I overdrew my account by 10 dollars and I have no problem accecpting responsibility for that and paying the nsf fee. However, this post is how wachovia is using trick accounting software to create other nsf fees. Very briefly, I had 36 dollars in my account free and clear with no holds. I made a point of sale checkcard purchase for 34 dollars at 7-11 and the money was taken out immeadiately as usual. Then, a 12 dollar online visa payment was processed which caused my account to be overdrawn, and with the first fee of 22 dollars I had a balance of -29 dollars after all transactions had been processed. I am satisfied with that amount. Mysteriously, over 24 hours later my balance had become -65 dollars due to another 35 dollar nsf charge. I called the 800 number and asked the reps the following "if i have a balance of 36 and drafts are presented for 34 and 12, then how can both items bounce? Clearly, one should of been paid and one should of bounced. That is what your online banking system said after all transactions had been processed." Several different reps could not answer that and transferred me to a supervisor. Suspiciously, I have gotten several different stories from the supervisors as to what happened. This is what they claim: First version: When I had 36 dollars the checkcard purchase was put on hold for 34 dollars which left a balance of 2 dollars. Then they processed the 12 dollar charge which bounced and put my account into a negative balance. THEN, they processed the 34 dollar "hold" and because my account was in the red, it also bounced. LOL This is my response. 1) all transactions had been cleared and the online balance showed a negative 29 dollar balance. They went back 24 hours later and claimed the checkcard purchase was a "hold". 7-11 stores has never put a hold on a checkcard purchase, the money comes out instantly. 2) If the 34 dollar purchase was a hold, then those funds should of been set aside to guarantee the money for 7-11. That is the purpose of a hold. That would of left me with a 2 dollar balance and the 34 dollar charge would not of bounced. This is their second version of what happened: There was a hold on the 34 dollar charge which left a 2 dollar balance. When the 12 dollar item was presented, "they dipped into the 34 dollar hold to pay the 12 dollar charge and thus, when the 34 dollar charge was presented it also bounced. My response is 1) if there is a hold on the 34 dollars then you are not supposed to dip into it to pay other claims. 2) If I had a balance of 2 dollars and a 12 dollar item was presented, then there was no need to dip into the 34 dollar hold. Wachovia routinely pays overdrafts of 10 dollars and then charges a nsf fee. And here is the third version of what they say happened: I had a balance of 36 dollars... They processed both debits which added up to 46 dollars and because my account only had 36 dollars, the TOTAL SUM of both charges bounced.
In my opinion, their computer told them i was overdrawn, so they went back 24 hours later and claimed that the 34 dollar purchase was a hold and thus, according to all their versions of what happened, that caused both items to bounce.
Wachovia is a very unethical company. They claim that checkcards are easier to use, yet had I physically withdrew the 34 dollars then only one item would of bounced. Had I physically written a check, then only one item would bounce. They promote checkcards cause they can use trick accounting programs to scam people.
Wachovia uses numerous ways to scam people which are all legal.
1) They give you an "available balance" which is not actually the available balance." Only the posted balance is actually available. If you want to know how much you can spend without overdrafting, you have to actually speack to a rep and ask what your "posted balance" is. The average person does not know to do this and reads that they have an "available balance" of xxx dollars yet it will cause them to incurr very expensive fees.
2) They also removed the security features of requiring a PIN number to use the checkcard. Now, the criminals with your checkcard only have to press "credit" at a store terminal and they can empty your account.
They claim you have zero liability, yet the fine print says that you must notify them within 2 days and your max loss will be 50 dollars. If you do not call them within 2 days, then your max loss is 500 dollars. That's nice to know, that a criminal can get my atm card and spend 500 dollars without having a pin number just by pressing the "credit" button.
3) They promote their checkcard rewards program yet the fine print says that "purchases made by using your PIN number do not earn points" lol what a scam. Most people use their checkcard at POS terminals that require a PIN number.
4) Despite numerous warnings from 9 major banks, wachovia continuted to process illegal fraud transactions for a major telemarketer. The dispute rate of these transactions was over 80% yet industry standards say any dispute rate over 3% is a red flag for fraud and would cause the account to be frozen. Govt. Documents show internal emails that wachovia knew of the problem but "they were making so much money" they overlooked them.in fact, wachovia threw a party for the telemarketer saying "they like to take care of their best customers." Wachovia has reached an agreement with federal requlators and agreed to pay 144 million dollars in fines to reimburse all the senior citizens who were scammed. Imagine all the stress and hassles thousands of people put up with cause "wachovia was knowingly scamming people."
In conclusion, wachovia is a bunch of thieves who use numerous deceptive practices to scam consumers.
They don't care if I close my account and I don't care cause I only use it for pocket money... Most of my assets are in blue-chips stocks. And my father keeps 30 million dollars in that bank and if he ever leaves me a penny the first thing I am doing is closing every wachovia account.
I am sending a copy of this letter to the House Finanical Services Committie which has the power to outlaw these types of scams.
J
Daytona Beach, Florida
U.S.A.
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