I hate my bank

[LonesomeLamp]

They were fine at first, until I left my job. I got the account shortly after I got my job so I wouldn’t have to show up early, get my check, cash it, then turn around and come right back in (I was second shift at the time). Then I saved up a lot of money and left my job because I started feeling more dead every day I showed up (moved to first shift). All was still well until I finally ran out of money. Then I learned a whole bunch of bull crap the bank liked to pull.

When I created my account, the lady told me “sign here if you want overdraft protection on your debit card and sign here if you want it on your account itself.” I signed up for protection on my card, but not the account (in case I needed money for emergency purposes). I was under the impression that if I overdrafted my account for something, the bank would go ahead and pay for it, then I’d owe them for that amount, kinda like credit, but there was a limit of $500. By this point, I was already using PayPal as my main payment methods because I have their debit card (I can reload my account at just about any store like a reloadable debit card).

Where things fell apart is when I had a single service (Microsoft) set up to draw from my bank account and everything else was PayPal, which was linked to my bank now too. Microsoft tried to take money for whatever service it was at the time, but it didn’t go through because no money in the bank. I was hit with a $32 “returned item fee” that took my account about as far into the negative. The very next day, I deposited $100, not knowing about the fee I was charged. I tried to spend about $70-$80 that night on one website and then another $3-$5 on another site (that’s when I got the ABU Basic sample from my one post about finally trying a real diaper).

The ABU order went through, as well as the other order and I was none the wiser. Then it really hit the fan. PayPal wasn’t able to pay for the expensive order because I didn’t have the full $100 in my bank to start with. Instead of rejecting it, PayPal themselves went ahead and paid for it, then started hitting up my bank every couple days for the amount needed. Each failed attempt generated yet another $32 fee each, and every single day it was red, that was an additional dollar threw on top. By the time I caught on, I was very far in the red with both PayPal and the bank. Skipping a long story of getting things sorted out, here’s what I learned from (and about) my bank account:

First, I was not enrolled for overdraft protection on my card nor my account. Then, if I were enrolled with the protection, it wouldn’t have protected me. Calling it “protection” is actually a lie, tbh. I still would have been hit with a $32 fee, plus I’d owe the initial amount I tried to spend. Without “protection,” I’d be hit with the fee, but the payment would get rejected. This is also when I learned that, even though I signed up for online banking and never requested paper statements, I was being charged $1/mo for the paper statements (recently upped to $2).

I also learned that PayPal is better for bank account protection than the bank themselves. The lady I talked to said that any and every failed transaction will induce the $32 fee. I told her that I have had several failed transactions that did not incur those fees. She told me to call the next time that happened and they could take a look to see why. I told her that there was actually one or two trying to go through at that exact moment (it was just one through the Apple store). She said she wasn’t seeing anything at all about it in her end. I told her my phone was telling me to go into the settings to give it a card number that it could pull the money from (apple is getting pretty friggin invasive with their payment requests).

Now let me rant about their online crap. The website need to be taken down and rebuilt from the ground up by someone who isn’t a middle-school-dropout conspiracy theorist. Their website is literally the only one ever created designed to be as hard to access as possible. You don’t log in with an email address or anything that makes any sense. It’s a 12-digit number. It can be changed, but the constraints are so awkward, you’ll not come up with a “normal” username it’ll be happy with. The password expired every 90 days, which isn’t too bad in itself, but it requires at least 8 character, one upper case, one lowercase, one number and one symbol. If you need to reset your password, you have to remember your secret answer to a secret phrase they give you, then supply it with a “secret” email subject to send it as.

Now let’s say you want to log in but you forgot it made you change your password. On literally any other website, after you type it in wrong a few times, it’ll tell you you have x number of attempts remaining. The bank website does not. Those notifications are sent via email, where you’re probably not looking because you’re trying to get into your BANK account and not your EMAILS. Also, most websites will lock you out for five minutes or so if you use too many attempts. My bank will lock it indefinitely until you call customer service and request it get unlocked.

I would love to completely ditch my bank, but because I used it for direct deposit of my 2019 taxes, it’s where my stimulus money is being sent. Fuck CVNB (the bank).

[Cute_Kitten]

? That sounds like a nightmare. Hope you can financially recover.  Shit like that is like a kick in the nuts. ?

[LonesomeLamp]

That all happened a while back and I’ve pulled myself out of it (with help). I’m being more careful about them now. I’m out of money and I’ve been hit with the paper statement fee twice. Am only $3.22 in the hole right now. Thankfully, their own fees don’t invoke each other, so it’s going to sit at that number for now (until stimulus comes in). I requested they stop sending them today, and the lady had me to sign up for the email statements, saying that would automatically unenroll me from the paper ones.

When I signed up for the email statements, the system wanted me to put in a “secret” subject line that the statements would be sent under (very much like the password reset emails, except I only have to enter this one once). It also asked for a “secret phrase” it needed to actually sign me up. To find the “secret phrase,” I had to click a button that opened a new tab that contained the phrase. You want to know what the secret phrase was? It wasn’t a random string of text. It was “eDocs”. Literally the name of the service I was signing up for ?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️

[feralfreak]

when i make a deposit in moms account(when she gets overdrawn, hopefully she will be better at money this year) i ask for a current balance after they add the money(local small town bank, sometimes the teller dont know me and i understand why that one cant comply, but usually they will give the balance)

[ValentinesStuff]

The Credit Union my parents used once called about a check my father had written. They didn't recognize the signature, my mom had always signed my dad's paychecks and other stuff.

[PoPoDiaperFetish]

I guess I am lucky.  If I overdraft using my debit card, I have a "credit line" that the money gets taken from. As long as I pay the credit line back within the statement it doesn't hurt me.  If I don't pay the credit line back I of course would get hit with an insanely high interest rate.  I don't get fees if that happens.  I have not tried using the credit line by writing a check though as I don't want to get charged for writing a bad check.

[Dubious]

I don't see how its the banks fault for you having a shitty handle on money and why are you paying for stuff when you have no income? 

What is so important from Microsoft? or Paypal for that matter?

and buying diapers without checking that you have enough money...

I always check how much I can spend before I buy anything
I have been in a similar situation where I lived on bread and water.

[LonesomeLamp]

4 hours ago, Dubious said:

I don't see how its the banks fault for you having a shitty handle on money and why are you paying for stuff when you have no income? 

What is so important from Microsoft?

I do admit I could have had a better handle on it, but like I said, every single payment that failed to go through just failed to go through and that was it, up to that one point. For almost an entire year with them, this is exactly how it went. No money? No problem: you just won’t get the thing your trying to buy. And then this one single payment failed to go through once, and suddenly I’m hit with a really high fee.

Then I add $100 to my account and the paper I get back essentially says “you added $100 to your account today at whatever time” and nothing else. If I hadn’t been hit with that initial $32 fee, I would have had enough for the expensive order as well as the diaper, and then I’d still have some left over. Up until that very point, I knew almost exactly how much I had in the bank and wether or not any particular payment (including automatic ones, like the Microsoft one) would go through.

Some of the automatic payments I had set up included iCloud, Apple Music, OneDrive, Amazon prime, and game pass. When I left my job, I had just over $1000 saved up. I knew I’d run out eventually and start losing services, and I was okay with that. It took over a month before the first services failed to take payment, and guess what? Neither one induced any fees. Then the next set expired for nonpayment (I manually cancelled prime when I got below $50). Still no fees. Then Microsoft failed to get theirs, and boom, $32 fee. Why? Because Microsoft was set to take directly from my bank and everything else was set through PayPal.

[rusty pins]

One reason I deposit in the credit union myself in person, and even though I have a Pay Pal account, I don't use it unless I first confirm the money is there.  Mostly for once in a while EBAY purchases.  I will use my credit card or mail a check.  My thoughts and I've seen it happen to too many people, the more you put any information out electronically or through the internet, the more chance of it getting hacked.  Not saying anyone here is, but I'm not so lazy I can't do in person banking rather than doing everything electronically. 

[Dubious]

My PayPal is linked to my Credit card only, with about $7k credit available 

I buy everything with credit card and use bank account to pay the important bills

I pay for Prime and other subscriptions with Paypal
I have an app on phone where I can easily see every transaction on both credit card and bank card

[AwakenEvil]

I would say you need to manage your money better. Banks do what banks do, but you should try some of the early techniques I used as a younger adult to manage my money.

First get an excel spreadsheet.

Build several columns and lines that show the following

1. Bill's (Phone, Power, Gas Etc)
2. Income Deposits
3. Loans\Car Notes
4. House Payment Rent
5. Spending

You should be able to track purchases, and see how you are managing you money. Amazing looking at younger me and the waste of money on things I couldn't afford, or didn't manage right. Also if debit cards and checks are an issue for you. I suggest leaving bill money in the account to pay for anything with auto-pay. I would use cash for EVERYTHING else. Doing this may help you manage you cash better. Also grabbing a PrePaid credit card maybe help you keep online purchases to necessary purchases

[Little Cub Pants]

That's horrible!? That sounds like a disaster! I feel so sorry for you.? If that happened to me I would be pissed!??? That's especially bad considering that's where you get your stimulus money.??? I hope you can financially recover soon!? That really sucks!?

[feralfreak]

when i had settlement money from a lawsuit, i kept a ledger of everything going in and out of that account, litterally kept track of every penny and wrote down every single thing i bought, if i went to the store, i wrote down what i bought and what the cost was, loaned money how much it was, how much was paid back(very fucking little, i should never have loaned to family)

[id0ntknow]

32 minutes ago, feralfreak said:

when i had settlement money from a lawsuit, i kept a ledger of everything going in and out of that account, litterally kept track of every penny and wrote down every single thing i bought, if i went to the store, i wrote down what i bought and what the cost was, loaned money how much it was, how much was paid back(very fucking little, i should never have loaned to family)

Unfortunately, very true for a lot of people. Family seems like the first ones to rob you blind, or otherwise backstab you.

[vvp39]

One thing we learned about banks: if a depositor is having trouble managing money, and several checks come in to be paid which add up to more than is in the account, they will process the largest one first even if a smaller one would have cleared. That blows away the account and allows the check return charges to start sooner...in other words it maximizes the number of return charges they can assess against the account.

[~Brian~]

12 hours ago, AwakenEvil said:

I would say you need to manage your money better. Banks do what banks do, but you should try some of the early techniques I used as a younger adult to manage my money.

First get an excel spreadsheet.

Build several columns and lines that show the following

1. Bill's (Phone, Power, Gas Etc)
2. Income Deposits
3. Loans\Car Notes
4. House Payment Rent
5. Spending

You should be able to track purchases, and see how you are managing you money. Amazing looking at younger me and the waste of money on things I couldn't afford, or didn't manage right. Also if debit cards and checks are an issue for you. I suggest leaving bill money in the account to pay for anything with auto-pay. I would use cash for EVERYTHING else. Doing this may help you manage you cash better. Also grabbing a PrePaid credit card maybe help you keep online purchases to necessary purchases

@AwakenEvil

I have a electronic spreadsheet that I use for my business transactions, and I also write info in when we disburse checks or deposits.  I am REALLY blessed to have a team where I work that is well versed in financial matters, and if i get into trouble, I can call on them to help me figure out what I did, or if the problem was on their end.

For Personal use, I have a spreadsheet that is 2-3 columns.  I put the Money I get IN on the right and just list each bill/expense or deduction, and place the deductions on the LEFT side of the columns.  Then, I identify the expense, and list it, and the spreadsheet can calculate the bills total, and give me:

INCOME on One LiNE

EXPENSES on the NEXT

and the TOTAL remaining money I have on the next line:  Pretty slick:  Use these methods for both personal and business use, and it works great

Brian

[~Brian~]

@LonesomeLamp

I also had a situation where I was a member of a LOCAL Vermont based Bank for 22 years.  Then, they "merged" with another bank.  Normally, there are "Bumps" in any transitions, and I understand that.  Everything was good for this 6 month transition period, and then HELL hit me. 

When I say HELL, I mean it:  Rules that used to allow us to deposit checks, Rules that dealt with how much money you could get from a deposited check, and what was considered "local" changed, and people started being total dweebs. 

We used to be able to get the FIRST $75 of ANY check deposited made available that moment, and the rest was available in 24 hours.  Now, the "availability of funds" was based on what you had in your checking account.  So, if someone gave me $100, and I had $5.00 in my account, I could ONLY get $5.00 of a CHECK, instead of the first $75!  and they said if I had CASH, that they would allow the money released that moment, but who the hell is gonna give me amounts of CASH to comply with that foolishness - I mean, if we needed a $200 piece of equipment for work, who the hell is gonna give me TWO HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS?  No One, and so a check is issued, which threw everything into limbo, because they didn't want to release funds without holding for 48 hours, when I had as low as $5 in my account, and sometimes I have $0.  

Then, they used to have a rule that dealt with "local checks from local area businesses."  Because of the new banks policies, they held money for 48 hours regardless of where it came from, and I 'd had to wait no more then 24 hours as a member of the old bank.   Most checks like this are like $50-$200, but they held money for 48 hours, and that was ridiculous, because it meant I could not conduct business without unnecessary delays.

NOW, we talk about the STAFF of this bank:  They had AWFUL attitudes, were unprofessional, were unwilling to compromise at all:  I would see customers PISSED off, because the old rules were what the old bank allowed, and the DAY the change happened, it was like customer service took at back seat to PROFITS, and I had asked for assistance from the manager of the bank.  I simply asked him for help, and he said "I can use my discretion this ONCE, but DON'T do this again."  I didn't "do anything" wrong, but I told him he was unprofessional, and after feeling like getting spoken to like a three year old, I stood UP to the AZZ, and told him, "well, you just lost a CUSTOMER because of these actions, and the UNCARING cut throat policies." 

They tried real hard to keep me, but I STOOD my ground, demanded ALL my Money out of the bank IMMEDIATELY, and rolled up the street to another local bank that allowed the same things as my old bank did:  Meaning, I put in money, and it doesn't matter what I had there, if I put a check in, I GET $75 of it available ON THE SPOT - and they only have a 24 hour wait for deposit availability for local checks.

BUT: Those CLOWNS at the bank I just closed the account at, DIDN'T close the account, and allowed $300 in FEES to accrue, because they didn't close the account properly.  The JERKS waited almost 2 MONTHS before telling me that there was still an auto debit for my life insurance that forced the account in the negative, even though I set up my life insurance to go to the new bank account.  They wanted to have me PAY the $300, and I refused, because the account was closed, and the ONLY thing I was gonna pay was the $12.06, i owed them, and I didn't TRUST them, so I got a certified check from the NEW bank, and a RECEIPT that showed that I was all set, and I didn't LEAVE my OLD bank, til I had CONFIRMATION of a CLOSED account!  They waived the $300 in FEES, and they tried to "lecture me" about the fact that I LET that happen, when THEY kept charging ME fees on a closed account, Bitchin' does pay off sometimes heheheehe

Moral of Story is:  DON'T TRUST that a bank will keep the same policies as the one you were a member of.  Be CAREFUL, and as @AwakenEvilsays, take responsibility for all your transactions, but DON'T let these fools scare you - I need a bank that has not forgotten that customer service is paramount, and the way they carry themselves makes a difference.

Brian

[Dubious]

I'm nearing 40 years old and has never seen a check.
I know they existed before my time, that's how old and outdated the checks are.

[ValentinesStuff]

15 minutes ago, Dubious said:

I'm nearing 40 years old and has never seen a check.
I know they existed before my time, that's how old and outdated the checks are.

I still pay my rent monthly by check.

[rusty pins]

Many years ago when I worked for a large utility company, I had a friend and his son over for Sunday dinner.  His son was 20 and just getting out on his own with his own home.  He made a comment that if he could, he would quit the utility company I worked for because they charged him an over draft fee.  It seems he set up automatic deductions for several bills, however to save money and bank fees when he started his new bank account he limited it to only 6 automatic deductions.  Yup!  He set up over 6, therefore his bank refused to issue the automatic deduction from his account for my company's monthly bill.  That put him with insufficient funds when we attempted to deduct our monthly charges from his bank account.  Could I have adjusted the charges from his bill?  Sure.  Would I?  Absolutely not!  It was all his error to begin with, he was trashing my company because of his mistake, and all because he was too cheap to pay a slightly higher monthly bank fee in order to have more companies automatically deduct his monthly bills from his account.  He learned a lesson to make sure he does his banking within the limits he set up, and although I pointed all this out to him and he knows he was at fault, he still grumbled that our company made an error and should have removed the overdraft charged.  NOPE!   

[~Brian~]

38 minutes ago, rusty pins said:

Many years ago when I worked for a large utility company, I had a friend and his son over for Sunday dinner.  His son was 20 and just getting out on his own with his own home.  He made a comment that if he could, he would quit the utility company I worked for because they charged him an over draft fee.  It seems he set up automatic deductions for several bills, however to save money and bank fees when he started his new bank account he limited it to only 6 automatic deductions.  Yup!  He set up over 6, therefore his bank refused to issue the automatic deduction from his account for my company's monthly bill.  That put him with insufficient funds when we attempted to deduct our monthly charges from his bank account.  Could I have adjusted the charges from his bill?  Sure.  Would I?  Absolutely not!  It was all his error to begin with, he was trashing my company because of his mistake, and all because he was too cheap to pay a slightly higher monthly bank fee in order to have more companies automatically deduct his monthly bills from his account.  He learned a lesson to make sure he does his banking within the limits he set up, and although I pointed all this out to him and he knows he was at fault, he still grumbled that our company made an error and should have removed the overdraft charged.  NOPE!   

@rusty pins

In the case of myself, I left my bank because of the people and the way they treated the customers.  When I decided to leave, I asked them to CLOSE the account, so I took responsibility to ask that it be done.  What happened was that they told me I was "all set" with it, and for some reason, THEY never informed me of the problem of an overdraft within a couple weeks:  Had they done that, I would have had a check drawn to cover the life insurance that I owed the bank "$12.06" and we would have been done.

However, they just kept the account OPEN, and since it was NEVER CLOSED properly, it accrued 3-4 months of charges, UNTIL they called me, telling me that the account should be "settled" and I thought it had been closed:  I accused them of misconduct, asking why the account was NOT closed:  I agreed to pay the $12.06, and that was iT, and they were advised that because they did not inform me at the opportunity that they had an issue, that they could waive the fees. 

They did!  I agree that it is the RESPONSIBILITY of the account holder to deal with 99% of the issues you face - However, they kept charging fees, and they called me when it was over $300, so they did NOT keep their word and do as I asked, and I had started the change over of that auto deduction a month AFTER the last payment, so I don't see how everything being set at my new bank would have been a fault of me, since the old bank didn't do something correctly.

If someone decides to spend $500, and only has $50, or does NOT check balances, THAT falls to the account holder - I honestly thought that I was all set, and they lied, so where does that lie?  Me I guess, but I am glad that I am no longer with this horrible bank - My current bank is closer for me, and has better customer service - Thank GOD!

Brian

[Cute_Kitten]

6 hours ago, ValentinesStuff said:

I still pay my rent monthly by check.

Same here. Checks (well, debit cards and credit cards too) leave a nice paper (or electronic these days) trail, so an asshole landlord can not accuse you of not paying your rent when you most certainly DID pay your rent- and you have the proof right there. Stops 'em cold in their tracks. Unless they're being particularly obnoxious- then I'm all "Okay we'll let the court settle it. They'll pull my bank records, pull yours, see all the monthly checks from me I wrote and you cashed. That will TOTALLY prove I didn't pay the rent!"    (then again, landlord was also high as fuck when he accused me)

[Dubious]

Bank transfer proves you paid the rent and is almost instant

I don't see how you can prove that you paid with a check 

My bank has no fees, except the standard yearly fee for the Visa card
Most banks in Norway don't have fees for every day stuff

All my bills get paid monthly, automatically and no fees 
Not received a paper bill in years

[feralfreak]

58 minutes ago, Dubious said:

Bank transfer proves you paid the rent and is almost instant

I don't see how you can prove that you paid with a check 

My bank has no fees, except the standard yearly fee for the Visa card
Most banks in Norway don't have fees for every day stuff

All my bills get paid monthly, automatically and no fees 
Not received a paper bill in years

the cancelled check is as good as a receipt, and banks have taken to sending photocopies of checks you sent

[rusty pins]

On 3/18/2021 at 5:43 PM, ~Brian~ said:

@rusty pins

In the case of myself, I left my bank because of the people and the way they treated the customers.  When I decided to leave, I asked them to CLOSE the account, so I took responsibility to ask that it be done.  What happened was that they told me I was "all set" with it, and for some reason, THEY never informed me of the problem of an overdraft within a couple weeks:  Had they done that, I would have had a check drawn to cover the life insurance that I owed the bank "$12.06" and we would have been done.

 

Years ago I closed my bank account because they were trying to rip me off with fees.  When I closed it, I had $1.47 owing.  I was prepared to pay that, yet in the old days of calculators the bank stated I owed $9 and some change.  I said, "Nope!  Fingure it again!"  Then it dropped to $7 and some change, I said no, that's not correct either.  He tried two more times, getting it down to $5 and then $3 and change and finally the last time he came up with $1.47!  I was in my 20's at the time and rather brash with my comments, so as I left I made the parting remark, "It took you 5 times calculating to finally get the correct amount I owed, and you asked me why I wanted to close out my account?"