Why I'm Changing Checking Accounts
This is something I need to get off my chest, and will not make for good reading. My apologies in advance. In short, DO NOT bank with BB&T.
I'm actually kindof used to paying about $300 (or more) a year in overdraft fees. I'm no longer poor, and I've developed a lot of tricks to keep from overdrafting, so it doesn't happen all that often anymore. These days, I know full well that BB&T will not credit back anything out of courtesy, even if I haven't had anything credited back in over three years. And I know that even constant montioring of my checking account won't do any good- if there's an overdraft, they'll find a way to justify it and blame it on my irresponsibility. However, yesterday I had an overdraft (or three) that didn't seem right, which brought me into their office today. I'm glad this happened-- now I know exactly how they twist this to their advantage, and I will not give them another cent of my money.
A $50 charge came through that I wasn't expecting- I made a payment to a credit card on 6/15 that never posted. I assumed I hadn't correctly requested it, maybe didn't click the final authorize button, whatever. I scheduled another on for $60 on 6/29 which cleared on 7/3. Then, on 7/10 the initial $50 posted to the credit card, and cleared BB&T on 7/13. I'll get to the bottom of that with the credit card company, but I think it's an important factor here.
On Monday (7/13), although my online banking claimed I had $153 available, I knew there were two transactions pending: 1 for $75 to a (different) credit card company, 1 for $1.22 for a soda I bought on Saturday. I spent $36.85 in groceries on Monday evening. The $36.85 was a debit card transaction, which didn't post until the next day, but "held" the "available" funds for that amount. So, at midnight, the $75 and $1.22 I expected and the $50 I didn't expect both came through. Since the funds weren't "available" (although they were still in the account) from the $36.85, I was charged an overdraft for the $1.22 and the $50 charges ($35 each). SO when the $36.85 "posted" today, I was charged another $35 overdraft fee for that too. That's $105 in overdrafts, leaving my account in a deficit of $111.64. Let me repeat that. I have a negative $111.64 balance, $105 of which is THEIR FEES. This is complete bullshit. Nevermind the fact that there's this mysterious credit card charge showing up a month after I assumed I hadn't actually made it, if you're going to say the $36.85 caused me to overdraft on Monday, how can you assess another overdraft charge when it posts on Tuesday?! This is all how it was explained to my by the bank when I went in today, seeing as how by my math, even with the $50 coming through, I had a positive balance until the $36.85 posted yesterday. It seems like only that last overdraft, from when the $36.85 POSTED would be valid. If you're going to use the argument that the funds weren't available on Monday at midnight BECAUSE OF the $36.85, then only the first two overdrafts are legitimate.
Banks try to tell you that they allow a transaction to go through out of courtesy, because declining it would be embarrasing, and overdraft fees are the cost of this courtesy. But they don't give you a choice to decline the charge instead of incurring the cost, which most people would prefer. And in this situation, there's no courtesy about it-- they had already taken $36.85 from my available balance for the transaction on Monday when it was made. There wasn't a way for them to "decline" it after that point, so why should I have to pay a fee when they POST the transaction?
I'm actually kindof used to paying about $300 (or more) a year in overdraft fees. I'm no longer poor, and I've developed a lot of tricks to keep from overdrafting, so it doesn't happen all that often anymore. These days, I know full well that BB&T will not credit back anything out of courtesy, even if I haven't had anything credited back in over three years. And I know that even constant montioring of my checking account won't do any good- if there's an overdraft, they'll find a way to justify it and blame it on my irresponsibility. However, yesterday I had an overdraft (or three) that didn't seem right, which brought me into their office today. I'm glad this happened-- now I know exactly how they twist this to their advantage, and I will not give them another cent of my money.
A $50 charge came through that I wasn't expecting- I made a payment to a credit card on 6/15 that never posted. I assumed I hadn't correctly requested it, maybe didn't click the final authorize button, whatever. I scheduled another on for $60 on 6/29 which cleared on 7/3. Then, on 7/10 the initial $50 posted to the credit card, and cleared BB&T on 7/13. I'll get to the bottom of that with the credit card company, but I think it's an important factor here.
On Monday (7/13), although my online banking claimed I had $153 available, I knew there were two transactions pending: 1 for $75 to a (different) credit card company, 1 for $1.22 for a soda I bought on Saturday. I spent $36.85 in groceries on Monday evening. The $36.85 was a debit card transaction, which didn't post until the next day, but "held" the "available" funds for that amount. So, at midnight, the $75 and $1.22 I expected and the $50 I didn't expect both came through. Since the funds weren't "available" (although they were still in the account) from the $36.85, I was charged an overdraft for the $1.22 and the $50 charges ($35 each). SO when the $36.85 "posted" today, I was charged another $35 overdraft fee for that too. That's $105 in overdrafts, leaving my account in a deficit of $111.64. Let me repeat that. I have a negative $111.64 balance, $105 of which is THEIR FEES. This is complete bullshit. Nevermind the fact that there's this mysterious credit card charge showing up a month after I assumed I hadn't actually made it, if you're going to say the $36.85 caused me to overdraft on Monday, how can you assess another overdraft charge when it posts on Tuesday?! This is all how it was explained to my by the bank when I went in today, seeing as how by my math, even with the $50 coming through, I had a positive balance until the $36.85 posted yesterday. It seems like only that last overdraft, from when the $36.85 POSTED would be valid. If you're going to use the argument that the funds weren't available on Monday at midnight BECAUSE OF the $36.85, then only the first two overdrafts are legitimate.
Banks try to tell you that they allow a transaction to go through out of courtesy, because declining it would be embarrasing, and overdraft fees are the cost of this courtesy. But they don't give you a choice to decline the charge instead of incurring the cost, which most people would prefer. And in this situation, there's no courtesy about it-- they had already taken $36.85 from my available balance for the transaction on Monday when it was made. There wasn't a way for them to "decline" it after that point, so why should I have to pay a fee when they POST the transaction?