My wife and I are in the process of closing out our TD BankNorth accounts out of frustration over the excessive fees they charge. They are nickel and diming us. We have been with them for over 10 years when we banked with a small regional bank that we had a relationship with (Metrowest Bank). My wife and I are both self employed, and like much of the country, we are experiencing cash flow issues. Unfortunately we have incurred our share of overdraft fees due to low balance accounts. We always deposit money within a day or two of being overdrawn as accounts receivables come in. I have never wanted to know the intricate details of bank policies, but we have been forced to learn all of the different nuances. We are adults and have no problem paying the price when we screw up.
My problem is that they keep changing the rules, and are making it harder and harder for us to return to our once stable financial situation.
The latest trend that we are seeing first hand is that they are delaying funds availability on our deposits. Typically, the funds have always been available the next business day on our deposits. We are noticing that on a couple of occasions lately that they have taken up to 6 business days to make our funds available. The most recent incident caused us to incurr $175 in overdraft charges. Had they even cleared the funds by the 3rd business day we would not have incurred any fees, since our account would not have been overdrafted.
I am curious how widespread this practice is? I hope this turns out to be an illegal practice, and that it results in a big PR black eye for the bank, because I am sick of them ripping me off.
I am convinced that the programmers in their IT department, are the new rainmakers for the banks. They keep coming up with new schemes to screw the consumer - because they can.
This is very short sighted. You will win the battle, but will lose the war. Longstanding customers who started out with the bank will leave. It doesn't matter if Regis is holding open the door saying hello and handing out pens and dog biscuits - I do not want to do business with your bank anymore.
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