While shopping at Wal-Mart one day, I decided to open a checking account with this bank after I was approached by one of the sales reps. I did not have a problem with the bank at first, and I had no reason at all to distrust them. They were open at "unusual" hours, but that was in place for the consumers benefit... I was sure this was true too.
I had been making regular deposits in cash at the bank every payday. I used my debit card responsibly and DID NOT go over what I had in my account, as I had been burned by many other banks in the past with their NSF or overdraft fees.
The bank was closed this particular day when I needed to make a deposit, but I was told I could do so anyway by depositing in the night deposit box. This I did numerous times without incident. A red flag went up when I realized that I could not use my debit card at the banks' ATM to make a deposit. Mind you, this ATM was the Banks', and it was only two feet away from the night deposit box. You are forced to place your deposit in the night deposit box if the bank is closed... You CANNOT use the ATM to make deposits! Do I trust the bank?
I filled out my deposit slip and deposited $120.00 cash to my checking account as I had done so many times before. I trusted the bank. I had money in the account already, and I did not have any outstanding transactions pending when I deposited the $120.00.
About four days or so later, I went to my daughter's bank to make a withdrawal via my card to send her some money and deposit it directly into her student account. I got the money and was charged the $2.50 fee from her bank, and the $2.50 from my bank (Woodforest). The problem started when I looked at my receipt... My account was in the negative, although I had sufficient money in the account!
There was absolutely no error on my part! I contacted the bank immediately, and they told me that they had NO RECORD OF MY DEPOSITING $120.00 on the day I said I did. I politely asked them to review their security cameras during the day and hour I was in the bank and see that I was there, filled out a deposit form, deposited $120.00 cash in the envelope and deposited it in the night deposit box!
The woman I was speaking to asked me to describe what I had on that day. I did. I was the ONLY one in the bank at that time and there were security cameras EVERYWHERE... On the counter where I wrote out the deposit slip and placed the cash in the envelope, on top of me, behind me, to the right and to the left!!!
They agreed to check the footage and call me back. I was called back about 20 minutes or so and was told that they did not see me in any of their footage... That I was NOT in the bank! Right then and there I knew someone was trying to either brush me off as "one of those customers, " or they were covering up for theft. For two or three days, they kept calling me for no reason because they could not tell me where my money went, nor would they confirm seeing me on tape!
Angry, I told the officer at the bank that instead of pointing the finger at ME, they should have been busy investingating the person (or persons) they bonded and trusted to remove the money from the night deposit box! That was obviously the point at which my money disappeared!
For almost a month, the bank kept charging me a fee every day my account "remained in the negative." I asked the officer how in the world could I have gotten money out of my account if it was "in the negative?" She said that I had overdraft protection, and I quickly told her that I never signed up for that service when I opened my account! I was quickly dismissed and told that I would be contacted later. That never happened again!
I was so frustrated and angry, I got the necessary Banking forms in South Carolina to file a complaint against that bank! I hope all will stay clear of this bank! I have known for years how the banks have been ripping off consumers; the uneducated, minorities, and those that can least afford to be "ripped off, " the poor. They charge $25 to 30 dollars in over draft fees and all sorts of other fees because they can! Thank our banking system regulators for giving them carte blanche to do this!
As a former programmer, I know for a fact that some of the banking software (especially the point of sales transactions), can be manipulated to reflect incorrect dates of sales, can switch from high-to-low and low-to-high transaction processing (which can greatly affect whether you really overdraft and pay a fee or not).
I have NO respect for these money-hungry, unethical, hypocritical, disloyal dogs that prey on honest and hardworking people! They did not learn from their near-failure and bailout of last year, and I don't think they ever will! But just as one commentator stated on a report I read just minutes ago..."they will be getting theirs soon..." God forgive me, but I hope I'm around to see it... Yeah, when THEY throw their money in the streets!
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