On the recommendation of Gomez, I opened an account with Charter One Bank in February. I was looking for an online bank with a higher yield on my savings, and have found the exact opposite. This hasn't been my main bank account, and I wanted to evalaute the online bill payment and other features before completely switching banks.
To date, I have paid $51 in service fees. These fees included an 2-month inactivity fee, which when applied triggered a below $2,500 minimum balance fee. I have put another $1,000 in the account since hitting the $2,500 minimum and had one POS withdrawl of $3 - but still was hit with a minimum balance fee - I'm trying to get the details of how they calculate an average daily balance which is used to assess this fee.
In the short time that I've banked with Charter One, I've also been charge fees to talk to a "live" person about these service charges. Statements and the online information is very vague and do not specifically mention what the fee is for, only "Service Charge" irregardless of what it was for.
At this point I am ready to close this account and run as fast away from this them as possible. However, there is one final catch, another fee. Accounts closed within 120 days are charged $75. I've gotten past 120 calendar days, but knowing how bad this bank wants my money, I have a feeling this is based on 120 "business" days (minus holidays).
With all that said I will take Gomez recommendations for banks, credit cards, whatever else you rate with a grain of salt. However, I do agree with the GOmez ranking for Charles Schwab, but to me Charter One ranks down there with Bally Total Fitness.
I do not know what criteria was used on Charter One, or how much Gomez received to polish this turd of a bank - but if other people are having the same issues with this institution, it is not reflecting well upon your them when the "Gomez" logo is emblazened on Charter One's home page next to it's "Free"* checking account offering.
Robbed
medinah, Illinois
U.S.A.
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