US Bank Overdraft charges because they post large debits 1st!!! Portland Oregon

Ok, let me get this straight, you made the deposit at the bank or using the ATM on Saturday? Either way, you should not have been charged overdraft fees. Any deposits made after 2pm on Friday, will go into the account on Monday at midnight. If you used your debit card on sunday to pay the Comcast bill or anything else, it should not have gone through until after midnight on monday. Your deposit should have gone in first. I work at US Bank and know this is the way things go. Unless there was a hold on the check, you should not have been charged overdraft fees.

As someone else already pointed out, bag the $150 cable crap and other items you deem necessary to function yet aren't required for human existence. Hell, I live paycheck to paycheck and can barely afford basic cable.

People who "live below the poverty line" shouldn't have $150 cable packages. If you didn't have that package, and lived below your means, you'd be significantly richer right now. How about this: cancel the cable, sock the money you would have spent into a savings account, or simply keep it in your checking account as a cushion. That way, you will have a buffer zone between you and the land o' fees.

Regardless of the posting order, you still didn't have enough money in your account. Submit to the fees. I have already mentioned why the checks are posted in that way. I get so sick of people thinking that there is some hidden agenda at their bank. All the fees, posting order, and other policies are presented to you at the time you open the account. In fact, the bank makes you sign a document saying that you have read and agree to the terms presented to you. You made a mistake, so swallow your pride and face the consequences. Just a personal story here, I got into an auto accident about a year and a half ago. I neglected to put collision coverage on my policy and it cost me about $4300.00 out of pocket. It's my fault and you certainly don't see me filing bogus reports on this website. Kind of puts that tiny overdraft fee in perspective, doesn't it?

Truth be told, fairness is fairness.

Assessing $38 dollar fees over and over on one person because the bank decides they will batch process the checks in largest to smallest is just wrong.

Truth is you can balance your account as well as you can, never have one fee assessed, never go into the negative, then one day One false charge can be made on your debit card (IE Tevo for someone in South America) or One auto payment comes in that is higher than normal as it did on my Cell phone bill and you go into the negative.

I myself have been victim to both. Luckily I noticed the Pending "Tevo, and Itunes Store" Charges and called US Bank before they went through. They verified they seemed to originate from Argentina, which should have raised a red flag. They stopped the charges before they occured but this would have definitly put me into the negative without my knowledge, and I would have continued doing business as ussual assuming that I had $600 in the bank etc...

In the second case I was not as fortunate as my Cell phone bill ended up being 3x as high as the normal $76 charges per month. I ended up with a high phone bill, but did not realize this until after US Bank had paid the bill automatically and then started assessing Hundreds of dollars in overdraft charges for all my other smaller purchases.

So yes you can balance your check book the best you can but one slip can cost you thousands as after the first slip it becomes hard to figure in all the overdraft charges as well. I deposited funds enough to cover all the overdraft charges and also give me a +$50 breathing room only to then be assesed two more overdraft charges pulling me further in the negative and again, assesing Overdraft charges. I put in more money and they kept taking it all. It was ridiculous. I was being charged overdraft fees for going into the negative because of overdraft fees.

I moved to First Bank after the mess was cleared up. I have not had problems since. With First Bank If I see pending charges and I realizde I may not have enough funds, I can actually go into the bank and Deposit money and know that I will be OK. Their policy is "Deposits go in before payments come out". They basically wait to make payments til the end of the day and only do them after they have made all deposits into your account first. Which is much better than the "Lets pay it on Saturday even though we cannot proccess his depsits til Tuesday" attitude that US Bank uses.

It is not true that all banks post highest to lowest, although most do. Where I bank they post electronic items forst, then unnumbered items (like counter checks), then items in check number order. This is as close as possible to chronological order.

Checks arrive for clearing in large batches, so in effect all the checks for a day come in at the same time, not in the order they were written.

When all is said and done, the posting order doesn't matter if the account is handled responsibly. Hard to hear, but true.

All banks post large debits to small debits because large debits are typically more important. Which would you rather have bounce if you don't have enough in your account, your 900.00 mortgage payment or the 20.00 check you wrote to your kid for his birthday?

The proper way would be to post smallest to largest.
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Actually, the proper way is the chronological order that the checks were received....Banks processed checks this way for decades....A few years ago, bank execs figured out that they could make billions of dollars in extra revenue by holding checks in batches and processing them from highest to lowest....This way maximizes bounced check fees (if an NSF will occur)...as the largest amount goes through first...causing each subsequent check to bounce too, regardless of how small...

Is it illegal? No Is it devious, unfair and exploitive...making money off of people who are struggling financially???? That's a big yes.....

The American people have been voting in Right Wing Republican and corporate Democrats for 25+ years now. They created the environment for this sort of behavior to exist. Americans are reaping what they have sown over this and many other issues.

The proper way would be to post smallest to largest.
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Actually, the proper way is the chronological order that the checks were received....Banks processed checks this way for decades....A few years ago, bank execs figured out that they could make billions of dollars in extra revenue by holding checks in batches and processing them from highest to lowest....This way maximizes bounced check fees (if an NSF will occur)...as the largest amount goes through first...causing each subsequent check to bounce too, regardless of how small...

Is it illegal? No Is it devious, unfair and exploitive...making money off of people who are struggling financially???? That's a big yes.....

The American people have been voting in Right Wing Republican and corporate Democrats for 25+ years now. They created the environment for this sort of behavior to exist. Americans are reaping what they have sown over this and many other issues.

The proper way would be to post smallest to largest.
---------------
Actually, the proper way is the chronological order that the checks were received....Banks processed checks this way for decades....A few years ago, bank execs figured out that they could make billions of dollars in extra revenue by holding checks in batches and processing them from highest to lowest....This way maximizes bounced check fees (if an NSF will occur)...as the largest amount goes through first...causing each subsequent check to bounce too, regardless of how small...

Is it illegal? No Is it devious, unfair and exploitive...making money off of people who are struggling financially???? That's a big yes.....

The American people have been voting in Right Wing Republican and corporate Democrats for 25+ years now. They created the environment for this sort of behavior to exist. Americans are reaping what they have sown over this and many other issues.

Funds Available vs. Posted. Saturday and Sunday are NOT business days so any purchases you make on these days will not post until the next business day(which is Monday night). NO Bank will post a deposit or purchases that are made over a weekend until the next business day.

I will say you may have some priorities a bit out of line. While this is a free country and you can spend your money as you wish. If you truly live 'below the poverty line' do you really think it is a good idea to spend $150 dollars on a cable/internet bill?

"..I will be changing banks as soon as I get my next check."
Don't expect your new bank to be any different.

The proper way would be to post smallest to largest.
---------------
Actually, the proper way is the chronological order that the checks were received....Banks processed checks this way for decades....A few years ago, bank execs figured out that they could make billions of dollars in extra revenue by holding checks in batches and processing them from highest to lowest....This way maximizes bounced check fees (if an NSF will occur)...as the largest amount goes through first...causing each subsequent check to bounce too, regardless of how small...

Is it illegal? No Is it devious, unfair and exploitive...making money off of people who are struggling financially???? That's a big yes.....

The American people have been voting in Right Wing Republican and corporate Democrats for 25+ years now. They created the environment for this sort of behavior to exist. Americans are reaping what they have sown over this and many other issues.

Im agreeing with all of ya. I dont understand the fuss and the constant rip off reports regarding this. Most often the original poster starts off with "I let my account overdraw........" or some such. THAT indicates guilt right there I would think. Then of course there are the posters who throw their health or the health of their kids into it........or unemployment issues etc. POO POO OCCURS.....granted.....but after the first time it happens......dont you GET IT??

Whether its 50 cents or $500......YOU let it happen. Almost everyone knows how banks post highest to lowest.

I understand ONE NSF / ODF......then you realize HOW they post things to your account and POOF.....you make sure it doesnt happen again.....case closed.....'nuff said.

NO I do not work for a bank....not online nor in real life. I have spent years living pay check to pay check and can honestly say Ive NEVER overdrawn my account. I am a single self supporting female that keeps an eye on her expenses and her bi monthly paycheck. Ive never had "a lot" of money to toss around and certainly never enough that Id consider letting my bank continue to grab NSF/ODF from my account. I no longer hafta live paycheck to paycheck because Ive gotten increasingly smart when it comes to budgeting money and who exactly I let have MY HARD EARNED MONEY!!!!!

I will say I dont understand how this is soooooo wide spread......its not just US Bank, or Wachovia....or BofA....it just seems rampant....which is a little confusing and leads me to think that not everyone reporting this type of thing can be THAT wrong...it just doesnt make sense. It does not seem to help anyone that bothers checking their balances online or by phone daily..so why not give that up? Keep an accurate up to date register with checks AND debits listed DAILY....lessen your auto withdrawals. What does it take to KNOW you have "X" amount of money to pay out monthly and "X" amount of money COMING IN monthly. Budget it.....down to the last dime if necessary. Hold back a set amount of money EACH WEEK or each paycheck to cover with cushion whatever has to be paid that week...........do this for the entire MONTH and I can almost guarantee you will not see any NSF/ODF again.

I am in shock and total disbelief that ANYONE anywhere "now days" would ALLOW.....yes you ALLOW these places to debit your d**n accounts for HORRENDOUS amounts..........in some cases in excess of a $1000!!!!! WTH people.? You didnt "get it" the first time..or the 2nd.....or 3rd? HOW on earth can you NOT learn after the first one or two NSF/ODF?

Fool me once ,shame on YOU.
Fool me twice ,SHAME ON ME!!!!!!

Think about it.

ETA: Please understand I do understand that stuff happens......but not like you're allllllll complaining about on here......not this repeatedly.

The reason for the delay in the availability of an ATM deposit is to make sure your deposit envelope is there and has the amount you put in. If you "deposited" $1000 and then spent it and the bank discovered an empty envelope then they would have to try to get their money back from you. So they make sure the money is there before you can use it. Not a rip off, just smart business learned the hard way from people ripping off banks.

The reason for the delay in the availability of an ATM deposit is to make sure your deposit envelope is there and has the amount you put in. If you "deposited" $1000 and then spent it and the bank discovered an empty envelope then they would have to try to get their money back from you. So they make sure the money is there before you can use it. Not a rip off, just smart business learned the hard way from people ripping off banks.

The reason for the delay in the availability of an ATM deposit is to make sure your deposit envelope is there and has the amount you put in. If you "deposited" $1000 and then spent it and the bank discovered an empty envelope then they would have to try to get their money back from you. So they make sure the money is there before you can use it. Not a rip off, just smart business learned the hard way from people ripping off banks.

The reason for the delay in the availability of an ATM deposit is to make sure your deposit envelope is there and has the amount you put in. If you "deposited" $1000 and then spent it and the bank discovered an empty envelope then they would have to try to get their money back from you. So they make sure the money is there before you can use it. Not a rip off, just smart business learned the hard way from people ripping off banks.

Sherry,
I used to work at US Bank prior to my current banking position. They do have the right of clearing large items first and unfortunately you found out the hard way. Before you jump to another bank keep in mind that the majority of banks out there practice the same policy. Also keep in mind that it was generous of them to reverse $80 do to your own error which could have been avoided had you read your account disclosures. I personally wouldn't have reversed anything...especially when it sounds like you started getting an attitude. When people drop the "I'm the customer and I demand compensation" we tend to tune them out. There are two ways to avoid this: a) read your account disclosures b) apply for some sort of overdraft protection...(and if you don't qualify it pretty much means that you are unworthy to repay any debt you've incurred)

That won't solve anything though. Virtually every bank that I know of processes the largest debits before the smaller ones.

In other words, you will have the same problem at other banks if you continue to make charges before the funds are available.