Do you know of a bank that doesn't ...

I was polite, smiled, never argued. He tried to engage me in a long discussion, and I told him I wasn't there to debate. I simply said if they didn't waive the fee in a week, I'd leave.

They didn't. They didn't even contact me to discuss it, as he promised they would.

I will close the account, mostly in the spirit of your last graf. We're on the same page there, for sure. It's the principle of the thing, and if everybody hit with a charge like that switched banks, it would eventually get someone's attention. It might seem like a small matter, but that's how you let people control you -- by simply accepting their B.S.

Shooting you a PM right now ...

 

Maybe when you go to close the account, they'll offer you a special discount rate on subscribing to your daily newspaper.

You might get lucky because the person you deal with might have worked in journalism, and that is standard operating procedure when someone threatens to become a non-customer, right? ;D

 

I see where banks now are going to be required to deny a charge for insufficient funds if you try to, say, use a debit card to buy a $4 cup of coffee and you only have $3.50 in the account.

Previously, many banks would have let the charge go through then hit you with a $15 fee plus a $15 fee on any other transaction you made that day.

The government is making them do this, but they said they were going to do it anyway. Uh, huh.

 

Uh, $15? Mine's $35. And if you debit 8 things in a two day period, it leaves them all "pending" for about 48 hours so they can put the biggest thing through first so you get hit with like $300 in fees instead of only the $35 for the biggest one you debited last.

Screw 'em.

 

I think it's $15 per transaction and at least one $20 fee on top of that. Maybe a bunch of $20 fees.

 

we going to let this slip by? care to drop a name, jd?

 

This is why you should never use a debit card.

 

My credit cards are all maxed. And I never carry cash.

 

That's a little extreme.

Unless I use a debit card to buy a car, I'm in no danger of having insufficient funds.

 

American Express traveler checks have never failed me. Sure it takes a little longer to check out at my local 7-11, but it's secure and safe.

 

Some banks take longer than 48 hours.
I'm militant about writing every transaction in my check register. Every couple weeks, when I get paid, I'll get my balance from the teller and go through and balance my checkbook. I'll usually have to go back a week to 10 days to do it.