First off I would like to state that I know what happens when you take out more money from your bank account than you deposit. I have no problem at all paying these "fees" when I make a mistake. The problem that I have is when no error was made on my part, but the bank sees an opening for some revenue. Second I would like to state that the local branch of KEYBANK is one of the best places to do business I have ever seen. My problem is with the corperate Customer "service" center.
As a wise man once said, the best place to start is at the begining, so here goes.
When I opened my "Express checking" account from Key I was told that transactions were processesed "Deposits first, then debits from largest to smallest". What I wasn't told was deposits could be held if the bank chooses. I deposited over $1200 and took my wife shopping, and out to eat. My balance was over $1300 and we spent less than $300 on shopping and dinner. The next morning when I checked my remaining balance on my account I saw that they had place a hold on the deposit I had made and started charging overdraft fees. I got slammed with seven $33 charges in one day.
I went into my local branch and asked what was happining with my account. The woman I delt with, Sherri, was kind, polite, and easy to talk to. She explained the change in the banks "Funds Avaiability Policy". When we were finished she refunded ALL SEVEN $33 charges. Sounds like I got what I wnated right? Wrong.
That night the bank startes changing the way they processed items to my account. They processed four transactions before they released the hold on the original deposit, so that I got slamed with four more $33 charges. The local branch had nothing to do with it at this point so I e-mailed the customer service center. I explained that the only reason the account went into the negitive was becase of an error at the local branch. The Customer Account Representitive who called me was named Dave. Dave, like Sherrie, was kind, polite, and easy to talk to. After two phone calls, one to the local branch and one to me. The four $33 charges were again refunded to my account. Good deal, right? Wrong AGAIN.
The very next morning I checked my balance on-line, at the ATM, and at the local branch. All of the balances were the same as my register. That afternoon for no reason at all I was slammed with five more "Overdraft" fees.
Five fees assesd to an account in good standing, sounds fishy to me. So once again I called the customer service center. I was shocked at the attitude that I got from the rep on the phone. She was rude, crass, and sounded like she had been pulled out of the ghetto, handed a script and left alone on the phone. After being called stupid (I am not), and asked if I understood basic math (I do), I asked to speak with with her supervisor. A man name Aaron got on the phone and proceded to read the same script, with the same attitude. I was on the phone with Aaron for over an hour. He re-read the same lines from his script over and over again. When I asked to speak with his supervisor, he told me he didn't have one.By the time I had conveyed to him what had already taken place, and he understood that he needed to call the local branch to verify what I had been trying to tell him, it was already 5:30pm EST, and the local branch closed at 4:00pm. I was told that there was no further option for me and I would have to "deal with it". I hung up the phone ready to pull my own hair out.
I checked my account balance the next morning and lo and behold there were new fees on my account for keeping the reps on the phone too long. There were also, are you ready for this, more "overdraft" fees resulting from the Excess Phone Use fee I was charged. I never agreeed to any Excess Phone Use fee. So the fees keep piling up and I refuse to pay them.
I guess we should have been told "Banker beware" not "Buyer beware".
So that is my story. I don't have a problem owning my mistakes. I do have a problem paying for someone elses.
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