I have a problem with Credit Union One regarding their "PAID ITEM FEE" fraud... I would call it a "PAID ITEM FEE" policy but I don't believe it could be policy as it has to be illegal... Or a glitch in their system.
Here is the problem... Just this past Thursday night, 07/07, I checked my balance before I left home to go to the auto parts store, walmart, and the gas station. When I checked the balance there was $105 and change in the account which was about right according to my register.
We are living on a rather tight budget at the moment and unfortunately go pay period - to - pay period which makes it all the more difficult to deal with this Credit Union.
I first stopped at the auto parts store and made two separate purchases, one for $2.84 and one for $65.47. I then went to walmart and bought some things which totalled $23.50. Lastly, I stopped and bought gas for $10.00.
When I got back home less than 2 hours later I checked the balance again and it now showed a balance of $0.87 which included three PAID ITEM FEES that are $28 each for purchases made yesterday and the day before but are just now posting to our account.
The next day 7/08 I find that there are four more paid item fees... Two for the two purchases at the auto parts store, one for the gas I bought, and one for checks my wife ordered which cost $12.15. I hadn't calculated the checks into the equation when I bought those things Thursday night so this of course caused me to go over my available balance.
This is where the problem begins for me. Ok, so I had $105 to work with and made purchases of $65.47, $23.50, $10.00, and $2.84 which comes to $101.81. Not figuring in the checks my wife ordered of course is where we screwed up and I surely don't have a problem with paying for that paid item fee. My problem is that after calling and speaking with the credit union csr's and managers I am told that their policy is that whenever we go over what is available in our account, EVERYTHING from that point forward is accessed this "PAID ITEM FEE"... Not just the one item that overdrew the account, but even those items which have already held funds against our available balance and are waiting to hit the account are also accessed this fee!
The problem I have is that this is like charging twice for the same items. When I make a purchase and I have the funds available and the funds are held for that item, I expect that item to clear no matter what since the money has been set aside for this particular item and removed from my available balance.
The way Credit Union One has their system configured is just the opposite and is clearly a blatant attempt to maximize on the number of "PAID ITEM FEES" they are able to assess. The way it's set up now - even if you make 5 purchases over the weekend and the last purchase puts you over your available balance... You will be assessed 5 ($28/ea) "PAID ITEM FEES" instead of 1, even if you still have enough in your account to cover the other four items.
Here is how things went just a few days ago...
07/08 deposit 225.00 2.75
07/08 paid item fee -28.00 -222.25
07/08 # debit purchase -23.50 -194.25
07/08 # paid item fee -28.00 -170.75
07/08 checks ordered -12.15 -142.75
07/08 # debit purchase -65.47 -130.60
07/08 # paid item fee -28.00 -65.13
07/08 # debit purchase -10.00 -37.13
07/08 # paid item fee -28.00 -27.13
07/07 # debit purchase -21.45 0.87
07/07 # paid item fee -28.00 22.32
07/07 # debit purchase -2.84 50.32
07/07 # paid item fee -28.00 53.16
07/07 # debit purchase -23.00 81.16
*07/07 # paid item fee -28.00 104.16*
07/07 # share overdraft fee -5.00 132.16
07/07 # transfer 0.78 137.16
07/07 # debit purchase -21.67 136.38
07/07 # debit purchase -19.06 158.05
07/06 # debit purchase -14.41 177.11
07/06 # debit purchase -12.00 191.52
07/06 # debit purchase -4.34 203.52
07/06 # debit purchase -5.90 207.86
07/05 # debit purchase -9.51 213.76
07/05 # debit purchase -25.05 223.27
07/05 # debit purchase -12.12 248.32
07/05 # debit purchase -93.83 260.44
07/05 # debit purchase -10.33 354.27
07/05 # debit purchase -30.00 364.60
07/05 # debit purchase -153.46 394.60
... After speaking with the first two CSRs, they were unable to explain to me why I had been charged these "PAID ITEM FEES" - they were both stumped and sure it must be some kind of bank error.
After speaking with a manager I was again told it must be a computer error of some type as she couldn't understand why I would be charged "PAID ITEM FEES" on things that were purchased yesterday and the day before when my account wasn't negative when these purchases were made NOR when they physically came through my account! It wasn't until I spoke with the head manager was I told (and the employees alerted to the fact) that this was how their system is NOW setup?
I'm sorry but this just isn't fair nor could it possibly be legal!
If you look at the first "PAID ITEM FEE" assessed on 7/7 you'll see there was $104.16 showing in my account at time I went to the store. After the last charge that overdrew the account (when including the $12.15) for the ordered checks everything that same night didn't pay even though these amounts had already been held against the account balance. For them to not pay these items is where I have a problem.
I am currently waiting to hear back from the bank as to what can / will be done if anything.
Your help and input would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything I can do to get them to remove these charges from my account?
Thank you.
Raymond Brooks
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