The Bank Just Ripped Me Off For 1 Penny

I had closed an old bank savings account at least 9 months ago.

Today I find out that the bank re-opened it and charged me $12.00 because they say it was overdraw and now at a zero balance.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me either, the last time I was charged $9.00 for another old savings account.

I had to wait a long, long, time to get a bank service customer representative to help me with this problem
and was holding on the phone for at least 12 minutes.

Finally I get someone and I get disconnected and had to call and wait all over again.

Later the rep tells me she can only refund me $6.00 because time has lapsed
and the bank can’t go back that far to reverse the charges and close out the account.

She tells me that there was 1 penny left in the old savings account and that is why I am being charged $12.00. WTF

How do they get off charging me $12.00 for their error. One stinking penny.Can somebody explain this to me?

I asked her to send me in the mail a statement showing that I requested they close out this savings, plus the last statement
when I called them way back 9 months ago to close it.

Of course they have no record of me ever closing it out, even after I had to make this same friggin call last month to get them to close it, yet they keep re-opening it.

I know that bank today is a joke, not to mention the fact that some banks may file for bankruptcy in today’s failing economy. Failing because or their unethical business practices.

I have heard nothing but numerous complaints from other Bloggers of how tired they are of these crooks.

Our own Government cares nothing about how much money you lost in a bank due to excessive overdraft charges/fees.

Why should they care if that cup of coffee you purchased at Startbucks is actually costing you $35.00. (overdraft fees)

Currently I am having this same discussion over at BlogCatalog  and obviously these BC Members are quiet tired of the banks and their unethical business practices too.

The banks are cunning alright, they now protect themselves by only go back as far as 60 days if you have a problem with your account or if you have fraudulent charge on your account.

Speaking of which (fraudulent charges) if you don’t stay on top of your bank account and keep an eye on your transactions, if you should so be unfortunate to have your debit card stolen and used fraudulently, the bank may do absolutely nothing about it.

They may also tell you that you only have a few days to file a dispute and there is no guarantee that you would get any of that money back either.

People are concerned about their money and when everything is computerized, it’s hard to even get a hold of a human to talk to and dispute the charges.

Some who are fed up with the banks had some cool ideas, like taking the banks to “Small Claims Court” but how effective is that today really, especially when some of these banks filed for bankruptcy. How will they be able to repay you?

http://current.com/items/88849140/how_to_beat_the_bank.htm

As far as Overdraft protection, that never worked for me as the bank kept pulling money out of the savings to cover the checking when the checking clearly had more than enough to cover. I’ve had quiet a few people complain about this same thing too.

Also a major problem why there is overdrafts everywhere is the banks fail to provide up-to-date accurate statements, showing your daily purchases. Sometimes I would be charged for an item I purchased 5 days ago, only to have it show up in the account many days later. Most of these charges occur on the weekends when the bank is closed and the bank is not around to provide you detailed statistics or an accurate statement of your account. (this is major way they make money). This simply gives you the false impression that there is money in your account and so you go out and spend it unwisely, only to return on Monday or Tuesday to find out how wrong you were, you return to several overdraft charges.

At one point in my life, I had automatic set salary checks that were suppose to be deposited into my account on the 1st of the month, only to have the bank post them 3-5 days later, causing the account to go into overdraft mode again.

The bank mistakes are numerous and our patience is wearing thin. Keeping your bank account well funded is a smart move for those who can keep it well funded but some of us are living check to check or we are laid off and can keep our accounts well funded.

TOP 10 WORST BANKS

Bank of America
J.P. Morgan Chase
Citigroup
Wells Fargo
HSBC North America
Wachovia
U.S. Bancorp
National City
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Key Corp

There’s even a Forum to let loose and complain, though I’m not sure if anything really gets done about the issue.

Customer complaints are so high that evidently there’s a demand enough that someone thought it was worthy enough to start a website dedicated to Bank of America Consumer Opinions.
This site is ironically titled bankofamericasucks.com and they do.

Well I am fed up with these banks for one and I’m wondering what you Readers have to say about these banks and their unethical business practices. We currently have two discussions worth taking a peek at BlogCatalog

Has anything like this ever happened to you with banks?

Did you get your overdraft funds refunded ?

Any advice for us bank customers or who we should complain to?