US Bank ripoff from 7 $34 overdraft fees when all but one item was funded! Marion Iowa

I have been a customer of US Bank for the past nine months. During this time, I have had numerous incidents involving outragious fees, admittedly, due to my lack of vigilance as far as keeping track of the numerous automatic withdrawals that occur each month.

I totally agree that the software and other tools mentioned above will greatly help in keeping track of monthly expenses. Unfortunately, some of us live rather complex lives. Some of us are not as computer software saavy and would rather focus on other things such as: earning a descent living the good old fashioned way. We would rather not waste our time learning complex software when these banks so generously offer us "Free Internet Banking!" But is it really free? Let us examine this.

I recently goofed up once again. Unfortunately, this time I am unemployed, therefore, I cannot afford the outragious fees. To top it off with a $7.00 per day fee for having a negative account balance, I am better off just letting the whole thing go under being that I'm having a hard enough time paying for food, gas in the tank, and rent. By the time I come up with the money to pay the bank, I will owe them hundreds of dollars. They can report me to the check systems if they would like, but why should I care as long as they aren't breaking my legs? I am now convinced that I will never learn how to work with with the system in harmony and will once again be forced to resort to doing all of my financial affairs with cash only and lining up third party checks. Thank God for "Free Internet Banking!"

I believe there is a very sophisticated underlying culture of typical corporate greed being represented in banks such as this and that they are reaping millions to billions in the process. They specifically prey upon people like myself who live from paycheck to paycheck, simply trying to make it by with the minimal amount of money in the bank. Just one simple little mistake made in balancing the checkbook causes a dominoe effect of ridiculous fees. They make up excuses such as people trying to defraud them when in actuality, these incidences are frivolous when compared to the millions that they make off of honest people like myself.

Over the years, I have paid THOUSANDS of dollars to banks for overdraft charges and I know that I'm not alone. I try hard to balance my account by looking up the information over the Internet with "Free Internet Banking" that these companies so generously offer. It is only another scam to mislead you with false information. They inaccurately portray your balance as having funds available, when in fact, you forgot about that little purchase you made the other day at the convenient store. For some reason, it didn't register on your "Internet Banking" records. If I lose just one receipt from my daily purchases using my debit card, I have to pay for it dearly as the bank gladly takes my money for practically nothing. Yet they claim that they are only trying to teach us a lesson to deter us from doing it again in the future and are totally merciless in any attempts to settle the matter in accordance with the individual's actual ability to pay. It is completely unfair and something must be done about this. I suggest picketing on the street corner near the branch in dispute. I read that it is VERY effective if you are willing to devote the time and are passionate enough. Writing to your local state representative could be another effective way of working torward a solution to this issue of corporate greed.

I don't think that I'll ever learn how to avoid these costly mistakes until I start earning descent money. The debit card user simply thinks that he/she has enough money in the account because the system is simply set up to deny accurate bank records. They love it that way because now they are able to afford that new gold plated toilet seat that they long sought after in their high-rise corporate office bathroom. It is a sophisticated system simply designed to steal from the poor and give to the rich, the good old fashioned way. Thank you US Bank and corporate friends for RIPPING ME OFF!

The best and only way to keep yourself from paying overdraft and return check charges is to keep an accurate count of your balance using a register or software program or both. Just a few things to keep in mind in re checking account balances:

* Just because you have deposited funds does not mean those funds are available that minute. The bank needs time to verify any deposit. Believe it or not, people make attempts to defraud banks by depositing phony checks, stolen checks, duplicate cashiers checks and money orders, empty atm deposit envelopes, checks on closed accounts, and so forth. Therefore, the bank has to take steps to protect itself against these actions.

* Overdraft and return check fees are purposely severe. They are meant to serve as a deterrent for behavior risky to the bank. Whenever the bank pays a check or check card transaction that there are not available funds for, it is in effect extending a loan on faith that you the check customer will pay it back. More times than you would think, the customer does not pay these items back, which results in accounts being closed and balances transferred to collections. Which of course means that some of these funds are never recovered by the bank. So, overdraft and return checks are meant to recoup some of these losses and to encourage people to take care to spend only what is actually available on their accounts. Remember, your check/debit card is not a credit card.

*Having a checking account and a check card is extraordinarily convenient. However, it is a serious financial responsibility as well. Basically, just keep track of your finances and you should be fine. The bank does not grow and make money if we have to close accounts, or if people close their own accounts. We want to keep accounts open and active. We make plenty of money without overdraft fees. We would rather have customers stay with us for 20 years paying no overdraft fees than have a customer with us for 3 months, pay 6 overdraft fees then close his/her account.

I have used US Bank since i moved to St. Louis in August. I had a mistake once that was actually my fault because I thought an ATM deposit would be credited the next day, but in fact they aren't. I went in and told the bank I made a stupid mistake and they removed the overdraft charges, about $85 without me even asking.

I have had good luck with them. Yesterday I saw I had an old check going through that was going to overdraft me along with about 4 other pending items so I went to the drive-through on the way home and deposited 10 dollars cash to cover it and had no overdraft. Even though that was done one hour before closing, and the other items were already pending, the day after the deposit shows up first and then the checks, debits, bill pay, etc. Mine always seems to work like this.

There are numerous banks that do not use ChexSystems. There is one that I use (and I am not in Chexsystems) and they are fantastic. They do run Telecheck and a credit report to verify identity. They actually pay you rebates for ATM surcharges and cash back for using your debit card. You have no monthly service charges and your checks are free for the life of the account. Even better, their customer service reps provide just that, GREAT customer service.

Contact me through the EDitor, and I will get you the information. Sorry if I sound like an ad.

OH I know I have to pay the fees. It was charged off and now it is in collection where I make regular payments and they are alot easier and nicer to get along with. I will not be able to have checking for a few years, but I personally feel better now than to continue giving them my hard earned money.

You will have to pay the fees at some point or it will be more salt on the wound.. The sooner the better so that it doesn't remind you daily. Just pay and move on. It's alot, but I've seen much worse. I never could comprehend why that senior SS checks or government checks took 4-7 days to clear. And they would record it as an avalible balance both online and over the phone---when it's really not. My experience involved my military husband with direct deposit---that said avalible but "really" wasn't. How come we have to guess which day you can go to the store for food,ect?> That's what causes these outragious chain reactions----they want you to GUESS wrong. Hummm...it's been 3 days since his direct deposit went through...maybe I'll get gas. WRONG....That just cost me an additional $34. What people don't understand that defend this bank is that they "time" every transaction. Telling you funds are ready when in-fact they are not. I am no longer with this bank....Jerri---Again I'm sorry for you experience but you must pay the fees.

I had the same prob with US Bank. They took over 350.00 from me in 1 month. It is the way they do their end of day transactions. The branch manager told me the same thing, deposit by the end of the week or he will report me, I said fine. I am not gonna play their game. If you keep giving in they win. You will never get ahead when you are that far behind. On top of that there is the 7.00 per day that you have a negative balance. I too am a divorced single mother, but I did let them report me cause it is cheaper in the long run plus the stress of having to come up with the money, which will never end any way. Good luck

1) Keep an account register. Do not rely on the bank's balance. Only you can keep an accurate running balance. There are several software programs (Quicken, Microsoft money) that may have been included with your computer that are very useful. There are also several freeware programs that can be downloaded and used. You can then set up your recurring automatic payments (I would suggest setting them for a few days before they accually are debited from your account) and there will never be a surprise debit from your account again. This particularly important when you are living on a very tight budget.

2) Before opening an account with any other bank, get a copy of their account terms and conditions (uou can request one from a teller or try to locate them on the bank's website though some are hard or impossible to find). Believe it or not most (not all) banks have very similar policies to US Bank. Read through the banks policies before you open a new account to determine which bank best serves your needs.

3) Do not get a check card with your account. Using it is very convenient but any fraudulent use and your checking account and any other legitemate debits and checks are at risk for being bounced.

Good luck.

Oh man how wrong I was...there is not just ONE report against these idiots, there are MANY, and that is just from the people who reported them hahaha. And that is just on THIS site! It makes me wonder how many thousands of other people they have royally cornholed, who just haven't found this resource yet to report them yet.
The first thing I'm doing tomorrow is opening a new checking account in another REPUTABLE institution, and running, not just walking, away from these ignoramii.
And I don't want to hear any smart alecky, condescending comments from the peanut gallery, I want real advice. I didn't spend money I didn't have, I didn't kite any checks, and there was money in the account to cover everything that had already posted and removed from my available balance. It was one auto-pay that I forgot. Definitely not worth getting nailed with over $300 in fees for.