I'm a college student. I wait tables to make money. Earlier this week, I had a checking account balance of approximately $400. I went to the bank in the afternoon, deposited $310 cash. Later that afternoon, I went to the ATM, withdrew $50. My ATM receipt showed an available balance of $675.75. At this point, I decided to go ahead and pay my rent for next month two weeks early. I had no reason to pay the rent two weeks early other than I just wanted to pay it. My rent is $475/mo. Later that day, I made a couple of small purchases, totaling approximately $10. This morning, I wake up, shocked to see that my bank account showed a balance of negative $1.98. I also noticed my credit card was maxed out and actually slightly over the limit. Immediately I thought that my identity had been stolen or a bunch of unauthorized purchases had been made with my debit/credit card numbers. I checked my account details and was shocked at what I saw. I was hit with three overdraft fees of $35/each. Additionally, my credit card was immediately assessed a $10 fee because I have overdraft protection hooked up to my BOA credit card, which takes my debit card purchases and puts them on my credit card if my checking account funds are too low. My credit card is now over the limit due to this, which means I'll get hit with another fee. Well, I call Bank of America this morning and figure that I will be able to explain things and they will refund the fees. I mean, after all, I have a receipt from the ATM that shows my updated account balance that reflected the $310 cash deposit I had made earlier in the day. A normal person would interpret "available balance" as meaning that you had that money in your account to spend, no? Well, according to Bank of America, that's not what it means. They said that I should have known that I couldn't truly spend the money I had reflected in my "available balance" because I deposited after the cutoff time, the money wasn't posted to my account yet. Bank of America says I only had the ability to spend the amount i had in my account before I deposited the $310. Everything over that is worthy of an overdraft fee. If the money wasn't posted to my account yet, why would it be shown in my "available balance" on my ATM receipt? How else am I suppose to interpret this? I've spoken to two different branch managers, two customer service reps on the phone, and a BoA manager on the phone as well. They all said no refund. I closed my accounts with them. I'm just pissed that they have hit me with over $115 in charges and there's nothing I can do. I don't feel like I'm being unreasonable here. I've overdrawn my account before and I haven't complained -- because it was my fault. I overdrew my account and I should have to pay the fee. But in this instance I don't feel like I messed up. $115 is not that big of a deal, it's just the feeling that I got completely screwed by the Bank that bothers me.
They screwed you. Wells Fargo screws up on me all the time but they have always gone the extra mile to rectify the situation. Someone is gonna post below me on how you weren't screwed, you should have known. But you were screwed. If the deposit takes time to register then so should withdrawls. They should wait to take the money out of your account when you spend.
I had similar problems with them when I was in college. (It was Nations Bank then.) Consider it a lesson learned. I've only been with smaller banks since. I used to be with Bank United, but as soon as they were bought by WaMu, I closed it and switched to Bank of Texas. I haven't had any problems with them yet, and you can get a Debit card with the Rocket's logo on it for no charge.
you may have a case here: http://feesandprocesses.bankofamerica.com/?bhcp=1#/glossary/glossaryofterms/ Available Balance - The amount of money in an account that is available for immediate use.
Yeah, banks get you like that all the freaking time. I bank with Regions and about 2 years ago here is what they did to me: I think I had something like $20 in the bank (going to school, part-time job). I made purchases on the same day and one for was something like $10 and the other was something like $40 and I made the purchases with checks hoping for a little 'grace' period before my next paycheck came. Well they ended up being cashed before I could deposit enough to cover but they were cashed on the same day. What does Regions do? They cash the big one first then the smaller one and in doing that I am hit with two overdraft fees instead of one.
It does sound like they are abusing the term "available balance" here. I've seen deposits on my account same day and they are normally listed as "pending". I can't remember if they were actually in my "available balance" at that time. As a general rule, I have always been under the belief that you cannot deposit and withdraw those same funds same day...because they haven't actually processed to your account yet. I think if you have over three thousand in that account...then they probably would have tried to keep you as a customer and gave you at least some credit back. That's just a guess on my part.
Should always wait 1 business day before spending the money that you just deposited. ALWAYS. I had like 7-8 overdraft fees in my checking acount when I was 19, my savings account was loaded with money. They didn't spare me any sympathy, I took the experience as 'lesson learned'.
I have an account at Bank of America, and my "available balance" always reflects the available balance. If something is on hold or won't post until the next day, the available balance doesn't show it as available. So, since they apparently treat different customers differently, I'm going to agree that you were screwed.
Ive had something similar happen with Wells Fargo, but they were pretty quick to fix everything for me. Bank of America...I havent heard very many good things...
I've had Bank of America since I was a senior in high school. I hate them, but I have to admit they're freaking convenient....they have ATMs everywhere. I'd switch to Bank of Oklahoma immediately (for a TU checkcard) if I could use Bank of Texas since I live in Houston.
You were screwed. Call again and tell the person your situation again. If they don't budge ask to speak to the manager. They will waive the fees since it was a misunderstanding. In the end they will want to keep you as a customer and make sure you're happy.
Call them again and ask to speak to the CSR's manager and plead your case again, even threaten to close the account. Do not compromise. It's your money and they're wrong. If still no success. Do not pay them. Dispute the overdraft charge with their credit card division. Write everything down, names dates, Csr ID numbers. If still no success, file a complaint with your detailed story to the local BBB of BoA's incorporated state. Some companies pride themselves with a clean BBB record. At that point, someone experienced at BoA will handle your case. Credit and liquid money is tight. They don't want a tarnished rep and a lost potential customer. Know your powers and take the time to stand up for yourself.
I have done everything people have suggested. I called this morning, talked to a customer service person, he said that his request to waive the fees was denied. I then went to a local branch and spoke to he manager. I showed her the receipt with the "available balance" total of $675.75. She said there was nothing she could do with regards to the fee since a decision had been made and a decision was final. At this point I said I'd like to close my accounts with your bank. I withdrew the remaining funds from my savings account. After work, I then went to another branch, spoke to a different manager, this lady seemed to not understand my story and all she would do was point at the computer screen as if there would be some magical explanation when i looked at her screen. At this point I said thanks for your time and left. I then called back to the customer service line, talked to another rep, this lady says "You should keep a check register of your balance" as if that would have solved the problem in this instance. I then spoke to her supervisor. He did not do anything for me. Every time I have asked these people what interpretation I should give "available balance" they all hem and haw and give a random explanation (all of which have been different depending on the person). What is unfortunate is i have $30,000 in student loans with BoA. I guarantee you that I will not finance my final year of law school through BoA. I will never do business with them again.
I just deposited a money order into my Bank of America account, the chick there said I can't use the money until midnight tonight. I then deposited my work check into my Woodforest account, the guy there says, "Yep, the money's available immediately." Screw BOA. I'm going to go close down my account tomorrow. I was a little jaded the past few years about their stupid policies, but your post makes my mind up for me. Personally I think you should go over BOA's head to try and get your money back.
The big thing about Bank of America is that when they reconcile at Midnight, they run withdrawals before deposits, so that they can try to get overdraft fees. Bank of Texas Reconciles the opposite way, along with better customer service, etc. I've even had a couple of unauthorized transactions refunded immediately. Y'all should give them a try. As I said, they're affiliated with the Rockets.
Dispute the 10 dollar charge in you CC and file a complaint with the BBB to get all your money back. Record the correspondence so you can file dump it on watchdog websites like the Consumerist if the BBB fails. 115 bucks shouldn't be worth the headache to them.
