I used to have an account at Provident Bank in Virginia. I have since cancelled this account because of the service from this bank. Twice in the one year I had an account with this bank, I have overdrafted the account and was charged overdraft fees. Both times was because a check which I had deposited didn't clear when I was told it would, by the teller. The first time I just paid the $192 in overdraft fees ($32 x 6). I should have looked over it closer.
The second time this happened, they didn't notify me for about a week and a half. They sent a letter stating that there were overdraft fees and starting the next day, I would be charged an extra $5 fee per day for the account being negative. It took three days for this letter to arrive, so by the time I received the letter there were already charging me this fee. They had my phone number, but never attempted to call me.
The day after receiving the letter, I went to the bank branch and spoke with one of the reps. I wanted some of these fees taken off. The only reason there was an overdraft was because they didn't clear the check I deposited for two more days then they said it would take. This is ridiculous considering we all know that it doesn't take a week for a check to clear anymore. Now that all banks are connected electronically, it only takes until the next day. They wait extra days to credit it to your account to improve their cash flow and lower the amount of interest they have to pay. For one person this doesn't amount to much, but when they do it to thousands of persons many times a year, it adds up.
The check was more than enough to cover the purchases I had made, but not enough to cover the purchases plus almost $300 in fees. I had multiple debits to the account that they wanted to charge me $32 each for, even the $5 purchases that I had made with my debit card.
She was very rude. She stated that I was stealing money from the bank, they didn't have to notify me of overdrafts because it's my responsibility to know my balance, and that she wouldn't take off any of these fees because this is how the bank makes money. After making an ass out of herself, I pointed out to her that the first day they charged me fees, there were four purchases. There was enough money in the account, at that time, to cover the first three. They were trying to charge me $32 for each of the four. Apparently this is how their computer is set up, even though it doesn't conform to their own agreement with the account holder. I believe that Provident knows there computer is set up like that, knows that most people would not notice, and is purposely defrauding their customers.
She got a funny look on her face and agreed to take off the $96 in fees for those three debits. I pointed out that without those fees, then a couple of days later, when they finally cleared the check, there was another debit that shouldn't have had a fee charged. She wouldn't take off this one. So, after all that I still had to pay about $200 in fees and I cancelled the account.
I opened an account at BB&T and signed up for their overdraft service which connected the checking account to your saving account. $10 if they have to transfer money to cover an overdraft. The only overdraft protection that Provident told me about is to have me apply for a $1000 loan and they hold on to it.
So if you have an account with Provident Bank in Virginia, DC, Maryland, or Pennsylvania, then watch out. They will purposely attempt to charge extra fees which they are not entitled to.
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