Well, I certainly f-ed up! Here's the story -- I didn't have time to deposit my paycheck from the last day of the month (July) until last Saturday (it didn't clear until yesterday afternoon) . . . so I was down to a lesser amount of money, but still enough to get by. I've been so busy here at work I haven't been able to get to the bank (even on Saturdays) for some time now, but I'd just been really careful to pay attention to how much money I had. But then something I wasn't expecting happened -- the Rockets charged me $400 for my season tickets. I'd forgotten that they were doing that at the beginning of this month. That threw my account into overdraft, and every charge I had afterwards (small things that I thought I had money for, like food) dug me deeper into overdraft. Plus $35 for each overdraft. I bought some donuts for some people who came to some software training I gave -- $7 worth of crappy Fiesta donuts cost me $42!!!! I had around 10 overdrafts!!! All for small crap like that. I deposited my check last Saturday, it took damn near a week to clear, but now I'm out of overdraft. But what the hell do I do now? Will the bank help me out at all with this? I'm planning to go talk to them tomorrow morning. This is what really made this week such a special damn week. Perhaps the worst week of my life . . . and this just made everything even better! All week I've been living on random leftover food from other faculty functions (I ate nothing but donuts for two days . . . yuck!), and I spent my last dollar on a big pack of Ramen Noodles. I feel like an idiot -- I should've paid attention to when the Rockets were making their withdrawl and been more careful, but damn, this has probably screwed up my credit, now I'm out $350+ for nothing, and I've got a lot of work to do this weekend (unrelated, it just really pisses me off).
I hate to tell you this, but the Bank is laughing.....all the way to the bank, with your money. Maybe you could talk to them, but it is unlikely they'd give any of those overdraft fees back.
That's what I figure . . . but come on, they've got to help me out -- I'm a 3 year customer . . . I always say good things about them whenever someone posts here asking about a bank . . .
What bank do you use? If it's a bigger one like Wells Fargo or Bank of America, I'm guessing you're screwed, but that may also depend on how long you've been there. However, if it's one of those smaller outfits, I wouldn't be surprised if they helped you out. Something similar happened to me in college. I was banking at this badass bank in Gurnee, IL, yet going to school in San Marcos. I'd send every paycheck to them in the mail. Well, one time it took longer to go through than normal and I didn't realize it. Well, I had about 10 overdrafts totalling a whole bunch of money. I called them up and they refunded their fees for me. Good luck.
How much money do you have? If you have a lot of money at the bank, and have a relationship officer, they will enroll you in overdraft protection and make that all go away. This assumes you have extra money to leave lying around there. Or at least a corporate account. All those fees are discretionary. Sure, it's "company policy." Sure. But they can void them. Bribe if you have to. Ask enough questions of the right people, and it can all disappear. That's my experience with 5 banks, anyway.
I don't have much money, but usually it's a decently healthy little account. I'm with Compass Bank. They've always been really nice to me whenever I talk with them, so perhaps they'll help me out. If not, maybe I'll just have to take my overdrafts elsewhere!
Compass is pretty good about stuff. Seems like my roommate had some problems before and they helped him out.
Wells Fargo has helped me out before, I talked to someone at my branch and not the 800 help line. If you had a check in there that took a week to clear and it has been in there since last Saturday, they should help you out.
I had this problem once My WAMU rep hooked me up by charging back about 5 of them 150$!!!!!! I could have hugged him . . . I was so happy u won't know til u try Rocket River
Vengeance, For the most part, peope are fair. If you haven't done this before, Compass bank will probably reimburse you(if you explain it to them right). The charges can be reimbursed but it is up to the banker. I would enroll in overdraft protection though. You simply pay interest on the money you "borrow". Also, just like everywhere else. It is important to have a good relationship with somebody at the bank. You don't have to have millions but you do have to build a relationship. But the millions don't hurt either!
once its drafted, its drafted. Bank doesn't care if someone else made an unauthorized drafted or not. Another great reason to use credit cards. Banks are more evil than the credit card companies. I do my best to limit my banking transactions to prevent them from screwing up like this.
Don't listen to these guys saying you are SOL or you'll only get them refunded if you keep alot of money in their bank. I've been living on a shoestring budget for years(cuz of credit cards) and have on occasion, accidentally overdrawn. It's usually my fault because I paid a bill a day too early, but if you are honest and find the right banker, they might reimburse all of your overdrafts. Out of the 15 or so overdrafts I have had over the years, I have only had to pay 1(knock on lots of wood!). If that person won't help you out, talk to someone else. One of them is bound to help you out.
