BB&T Bank Illegal Fees Mechanicsville Virginia

I had an incident with BB&T where they did a non conforming sale of Corporate Assets to settle a debt.  I was harassed by BB&T until I found that BB&T is regulated by FDIC.  I went to the FDIC web site and opened a report on the incident.  I received contact from FDIC within 72 hours and had the matter resolved in three weeks.  BB&T was forced to credit my account with the full amount of the loan and remove any comments on my credit report about the debt. 

I would like to join a class action law suit on bank fees and am getting ready to file a suit in local small claims court against Wachovia.

Just wanted to confirm that I have had similar experiences with BBT. I do not understand these postings from people in California trying to blame Andy for this practice and derogating his fund of knowledge. Have any of you folks lost money to BBT or do you feel the need to scold strangers for your own amusement?

The BOA suit IS settled and they are soliciting information aggrieved parties for settlement. My latest BBT adventure is documented elsewhere on this site, but I am ready for a class action suit. I personally don't care if the lawyers get every nickel as long as BBT is held accountable for their practices.

A wise bank employee once said banks NEVER refund fees EVER unless it's a one time courtesy or unless the fee resulted from a bank error. Ok, we'll take your word for it.

But then on the other hand, we're supposed to believe that banks will quietly SETTLE a lawsuit for an unddisclosed amount, even though they did nothing wrong. Here you go Mr. Customer. We, THE BANK, didn't do anything wrong, but here's a few thousand or million dollars for you.....even though we, THE BANK, did nothing wrong. Ok, makes sense to me I guess.

Giving away money like that when you DID NOTHING WRONG? Not very good business practices. Another one of the many reasons Wachovia crashed and burned.

Andy, I do apologize. I finally found a site that indicates the White vs Wachovia case was indeed settled last year. However it was a 'confidential settlement' that means neither side can talk about it. That's why nothing came through my work channels. However, that also means that Wachovia was not found to have done anything wrong and no changes were directed by the court. Basically this settlement can not be used by either side in future cases. But past cases have found that banks can post in any order they want and charge the fees they want as long as they notify the customers. So I really don't think that any of these 'class action' suits are going to have the far reaching changes to bank procedures and give the customers the great financial windfall that some believe. Class action suits are notorious for only enriching the lawyers.

ask for your subscrition price back because these cases have NOT been settled. I work for Wachovia and any information on a settlement like this would be given to us to answer any questions that customers might have. Every site that I looked at for these cases indicate that they have been filed but NONE have been settled and only one has been scheduled for a hearing.

I'm not sure where you are getting your info, but I would suggest that you purchase a subscription to Pacer.gov. It cost .08 per page, but you can read every document that has been filed in any case in the federal court system. White v. Wachovia was not settled in favor of the bank. I have already read all the filed motions on that case, all the way to the final settlement.

They have been filed, the hearing for the Closson case is scheduled but they have not been finalized/settled/decided or concluded. You seem to think that just because they have been filed that the banks have paid this money, nope hasn't happened yet. And all previous cases involving posting order have been found it the bank's favor as long as the the bank notifies the account holders of the order. The only recent case found for the defendents (account holders) was when BOA (I think) changed policy without sufficient notification. The fine was for non-notification not for the posting order.

I double checked myself and I am correct. Casey and Emily White v. Wachovia was settled last year out of court for an undisclosed amount and Closson v. Bank of America is currently being settled out of court for $35 million. see Clossonsettlement.

you're being a little bit misleading in your post. The cases you mentioned have not been settled as you claim. If fact they have not even been heard before a judge. Are there cases such as you mentioned? Yes. Are they settled as you say? No. And until they are settled (decided by a judge) no one knows which side the judge will rule for. It doesn't take a lot to initiate a lawsuit, but it takes a lot to win a lawsuit.

A portion of Ken's comment is incorrect. If you intentionally overdraft your account and you have transactions that have not posted to your account from previous days, you will not only pay an overdraft fee on the intentional overdraft, but you will also pay overdraft fees on the previous transactions that had not posted to your account and are in a pending status. Banks ususally forget to tell you that part. BB&T just like other large banks resequences debits and credits to maximize overdrafts. There is already a class action underway in Danville, VA against BB&T in US District Court. Bank of America just settled for 35 million dollars in a similar class action lawsuit challenging the resequencing process. see Closson v. Bank of America. Last year Wachovia settled for an undisclosed amount in a class action lawsuit challenging the resequence process. see Casey and Emily White v. Wachovia.

What exactly is illegal here? Overdrafting your account will result in the overdraft fees that you agreed to when you opened the account. Let me address a few points...


"BB&T shifts transactions around in order to justify any overdraft fees or NSF fees, Paid Item fees and Maintenance fees."

They process items from highest amount to lowest amount as virtually every other bank does. It's not a problem so long as you stay within your account balance.


"They do not post your balance behind each transaction so you are left to estimate or guess about that"

It sounds as if you're not keeping a ledger or check register. If you're using online or phone banking to learn your account balance, you are setting yourself up for overdraft fees.


"I made a total of $1,461 in deposits, and just $588 in withdrawals. I was charged a total of $785 in overdraft/paid item/NSF and Maintenance fees. Although my records show that I have $872 in my account, BB&T has my account at -$166."

Based on an earlier comment, I suspect that you were authorizing transactions before your funds were fully available.

You have some very basic misunderstandings of how things work.

"They do not post your balance behind each transaction so you are left to estimate or guess about that.."
- Obviously you have never heard of a bank register, or have heard of it yet don't use one. As soon as you use your debit card, or write a check, you write that transaction down and take it off of your available balance. There is no estimation or guessing needed.

"They do not post deposits on Fridays, Saturday, Sundays and in some cases Mondays."
-Weekends and Holidays are Non-Banking days. Banks are tied to the Federal Reserve and NEVER post(Debit or Credits) transactions on Non-Banking Days. Note that posting is totally different than authorizations or holds. As for the Friday or Non-Holiday Monday postings, this could be a matter of making your deposit after their cut-off time. If you are unaware of their cut-off time for deposits you need to go to the branch and ask.

"Just an example, this month alone (March 2009) I made a total of $1,461 in deposits, and just $588 in withdrawals. I was charged a total of $785 in overdraft/paid item/NSF and Maintenance fees."
- Your example works great if you do all of your deposits at the beginning of the month and withdraws at the end of the month. But it does not work that way..does it. If you deposit $100 and spend $150 before you deposit another $1000 you are still going to cause an overdraft of $50. Even though you have "deposited" $1100.

"...Although my records show that I have $872 in my account.."
-How can your "records" show you have $872 in your account. Earlier you all but admited you just guess or estimate your balance.

The bank is regulated by the Comtroller of the Currency. You can file a complaint but you won't get anywhere for the simple reason that it is you who is entirely in the wrong. They will point out to you that the order of posting doesn't matter unless you are writing checks or using your card when the funds aren't already in the account. They may also point out to you that doing that is a felony in most states.

They do indeed post deposits on Fridays, if made before the daily cutoff. After that, they post Monday night, since Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are not business days, and the Fed does not process checks on those days.

If you decide to change banks, at the time of account opening ask them to explain some of these things to you. If you have a good understanding of how the banking system works, the only overdraft you will ever get is one you decide to do intentionally.