On November 7, my child support check was directly deposited into my checking account. Knowing that I had this money available in my account, I did what any other person would do and began using the money that rightfully belonged to me. As I made purchases, I was balancing my budget like any other responsible check writer/debit card user does, which would leave me with a balance that I knew I was able to use due to the fact it was NOT on hold for purchases I had already made.
However, as my transactions started coming in and getting paid by my own funds, the bank suddenly entered an "overdraft" charge of $149.75. Of course, after this charge was entered, all other debits that I had already made ended up not being covered because they charged me this overdraft charge out of nowhere. When I realized that this had happened, I called the customer service number asking what this fee was for if my online banking showed that nothing was not covered. I asked if they were charging me this for transactions that were still on hold and not yet paid, but they said no, and that the ones that were yet to post would be charged even more fees. All in all, they gave me absolutely NO answer about what the 149.75 was for.
My husband and I then went to our nearest branch in Galveston, Texas and spoke to the head teller because they "conveniently" (no pun intended) had no manager on duty. I stated my case to the head teller over a 2 hour session and made my points and questions clear. He called about four different people "above" him and could still not give me an adequate answer to the fees, and insulted our intelligence telling us over and over we were just "confused." My husband asked questions as well and was also just taken in circles.
I had a printout of my online banking statement showing positive balances after some of those transactions were cleared. The head teller actually sat there and told us that my online banking was wrong because "his" screen wasnt the same as the customers see on the internet banking. We asked to see his screen, and he said quote " I am not allowed to show you that screen" We then asked why. He answered quote "It is used to monitor your account and I am just not allowed to do that." I told him I should be allowed because it is my name, my social security number, my funds therefore should be allowed. He eventually showed us even though he "shouldn't" have, but refused to give us a printout. He then offered us a "fresh-start loan" in order that we pay this bank these fees back!
So now here we are with a $430.00 negative balance because of overdraft charges we do NOT owe. This has jeopardized my son's child support money, our credit, and even tuition reimbursement that we have directly deposited here. Our questions were never answered to our satisfaction. This bank DOES target people with bad credit and takes advantage of people's bad situations. I feel that if this bank had nothing to hide, I would have gotten my answers, and even Sam himself would bank with the bank he is employed by. (He told us he banks with Bank of America):)
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