^Same here.

But here's the thing that bothers me. Banks have the technology to know how much money is in your account at all times so they have the technology to come back with a message saying, "You don't have enough money in your account for this charge. Would you like us to pay for it anyway? The fee is $30." But they choose not to implement the technology cause of all the money they make off the fees...

Never feel pressure to pay these fees back. The bastards at the bank basically just gave you an extremely high-interest loan...milk it for all it's worth.

9/17/2007 2:45:33 PM

^banks don't have the technology or the security to do what you are claiming; that's why they are supported by VISA and mastercard for the purposes of making purchases at locations other than banks and ATM machines. It's not the bank's responsibility to balance your expenses.

9/17/2007 8:34:07 PM

^They do have the technology.

And there's something wrong with you if you think charging $30+ for a $1.68 loan is reasonable.

They are lending you money against your will and nailing you with a fee.

Everybody knows that shit ain't right.

[Edited on September 17, 2007 at 11:31 PM. Reason : Seriously.]

9/17/2007 11:30:34 PM

this thread is why i do not like sitting up direct drafts

9/18/2007 4:26:40 PM

i just have overdraft protection and it costs like $0.50 from SECU

9/18/2007 4:49:07 PM

Quote :

"^They do have the technology. "

apparently you don't understand how debit cards work.

also, that $30 fee isn't a loan; it's a fine to teach your dumb ass not to spend money you don't have.

9/18/2007 9:17:30 PM

Quote :

"I had a two month old check get cashed when I least expected it and due to my college kid mental ability I didn't notice this until after a weekend where I used my check card several times."

Do you not balance your checkbook? If you write a check and it's not cashed right away, you should still subtract it from your available balance....I never understand how people can let this happen.

And I thought this was an interesting article and felt it was appropriate in this thread...

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/09/paper-or-plasti.html#posts

Anyway, I hope you can get all of your money back from the bank...they should be understanding, but as long as you don't back down and aren't a complete ass to them you should eventually be able to get it all back. Just make sure you keep track of everyone you talk to, their full name, and the date and time you talked to them. If you can document everyone you talked to, the better off you'll be.

9/19/2007 8:38:47 AM

balancing your checkbook is soooo 1980's.

seriously, if you write enough checks where you have to balance your checkbook, you need to join the 21st century. I've written a grand total of like 2 checks this year.

That, and checks are about the most unsecure way to pay someone. It's so trivial to use the information on a check to drain someone's bank account that even drunknloaded could pull it off.

9/19/2007 8:46:31 AM

^ right, because it's sooooo much better to not know how much money you have in your account minus any uncashed checks (if you write them). My point was not just writing checks and balancing your checkbook...it was more how in the hell do you not know how much money you have in your account that you rack up $500 in fees. Just curious, are you allowing businesses to automatically deduct money from your account, do you use online bill pay, or a credit card? And I'm sure you balance your account, which essentially is balancing your checkbook, even if you believe it is sooooo 1980's. Because seriously, do you trust the bank enough to allow them to do it for you?

9/19/2007 8:52:21 AM

Quote :

"But here's the thing that bothers me. Banks have the technology to know how much money is in your account at all times so they have the technology to come back with a message saying, "You don't have enough money in your account for this charge. Would you like us to pay for it anyway? The fee is $30." But they choose not to implement the technology cause of all the money they make off the fees... "

You are clearly a bit confused over how a debit card works.

If you have a plain debit card (or use your check card as a debit card), money is drafted right out of your account using your PIN. By default, your bank will cover over drafts for a fee (usualy $30) at any bank, you can request to have that over draft removed and have a debit transaction declined for insuficcient funds, however you must ask for this.

If on the otherhand, you use your check card as a credit card (any transaction without a PIN) your account is never checked because your account doesn't pay for it. That money comes from VISA or MC or whoever sponsors your account. However, unlike your normal credit card, your checking card is set up to pay visa automatically from your checking account, and unlike your credit card, you don't have a grace period, payment is due immediately when the credit is processed with VISA (this is why you can run something on your debit card and still not see if drafted from your account until a week later). VISA has no access to your account or funds other than to draft payment, they can't check your balance and VISA has already payed the store when they come calling to your bank. It is now the bank's responsibility to pay VISA from your account, at this point it's too late to check your balance because the money is due now, so the bank pays it for you, regardless of the money in your account and then charges you an overdraft fee to cover their expenses and for the convenience. The other option is they close out your account and send you to collections. By signing your name to the credit slip, you authorized that charge, and agreed to pay it according to the terms of the card which for a checking card is immediate payment on post.

If you don't like how this works, your options are to only use plain debit cards or a real credit card with a grace period.

Quote :

"They are lending you money against your will and nailing you with a fee. "

You agreed to this lending when you signed up for your account, when you accepted the check card and when you signed your name for the purchase. If you wanted something different you needed to ask BEFORE you charged money you didn't have.

9/19/2007 9:55:05 AM

Quote :

"right, because it's sooooo much better to not know how much money you have in your account minus any uncashed checks (if you write them)."

debit card and EFTs are posted within a couple of hours, even if they don't clear instantly.

Quote :

"My point was not just writing checks and balancing your checkbook...it was more how in the hell do you not know how much money you have in your account that you rack up $500 in fees. "

I don't know who that's for, but that has never happened to me, and I haven't balanced a checkbook since 95 or so.

Quote :

"Just curious, are you allowing businesses to automatically deduct money from your account, do you use online bill pay, or a credit card? "

My mortgage and power bill gets auto-drafted every month, and the rest is online bill-pay.

Quote :

"And I'm sure you balance your account, which essentially is balancing your checkbook, even if you believe it is sooooo 1980's. Because seriously, do you trust the bank enough to allow them to do it for you?"

what is this "balancing my account?" I check it daily and eyeball it to see how much is there, and what's been taken out. What else would you do? Do you spend hours looking at each and every transaction and making sure that it's not off by 3 cents? That sounds like a waste of time to me.

9/19/2007 10:48:24 AM

Quote :

"Quote : "My point was not just writing checks and balancing your checkbook...it was more how in the hell do you not know how much money you have in your account that you rack up $500 in fees. " I don't know who that's for, but that has never happened to me, and I haven't balanced a checkbook since 95 or so. "

My original post was directed to those who have no idea how much money they have in their account, thus racking up hundreds of dollars in fees.

Quote :

"what is this "balancing my account?" I check it daily and eyeball it to see how much is there, and what's been taken out. What else would you do? Do you spend hours looking at each and every transaction and making sure that it's not off by 3 cents? That sounds like a waste of time to me."

That's great if you look daily and know what's in your account. And since you don't write checks you don't have to worry about them being cashed months after you write them.

Point being, whether you balance your account or check daily to see what your balance is, it's important to know how much money is there. There are obviously some people who don't pay attention to how much money they have, and if you ask me, they deserve to get hit with all of the fees that they do. It's not like it's a difficult concept. You know if you overdraw you get an obscene fee. If you don't care enough to keep up with your money and you get charged these fees, it's your own fault. Now in the case of the person who started this thread, it's not his fault and he should be refunded his money.

And 3 cents isn't a big deal, but paying attention to what's being deducted is important. Banks screw up and can deduct things twice, etc. and it's up to you to be on top of things so you don't lose that money however you decide to do it.

9/19/2007 11:10:07 AM

oh really? it's up to me?

I think the government should be doing that for me.

9/19/2007 11:15:59 AM

^you can't be serious.

9/19/2007 11:17:31 AM

That's their job.

To watch out for you and me against evil corporations. I shouldn't have to do it myself.

9/19/2007 12:36:17 PM

^OH of course, what was I thinking?

And where in the world did evil corporations come from...unless you believe banks are evil corporations???

9/19/2007 1:03:21 PM

Banks are the most evil of all corporations!

And it's the government's job to protect us from them.

9/19/2007 1:08:40 PM

dont forget about fast food places as well.

9/19/2007 1:09:40 PM

but who will protect us from evil governments?

9/19/2007 1:12:41 PM

^^them too.

The government should do something about this.

^ we can protest by starting drum circles.

9/19/2007 1:13:18 PM

Quote :

"If I was you I would call SunTrust, explain the situation again, and if they don't take care of it tell them you want to close your account. Either they will take care of it or you will not invest money with them anymore."

thats what sucks about being a student.........

of course, now that I'm no longer a student BB&T will never see my business from the way they treated me while I was one. Take that, MAN!!!!

9/19/2007 8:26:50 PM