Full Disclosure... I have "bounced checks" in the past, not intentionally but as a result of my own negligence... This incident however is just simply an unabashed and shameless rip off. I was fearful of being overdrawn and rushed a check to Fifth Third locally (Florida) to deposit and insure that I was not overdrawn. I made the deposit within the allowed time frame and the deposit was sufficient to assure that I would not be overdrawn the next day. The teller accepted the deposit and I took $25 out at the time of the deposit which meant she had to look at my account. The next day I was hit with $111.00 in overdraft fees which caused me to be overdrawn again the next day for which they hit me for another $111.00 in overdraft fees. I had deposited $250.00! They took $222.00.
Why? Because, as it was explained to me when I went to the bank to protest the fees that only the first $100 of the deposit was credited to my account, therfore there was insufficient monies to prevent the overdraft, and I should have known that when I made the deposit. Really? Fifth Thirds on-line banking does NOT show overdraft charges UNTIL they actually post to the account, the hide them so you can't know. Furthermore the on-line center shows the deposit as the full amount. There is no way to determine by looking at your account on www.53.com to see the potential shortfall. One has to draw the conclusion that this is intentional on Fifth Third's part and done to assure that they are in a position to collect these outrageous unearned profits. Keep in mind they took $222.00 of the $250.00 deposit!!! 89% of the total deposit based solely on the idea that they have a "policy" that I should have known about, a policy that if they had cautioned me when I made the deposit I could have cashed the check and deposited the check and received credit for the total $250.00.By the way the check was written against the State of Florida... Oh they gave me back $37.00 of the fees out of the kindness of their hearts I suppose but that is a meaningless act that in some way just adds to the overt corrupt and immoral act in the first place. You can't trust any bank today but Fifth Third ranks as one of the worst if not #1!
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