On July 7, I was hit with an unbelievable $700 in overdraft charges. This occured after a long 4th-of-July weekend. My Husband and I are in construction and normally recieve payments or draws for current jobs on Fridays or when the job is completed. However, since we had not completed the job until saturday, July 5th, we were unable to collect for the job until Monday July 7th. (The Contractor of the job left on Thurday for a 4-day holiday weekend.) Prior to leaving, arrangements had been made for a completion payment on Monday, july 7th.
On monday, we were notified by the contractor that he and his family would not be back to Dothan until late due to a family medical emergency. We did recieve payment on monday but not until after 5:00pm. (the deposit cut-off time at cbt.)
On Tuesday, july 8th, we deposited more than enough funds to cover any transactions that might have came through our account.
Here's the rub! On monday, the bank paid 1 large check and and bounced 20 small debits... instead of paying 20 small debits and returning 1 large check. That translated into a whopping $35.00 per NSF or...$700.00.
When I checked my account on-line and saw what had happened, I called and asked to speak to the branch manager to discuss what had happened. I was told he was gone for the day but would be in at 8:00 the next morning.
I went to the bank on tuesday at 8:00 to speak to the manager in person. Again, I was told that he was not in but would be in at 1:00pm. I came back at 1:00pm. I was told he was out to lunch and would be back around 3:30pm. Again... At 3:30... He was not in and the receptionist did not know if he would be back in at all that day. (I left the job-site three times to see this man!)
At 4:30, I contacted the main branch in Enterprise and asked to speak to a supervisor or someone that could assist me with the excessive overdraft fees. I spoke to the bookkeeping department manager, explained the situation as it happened and was told "You will need to speak to that branch manager." (the one missing in action) However, she said she would relay the message to that manager and anyone else that might be able to help and have them contact me.
Again, another dead end and still no contact.
It's not over yet! After the NSF charges, we'll owe charges to the recipients of the returned checks as well as more NSFs if these are checks are sent back through.
Unfortunately, we are among the thousands that live paycheck-to-paycheck. It will take us many paychecks and sweat equity to recover from this. The sad part is that my husband is a stroke victim and will have to work 11 to 13 hours a day in the sweltering heat to make up for the bank's split second keypunch that stole our our income. As I said, "Highway robbery!" And, as far as I know, there is no legal recourse.
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