bill that needs to be mailed out, you can stop by the post office and get a money order. They cost 90 cents. Again, much less than most people are paying in overdraft fees. In fact, one overdraft fee will typically buy 36 money orders. That's about what you would need for the whole year.

Here's how to buy a car. Each week, you put $150 aside to save up for one. Four years later, you walk into a dealership and pick out the vehicle you like. Actually, you call first and find out who has what. There's no sense in driving around like a fool and wasting gas.

This is how I bought my first new car. Back in the 80's Porsche made a model called a 928. It sold for about $50. Fifty is the size of a sandwich. It fits in a small paper bag easily. You don't need to go into any bank and worry about converting it into any kind of check. You walk in, introduce yourself to the salesman you already called on the phone. He points out the car he discussed with you. You look at the thing and make up your mind. Thirty minutes later, you're an owner.

When you have cash and call in advance, there's no financing to fool with. No trade-ins to evaluate. You already got the number on the phone. Fifty three, six eighty four. Maybe a Toyota dealer might be surprised, but at a Porsche dealership, nobody bats an eye. Besides, the salesman knew the deal was lined up after I talked to him on the phone.

A home works the same way. You save $150 a week for 8 years. You call up a real estate agent and tell them what you have and what you're looking for. Trust me, nobody cares one bit where your funds come from. It could be a loan from First National, or a McDonald's sack that originally held a Big Mac meal. The cash will work just fine.

What else are you people having trouble with? Amazon dot com? Ebay? Stay the hell out of those places. That's what I recommend. Both of them have lots of complaints here. Sending money to someone you met over the internet is a sucker's deal. Instead, go down to the local store and get what you need. There's no fooling around with paypal or flashpay or stormripoffs. You walk in, see the item you want, and 20 minutes later you're back home and playing music with it loud enough to bother the neighbors. What could be easier?

What else can't you people figure out? We covered how to cash paychecks. And, how to pay merchants as you spend money. How else are you people managing to lose your money?

Credit is a big problem for many people. Getting it. Using it. Keeping track of all the numbers.

Here's what I recommend. The only credit you really need is for living a half-way decent life when your time is up. God will give you your score when you finally meet up with him. You won't have to look anything up on the internet. The credit here on earth is all bullshit. My credit score should be zero. I don't know why they start at 300. I never took out any loans, so how did I get to 300?

You know, my life is so simple compared to all the problems I read here. I already know where next month's money is going to come from. My right a*s pocket. I don't have to worry about job layoffs or downsizing or overseas workers coming and taking my income away. Hell, I haven't had a job for the last 18 months. Why do you think I have time to come here at 3 in the morning some nights?

It's the same way with everything I own. The only thing that can take my stuff away is a hurricane or a home fire, not a bank or a repossessor. And, I got both of those problems covered too. I already have an inventory that lists exactly what I own. Right down to the last fingernail clipper and extra shoelace. So, let my stuff get sucked up into a funnel cloud, I'll have all new trash before the month ends.

That's peace of mind. That's security. I sleep at nights, instead of tossing and turning worrying about layoffs and overdue bills.

That's a big contrast from the people who are struggling to pay $190,000 back for a $58,000 home, isn't it? Here's the thing. Remember who I am. Ninth grade education. I didn't inherit anything. And, you can d**n well count on the fact that nobody ever hired me as a CEO of any corporation.

So, how did I manage to avoid paying one red cent in fees or credit interest, while people with rocket science degrees end up living from check to check and are always a month behind on their bills?

It kind of makes you wonder about the value of some of the business degrees people keep bragging about, doesn't it? I mean, how can this person manage to run a business if they can't stay out of overdraft?

You know, if I was forced to choose between having common sense and a MBA, I'd take common sense every time.

Here's what I've done so far. At 47, I have maintained a bank account for approximately 30 years now. In all that time, I have never paid one cent for overdraft, late charges, excess this, or overdraft that. Nothing. Zero. Not a dime.

Here's who I am. I'm a high school dropout with a ninth grade education. No college. No night school. No GEDs. Nothing. Idiot. Uneducated loser. My last job was as a long-haul truck driver. Boy, those guys are all a bunch of geniuses, wouldn't you say?

Here's what I can't understand. Every time I come here, it's the same old complaints. The banks cheated me out of my money. I'm forced to pay hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees.

Why is it that I, a complete idiot, can figure out how to prevent this from happening, while others with far more education and income are powerless to do anything but fall into the same trap over and over again?

Common sense should tell you that if you get cheated once, leave the bank and never come back. Yet, nobody seems to figure this out. Except me, the idiot.

Frankly, I can't see how everybody ends up having this much trouble in the first place.

But, I'll try to explain to you geniuses once again how to avoid the fees. First, get a job that pays you a regular wage. That will provide the money you need to live.

You have two choices to convert your paycheck into spendable money. You can open a bank account and use it for the SOLE purpose of cashing your paychecks. Or, you can use a local merchant, such as a grocery store. Depending on the size of your check, many will elect to cash it if you purchase regularly from them.

As a last resort, you could pay a fee and use a check cashing business. In many cases, that would be cheaper than paying the fees that many people claim to be losing now.

Let's examine the bank account you will need. That's how most of these winners manage to screw up. You do not want to open a checking account. Checking accounts are for idiots. Why in the world would you want to walk into a store and offer the cashier a check? Why can't you just pay the person and get it over with? Instead, you offer them a piece of paper with your name on it. A check is like an IOU. I never understood the logic behind this. I always pay the person in cash right then and there. The merchant knows they have their money. They don't have to look at me closely and wonder if my check will turn out to be good. I've left no paper trail behind. Nobody can copy my name and account number off the $20 bills that I used to pay with. Plus, the transaction is faster.

Trust me, checks are a waste of time. A checking account is what trips most of these people up time and time again. So, you always open a savings account. Never a checking account. You DON'T accept the ATM card. Declined. People get robbed and killed at ATMs. Plus, there's a fee sometimes. And, it's more paper garbage that you have to keep track of. No ATM card. And, no debit card either. Declined.

You never go online and check anything. That's how you end up giving out your account number to hackers.

Here's how you use that one savings account you have. You place just enough money in the account to keep it open. Typically, it's a couple hundred bucks. BofA requires $300. And, you leave it there. The money serves two purposes. First, it maintains the account you will use when people pay you with a check. Second, it's an emergency fund if you should ever need it.

On payday, you take your check to the bank. You DO NOT get direct deposit. The minute you do that, the computers will screw up and your money will be lost in the banking system.

Instead, you walk in to a teller and present your paycheck and request cash. They will ask you if you have an account. You say yes and show them the number. You get your whole check back in cash. Nothing gets deposited. Nothing gets withdrawn. The savings account never changes. It stays at $300 plus 4 cents in interest.

Now, the average person earns about $700 a week. Take home is five something. Ask for 5 hundreds and the rest in twenties. That's not a lot of money. You could fold it up and it would be the size of a book of paper matches. Do you really think you will have any problem carrying that amount around until the next payday?

If you're worried about robbery, simply store the hundreds in a spot other than your wallet. If a robbery occurs, you can hand over less than $100, the contents of your wallet. The robber will assume that's all you have. Besides, how many times does this happen? The only people who I know that get robbed are the idiots that go in and get falling-down drunk, and then flash lots of cash.

As you go through the week, you spend money from your wallet. You do NOT live out of some bank account. Instead, you live on the money in your wallet. What's your balance? Not hard to figure that out. Open your wallet and count what's there. That's your balance.

Now, do you see how easy this is? You don't have to go online. Or call and check to see if something cleared yet. You pay merchants in cash. You get receipts in exchange. Now, if you have a bill that needs to be mailed out, you can stop by the post office and get a money order. They cost 90 cents. Again, much less than most people are paying in overdraft fees. In fact, one overdraft fee will typically buy 36 money orders. That's about what you would need for the whole year.

Here's how to buy a car. Each week, you put $150 aside to save up for one. Four years later, you walk into a dealership and pick out the vehicle you like. Actually, you call first and find out who has what. There's no sense in driving around like a fool and wasting gas.

This is how I bought my first new car. Back in the 80's Porsche made a model called a 928. It sold for about $50. Fifty is the size of a sandwich. It fits in a small paper bag easily. You don't need to go into any bank and worry about converting it into any kind of check. You walk in, introduce yourself to the salesman you already called on the phone. He points out the car he discussed with you. You look at the thing and make up your mind. Thirty minutes later, you're an owner.

When you have cash and call in advance, there's no financing to fool with. No trade-ins to evaluate. You already got the number on the phone. Fifty three, six eighty four. Maybe a Toyota dealer might be surprised, but at a Porsche dealership, nobody bats an eye. Besides, the salesman knew the deal was lined up after I talked to him on the phone.

A home works the same way. You save $150 a week for 8 years. You call up a real estate agent and tell them what you have and what you're looking for. Trust me, nobody cares one bit where your funds come from. It could be a loan from First National, or a McDonald's sack that originally held a Big Mac meal. The cash will work just fine.

What else are you people having trouble with? Amazon dot com? Ebay? Stay the hell out of those places. That's what I recommend. Both of them have lots of complaints here. Sending money to someone you met over the internet is a sucker's deal. Instead, go down to the local store and get what you need. There's no fooling around with paypal or flashpay or stormripoffs. You walk in, see the item you want, and 20 minutes later you're back home and playing music with it loud enough to bother the neighbors. What could be easier?

What else can't you people figure out? We covered how to cash paychecks. And, how to pay merchants as you spend money. How else are you people managing to lose your money?

Credit is a big problem for many people. Getting it. Using it. Keeping track of all the numbers.

Here's what I recommend. The only credit you really need is for living a half-way decent life when your time is up. God will give you your score when you finally meet up with him. You won't have to look anything up on the internet. The credit here on earth is all bullshit. My credit score should be zero. I don't know why they start at 300. I never took out any loans, so how did I get to 300?

You know, my life is so simple compared to all the problems I read here. I already know where next month's money is going to come from. My right a*s pocket. I don't have to worry about job layoffs or downsizing or overseas workers coming and taking my income away. Hell, I haven't had a job for the last 18 months. Why do you think I have time to come here at 3 in the morning some nights?

It's the same way with everything I own. The only thing that can take my stuff away is a hurricane or a home fire, not a bank or a repossessor. And, I got both of those problems covered too. I already have an inventory that lists exactly what I own. Right down to the last fingernail clipper and extra shoelace. So, let my stuff get sucked up into a funnel cloud, I'll have all new trash before the month ends.

That's peace of mind. That's security. I sleep at nights, instead of tossing and turning worrying about layoffs and overdue bills.

That's a big contrast from the people who are struggling to pay $190,000 back for a $58,000 home, isn't it? Here's the thing. Remember who I am. Ninth grade education. I didn't inherit anything. And, you can d**n well count on the fact that nobody ever hired me as a CEO of any corporation.

So, how did I manage to avoid paying one red cent in fees or credit interest, while people with rocket science degrees end up living from check to check and are always a month behind on their bills?

It kind of makes you wonder about the value of some of the business degrees people keep bragging about, doesn't it? I mean, how can this person manage to run a business if they can't stay out of overdraft?

You know, if I was forced to choose between having common sense and a MBA, I'd take common sense every time.

Here's what I've done so far. At 47, I have maintained a bank account for approximately 30 years now. In all that time, I have never paid one cent for overdraft, late charges, excess this, or overdraft that. Nothing. Zero. Not a dime.

Here's who I am. I'm a high school dropout with a ninth grade education. No college. No night school. No GEDs. Nothing. Idiot. Uneducated loser. My last job was as a long-haul truck driver. Boy, those guys are all a bunch of geniuses, wouldn't you say?

Here's what I can't understand. Every time I come here, it's the same old complaints. The banks cheated me out of my money. I'm forced to pay hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees.

Why is it that I, a complete idiot, can figure out how to prevent this from happening, while others with far more education and income are powerless to do anything but fall into the same trap over and over again?

Common sense should tell you that if you get cheated once, leave the bank and never come back. Yet, nobody seems to figure this out. Except me, the idiot.

Frankly, I can't see how everybody ends up having this much trouble in the first place.

But, I'll try to explain to you geniuses once again how to avoid the fees. First, get a job that pays you a regular wage. That will provide the money you need to live.

You have two choices to convert your paycheck into spendable money. You can open a bank account and use it for the SOLE purpose of cashing your paychecks. Or, you can use a local merchant, such as a grocery store. Depending on the size of your check, many will elect to cash it if you purchase regularly from them.

As a last resort, you could pay a fee and use a check cashing business. In many cases, that would be cheaper than paying the fees that many people claim to be losing now.

Let's examine the bank account you will need. That's how most of these winners manage to screw up. You do not want to open a checking account. Checking accounts are for idiots. Why in the world would you want to walk into a store and offer the cashier a check? Why can't you just pay the person and get it over with? Instead, you offer them a piece of paper with your name on it. A check is like an IOU. I never understood the logic behind this. I always pay the person in cash right then and there. The merchant knows they have their money. They don't have to look at me closely and wonder if my check will turn out to be good. I've left no paper trail behind. Nobody can copy my name and account number off the $20 bills that I used to pay with. Plus, the transaction is faster.

Trust me, checks are a waste of time. A checking account is what trips most of these people up time and time again. So, you always open a savings account. Never a checking account. You DON'T accept the ATM card. Declined. People get robbed and killed at ATMs. Plus, there's a fee sometimes. And, it's more paper garbage that you have to keep track of. No ATM card. And, no debit card either. Declined.

You never go online and check anything. That's how you end up giving out your account number to hackers.

Here's how you use that one savings account you have. You place just enough money in the account to keep it open. Typically, it's a couple hundred bucks. BofA requires $300. And, you leave it there. The money serves two purposes. First, it maintains the account you will use when people pay you with a check. Second, it's an emergency fund if you should ever need it.

On payday, you take your check to the bank. You DO NOT get direct deposit. The minute you do that, the computers will screw up and your money will be lost in the banking system.

Instead, you walk in to a teller and present your paycheck and request cash. They will ask you if you have an account. You say yes and show them the number. You get your whole check back in cash. Nothing gets deposited. Nothing gets withdrawn. The savings account never changes. It stays at $300 plus 4 cents in interest.

Now, the average person earns about $700 a week. Take home is five something. Ask for 5 hundreds and the rest in twenties. That's not a lot of money. You could fold it up and it would be the size of a book of paper matches. Do you really think you will have any problem carrying that amount around until the next payday?

If you're worried about robbery, simply store the hundreds in a spot other than your wallet. If a robbery occurs, you can hand over less than $100, the contents of your wallet. The robber will assume that's all you have. Besides, how many times does this happen? The only people who I know that get robbed are the idiots that go in and get falling-down drunk, and then flash lots of cash.

As you go through the week, you spend money from your wallet. You do NOT live out of some bank account. Instead, you live on the money in your wallet. What's your balance? Not hard to figure that out. Open your wallet and count what's there. That's your balance.

Now, do you see how easy this is? You don't have to go online. Or call and check to see if something cleared yet. You pay merchants in cash. You get receipts in exchange. Now, if you have a bill that needs to be mailed out, you can stop by the post office and get a money order. They cost 90 cents. Again, much less than most people are paying in overdraft fees. In fact, one overdraft fee will typically buy 36 money orders. That's about what you would need for the whole year.

Here's how to buy a car. Each week, you put $150 aside to save up for one. Four years later, you walk into a dealership and pick out the vehicle you like. Actually, you call first and find out who has what. There's no sense in driving around like a fool and wasting gas.

This is how I bought my first new car. Back in the 80's Porsche made a model called a 928. It sold for about $50. Fifty is the size of a sandwich. It fits in a small paper bag easily. You don't need to go into any bank and worry about converting it into any kind of check. You walk in, introduce yourself to the salesman you already called on the phone. He points out the car he discussed with you. You look at the thing and make up your mind. Thirty minutes later, you're an owner.

When you have cash and call in advance, there's no financing to fool with. No trade-ins to evaluate. You already got the number on the phone. Fifty three, six eighty four. Maybe a Toyota dealer might be surprised, but at a Porsche dealership, nobody bats an eye. Besides, the salesman knew the deal was lined up after I talked to him on the phone.

A home works the same way. You save $150 a week for 8 years. You call up a real estate agent and tell them what you have and what you're looking for. Trust me, nobody cares one bit where your funds come from. It could be a loan from First National, or a McDonald's sack that originally held a Big Mac meal. The cash will work just fine.

What else are you people having trouble with? Amazon dot com? Ebay? Stay the hell out of those places. That's what I recommend. Both of them have lots of complaints here. Sending money to someone you met over the internet is a sucker's deal. Instead, go down to the local store and get what you need. There's no fooling around with paypal or flashpay or stormripoffs. You walk in, see the item you want, and 20 minutes later you're back home and playing music with it loud enough to bother the neighbors. What could be easier?

What else can't you people figure out? We covered how to cash paychecks. And, how to pay merchants as you spend money. How else are you people managing to lose your money?

Credit is a big problem for many people. Getting it. Using it. Keeping track of all the numbers.

Here's what I recommend. The only credit you really need is for living a half-way decent life when your time is up. God will give you your score when you finally meet up with him. You won't have to look anything up on the internet. The credit here on earth is all bullshit. My credit score should be zero. I don't know why they start at 300. I never took out any loans, so how did I get to 300?

You know, my life is so simple compared to all the problems I read here. I already know where next month's money is going to come from. My right a*s pocket. I don't have to worry about job layoffs or downsizing or overseas workers coming and taking my income away. Hell, I haven't had a job for the last 18 months. Why do you think I have time to come here at 3 in the morning some nights?

It's the same way with everything I own. The only thing that can take my stuff away is a hurricane or a home fire, not a bank or a repossessor. And, I got both of those problems covered too. I already have an inventory that lists exactly what I own. Right down to the last fingernail clipper and extra shoelace. So, let my stuff get sucked up into a funnel cloud, I'll have all new trash before the month ends.

That's peace of mind. That's security. I sleep at nights, instead of tossing and turning worrying about layoffs and overdue bills.

That's a big contrast from the people who are struggling to pay $190,000 back for a $58,000 home, isn't it? Here's the thing. Remember who I am. Ninth grade education. I didn't inherit anything. And, you can d**n well count on the fact that nobody ever hired me as a CEO of any corporation.

So, how did I manage to avoid paying one red cent in fees or credit interest, while people with rocket science degrees end up living from check to check and are always a month behind on their bills?

It kind of makes you wonder about the value of some of the business degrees people keep bragging about, doesn't it? I mean, how can this person manage to run a business if they can't stay out of overdraft?

You know, if I was forced to choose between having common sense and a MBA, I'd take common sense every time.

Here's what I've done so far. At 47, I have maintained a bank account for approximately 30 years now. In all that time, I have never paid one cent for overdraft, late charges, excess this, or overdraft that. Nothing. Zero. Not a dime.

Here's who I am. I'm a high school dropout with a ninth grade education. No college. No night school. No GEDs. Nothing. Idiot. Uneducated loser. My last job was as a long-haul truck driver. Boy, those guys are all a bunch of geniuses, wouldn't you say?

Here's what I can't understand. Every time I come here, it's the same old complaints. The banks cheated me out of my money. I'm forced to pay hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees.

Why is it that I, a complete idiot, can figure out how to prevent this from happening, while others with far more education and income are powerless to do anything but fall into the same trap over and over again?

Common sense should tell you that if you get cheated once, leave the bank and never come back. Yet, nobody seems to figure this out. Except me, the idiot.

Frankly, I can't see how everybody ends up having this much trouble in the first place.

But, I'll try to explain to you geniuses once again how to avoid the fees. First, get a job that pays you a regular wage. That will provide the money you need to live.

You have two choices to convert your paycheck into spendable money. You can open a bank account and use it for the SOLE purpose of cashing your paychecks. Or, you can use a local merchant, such as a grocery store. Depending on the size of your check, many will elect to cash it if you purchase regularly from them.

As a last resort, you could pay a fee and use a check cashing business. In many cases, that would be cheaper than paying the fees that many people claim to be losing now.

Let's examine the bank account you will need. That's how most of these winners manage to screw up. You do not want to open a checking account. Checking accounts are for idiots. Why in the world would you want to walk into a store and offer the cashier a check? Why can't you just pay the person and get it over with? Instead, you offer them a piece of paper with your name on it. A check is like an IOU. I never understood the logic behind this. I always pay the person in cash right then and there. The merchant knows they have their money. They don't have to look at me closely and wonder if my check will turn out to be good. I've left no paper trail behind. Nobody can copy my name and account number off the $20 bills that I used to pay with. Plus, the transaction is faster.

Trust me, checks are a waste of time. A checking account is what trips most of these people up time and time again. So, you always open a savings account. Never a checking account. You DON'T accept the ATM card. Declined. People get robbed and killed at ATMs. Plus, there's a fee sometimes. And, it's more paper garbage that you have to keep track of. No ATM card. And, no debit card either. Declined.

You never go online and check anything. That's how you end up giving out your account number to hackers.

Here's how you use that one savings account you have. You place just enough money in the account to keep it open. Typically, it's a couple hundred bucks. BofA requires $300. And, you leave it there. The money serves two purposes. First, it maintains the account you will use when people pay you with a check. Second, it's an emergency fund if you should ever need it.

On payday, you take your check to the bank. You DO NOT get direct deposit. The minute you do that, the computers will screw up and your money will be lost in the banking system.

Instead, you walk in to a teller and present your paycheck and request cash. They will ask you if you have an account. You say yes and show them the number. You get your whole check back in cash. Nothing gets deposited. Nothing gets withdrawn. The savings account never changes. It stays at $300 plus 4 cents in interest.

Now, the average person earns about $700 a week. Take home is five something. Ask for 5 hundreds and the rest in twenties. That's not a lot of money. You could fold it up and it would be the size of a book of paper matches. Do you really think you will have any problem carrying that amount around until the next payday?

If you're worried about robbery, simply store the hundreds in a spot other than your wallet. If a robbery occurs, you can hand over less than $100, the contents of your wallet. The robber will assume that's all you have. Besides, how many times does this happen? The only people who I know that get robbed are the idiots that go in and get falling-down drunk, and then flash lots of cash.

As you go through the week, you spend money from your wallet. You do NOT live out of some bank account. Instead, you live on the money in your wallet. What's your balance? Not hard to figure that out. Open your wallet and count what's there. That's your balance.

Now, do you see how easy this is? You don't have to go online. Or call and check to see if something cleared yet. You pay merchants in cash. You get receipts in exchange. Now, if you have a bill that needs to be mailed out, you can stop by the post office and get a money order. They cost 90 cents. Again, much less than most people are paying in overdraft fees. In fact, one overdraft fee will typically buy 36 money orders. That's about what you would need for the whole year.

Here's how to buy a car. Each week, you put $150 aside to save up for one. Four years later, you walk into a dealership and pick out the vehicle you like. Actually, you call first and find out who has what. There's no sense in driving around like a fool and wasting gas.

This is how I bought my first new car. Back in the 80's Porsche made a model called a 928. It sold for about $50. Fifty is the size of a sandwich. It fits in a small paper bag easily. You don't need to go into any bank and worry about converting it into any kind of check. You walk in, introduce yourself to the salesman you already called on the phone. He points out the car he discussed with you. You look at the thing and make up your mind. Thirty minutes later, you're an owner.

When you have cash and call in advance, there's no financing to fool with. No trade-ins to evaluate. You already got the number on the phone. Fifty three, six eighty four. Maybe a Toyota dealer might be surprised, but at a Porsche dealership, nobody bats an eye. Besides, the salesman knew the deal was lined up after I talked to him on the phone.

A home works the same way. You save $150 a week for 8 years. You call up a real estate agent and tell them what you have and what you're looking for. Trust me, nobody cares one bit where your funds come from. It could be a loan from First National, or a McDonald's sack that originally held a Big Mac meal. The cash will work just fine.

What else are you people having trouble with? Amazon dot com? Ebay? Stay the hell out of those places. That's what I recommend. Both of them have lots of complaints here. Sending money to someone you met over the internet is a sucker's deal. Instead, go down to the local store and get what you need. There's no fooling around with paypal or flashpay or stormripoffs. You walk in, see the item you want, and 20 minutes later you're back home and playing music with it loud enough to bother the neighbors. What could be easier?

What else can't you people figure out? We covered how to cash paychecks. And, how to pay merchants as you spend money. How else are you people managing to lose your money?

Credit is a big problem for many people. Getting it. Using it. Keeping track of all the numbers.

Here's what I recommend. The only credit you really need is for living a half-way decent life when your time is up. God will give you your score when you finally meet up with him. You won't have to look anything up on the internet. The credit here on earth is all bullshit. My credit score should be zero. I don't know why they start at 300. I never took out any loans, so how did I get to 300?

You know, my life is so simple compared to all the problems I read here. I already know where next month's money is going to come from. My right a*s pocket. I don't have to worry about job layoffs or downsizing or overseas workers coming and taking my income away. Hell, I haven't had a job for the last 18 months. Why do you think I have time to come here at 3 in the morning some nights?

It's the same way with everything I own. The only thing that can take my stuff away is a hurricane or a home fire, not a bank or a repossessor. And, I got both of those problems covered too. I already have an inventory that lists exactly what I own. Right down to the last fingernail clipper and extra shoelace. So, let my stuff get sucked up into a funnel cloud, I'll have all new trash before the month ends.

That's peace of mind. That's security. I sleep at nights, instead of tossing and turning worrying about layoffs and overdue bills.

That's a big contrast from the people who are struggling to pay $190,000 back for a $58,000 home, isn't it? Here's the thing. Remember who I am. Ninth grade education. I didn't inherit anything. And, you can d**n well count on the fact that nobody ever hired me as a CEO of any corporation.

So, how did I manage to avoid paying one red cent in fees or credit interest, while people with rocket science degrees end up living from check to check and are always a month behind on their bills?

It kind of makes you wonder about the value of some of the business degrees people keep bragging about, doesn't it? I mean, how can this person manage to run a business if they can't stay out of overdraft?

You know, if I was forced to choose between having common sense and a MBA, I'd take common sense every time.

Zane, as you seem intelligent, and your letter was somewhat well written, let me educate you on some of the facts that you seem to lack. First of all, not all of us are single with one separate account. My wife and I have multiple accounts which are linked together for reasons I will not get into here. If one account is low and we both shop at the same time looking at the same register, sometimes mistakes will happen. Secondly, there are many of us who do take responsibility for our actions. As a former Marine, I have had to take responsibility for other's actions as well. I know of many Marines oversees right now in the same situation.
On another note, the banks have made it nearly impossible to go to a cash only system. You try cashing an out of state check at a bank that you do not have an account at. The pure notion is absurd. You can't make any big purchases without credit these days. You can't build that up without a bank account. Where do you suggest individuals who would follow your plan cash their paychecks? Anyone who is in a tight financial situation can not afford the price of check cashing places, and forget saving money on an item you need to purchase online. Where is the Send me a bill button at Amazon.com?

Please read my other posts on other Bank of America Rip Off pages, especiallt the one titled;

Bank Of America ripoff bofa.com Internet *Consumer Comment ..Unathorized High Interset Loans

Further more, you are incorrect to assume that all the bank gets out of a customer is a monthly account fee. The banks thrive off of these overdraft fees, and that is their right. I have said it before, and I will say it again, the banks have every right to charge whatever they want, and we have every right to take our business elsewhere,

Here is where you really want to pay attention;
*******We have a Constitutional right to our opinion and to share that opinion with others, and you also have a constitutionally protected right to your opinionhowever ill conceived it may be. ******

Please do not attempt to categorize me into any predetermined group with some agenda. I really would like it if someone where to read my report and subsequent rebuttals with interest and attention to details. I can see the point of many of you that take the side of the bank (in some instances). Can you not, in any way, see mine?
My situation is similar, but slightly different, to others on this site. I believe my take on the situation to be well thought out and well written, and my position to be on solid moral ground. If you do not agree, I welcome the chance to defend my position again.

The reason I actually came across this site is because I was looking for ways to get my hard earned money back... im 21 live with a roommate and work at a respectable computer networking company... however i do work in the tech support call center and make $12 an hour as of right now ... that is about $700 every two weeks... about $1400 a month... lets say $80 for a cell phone bill, $320 for car payment and insurance $600 for apt. and bills per month, and maybe about $300 for food and essentials... thats about even wouldnt you say... i am proud to say that i am living on my own away from home but not proud to say that im uncomfortably living PAY CHECK TO PAY CHECK ... im in a losing battle with this overdraft scam... and im sure all you old people are going to say things like yeah your a kid and you dont know much and you should learn from mistakes, etc. etc. etc, yeah i dont want to hear it, a HUGE CORPORATION known as BOA should have the power to rid themselves of "pending transactions" and just take the frickin money out and have the power to dissallow me from going over... its a d**n scam and they are making money off people's ignorance... they do have the power and could design a system to fix this issue that im sure their call center deals with everyday its not fair to let them hold my money and just wait till thursday comes around and im strapped till payday, i give them my service BECAUSE i let them use my money, not to frickin charge me when i get low ... 122.36 i was charged as a result for 3 overdraft charges from BOA, it was like a pack of cigerettes, $5 in gas and some fast food at lunch, there goes my cell phone and my credit... i would love to kick the CEO in the nuts and then ill be content with him keeping my money... and all the people that are against my arguement im so sure you old people got money put away and arent even close to having a low balance close to 1,000 dollars.. i wouldnt dream of having that much anytime soon... BOA is holding kids like me trying to come up in this... they have millions of accounts and sure there is a small percentage of people like me doing the same thing... they are making billions im sure and billions through other ways of profit.... why screw over your own loyal customers and keep them in a whole forever??? i hate you BOA...

Now that I have a Prima Account. It's your laziness and OD fees that I will profit from. I am not an employee, just a very happy customer because all of your OD fees will be used to pay interest to my Prima Account.

I thank you, ever so much..

Keep up the over drafts so B OF A can keep paying my interest with your money


Have a good day

First let me say that I do not work for any bank, let alone Bank of America. Far from it. I'm a Network Engineer for an Aerospace company. And no that doesn't mean rocket scientist. I speak to this whole situation solely from my own personal experience and the very modest amount of common sense that God and a California upbringing have granted me.

I sit here and read all these posts and it seems to me that the one point that some people aren't getting here is that when you pay for something with your check card, when you write a check, when you take money out of an ATM - if the funds aren't there right that second (there as in your balance minus all your other outstanding items) you're spending money you do not have and you subject yourself to penalty!

Where is the personal responsibility here? Yes it's great that a bank can show you on a web site your pending transactions and your available balance, but that doesn't make it their responsibility if you spend more than you have! Deanne you state in your post that you do balance your checkbook and you do closely monitor your account. The key is to know before you spend the money that it's there. If you had you wouldn't have to run down to the bank a couple days later to put money in to cover withdrawals you had already made!

I also don't buy this argument that this isn't possible if you live paycheck to paycheck or are poor. It was only a few years ago that I was a student struggling to make ends meet. I knew I didn't have a lot of money and after paying a few overdraft fees myself I learned the hard way. I started keeping a check register, and I put every single thing in that register. Every single check card purchase, every deposit, check, $1.50 ATM fee, EVERYTHING. If I didn't have time to write down a check card purchase I slipped the receipt into the same spot in my check book and made sure that as soon as I could I wrote it into my register. At the end of the day, I would check my bank account and all the transactions that had posted the previous night and make sure it was all in line. To this day I have s****.> The other thing I would say to this and some of these other posts is that if you don't like Bank of America, don't keep your money there. I had a problem once with a big bank once - BankBoston. I didn't like the fact that when I deposited my paycheck they would hold the funds for 3-5 days. So I closed my account and took my money to a credit union. I didn't get the fancy online banking, the omnipresent ATM's, or any of the other bells and whistles but my account was free and they didn't hold my paychecks. Don't like your bank? Go to another, or even better - use cash!

We are incredibly fortunate to live in a place where we not only have some of the best cutting edge technologies incorporated into centuries old products like checking accounts, but we also have just the right amount of laws and oversight to protect us and our money. But that doesn't mean you can just hand all of your money to a stranger and assume they are going to watch every cent for you and make sure you don't spend too much of it, let alone do all this for the price of a monthly account fee.

I'll be honest. I don't know how people live like that.

They got a 6 year loan for the only car they own. If they are unable to come up with the payment for 60 days, the car gets hauled off in the night. Then, they become bus people.

And, at the worst possible time too. Can you imagine, losing your job? No savings. You're facing eviction from your apartment. Then, you wake up to find your car gone?

I couldn't handle that kind of pressure every month. What if I'm short? What if I don't have enough to pay everything? What if my job is downsized? What will I do? I owe every cent I earn, plus every cent I will earn for the next 6 years.

Out here, the home prices will crush you to death. Homes start at $400 and go up to $700 and $800. In freakin' Anaheim. No mansions. Three bedrooms, 2.5 bath average single family detached houses. No view. Nothing that would ever show up in homes beautiful.

For that you pay $3,000+ a month. For like the next 30 years. You might as well say the rest of your life. I owe three grand a month, for the rest of my life!

That kind of pressure will shorten your life. I simply couldn't live like that.

Paul,

I too have given up on the credit game. By the end of this month, I'm cashing out the equity in my home (gained over $100K in just the last 6 months!). I feel the home market is topping out, and I'm just going to rent until I move back to Florida soon.

Paying off all bills, including both cars. When it comes time to buy another car, I'm selling the old one myself, and buying a late model used for cash.

My wife and I have vowed not to open another credit account for as long as we live. The only thing we will open again will be for a mortgage, and we will be putting at least 20% down to avoid needing mortgage insurance. It would be nice to be able to pay cash for a home, but I don't think we'll have $250K saved 2 years from now.

I can't wait for the freedom!

Deanne - #1: YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM OF THE BANK. You are a victim of your own obtuseness. Obviously you choose not to read the fine print that the bank most assuredly has sent you over the years. You are too busy procreating children you can't afford to feed to read important notices concerning your money. You don't NEED a surplus of extra money if you CORRECTLY register all your checks and check card items. Not that hard, my dear! When you REFUSED to read the notices you have been sent by the bank, and the information they provided when you originally opened the account, you AGREED TO THEIR TERMS.

Accounting for items to be paid from largest to smallest IS STANDARD PROCEDURE for the majority of banks. Why do all you people act like it's news??? It's news to you alone, apparently.

Paul from Anaheim and Cory from San Antonio - ROCK ON!!!! I don't live your creed but maybe someday I will! I'm with you in spirit, that's for sure!

**and just to reiterate: I AM ****NOT***** A BANK OF AMERICA EMPLOYEE, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN!!!!!!!! I just can't stand stupidity!

You're the grand prize winner in the game called financial jeopardy.

You get to keep all of your money for the rest of your life!

You know Cory, I had just about given up. I figured that I was the only one who could beat these banks at the banking game.

I figured the rest of the world was doomed to pay an endless string of fees, overdraft charges and assorted late assessments.

But, that was before you showed up. Now, I see I'm not alone in the universe. There is at least one other person who does the exact same thing that I do.

Here's my score so far. At 47, I have yet to pay one NSF/overdraft/late fee. And, not one red cent has left my pocket in interest fees. Can you believe that? Not a cent.

I went to the free credit report the other day, and it showed all zeros. Nothing. No accounts. No address. No job history. No loans.

Man, that's a good feeling, to see all zeros like that!

Keep up the good work, Cory!

Deposit my check into the credit union savings account. Take out enough cash to buy 49 cent money orders to pay my bills and enough cash to last me until the next check. Thats it. No fees, no NSF fees, no nothing. We've had my granddaughter for the last couple of months and will have her for the next 6 months. Her Mom's in Iraq. She's 14 and it just pisses the hell out of her that I don't use credit cards LIKE HER MOM. If the cash is gone, THE CASH IS GONE. I refuse to pay these ripoff banks one red cent or play their stupid accounting games. They hate customers like me. I had an ATM card, in 1981, I think.

Deposit my check into the credit union savings account. Take out enough cash to buy 49 cent money orders to pay my bills and enough cash to last me until the next check. Thats it. No fees, no NSF fees, no nothing. We've had my granddaughter for the last couple of months and will have her for the next 6 months. Her Mom's in Iraq. She's 14 and it just pisses the hell out of her that I don't use credit cards LIKE HER MOM. If the cash is gone, THE CASH IS GONE. I refuse to pay these ripoff banks one red cent or play their stupid accounting games. They hate customers like me. I had an ATM card, in 1981, I think.

Deposit my check into the credit union savings account. Take out enough cash to buy 49 cent money orders to pay my bills and enough cash to last me until the next check. Thats it. No fees, no NSF fees, no nothing. We've had my granddaughter for the last couple of months and will have her for the next 6 months. Her Mom's in Iraq. She's 14 and it just pisses the hell out of her that I don't use credit cards LIKE HER MOM. If the cash is gone, THE CASH IS GONE. I refuse to pay these ripoff banks one red cent or play their stupid accounting games. They hate customers like me. I had an ATM card, in 1981, I think.

Deposit my check into the credit union savings account. Take out enough cash to buy 49 cent money orders to pay my bills and enough cash to last me until the next check. Thats it. No fees, no NSF fees, no nothing. We've had my granddaughter for the last couple of months and will have her for the next 6 months. Her Mom's in Iraq. She's 14 and it just pisses the hell out of her that I don't use credit cards LIKE HER MOM. If the cash is gone, THE CASH IS GONE. I refuse to pay these ripoff banks one red cent or play their stupid accounting games. They hate customers like me. I had an ATM card, in 1981, I think.

I am so glad the BOA employees are showing their TRUE colors for the entire world to see! I can sit here all day and tell you how they treat a long-time customer, but now you can see if for yourself! They have a great publicity department, don't they?

Yes, taking food out of the mouths of children! It should be obvious to anyone that if someone doesn't have enough money in their account to be charged a fee, they don't have a lot of money at their disposal.

So when BOA insists on manipulating the system to up the fees and charge more fees than they are entitled to because of one or two mistakes - they are feeding themselves!

We have had to live on credit cards so that we could feed this money-hungry monster called Bank of America! I will re-iterate my previous statement - we NEVER had problems like this until the past year and ever since BOA took over Nations Bank. Believe it or not folks, there are banks out there that treat you like a human being - BOA obviously excluded!

I thought I did mention that I DO balance my checkbook and closely monitor my account. Did you NOT read that part or did you just want to insult me - a long-time customer of your bank?

I don't mind paying a fee if I am truly to blame, but I will never agree that I am to blame when you charge fees on transactions that should have posted to my account prior to the one that was legitimately overdrawn and when I had a POSITIVE balance! $170 is a LOT more than $34 - that's basic math folks!

And I should not have to pay fees when I deposit money in my account THE SAME DAY to cover the transactions.

You, BOA, and your morally bankrupt employees, are the ones to blame for the high fees. I don't recall approving your overdraft fee to be raised from $5 to $34 or agreeing to your new system of posting transactions according to amount rather than time.

This new policy is not posted on your website that can easily be found from my online account page. In fact, I couldn't find a link to my checking and savings account agreement from the customer service page at all.

Since I've opened my account over 10 years ago, I have received nothing that would tell me this new policy. Are you trying to hide this from your customers? Why isn't it more clearly posted on your website?

You claim your system is designed to "protect" the customer by paying the big bills first. Yet, you always seem to pay all of them anyway, and then charge as many overdraft fees as you can get away with!!! Stop treating your customers as children and give us credit for having a brain.

Personal attacks on your customers are only proof that your company is full of wicked and evil people and will eventually be your downfall. All anyone has to do is conduct a search on Google for "Bank of America Class Action Lawsuits" to find this bank has been hit with more lawsuits than you can count on your fingers - including some brought on by thier own employees.

Maybe the two over-zealous employees who posted here will be two of the 6,000 BOA employees they are looking to get rid of soon! Hopefully you'll see how hard it is to pay your bills when you're unemployed!

Deanne,

First let me say that I am not an employee of any bank or financial institution. I am simply a consumer offering my advice.

I agree that BofA is somewhat insideous in how they post transactions (highest to lowest). Banks say they do this to clear your important items first (car payment, rent/mortgage, etc). Others say it is so they can extract as many OD fees as possible. Who's to say who is correct?

That's why I use a credit union. To everyone who still uses a bank, go find a credit union in your area to join. Most are easier to get into than you think. Some only require that you live in a specific area. At least the OD fees there are generally much lower.

BofA cannot truly offer a "real-time" balance through the ATM or online for the simple fact that you may have written a check(s) that has not yet posted. This is where that system fails.

And finally, in agreement with Heather, consumers need to take responsibility for their finances. The only way to know how much you truly have available is to use a balanced check register. Whether it be hand written, or on the computer (using Quicken, Money, etc. I prefer Quicken). I check my account online almost every day, and balance my register with the cleared transactions (my wife has a tendancy to spend money without telling me). That way I know at all times how much I have available as I too live paycheck to paycheck at the moment.

Hmmm,

Sounds to me like modern American victimology....NOTHING is anyone's responsibility, and there is ALWAYS someone else to point the finger at...and better yet..SUE

Yes - if you are too lazy to keep a register, don't complain when you loose up to $100 a month in o/d fees.

It's YOUR responsibility...living paycheck to paycheck or not, to know how much money is in your bank account at ALL times, and to spend accordingly.

PLEASE go back to using only cash!!!
As someone who balances my checkbook every month, and feels that it's MY responsibility to cover EVERYTHING I authorize coming out of my account, I'm sick and tired of people like YOU

You are the people that have raised the cost of a bounced check from the average of $5 (1988) to $35.00

You are the people that have required banks and credit unions to have such high opening balances
so that now alot of people can't AFFORD to have the luxury of a bank account

You are the whiners, the criers, the "refuse to take personal responsibility for ANYTHING" that has turned the American economy on it's head.

Please take your $15,000 and buy yourself a car (cash) and a home (cash) and leave the poor banking institutions to the adults in society.

This is the typical response you get from their customer "service" department - smug and arrogant. It's all your fault - not the fault of the bank. Notice she says nothing to address the way they manipulate their system so that you will be forced to pay more overdraft fees than you really should.

Bank of America does not care about the people who live paycheck to paycheck - it's our fault that we don't have thousands of dollars in there for them to do with what they please. I mean, why can't all Americans have surplus money in their accounts? Is this America or what? Sheesh! What arrogance! Where are the banks that actually do care about their customers and recognize that people in America are struggling to make ends meet? Does Bank of America care that they are taking food out of the mouths of children? No, they continue to rip their customers off and charge overdraft fees that could have been avoided if they posted them correctly and then have the nerve to tell you it's your fault! We do balance our checkbook and keep a close eye on it. That is why we deposited the check that day to cover the transactions!

What makes EFT banking so hard is that you can't always be sure when a bill hits your account. You can do your best to anticipate it, but it doesn't always work. For example, this month we didn't expect to get a $700 bill from our mortgage company. They told us we wouldn't have a payment this month since we recently had our mortgage refinanced. But they charged us anyway.

I would recommend that we do away with EFT banking and go back to checks and cash. All we are doing is making it easier for the banks to rip us off and have more control over our money. Bank of America will be responsible for hindering economic development because of their malicious and unethical bank practices.

I was going to update this with a positive note until I read this comment. Forget about trying to get any satisfaction with the corporate Bank of America. We went down to the local branch and talked to a manager - who is a good Christian man - and he gave us a credit for the overdraft fees we incurred. I would name him here, but I'm afraid his employer would persecute him and reverse the credit!

After reading this response though, I'm still going to cancel my account and take my $15,000 that we just got, and find a bank worthy of my business.

Unfortunately, this is a very common complaint of persons who do not regularly balance their accounts. Bank of America authorizations fall off the accounts nightly. If you made a purchase 2 days ago that has not yet posted to your account, then your available balance will show you have these funds available.

The only true way to avoid overdraft fees is to keep a check register and record all transactions made on your card. Relying on the real-time balance on an ATM or your account is not the true balance if you have unposted items that you have not accounted for in your account. This feedback is being left to educate persons that commonly make this complaint to all banks.

Please use this feedback as a learning tool to avoid overdraft or NSF fees. Banks never charge fees to be malicious, as most people think. We only charge fees when people do not handle their account correctly, and often times banks will credit them back the first time it happens so they can educate the customers.

If it continues to happen on an account, which unfortunately it usually does, then this is on the customer to be more responsible with their account. I hope this helps anyone who continues to have issues with OD or NSF fees.