Wells Fargo atm malfunction dispute, pending, charges that lead to overdraft fees Ripoff Lakewood Washington

Hi Cory,

I will try to make you understand why the fee was assessed. By what I read, I can only assume that the person was using a debit/credit card.

I am sure that since your are a merchant, you have seen the Vise Debit cards.

Here is what happens, when someone uses the card and it is ran as a credit, it will be processed thru the Visa system and a hold will be placed on the account (usually 5 business days). If the charge that comes thru the account before the 5 days are up and it matches exactly with the amount that is on hold, then the hold will be released.

But if the charge does not match, then it will not release. For example, if you book airline tickets for 2 or more people, they will put a hold on the account for the whole amount, but when the charge goes thru, they will do it one at a time, thus the hold will not match and will not be released. Another example is if you go to a restaurant. The restaurant will run your card and for the amount of purchase, which the bank will place a hold on that amount, but it there is a tip added on and the charge comes thru, then it will not release because the amounts will not add up.

If this happens, the person should call the financial institution and have them verify this and most likely the fee will be reversed.

If you have someone who purchase something at your business and they use the debit portion of the card (where they will have to input the PIN), then the funds will come directly out of the account and a hold will not be placed.

The problem is, people who have this type of card, think that since it say's Visa and it can run thru the credit portion, then they think they have a credit card, but it will be conected the the checking account.

By federal law, once the card is ordered, the banks (and credit unions, where I worked for years) have to send out (or if the person is at the bank) what is called a Electric Funds Transfer Agreement. In this agreement it explaines all this, but most people do not read it.

Also, most people use online banking. When their account is pulled up, it should give an available balance and a balance (where I used to work it did). People need to pay attention to the avaiable balance, not the balance because the avaiable balance will have the holds already taken out of it, while the balance is the whole amount that is in the account.

In this day and age people do not like to have cash on hand, they want the card. If you by chance ever have anyone who wants to purchase something but do not want a hold on the account, tell them to have you run it as a debit and not a credit.

I know that this is long but I hope that it answered your question.

I'm confused. If the money is in the account, what does it matter when the merchant's draft hits you account. The reason I'm asking is because I'm a merchant and if we find a bank is holding onto our drafts or whatever we'll deal with it. As I've said before, go with cash and don't play these banks games.

If I follow your complaint correctly, the funds that are noted as pending are usually waiting for confirmation from the merchant for the charges against your account. You are right that it can take days before the bank receives the confirmation, then process it. That's not the bank's fault. It depends on when the merchant processes it through the system.

My question is, why would it matter when it gets processed? If the funds are already spent, why would you spend those funds again?

You are right that the banking industry is not like your grandfather's. Your grandfather would have used the account register he received with his checks to keep track of his balance. Probably why he would have only bounced a check if he made a math error in his register. And he would have used cash more often instead of debiting that cup of coffee, lunch at the fast food joint or his gas purchase.

Other than what is in the title, you made no further mention of an ATM malfunction. Bring whatever transaction receipts (if the ATM printed one) and a printout of your online print register with you to the bank branch and hash it out the branch manager. If it is a Wells Fargo ATM and there is a discrepency when it was balanced out they should be able to help you.

Good luck.