The Like/Hate Thread

[Ashe]

http://consumerist.com/2010/02/wachovia-...-swim.html

Interesting read. I've had a few of the events in the comments happen to me over the years...

Example - I've had that bs happen where I checked my account and realized I had about 70 in my checking. I groaned for going over budget (or not being organized on what was purchased between myself and my wife) and needed to pay a bill with our next paychecks coming in a couple of days. So I transferred money from savings back to the checking account - more than enough to cover the bill by an extra 50 dollars or so. I then paid the bill, went to bed, went about my week.

I check a week later and realize I'm in the negative. Why? Because said transfer (or in some cases deposits) do not clear "immediately" and it didn't take the transfer till the day after the payment was made, regardless of me setting up the transfer first. It needed "time to process the transfer" and "in the meantime, I intentionally made a payment for more than was available in the primary checking account at the time of payment". So it went to negative, gave me an overdraft charge. THEN my wife had gotten gas while she was out the next day. It has this listed as well as another overdraft charge of 35 again. Then she had gone in for a drink. Another overdraft charge of 35. THEN my transfer clears, but its entirely eaten up and I'm still in the negative.

I had talked to the manager at the time and he did nothing, reiterating that it was my financial mismanagement that had lead to it and that regardless of setting up the transfer before making the payment, I did not wait until their systems acknowledged that money as having cleared before trying to use it, therefore every one of those overdraft charges were valid and furthermore I was expected to pay them as soon as possible.

Just an example from years ago.

So yeah, I feel that the policies are bullshit ass ways to get money from people (to cover the cost of Free Checking accounts, I assume) and stupid as all fuck (for the consumer, I'd rather just have the decline but some types of accounts - the ones commonly used - will not let you remove the "service" of allowing you to overdraft "just in case its an important purchase"), but I'm not at all going to pretend that our miscommunication/disorganization was not what lead to them every time. I do feel they raped my asshole as hard as they could when the opening was there, but we're the ones that created the opening and that's why I try to avoid going below a specific minimum in the bank.

Which is why I hate that this time my available showed $200+ yet giving me overdrafts, meaning the "currently holding" was totally wrong and there was other shit floating (likely gas and stuff, fuck gas). Frustrating, given that if it actually finally declined my card (what brought it to my attention given I'd JUST CHECKED TWO DAYS AGO ON THE 13th AND WAS DEPOSITING THIS MONDAY) means it reached the limits of what it would allow to be overdrafted.

I'm expecting a couple hundred dollars of sudden debt.