Wachovia's practices regarding NSF fees are getting out of hand. Here's the rundown:
Prior to Friday, 6/20, I made three small purchases ($7.76, $7.72 and $4.90). The balance in the account prior to making the purchases was $24.16.
On Friday, 6/20, at 4:45 PM, I made a deposit of $600 at an ATM. The receipt showed an available balance of $103.78 (the original $24.16, minus the three purchases, plus the $100 made available immediately for ATM deposits). I also called Wachovia to verify this amount and was told that yes, $103.78 was the correct amount.
At 5:20 PM, I went to the grocery store and spent $44.26. Later that evening, at 8:16 PM, I went to the store and spent $32.29.
The next morning I checked online and found that I had been assessed $105 in NSF/Unavailable funds fees. According to Wachovia, these fees are the result of the three small purchases being made after the holds for the $44.26 and $32.29 purchases had been placed on the account, but before the deposit had been credited.
One of the rationales offered by Wachovia for all this was that there are different cutoff times for deposits and purchases. That is, any deposit made after 3:00 PM would be credited as of the next business day, whereas a purchase made after 8:00 PM would be debited as of the next business day. However, holds against debit card purchases are immediate. This means that the holds for the purchases brought the available balance into the negative, thus justifying the NSF fees, even though the actual posted balance was still $3.78.in addition, the $100 that is made available immediately for ATM deposits is for cash withdrawals only and does not apply to check card/debit card purchases.
So, according to Wachovia, the sequence of events was:
Purchases of $44.26 and $32.29 made against account via VISA check card. These funds were put on hold against an account that had a balance of $24.16, bringing the available balance to -$53.39, even though the posted balance remained unchanged.
Deposit of $600 made. $100 of that made available immediately, pursuant to Wachovia policies for ATM deposits. This brings the available balance to $46.61 and the posted balance to $546.61. However, since the available balance applies to cash withdrawals only, the actually available balance at this point for debit card purchases is still -$53.39.
Purchases of $7.76, $7.72 and $4.90 posted against this negative balance, bringing the available balance to -$73.77 and the posted balance to $3.78.
NSF/Unavailable funds fees of $105 assessed against the account, bringing the available balance to -$178.77 and the posted balance to -$101.22.
However, the actual sequence of events is:
6/18: Three purchases made for $7.76, $7.72 and $4.90. Holds placed on the account, bringing the available balance to $3.78 and the posted balance to $24.16.
6/20: Three purchases from previous day posted to account. Available balance and posted balance are both $3.78.
6/20 4:45 PM: Deposit of $600 made at ATM. $100 made available immediately, which is reflected on the ATM receipt. A subsequent call to Wachovia customer service verifies this. At no point is it mentioned that the $100 applies only to cash withdrawals.
6/20 5:20 PM: Purchase made at Genuardis grocery store for $44.26.
6/20 8:16 PM: Purchase made at Acme grocery store for $32.29.
6/21: Checking online shows the $105 NSF fees. A call to Wachovia (over an hour on the phone) gets only lengthy explanations as to why the fees are justified, and an offer of a courtesy refund of 10% ($11) of the NSF fees. This offer is refused.
6/23: A visit to a local branch and a discussion with the bank manager, resulting in an offer of a refund of of the NSF fees ($53.00). This offer is accepted, even though I am not at all happy about it. When the branch manager is told that we will be closing the account and taking our business elsewhere, the response is basically "So what?" (NOTE: this is not a direct quote).
To summarize, Wachovia has perfected the art of collecting usurious fees from its customers by tweaking their definitions to avoid violating the precise letter of their own customer service agreement.By any reasonable standard, the fees charged against us are not in any way justified, yet we spent three days arguing with Wachovia in order to get only half of them returned.
Wachovia's practices cannot legally be defined as fraud, as they have covered themselves by putting this in the fine print of the "Welcome Package" we got five years ago (it's our own fault for allowing this document to be in our basement when it flooded two years ago assuming, of course, that we still had it after moving three times). This allows Wachovia to take the legally defensible position that we were notified of these practices beforehand and entered into a relationship with them with eyes wide open. However, these practices are definitely not designed in the interest of maintaining good customer relations.
If you are currently a Wachovia customer, my advice would be to run, not walk, away from them as fast as possible. If you are not, but considering it, then think again.
Dave
Collegeville, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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