First Niagara Bank Posting automatic bill pay before Direct Deposit Pottstown Pennsylvania

Two things really.  First, we have two incomes going into direct deposit, one Thursday and the other Friday.  Pretty easy to grasp.  Both go in at midnight (12AM) on their respective days.  The Thursday one did not happen because of July 4th- I would have expected it on the 3rd instead, but the bank apparently decided to hold it.

So no big deal, really, but I knew there was going to be an auto-withdrawl on the 5th.  Why should I be worried, right?

Well, I see both payrolls went through, as did the automatic withdrawl.  I also see a $37 overdraft fee.  The auto-withdrawl is dated the 5th.

I went in to see them.  This is the same nonsense I went through with TD bank (to which I finally got my settlement from!).  But also, there's a woman teller there who has a very bad attitude and is always snarky.  I spoke with a manager, first about the withdrawl, then about the BA employee.  He agreed on both, saying I'm not the first to complain about her, and also said he personally felt the same way about her.  He also agreed that the overdraft fee was not right.

He said the branches no longer have the authority to reverse overdraft fees and that he would submit a request to the home office to refund it, as well as submit the complaint.

So the home office called me within 30 minutes.  They said that the auto-withdrawl was submitted the day before (on the 4th, really??) and that I didn't have the funds on the 4th to cover it.  Well, why is it dated the 5th?  They claim it just says that.  AYFKM?  So now they can just make it up as they go along?  Even the company that submitted the auto-withdrawl told me it wasn't submitted until the 5th.  They must have some incredible time-reversing software running their systems there, because I would have thought it impossible to wedge a transfer before 12:00:00, but on the same day.  I argured and they refused to budge.

So we moved onto the next issue- the crappy employee.  They proceeded to tell me that she is nothing but 100% professional and that I must have been wrong in my appraisal.  I gave them two very detailed examples of her bad attitude and poor customer service, and they again told me that I was simply wrong.  It's not possible for one of their employees to be a jerk.  

Well, thanks First Niagara, you helped me decide to join the credit union down the street.  It's nice to have overdraft PROTECTION, but what I got was fleeced, forced into using it when it was unnecessary.  And before you people flame me for having it turned on, the whole reason is for protection- not to be fleeced.  Why on earth are we conditioned to accept this kind of robbery from companies that depend on us as customers?  I for one, will not.  I'd stuff my money in a matress if the CU proves to be anywhere near as bad as these banks today.