I have a few issues that have occurred in the last month with Wachovia Bank. Strangely enough, it all started on a very good note.
Two months ago when an online provider tried to put through a legitimate charge (admittedly a few days earlier than they always have before and I always make sure there is money in my account to cover it), the bank did not cover the cost because there was not enough money in my account. Good for Wachovia! Thank you! I called that particular merchant that I use, let them know my paycheck should be posted to my account the next morning (it was deposited that day of the charge but the money never shows in my account until 4am the next day) and the woman there said no problem, just go online when the money is in my account and I can pay it manually then. No problem. Worked out just fine.
Then something strange happened. I noticed the next month that a few hours after making an online purchase I had a negative balance. So I looked at the pending file and saw that it was an online purchase I had made a few hours earlier in the evening that had put me in the negative, it was the only thing in the pending file. So I went back to my account activity page I saw that the same vendor from the month before ran their charge again a few days early which I was not expecting and that is what put me in the negative, and I verified that my other purchases had posted since I did not see them in the pending file. I had $53.82 showing as my available balance and $78.50 in check card holds for a negative balance of -$24.68.
No problem. I legitimately owe wachovia a $35 charge for being overdrawn with that online purchase. My fault 100%. The next morning when I looked however, two purchases that had shown as posted the night before and not having any fees attached, were now showing with a $70.00 od/uff charge above them! That $70.00 fee was not there at 9pm the night before. So my account went from being -$24.68 (without the $35 showing yet) to to -$94.68 (still without the $35 fee showing yet).
Now I admit I did not fight them on it. I have always believed that banks tend to use mystery math/quantum physics timing systems when it comes to explaining things anyway and there was no way I was going to be able to prove what I had seen so fighting it would cost me in tylenol and excedrine more than the $70.00 taken from my account. So I let it go thinking it will not happen again.
Wrong. This month I made three purchases on the 13th. Those three, and another purchase from the 12th posted on the 14th leaving me with only $6.12 as my posted balance and my available balance. Later that day a $10.00 charge went through my account (a regularly occuring monthly bill that I forgot about. Yes. Forgot. This holiday month madness seems to have turned me into a ditz for some things) but before I remembered about that charge, I purchased something else for what I thought was $6.00 (my mistaken math and forgetful brain would put my balance at $0.12) but it was actually $7.00 which put me overdrawn even more. Again, I freely admit that I owe the $35.00 for the $10 charge, and another $35.00 for the $7.00 charge. My bad, my mistake.
A few days later I remembered the $10.00 and when I went online I saw the mess and was almost overwhelmed until I noticed a $105.00 od/uf fee also posted on the 14th. This got me to thinking. I have noticed in the past that my check card holds leave the holding pen and go to posted around 4am central time (same time my paychecks appear online). My $10 recurring fee gets run by the merchant between 5am and 10am central time. AFTER my pending items have posted. So why if that $10.00 and $7.00 was the only thing in my pending account, and the posted items listed for 12/14 had already posted, did I have a $105.00 od/uf fee? Three $35.00 fees lumped together separate of the two individually listed od/uf fees showing above the $10.00 and the $7.00.
So at that new point my account showed a negative balance of -$185.88 as of 12/17. I was angry, but I admit I owe the bank a chunk of change, but not that $105.00. Ok.
But is that enough? No. Throw on some insult to injury. My account is showing as overdrawn -$185.88 (in pending and posted where ever you want to look my available balance and my posted balance are both in the negative) when the merchant that I use that has changed charge dates on me in the past decided to charge me $100.12 on the 17th as well! And wachovia covered it! Why??? When my account is almost in the negative 200 why would they cover it? Why did they not reject it like they did the first time when I had some money in my account, just not enough to cover the whole thing?
So at that point, right before I need to get some sleep, my account is showing at -$286.00. Sweet dreams to me the week before xmas! I decide to call the bank first thing in the morning (well, not first thing, they don't open till 9am!) The next morning when I wake up my paycheck shows as having posted into the bank. Only there is a problem there as well. My check was short paid to me at only $182.50, not enough to cover the entire -$286.00 showing. I call my boss, he said he would deposit the rest the next day.
The rest of my paycheck does not make a difference in the fact that I became overdrawn. I am not disputing the fact that I do owe overdraft fees. My problem is with the $105.00 that have been charged on charges that had already posted before my account became overdrawn.
I call the bank the next afternoon (after spending hours trying to make sense of the whole thing) and after being put on hold (no music, no stupid voice thanking my for calling wachovia) for 30 min I finally get to talk to someone. I tell her I have a few issues and that I will start with the oldest one. She refunds the $70.00 from 11/28 after I vigorously point out how it is their error so they are stealing my money. She did not agree it was their error, but did give me the balogna excuse about how I was a good customer and had never had a refund before blah blah blah. I agree I owe the $35 from the online purchase on 11/28, I am not disputing that one. Ok. Issue finished, on with the next.
For whatever reason she was not at first willing to listen to what I was saying about the time that the three purchases posted creating the $105.00 charge in comparison to when the $10.00 charge when through on the same day.By her own admission she stated clearly that the software posts the batches that have run at 12midnight on the date showing on the account activity page. So by her own admission that $105.00 is a bank error charge. Finally she tells me that it is a bank error, and that she will have to call (who knows who) to get it cleared up, she gets my number, and tells me she will call me back.
Ha! I did not leave the house and that phone did not ring. So I called her back today and she said she needs to call the head office and she will call me back in five min. Ok. Two minutes later she did call me back. Hmmm. Do you think that was enough time to get ahold of someone on the phone, discuss an issue, tell them how you had seen with your own eyes that it was a bank error? I don't think so either. The only she said to me after I answered the phone was that the fee was incurred because those items were in the holding account when the 10 charge when through. What??? After she admitted the day before that it was a bank error once she looked up times, not just the dates, of the transactions, she has now changed her tune in less than two minutes.
I knew at that point that her only use to me from that point on would be as a road blog, so I asked to talk to her boss. She gave me the name and number of her regional manager in Florence Alabama. The woman at my local bank that I had been speaking with transfered me to her and surprise... Voicemail. I left a message at around 4pm my time but did not receive a call back today. Her voice mail greeting did give her cell number and I will try that number if I cannot get her on the other number tomorrow.
After all I have been through in the last few days I feel so overwhelmed. I honestly feel that the bank is making me pay more than just the $35 that you agree to when you sign on the line for your account, that they are deliberately lying and altering dates for the sole reason that I did make a mistake, I do already owe them money, but that they are compounding it through false means to make it even worse because how can I fight them? They know I can't take them to court. They know I can't bring in documents showing exactly what I saw on my computer on specific dates and times. They make the rules yes, but they also hold all the pieces and they can work them to benefit themselves. I feel that they count on me as an individual being so embarassed, as I am, that I did make mistakes, that I will not push to rectify the situation.
The worst part? It is done with such an attitude of indifference except when they are telling you it is all your fault. I admit I made mistakes that should cost me money, but why is wachovia allowed free reign to make my punishment past the $35.00 per overdraft even worse?
I am very emotional over this issue and I apologize now for my long post.
Crystal
Decatur, Alabama
U.S.A.
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