I have run into two recent serious problems with PNC Bank that I would like to report. First, I had purchased a product online using my PNC Visa Debit card. The company that I purchased from charged the fee to my card four (4) times accidentally. I had only enough money in my account to cover one charge. Three (3) of them showed up on my account as overdrafts. I was charged $93.00 ($31 x 3) in NSF charges.
I contacted both PNC and the company that overcharged me. PNC would do nothing to assist me or to block the overcharges, however the company that I purchased from was cooperative and refunded the three extra charges to my account. However PNC will not and still refuses to return the $93.00 in NSF overdraft charges that should have never occurred in the first place.
Secondly, I had a beginning balance of $179.48 in my account on 1/14/05. Between 1/14/05 and 1/17/05 I had made debit purchases of $40.00, $19.87, $11.53, $10.00, $30.09, and $23.27 respectively that should have left me with a balance of $44.72.
On 1/18/05 my furnace broke down. Knowing that I was in a bind with no heat and needed money fast I made the decision to make a withdrawal in the amount of $140.00, willfully knowing that I would be overdrawing my account. And knowing that I would be charged a single $31.00 NSF fee. Yes, this was wrong on my part, but I was willing to accept the penalty until my paycheck was direct deposited into my account.
However, PNC Bank decided to wait until 1/18/05 to charge my $179.48 account for the purchases made between 1/14/05 and 1/17/05. This should not have made a difference because all of the charges were coming out the same day (1/18/05), except that they decided that they would subtract the $140.00 that I knew I was over drafting on 1/18/05 first, before subtracting the six other purchases that actually happened days prior to the $140.00 overdraft.
The result: $179.40 - $140.00 = $39.48 which cleared, then all six purchases from the previous days were applied so that all six would end up as overcharges. Rather than one NSF charge of $31.00 they charged me $186.00 ($31.00 x 6) in NSF charges.
I called PNC Bank to address the situation. The representative, who easily saw the problem, then proceeded to tell me "Sorry, we can't control how the computer applies the charges to your account, but I can refund you some of the overcharges." I thought this was great, but she only refunded me $31.00 and said "That's all I can do."
PNC kept and will not give back the other charges. I thought I would be charged $31.00 for one overdraft, instead I was charged $155.00.
In just these two instances PNC Bank has ripped me off a total of $248.00, and I have documentation of everything. If there are any lawyers who can assist me in this matter it would be greatly appreciated!
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