This is just one more of the endless round of never ending charges BB&T finds to steal money from my checking account. They don't care that my sole income is Social Security Disability and a set amount.
On 05/04/09 I see a pending transaction that *I* did not authorize. It was one of those Federal Grant websites with the FREE CD and you only pay shipping. Okay. I'm fine with shipping. What they DIDN'T say was they were going to charge my account $39.95 a month afterwards. For what? I have no idea.
So I contact BB&T to STOP this unauthorized charge from coming out of my account. I'm told they CAN'T stop it. Although I DO know that once notified of a fradulent charge, the bank can and is suppose to stop the action and investigate. They say they can't DO anything until it posts to the account. Not even tell me where it's from so I can contact them.
I had 3 on-line bill payments going out that same day. They had NOT been received by the various utilities yet, however the bank stated they had "ear-marked" that money for the on-line payments and that basically if ALL the charges cleared that day, the account would be overdrawn. So they charged me $35.00 for the unauthorized charge, and then $35.00 for all of the authorized charges also pending, even though the actual money in the account was never below $0, since the money for the on-line payments was actually STILL in the account.
It's hard to have payments clear the same day when they haven't even been received yet. So the money for them, although "ear-marked", was still there.
The bank also knew that my little Social Security Stimulus check was being deposited in 24-48 hours. *I* didn't know it, but they did and told me so.
So the same date the Stimulus check is deposited, the on-line bill payments hit. The money for them has been previously "ear-marked", set aside... Knowing they would be presented to be cashed. But for some unknown reason (the account is NOT overdrawn), each and every one of the 3 checks is charged a $35.00 NSF fee and paid. So we're up to about $180.00 stolen out of my account now.
*I* finally get in touch with the internet crooks that stated this (the people at www.federalgrants.com) and demand a refund, get a confirmation number, and call the bank back. They don't care. They refuse to do ANYTHING until: 1) I allow them to cancel my debit card and then they will 'investigate' the fraudelent charge, or 2) the refund clears the account, and *I* call them back to reverse all the charges, which from the call will take ANOTHER 48 hours. (and they can be eating $35.00 at a whack constantly).
Now at no time, have they shown me an overdrawn balance... Not on-line at their own website, not at the ATM when I had to get a spot of cash, and none of the amounts I've spent have added up on the calculator to be more than they have stated is in my account at any given time, even WITH their theft of so much of MY money.
I have several questions I'm demanding from them and would love to know elsewhere. How do you charge NSF fees for pending transactions that haven't posted? How do you NOT investigate when you've been alerted the transaction is fraudulent? If you've "ear-marked" money for payments you know are coming, how can you charge NSF fees for them with the money sitting RIGHT THERE? WHO is the regulatory agent of the US over Banks that I can file a complaint with?
BB&T, like so many banks out there WILL steal your money, try to double-talk their way out of it, and IF they offer you a correction, they WILL take their own sweet time about doing so.
A sock under your mattress might be safer than a bank.
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