Throughout my 10 years of dealing Astoria Federal, there have been numerous questionable overdraft fees assessed on my account. I say questionable because many of the fees would appear on my statement just AFTER my paycheck was directly deposited in my account. When I would confront the bank I was told that a check was presented prior to my paycheck being deposited (sometimes minutes), even though the statement would list the check after the deposit.
The first major issue my wife and I experienced with Astoria occurred in early 2006. We maintain 2 accounts with Astoria. One account is checking with ATM access and the other is used for savings. The accounts are not linked so we can watch how much we spend. When the balance in the checking account gets low, we transfer funds (via phone) from the savings to the checking.
On this occasion, my wife was out shopping and checked the account balance over the phone. As most of you know, you are given 2 balances, account balance and available balance. When my wife checked the AVAILABLE balance after a sizeable purchase (POS), it was approximately $30, so she transferred funds ($500) from the savings to the checking account so she could continue shopping. She spent another $70 that day in 3 different locations using the ATM card as a credit card.
Upon checking the balance the following day it was NEGATIVE! My wife was flabbergasted. It turns out that Astoria treated the purchases my wife made after transferring the finds as being made prior to the transfer. This set off a chain of overdraft fees which ended up being $610. I got a copy of the transactions directly from Astoria and it clearly showed that the transfer was made prior to the purchases, but they argued that when a purchase is made there is an immediate hold on the amount of the purchase. I argued that it was irrelevant when in the process the funds were held since the transfer was made PRIOR to the purchases.
After explaining that computers do not spit out this information at random and it was in chronological order, the manager I was speaking with could not give me a good explanation of why it happened, but offered, as a one time courtesy to refund half of the overdraft fees. I flatly refused since they made the mistake and I wanted all of my money back.
My next step was to write a letter to the CEO. While I knew it would not be read by the CEO, it is usually the best way to get action. I enclosed a copy of the statement, printed out in one of their branches, highlighting the mistakes. I received a check for half of the overdraft fees and a letter telling me that I was at fault but they would offer me a one time courtesy of half the fees.
The second major issue occurred just this week. My wife deposited a check for just over $500 and specifically asked the teller if the check would be held. The teller said no. She asked if she was sure and the teller stated that since it was under $1000, it would not be held. My wife proceeded to go Christmas shopping on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and spent well under the amount of the account balance. Lo and behold, there is now $270 in overdraft fees on my account, bringing it into the negative.
When my wife called to find out why, she was told the check was being held and the teller must have been new and didn't know the policy. However, when I look at the transactions online (on their Online Banking with Bill Pay) I see the overdraft fees being taken out even though I had a positive balance on my account! After the fees are taken out, then I can see a check paid out that brings the account balance negative, but only because they had already taken out the funds that would have covered the check through their overdraft fees. I am still in the process of fighting this and will gather information to file a complaint with the OCC, and the Federal Reserve, and any other agency I can.
I have had it with Astoria's fraudulent practices, horrendous customer support, and exorbitant fees and will move my business elsewhere.
Please avoid doing business with this institution.
0 comments