Call back and talk to another agent. Be polite and nice. Different agents will often act differently, but if are rude to them, will not let you get anything. Be polite.
If that doesn't work, use social engineering. Tell them you set up overdraft protection with them 6 months ago (from the account that you transferred the $500 from) and ask why this did not cover the overdraft. They'll tell you there is none, tell them, politely, that they told you it was set up and ask them to set it up now and reverse your charges.
As a former CSR cog, this is a great tip. Just call back. Some CSRs are dicks, some think you're a dick, and some just aren't aware of when they can apply credits.
I certainly have no love for BOA, but the one time I was in a similar situation the CSR credited half of my overdraft fees back to me as a "one time courtesy." (Pro-tip: if you're a good customer, they can give you a courtesy credit for just about anything under the sun if you're patient enough to work your way up the food chain.)
I called Bank of America on the phone about something similar. They processed a credit card payment (to themselves!) which sent me slightly into the red before my paycheck on the same day. This was the second time this occurred. The first time, a decent CSR returned the fee. The second time, I was denied.
Instead of calling again for another CSR, I decided to just go to a physical bank to talk with a manager. She said that the case was "already decided" and there was nothing she could do about it. She said she would have fixed it if only I hadn't talked to a rep on the phone first.
I immediately withdrew all of my money and closed the account, thinking that maybe she'd fix things before I got through with that. Apparently, she really couldn't do anything. Now I'm with Wachovia. I had been with BofA for 10+ years before closing the account. Things are fine with Wachovia so far but I expect that, eventually, they'll end in similar fashion.
I also learned during this whole process that they'll send you an alert AFTER you go into the red but not before an automatically scheduled payment is set to go through that would put you in the red. That would have been nice since I could have delayed paying the credit card account until I was sure that the paycheck would be processed. Of course, such an easy-to-implement system would reduce the late fees they rake in. My new bank has the same set-up.
Social engineering worked for me. I got many overdraft charges with BoA while I was in college. I walked into their HQ here in Atlanta, asked to sit down with someone instead of a teller. Told him I had setup overdraft protection with my BoA credit card months ago, at a location in my home state and was told it was all setup. I made sure to emphasize I was a broke student - and looking at my accounts I'm sure he was able to tell. BoA reversed the $150+ charges.
I use to work at Banc of America Investment Services, the brokerage arm of Bank of America. One of the things that automatically would shut down a phone broker was a rude customer. I can attest that the best way to go is to be as polite as possible. For a dollar amount that big that technically wasn't the bank's fault, the customer service representative has to convince a manager to sign off on the reversal. That takes time, and any time off the phone or having the customer on hold is counted against the customer service representative. This directly affects bonuses.
...in other words, Wells Fargo is too lazy to put an ATM within 1 mile of our house in a densely populated neighborhood in San Fran, and they charge ME for using someone else's (on top of the $2 charge to the ATM owner)? I don't know how that makes any sense.
I'm not gonna fight this battle, but I'm glad someone is.
This is consistent policy across most major banks from my similar experience. The local branch where you opened the account has the power to reverse this, but the national call center does not. On the other hand, you definitely will cause a stir with this web page and I'm interested to see how that plays out.
This is not my site, though it well could be. If Wells doesn’t change some of this soon, they’re going to lose customers in droves. While many may argue that it can afford to lose customers who carry very low balances, those customers are also the source of their very large fee revenue. It’s the long tail - 80% of customers with a low balance paying fees to maintain accounts that pay for the technology innovation, maintenance and new products enjoyed by the 20% of customers enjoying free or low-fee accounts. Wells Fargo (like all banks) cannot afford to rely on traditional investment carry at today’s interest rates. If they drive these customers away, they’ll find themselves quickly in the same boat as all the other major banks.
Are you sure you've sufficiently obfuscated private details? I'd black out anything you don't want public in that image.
Edit: I just opened this account for the purpose of posting this message using the 'new account' link on the login page. Yet the account shows as being 451 days old with a comment from that date, and karma to boot. What gives? A bug, or a (weird) feature?
I closed my Wells Fargo account a few months ago after doing business with them for close to 10 years.
The thing that forced me to leave was a terrible experience I had selling my car.
I sold my car online and received a check from the buyer's bank. The funds were certified, 3-5 business days I should have had access to my money, right? It took 23 days before I received access to any of my money.
After receiving access to the funds, I visited my local WF branch, emptied out and closed my checking account. End of story.
Been using ING direct as a pseudo primary checking account and have been loving it.
Have Chase checking accounts that I use as a mediator if I need to put physical money away.
20 comments
[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 59.4 ms ] threadIf that doesn't work, use social engineering. Tell them you set up overdraft protection with them 6 months ago (from the account that you transferred the $500 from) and ask why this did not cover the overdraft. They'll tell you there is none, tell them, politely, that they told you it was set up and ask them to set it up now and reverse your charges.
I certainly have no love for BOA, but the one time I was in a similar situation the CSR credited half of my overdraft fees back to me as a "one time courtesy." (Pro-tip: if you're a good customer, they can give you a courtesy credit for just about anything under the sun if you're patient enough to work your way up the food chain.)
Your bank has all your money (mine does anyway (I'm 22)) so they can treat you right or they can go fuck themselves.
I called Bank of America on the phone about something similar. They processed a credit card payment (to themselves!) which sent me slightly into the red before my paycheck on the same day. This was the second time this occurred. The first time, a decent CSR returned the fee. The second time, I was denied.
Instead of calling again for another CSR, I decided to just go to a physical bank to talk with a manager. She said that the case was "already decided" and there was nothing she could do about it. She said she would have fixed it if only I hadn't talked to a rep on the phone first.
I immediately withdrew all of my money and closed the account, thinking that maybe she'd fix things before I got through with that. Apparently, she really couldn't do anything. Now I'm with Wachovia. I had been with BofA for 10+ years before closing the account. Things are fine with Wachovia so far but I expect that, eventually, they'll end in similar fashion.
I also learned during this whole process that they'll send you an alert AFTER you go into the red but not before an automatically scheduled payment is set to go through that would put you in the red. That would have been nice since I could have delayed paying the credit card account until I was sure that the paycheck would be processed. Of course, such an easy-to-implement system would reduce the late fees they rake in. My new bank has the same set-up.
I too am sick of this crap:
NON-WF ATM BAL INQUIRY FEE - $1.50 NON-WELLS FARGO ATM TRANSACTION FEE - $2.50
...in other words, Wells Fargo is too lazy to put an ATM within 1 mile of our house in a densely populated neighborhood in San Fran, and they charge ME for using someone else's (on top of the $2 charge to the ATM owner)? I don't know how that makes any sense.
I'm not gonna fight this battle, but I'm glad someone is.
Anyway, overdraft fees aren't loans, they're fees, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to think in terms of the APR.
I will agree with this -- that sort of transaction sorting is a terribly nasty business practice.
Will any banks simply deny the charge if you don't have the funds? That's what I'd prefer.
These fees are just to get some money from the people that are too lazy / ignorant to read the fine print.
Which, by the way, might not be so bad: http://moveyourmoney.info/
Edit: I just opened this account for the purpose of posting this message using the 'new account' link on the login page. Yet the account shows as being 451 days old with a comment from that date, and karma to boot. What gives? A bug, or a (weird) feature?
The thing that forced me to leave was a terrible experience I had selling my car.
I sold my car online and received a check from the buyer's bank. The funds were certified, 3-5 business days I should have had access to my money, right? It took 23 days before I received access to any of my money.
After receiving access to the funds, I visited my local WF branch, emptied out and closed my checking account. End of story.
Been using ING direct as a pseudo primary checking account and have been loving it. Have Chase checking accounts that I use as a mediator if I need to put physical money away.