I opened an account with BB&T only because they refused to cash my paycheck, which is written on their bank, without my having an account with them. I told the branch manager, Brandon Bragg, that I am disabled, on a very limited income, and could not afford any bank fees. He assured me that the senior checking account had no fees whatsoever — although he tried to talk me into signing up for a "plus package" which costs $4.95 per month, but which was free at the time. I agreed to the free trial of the plus package, and cancelled it (I have the email from him acknowledging he had cancelled it before the deadline), so I should have no fees associated with my account. I opened this account on June 20, and was told my cehcks and debit card would arrive in 7-10 days. A week later, I went to the branch seeking my checks, and was told that was 7-10 business days, and it had only been 5 business days. Long story short, it took over six weeks to receive my checks, and nearly a week more to get my debit card — all because I had asked they be sent to the bank (my mailbox is not secure), they they were returned "undeliverable as addressed"! (How can they be undeliverable directly to the bank?!) So, I finally got my debit card this week, and started using it, so I went online today to check my balance, and lo and behold! There is an $8.00 "Maintenance Fee" on the readout. I call the bank to find out what the heck this is for, and the girl who answered the phone tells me it's the monthly maintenance fee on my account (so did they steal $8.00 from me last month, too?)! I told her that Brandon had told me there would be no maintenance fee at all unless I failed to remove that plus package thing before the end of the free trial; she tells me, no, the account you have requires a $500.00 minimum balance to be free; I told her, no, Brandon assured me there was no minimum balance required; she puts me on hold for over twelve minutes, just to connect me to Brandon, who has no clue who I am, and denies that he ever told me there would be no fees because, "... We don't have any accounts without a fee of some sort." So why does their big banner outside the store say "Totally Free Checking"?! Needless to say, I cannot afford to bank with an institution that plans on stealing an hour's pay from me just so I can cash my paycheck — a service they "offer" for just $5.00!
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