Complaint / Review
US Bank
Reordered Charges and Late-Posted ATM Deposit Caused $34 Fees

Oh, do I have a story for all anti-US Bank consumers... I have banked with US Bank for about 6 years and never had a problem until recently. My husband has been off work on short-term disability and is only receiving 60% of his pay, so money has been a little low, and US Bank is exploiting my situation.

It all started December 30th when I woke up and checked my bank account online (which I do 3 to 4 times a day) and saw that my husband's paycheck had been deposited and my balance was well over $1500. I let my husband know this before he left for work, and on his way he filled his gas tank and took money out of the ATM for lunch. At 9 AM, 3 hours later, I checked my balance and saw two overdraft charges of $30 each. The bank had slipped his morning charges in front of his paycheck direct deposit. Had I not been closely monitoring my account, this could have had disastrous results. I called the 1-800 number, and after 45 minutes of explaining what happened, I finally convinced a supervisor to refund the charges. No money lost, but a big waste of my day! Keep reading, it gets better...

Two weeks later there was a similar situation. I realized I had forgotten to take a $15 check out of my checkbook, and if it cleared I would be assessed another fee. I promptly ran to the ATM and deposited $25 cash (1-23-06). I went home and checked my account (remember, I do this obsessively), and all was well. I woke up the next morning (01-24-06) to 2 fees of $34 each! I called the 1-800 number, and the CSR informed me that the deposit was not posted to the account until 01-24-06, the following business day, because I went to the ATM after 6 pm on 01-23-06. Of course, I already know that $100 of an ATM deposit is available immediately no matter what the posting day. Keep in mind, my account balance was never negative. The fees were charged because of a negative available balance (which was not even accurate). I asked to speak with a supervisor and got Lori. She informed me that the fees could not be refunded because the ATM deposit was not made until 01-24-06 at 5 PM. Yes, apparently the supervisor forgot to discuss the situation with the employee. Of course, we argued over the date of the deposit. Lori then informed me that I would need to take my ATM deposit receipt into a bank branch to provide proof of the date and time of the deposit, because she would not refund these charges as US Bank was "kind enough" to reverse charges for me two weeks earlier. Kind enough?

I began checking online to see if banks have an ethical code and came across another horrible practice of US Bank, which got me thinking. I took a closer look at my account and found the withdrawals listed from largest to smallest amounts, even though some of the charges occurred days apart. If the bank had deducted the amounts in the order they were charged to the account, I would have received only 1 fee (that is, if I had actually overdrawn my account, which I did not).

I am confident I will receive a refund once I find the time to take my ATM receipt into the bank, but I am appalled at this bank's policies! Who is watching banks like this, and how much money do they steal from people who do not have the resources to check their account as frequently as I have?

Banks and their employees should have ethical guidelines to follow that would protect consumers from this kind of theft!