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Posted 08/03/2012 9:32 pm
BadThad, I don't know where you bank, but my bank is a ripoff. My revolving balance is roughly $0/week because of bills and a low paycheque, and the most recent fiasco with my bank was this:
MY ACCOUNT: $1.82
I made the mistake of checking my balance from a non-WF ATM. According to the paperwork I got when I signed up, this should have been free.
THEY CHARGED: $2.00
Now I'm 18 cents overdrawn. I have no idea, because I STILL THINK THIS TRANSACTION WAS FREE, but $1.82 isn't enough for what I needed, so I suck it up and wait two days for my paycheque to come in--
--and what do you know, it's $38 short! They charged me a $37.50 overdraft fee for an eighteen-cent overdraft THEY created. When I called the bank to complain I was told that they have the right to change policies at any time without notifying the customer . . . hmm . . . . sounds to me like they KNEW this would happen to LOTS of people and saw the chance to make some dough.
. . . . yeah, as far as I'm concerned I don't owe the banks anything if that's the kind of thing they're going to do. When I was a kid and my mom was teaching me how to use an ATM the formula was simple: if it was your own bank's or network's ATM, it was free, full-stop, PERIOD. If it was an ATM from outside your bank or network, it was 50 cents. And if your balance hit a danger zone, like that $1.82? The bank would shut off your card, instead of letting you rack up the overdraft plus an overdraft fee (which I think was $10 back then--$14.16 in today's dollars, according to the Westegg calculator, not this $40 crap).
Banks are struggling because they're alienating customers, who are going to credit unions in droves. I'm looking for the closest branch of my nearest one and when I find one I may very well switch over myself. Once upon a time, it was considered a matter of good business--not just for banks, for EVERYONE--to offer small courtesies, like washing your windshield when you filled your tank or giving you free matches when you bought your cigarettes. Now it's take, take, take, and then businesses wonder why customers are so angry all the time.
MY ACCOUNT: $1.82
I made the mistake of checking my balance from a non-WF ATM. According to the paperwork I got when I signed up, this should have been free.
THEY CHARGED: $2.00
Now I'm 18 cents overdrawn. I have no idea, because I STILL THINK THIS TRANSACTION WAS FREE, but $1.82 isn't enough for what I needed, so I suck it up and wait two days for my paycheque to come in--
--and what do you know, it's $38 short! They charged me a $37.50 overdraft fee for an eighteen-cent overdraft THEY created. When I called the bank to complain I was told that they have the right to change policies at any time without notifying the customer . . . hmm . . . . sounds to me like they KNEW this would happen to LOTS of people and saw the chance to make some dough.
. . . . yeah, as far as I'm concerned I don't owe the banks anything if that's the kind of thing they're going to do. When I was a kid and my mom was teaching me how to use an ATM the formula was simple: if it was your own bank's or network's ATM, it was free, full-stop, PERIOD. If it was an ATM from outside your bank or network, it was 50 cents. And if your balance hit a danger zone, like that $1.82? The bank would shut off your card, instead of letting you rack up the overdraft plus an overdraft fee (which I think was $10 back then--$14.16 in today's dollars, according to the Westegg calculator, not this $40 crap).
Banks are struggling because they're alienating customers, who are going to credit unions in droves. I'm looking for the closest branch of my nearest one and when I find one I may very well switch over myself. Once upon a time, it was considered a matter of good business--not just for banks, for EVERYONE--to offer small courtesies, like washing your windshield when you filled your tank or giving you free matches when you bought your cigarettes. Now it's take, take, take, and then businesses wonder why customers are so angry all the time.
