Compass Bank Predatory NSF fees and posting policies Westminster Colorado

I opened some "free" accounts for my teenagers. I expected them to overdraw at some point. I expected some fees. I figured that if they did, they should pay the price and learn a lesson.

I did not expect to find a company as predatory as Compass Bank.

My son overdrew his account on a Monday. On Wednesday they finally mailed a notice of the overdraft. I did not get said mailing until the end of the day on Friday. So I went to the bank on Saturday with CASH, only to learn that

1. the cash deposit would not post until midnight Monday, so any further action over the weekend or on Monday would hit as overdrafts. In other words more $38.00 fees.

2. Once an account is overdrawn for a week, they charge a $38.00 fee PLUS $7.00 per day.

Because my oldest daughter had once worked for Compass, she was able to hook me up with someone who would make the cash deposit post on Saturday. Without an inside tip, my son would have been out many more dollars.

My youngest daughter, likewise, overdrew her account. We did get to the bank in time with cash to avoid the whole overdrawn for a week problem. But a bank official looked at her screen and said she was $251.00 in the hole, but nothing else was due to come in, so her advice was to wait until the next day and deposit the correct amount. We deposited $300.00 in cash on that day based upon my previous "experience" with Compass.

Guess what? Overnight another item showed up for some $20.00, but because it was posted for the previous day, it was debited from the account, which drew another $38.00 fee, before the $300.00 was credited. The fact that the bank official told us that nothing else was pending meant nothing. It also didn't matter that they had more than enough of my cash to cover, even with their underhanded method of posting to the account.

I had a bank official explain her recommendations directly to my daughter, but then I told my daughter what they would really do to her. For example, the banker told her that they "may" place a hold on any check we deposited, even if it was from a local bank, to stop the overdraft hemmorage. I told my daughter that they absolutely WOULD place a hold on any check we deposited because it is the Compass Bank policy to do so. Again, having an older daughter who told me the inside scoop was valuable.

Anyhow, when we went to close the accounts a week later, I actually had the branch manager, I think his name is Michael Daley, at the Compass Bank at 7347 FEDERAL BLVD in Westminster, Colorado, come out, insist that I come to his office, and try to argue with me that I didn't know what I was talking about. I told him at least 3 times that I had no interest in arguing, that I simply wanted to close my account and leave. He insisted on "trying to educate me with facts". He finally quit trying to argue with me when I told him that I didn't trust him because he was only spouting the company line as he had been taught to do. Even then, as we were walking out, he said something very sophomoric about me "making him laugh" for not wanting to listen to him.

ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS CLOSE MY ACCOUNT, AND HE WANTED TO DRAW ME INTO AN ARGUMENT! I left with my jaw on the ground over how unprofessional and childish they acted.

My 16 year old daughter could not believe it either.

My advice: Do not to business with Compass. They are predatory and seem to be primarily interested in padding their bottom line with fees.

Oh, yeah, they also charged a $1.50 fee to use their ATM to check a balance on an account at their bank. I wonder if the cash they gave me has some kind of hold on it. . .

Neil
Westminster, Colorado
U.S.A.