Charter One Bank has set up new policies to insure that the customer fails and they collect multiple, huge NSF fees.
For as long as I can remember, most of us would get a paycheck on Friday and begin spending the money whether is was by check or debit card. We would then swing by the bank and deposit the check to cover those expenses. Well, now Charter One has a policy that is sure to rake in tons of profit at the "customers" expense. When you swipe your card the money is immediately taken our of your account and the money is held (not paid to the merchant) for 3 days. When you swing by the bank to deposit your check they also hold that for 48 hours, or more creating a huge gap in your account. Additionally, when you have multiple accounts and make a transfer over their own website, they don't even let that happen for 24 hours. What ever happen to the speed of the computer?
When you go online to view your account, which should be in real time, it doesn't show that the money was taken out of your account OR that the deposit has not been credited. Your account could look perfectly fine but only THEY know what's coming. Even when you call the bank and ask about the account, the person you're talking to has no idea about what you are about to experience.
We had a problem, like a lot of people, where we forgot about a check and the account was overdrawn. When we went online to look at the account we saw the problem and transferred money (at the same bank) to cover our error. Then the snowball happened. Recent debits which did not show up on the online account info and hadn't been paid to the merchant were deducted along with the overdraft fees causing a huge mess. How do you know you have a problem if nobody shows it to you??? How is it in THEIR records but they don't let you see it?
Then we went to the bank and made a regular deposit. I was told my account was in the negative. We questioned the teller and was provided with some information only an accountant would understand. Later that evening I went online again and saw that the deposit was credited and everything looked fine. The next night more NSF fees were deducted for item that didn't even show up on the account info and hadn't been paid to the merchant.in a few days we recieve the NSF statements from the bank saying that the items that created the overdraft were items "on hold" or "still on hold". The next day we call the bank and talk to someone. We ask why the new overdraft fees were assessed when they were charged the day after we made the deposit and we were told the deposit was not credited for 48 hours. We asked if everything was now OK and she said it appeared to be. A couple days later we check the account again online and they were MORE overdraft fees so we made copies and went to the bank. The person at the bank said "This is the new policy".
This all started over a $1.85 overdraft and the bank ended up reaping profits of $339.00.
CAUTION: Even though we closed the account they made a $0.01 withdrawal and reopened the account sending at least $0.42 (just in postage) worth of letters demanding a deposit to cover this aggregious situation and of course threatened collection action.
0 comments