I started a new job about 2 weeks ago so instead of getting the paycard my employer offered I opted to start a bank account with some money a close relative sent to me. My fiancee had been laid off for about a month and family knew times were getting rough for my family with small children so I recieved a 1,000.00 check from my grandmother in another state. I started my job and the following week I started my account with Bank of America so I could have direct deposit.
I started the account online and then upon getting a confirmation email a day later I went into a branch and I made a deposit of one thousand dollars. I was notified there would be a 3 to 5 day hold on the check since it was an out of state check. I was fine with this since there really is nothing you can do about a hold on an out of state check. 5 business days pass and I call the bank and they confirm I have all the money in the account and my available balance. I went to the bank and drew out 50 dollars to get some gas and a few other things and went about my next day.
A few days later when we needed a little more money I called the bank to have my new debit card activated and I find out my balance went from 950.00 to NEGATIVE 89.00. After waiting 15 minutes on hold I finally am able to speak with a rep. I tell her about the deposit and my 50 dollar withdraw at the branch and I am wondering my in the HECK I am at a negative 89 dollars. She explains to me that ANOTHER 5 business day hold was put on the check. I could have died.
I was just in the branch a few days before and they gave me my money and said NOTHING about a hold, which I would think that would be their responsibility to tell me since I am a new customer and it would show I have only have had the account 2 weeks. This snotty woman on the phone trys and tells me that because due to the federal regulations on cashing checks there was another hold put on the check. Ok so I tell her that I should not be held responsible for ANY OD fees accrued because I did not know of any hold whatsoever.
She tells me all she can do is use my "one time overdraft forgiveness" on this and it will be all fixed. I say ok whatever I have to do to make my account go back to positive. She also tells me that this is a one time use of this protection and I can never use this again. I feel like I have been screwed into thinking this was my fault and now i am taking the fall for this and using my one and only "get out of jail free" card.
So 2 days after this incident I get a letter in the mail stating that I have the additional hold on the account. HOW CONVIENENT! Telling me after the fact. I dont know if this has happened to anyone else but tomorrow morning I am calling the bank back and demanding they make this right and be held accountable for the overdraft fees so if anything ever happens to me like this again (only being my fault) I can use my overdraft protection one time deal. I know that the check was good because it came from relatives that have money and I dont think they should be holding checks for 10 PLUS days when it should have had PLENTY of time to clear!
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