Us bank not student friendly
It is certainly not brand new information that a great deal of college students are under constant stress due to financial challenges. Therefore, I feel that it is important that, as students, we make a reasonable effort to inform each other of situations that hold the potential for contributing to an increase in this particular type of stress. Please find below a letter that I have written to the student body of Morehead State University that is intended to serve this purpose. A recent experience with U.S. Bank has proven to me that this financial institution will not hesitate to take advantage of an opportunity to make a profit, despite its inevitable potential for creating even greater financial stress. This is most concerning given that this particular incident is one that was well within the institution's capability to have handled in a manner that would have been much less financially devastating.
Since many M.S.U. Students are customers of U.S. Bank because of its affiliation with the University, I feel obligated to share with you a recent experience I had. On September 3 I noticed a miscellaneous debit from my US Bank Account for $75.00 which I did not recognize. I called the bank and was told this was paid to the Kentucky Department of Revenue. I was aware that I still owe taxes from back in when I had lost my job and chose to return to college as a full-time student. However, I had previously made arrangements with the department of revenue to place a 'hold status' in pursuing collections until after I graduate and obtain a job - since I, like many of you, have only student loans as a source of financial income. When I called the department of revenue, I was told that this was an effort to encourage me to contact them with a current mailing address because a recent mailing had been returned to them marked as an "undeliverable mailing address".
Because the bank had specifically told me that this $75 had been paid directly to the department of revenue and since the department of revenue had assured me that this was only a one-time debit' as a means to obtain my current mailing address, I didn't think to inquire further about the amount that had been debited from my account. I thought this was the end of the issue, until I received a letter from my bank on September 5 explaining that the $75 was actually a 'fee from the bank' and that the department of revenue had actually made arrangements to garnish nearly $800 from my bank account. The payment was not scheduled to be maid until September 10, nearly a week later.
I immediately got on-line to verify that my check registry' matched my current available balance' and to figure out how much I would need to transfer from my money market account (which is not a U.S. Bank Account) in order to cover a check that I had written earlier in the week to pay rent as well as a few other minor debit card transactions. You can imagine how shocked I was to see that my available balance' was at a negative status, especially since the garnishment of $800 had not yet been deducted from my account. Furthermore, I had $150 in overdraft fees from four debit card transactions (which total no more than $20 for all four transactions). I immediately went to the branch location and was told that even though the money had not yet been withdrawn from my account, a hold had been placed on my account on September 3, which the letter I had received did not bother to mention. Therefore, my account was already beginning to accrue overdraft fees and my rent check had been returned to my landlord due to non-sufficient funds', despite the fact that these funds really were available at this point in time. The bottom line is this - the bank had placed a hold on my account, without notifying me, and I was not afforded the opportunity to make a deposit that would have prevented these unnecessary overdraft fees and my rent check being returned to my landlord. Keep in mind that according to the letter which I had just received on this very day, I had nearly an entire week to prevent this from happening and I was making assiduous effort to address the situation immediately.
Sadly, the situation still gets worse. After having received one blast of bad news after another, I made a deposit to cover everything, which took nearly every penny I have to my name. After this had been done, the customer service manager, Stephanie Kidd, then informed me that the transfer could take up to five days to clear.in all honesty, she almost seemed to take pleasure in providing the additional bad news that I would continue to be charged a daily fee for each day my account remains in a negative balance status.
By this point I was feeling pretty desperate to make a terrible situation at least a little bit better. I asked if she would at least be willing to reverse the $150.00 in overdrafts, the $75.00 garnishment fee, and/or freeze my account until the funds transferred from my money market account. Without even a second's pause and with almost no resemblance of humanity, she gave a terse, snippy reply of "I can't do that", seeming as if she were offended that I would ask such a question. Even though I wasn't born yesterday I might have bought her act, but I have a friend who works for US Bank at another location. It just so happens that I had just called her on my way to the bank and she had told me that customer service representatives and managers do have the ability and authorization to give these types of courtesy credits, but that the key would be to find a "nice" one. So since I knew this, I said to her, "You and I both know that is not true - you CAN do at least this much for me. So I would at least appreciate the courtesy of honesty. If you are simply not willing to help me out, I would much prefer that you just tell me you WON'T do it rather than you CAN'T. She then looks me directly in the eye with a smug little smirk and said - "Okay then, Mr. Brock I won't do that for you. As I was leaving she said to me in a condescending tone, Have a nice week-end.
Unfortunately, this is not the first negative experience I've had with U.S. Bank. This past summer, I was running low on cash, so I borrowed $75.00 from a friend. My bank was closed by the time my friend had given me the check and I used my debit card for things like gas, cigarettes, and other miscellaneous items that I needed. I made a deposit the very next day which more the covered the amount I had spent. However, since the funds were not available on the day I made the purchase the bank charged an overdraft fee for each transaction which led me to a negative balance of nearly $200. I went to the branch the next day to explain that it might be a few days or even weeks before I could cover the negative balance (which was entirely due to overdraft fees). It was a Saturday, and the bank teller said I would need to talk to the branch manager, Joyce. I went in on Monday to explain my situation with Joyce, but by that time my fees had gone up to well over $500 including additional overdraft charges because any deposits I had made were being wiped out by these bank fees. Joyce gave me a lecture on how to balance a check book and informed me that the bank did not hold a strong incentive to maintain customers who were incapable of keeping an accurate check register. She also told me that there was nothing she could do but by the end of our conversation, made an offer that if I pay a certain amount of money toward the negative (well over half the total negative balance) that she would consider giving me a credit for the remaining overdraft fees. This is a far cry from her initial statement that there was nothing she could do. I asked if she could freeze my account until I could make a deposit to help keep the negative balance from increasing, and she informed me that she could not do this which we are all now well aware is entirely untrue. I was able to borrow the money from a friend but still ended up paying well over $300 and the remaining $200 was credited. Perhaps the most frustrating part of this was that throughout this period of time my negative balance was always less than the total amount of fees I had been, and was continuing to be charged and the branch manager had the audacity to talk to me as if I were the one being unreasonable. Even though I knew in my heart that this wasn't true I still walked away from these interactions with U.S. Bank feeling as if I were two inches tall.
Needless to say, I'm not just upset over being financially wiped out - but also because of the disrespectful, unprofessional manner in which I have been treated by U.S. Bank. While I have no doubt that these fees are legally justifiable - I can't help but have serious concerns for the type of person who has not only the opportunity but the capability and authority to help make someone's day just a little bit better during stressful times and yet verbally acknowledges that they simply just won't do it.
Despite their free student checking, I personally attest that they will take advantage of an opportunity to stick it to you if one should ever present itself and what's even worse, you probably won't know they've done it until it's simply too late. Regardless of whether or not you choose to consider my experience as being one that persuades you to reconsider your current banking services, please at least keep in mind that even if you never have to deal with a situation of this specific nature - banks ARE known to make mistakes. So wouldn't you be more comfortable knowing that, in the event that you do have problem, you will be treated as both a valued customer and more importantly, as a fellow human being. This experience has shown me that you will not receive this type of treatment from U.S. Bank, unless of course you are there to open an account or make a deposit.
While I do feel that U S Bank is unjustified in having taken nearly $400 from my account for overdraft fees (despite the fact that they can 'legally' justify them) I would be a fool to ever expect a refund since they technically do have a license to rob the poor in order to earn their own financial bonus. My primary desired outcome is for Stephanie Kidd to be held accountable for the manner in which she not only mistreated me as a U S Bank Customer but for the way she disrespected me as a human being, during which time she displayed overt signs of taking a twisted pleasure in doing so.
I would also like to know that Joyce Messer will be "counseled" in the same facetious manner in which she offered me lessons on how to balance my checkbook at a time when I was under extreme financial stress. Although, I feel she should be offered lessons in how to be genuine, warm, and empathetic toward her customers for whom she works and who without, would receive no bonus.
Finally, I would like to know that in future situations where a customer is asking for a little help in paying off these ridiculously substantial overdraft fees, that they at least give them the courtesy of saying "I won't do that for you" rather than offering the untruth of "I can't do that". Ultimately, I would like to know that both of these fine ladies are given an opportunity to gain at least some degree of humanity and common decency.
Sadly, I understand that none of these desired outcomes will ever happen. But I do feel that the public should be made aware of the manner in which U S Bank chooses to "mistreat" their customers.
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