My husband and I had (have, really don't know yet) a business account with Wachovia since September.
Like all new businesses, we are not making any money because of a need for investors or generous family members to help out financially. Anyway, Wachovia has been hitting us with insufficient fund and overdraft fees since 2005. At first we thought that because we were getting some of the fees reversed, that this bank was understanding. Well, it got worse over these past couple of years.
I recently had Wachovia reverse over $1000.00 in fees within a two month period. The fees were a result of a companies, which we had automatic payments set up through them, continuing to debit our account, even after we cancelled the automatic debits with the companies. I made phone calls to Wachovia insisting that there was something that they could do to prevent these companies going into our account, getting paid, and Wachovia charging us these fees. Wachovia's answer was that there was no way that the bank could stop these people from going into the account unless we closed the account down and reopened another one. But here is the catch. I was informed by a very nice representative that if I did close this account down, there would be a very good chance that Wachovia would not open another account for us because of all the reversals that I received for the disputed fees.
So, I left it opened and called the two companies that were drafting my account and begged them not to do this because the repercussions would cause us to lose our bank account. Well, it did stop, finally. I then drive two hours to the closest Wachovia Branch to deposit two checks because I wanted them to be available no later than five days. (The closest branch is in Connecticut, because we live in Massachusetts) The branch manager, Mr. Russo, tells me that our account is in Debt Analysis because of the reversal of the fees. He continues to tell me that if it were up to him, he would close our account immediately because we were not being careful about the overdraft and insufficient fund fees.
I then told him that first off, Wachovia made a lot of money from these fees from our company and now that I received these reversals, the bank feels that we are a risky business??? He says yes. Well, I tell him that I will wait for Wachovia to contact us regarding this Analysis and then I will decide what we will do. Four days later we drive down to Wachovia again, (excited because we just received a check from a man who wanted to invest in our company) to deposit the check he sent us. I again speak to Mr Russo and tell him that I spoke with an agent from the 800 number and was informed that even if our account is in analysis we can still continue our banking business until we are notified from them that they want us to close the account. So, I show Mr. Russo the check we received and asked him he would check to see if the account from this man was good before I deposited it into our account. He informed me that our account was closed and that we needed to do business elsewhere. He seemed pretty short with me, but I figured that he was having a bad day. He told me that if there was any monies in the account, Wachovia would send us a check. Sadly, I thanked him for his time, and assistance and left.
Just this morning we find out that our account was never closed with Wachovia, and monies were in our account from a direct deposit that we were expecting. We spoke with (no LIE) 6 different agents from 4 different departments and they all said that Mr. Russo put a restraint on our account on that very same day he told me our account was closed. Then we were given the bombshell information from the last representative that we spoke to, and that was that, not only did Mr. Russo put a restraint on the account, but he put notes in the account that we were trying to fraud Wachovia by depositing a bad check. THE GALL OF HIM!!! I became irate but at the same time told the rep that I was not blaming her, but I had to release my anger and frustration on someone. She said that she completely understood and suggested that I speak with his manager, (which I got the info from her). I told her that the two other departments I spoke with prior to her told me to find someone a step above him and complain. Now, my husband and I will have to take our 4 year old son to Connecticut tomorrow morning (two hours away) and meet with Mr. Russo again (did I mention that he was a financial branch manager) to withdraw our money from Wachovia and speak with his Manager.
What on earth is this man thinking and who does he think he is? I am so angry that I started searching the web for ways to control your anger with a banker (you know so that you don't get arrested while your unleashing your frustration on him) and came across this web site and decided to put my two cents in.
I am willing to go along with any of the Victims of the Wachovia Fee Scam.
Contact me anytime and let's get this ball rolling. If complaint does not post my contact info, then please respond on this site, for I will be constantly viewing it.
Cathy
Fall River, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
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