Stories like this are the reason why banks need to be heavily regulated

Yes. And yet I've still been burned by unscrupulous banking tactics.

 

This thread is a good reminder that I need to stop by the bank tomorrow.

 

Banks change their fees all the time too -- so the question is not just whether you skim the literature when you sign up but whether you devote equal attention to every mailer and website update they ever issue.

 

I had a credit card that ended up w/BoA and I went delinquent on it. Shame shame. Anyway, I set up a payment plan and like four years ago it was paid off. But BoA kept deducting from my bank account. I couldn't find anywhere online to stop the charges. I called them once and they were no help. They did send me a refund check every few months, so I just let that keep happening. It's kind of like a savings account!

Now I will be closing that account in the next month, so I am looking forward to imagining BoA having a bit of extra work to do when they get a bounceback that they can't deduct money from a nonexistent account.

 

I once worked for a small, well-managed local bank that had all of four branches. We were so into customer service. Our bookkeepers actually would call people and tell them they were overdrawn that day, then ask if they could hustle down to the bank with enough cash to cover the overdraft.

Those days are long gone. And the bank did so well it that one of the biggies swooped in and sucked it up, then slammed the door on anything done too well.

 

I recently got a letter about a class action suit against BOA for this business practice. The letter made it sound like they had stopped doing that and that they were going to start having the smaller checks go through, then only charge the overdraft fee for the one large one. I guess they haven't put this in place as of yet.

 

I have my account to send me a text message if my balance falls below a certain amount. They in come around 3-4 a.m. so I always have the rest of that day to make the balance higher and not get charged fees.

 

It's always fascinating to see people on here root for the villain instead of the woman tied to the railroad tracks.

 

Happy for you.

 

Hey, all you have to do is read the fine print. Banks don't ever do anything they're not supposed to.