August 7 3pm Friday EST
My daughter spent more than she had in her account. Three additional overdrafts for small amounts compounded this sequence of events. The net result $35 times 4 or $140 in charges for aproximately $100 total in overdrafts during aproximately a one week time period. Within a week a deposit cleared and the overdraft fees plus the overage were deducted from the account. However the question is, should multiple overdrafts resulting in under $100 or even $ 500 cost $140 in fees?
One consideration is the cost to borrow $100 or even $500 for a year at 10 or 20% interest. What is the maximum the interest charge would be? Probably in a range from $50 to possibly $200. So why not select some relatively reasonable limits on these overdrafts. Is banking so good that they don't need to be marginally realistic?
My daughter was assisted with one of the $35 charges from a branch in New York City and required to pay the remaining 3 overdraft charges totaling $105. So we went to our local branch in Cranford and were told once the system had been utilized for one reimbursement, there was no other recourse other than to contact the NYC branch. We left the Cranford branch when the manager claimed his hands were tied and would call the NYC branch. He called back an hour later to say he wasn't able to talk with the person who granted the original $35 reimbursement.
Now I understand that prior history also plays into this but the question still remains, do they need $105 or $140 reimbursement for a combined overdraft of aproximatelyh $100 that was rectified in less than a week? I think Wachovia Bank in Cranford New Jersey is taking more than is required to make an excellent profit on their cost of maintaining a single customer.
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