Regions Bank Complaint - Bank Fees Are Killers - Bank Fees

Posted by Mad Eye Moody on 2008-06-12:

I agree. It does seem shady. Most banks do this and technically it's legal, but it feels like scam, especially when it was over a dollar. I mean...if you're in line at a store, and you come up a dollar short, the guy behind you will usually help you out. Why can't the institution that makes a lot of money just for keeping your money 'safe' do the same thing? The only entity from which your money isn't 'safe' is the bank itself. Now for the solution: Join a credit union. I use two, and they don't process transactions in batches the way banks do. That may not be true of all credit unions, but I know of at least two. Most of us have messed up our ledger once or twice, and had to take a little spanking in the form of NSF fees...but I'm with you on this one. Cheer up and find a credit union. Cheers! MEM

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

Most big banks are doing this to their customers. It's called creative accounting. I understand you made a mistake are willing to accept an NSF fee when warranted. But I agree, they have stuck it to you. The bad part is, according to the agreement they sent your after acquiring AmSouth they can do almost anything they want with your account. I know this because I also have a Regions account. I read the new agreement. It is a totally self-serving agreement based entirely on greed. Just like all the big banks are doing today.

So far I have been lucky. I trust the people at my branch. I do not trust Regions.

Posted by madconsumer on 2008-06-12:

ever heard of spending what you have in your account? keeping a small positive balance will prevent this from ever happening again.

Posted by heaven17 on 2008-06-12:

I don't know whether you're getting ripped off or not, but it just seems to me that if you have a finite amount of money In your account and you don't keep up with it thereby overdrafting (even if it's only by $1), that's your fault. If you had enough money versus what you spent, then it wouldn't matter what order the transactions were processed.

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

madconsumer and heaven17: Please provide an REASONABLE (note I did not say LEGAL) justification for $350 penalty for a $1 error?

I do not believe either of you have the slightest concept of what big banks are doing to people. While they may be legal, they are without conscience and ethics.

Posted by heaven17 on 2008-06-12:

tnchuck100: please provide a REASONABLE justification for someone not to keep up with their bank balance?

And I get it...big banks bad. But it doesn't sound like the OP had the slightest idea what was available versus what they were spending.

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

Heaven17: OK, REASONABLE is as the OP stated. He made a $1 mistake. That is NOT unreasonable.

Now, your turn. Justify.

Posted by yoke on 2008-06-12:

I have an idea. Don't go by what is on the computer, go by what is in your check register. How did people balance their checkbooks before computers. I bet there were alot less errors.

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

yoke: You appear to be lost as well. The guy made a mistake. He admits it. The bank screwed him royally.

Posted by yoke on 2008-06-12:

chuck, I am not lost. I understood the guy made a mistake, but how is that the banks fault?
Say you were at the store and you realize they overcharged you $1.00. Are you going to ask for the $1.00 back or are you going to say oh it was a mistake and let them keep it? Many stores will give you the item free if it is rung up wrong. Are you going to say no I want to pay for the item or are you going to allow them to take the item off? Even though it was a mistake on the stores part most will take advangtage and get the item for free. Why can't the bank do the same when someone makes an error.

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

It's not the banks fault. That's not the issue.

In your example, Yes, I would ask for my dollar back but I would not think I was entitled to $350 in punitive damages.

Posted by yoke on 2008-06-12:

This person had 10 NSF's for a $1.00 error? There is alot more to this story.

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

We don't know that. We must go with what the poster has provided. With banks behaving as they do today he IS believable.

Posted by yoke on 2008-06-12:

If the OP was charged $350 then the OP would have had 10 NSF's for a $1.00 error that we do know. The OP is the one who said $350 in fee's, $35 per NSF and was only $1.00 under. Sounds like there were alot more checks/debit that went through.

Posted by Anonymous on 2008-06-12:

I think you're missing the bigger picture here yoke.

Posted by tnchuck100 on 2008-06-12:

As he stated, they totaled the pending transactions, determined the overdraft from that. Without clearing ANY items that COULD have passed OK. Then nailed him with an NSF fee for EACH transaction. Despicable!

Hey heaven17, what happend? You failed to justify.

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

Don't spend more than you have...Simple!
it is not the bank's responsibility to monitor your spending..
It is your responsibility and yours alone.!

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

Clearly some people don't understand what's happening; they're just assuming anyone who overdrafts their account must be poor, and hence, stupid. What these banks are doing is sinful. I bank with Regions, and have had good experiences in the past, but I know what the OP is talking about. After 2 p.m. on Friday, any transaction will post to your account on Monday. Say I have $300, and over the weekend do nine transactions for $30 a piece, $270 total, leaving me with an available balance of $30, even though the $270 hasn't cleared my account, it's in pending status. If I then go out at 11 pm on Sunday night and accidentally make a transaction for $31 because I made an error in my check register, my available balance will go negative by one dollar. But rather than charging me one NSF for one dollar, they will clear the larger transaction first, and charge NSF on all nine transactions, even though the $270 is in some nether-world they call "pending".

Anyone who doesn't think this is wrong is either an employee of the bank, or is just an elitist who probably has stock in them. It does little good to say keep a positive balance in your account, for some people it takes all they earn to pay the bills and then one mistake costs them their whole next paycheck. Banks want us to believe 1) that they don't have the technology to prevent this by clearing transactions in order of time rather than amount and that 2) people want their accounts handled this way because it's convenient and prevents embarassment. I want my $5 charge at McDonald's to decline rather than pay $40 for a hamburger. I was told by a woman at my branch, point blank, that I couldn't decline this "overdraft protection" service they offer; you're required to accept it to have an account.

If they ever did this to me, I'd just stop putting my paychecks in that account and they'd never see one red cent of these bogus fees, my credit score be damned. Sorry, I didn't realize this was going to be a soap box for me, but it's just irritating to see people come on here and berate the OP so condescendingly. Yes he made a mistake but the banks response is usury.

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

He spent $1 more than he had, and paid $350 in overdraft fees because of the way the bank clears transactions. I guess you never make an error in your check register, oh great human calculator. Disgusting.

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

I am not a human calculator... I do understand that banks are not our "friends" and take the precaution of having enough in my checking account to cover my transactions whenever they occur..
I also reconcile my balance on-line daily.
If that makes me an old schnorer... so be it....

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

this is yet another argument for local credit unions..

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

Some people don't have the luxury of having a pad in their account. You obviously don't understand what the OP and I tried to explain. He's being charged NSF for an earlier transaction he had the money to cover because he spent more than he had on a later transaction that was for more so the bank cleared it first. If you think a $1 mistake justified a $350 penalty, I just hope the same never happens to you; but you're fortunate enough to be able to pad your account so why should you care about someone who could go into the negative over $1 error?

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

Actually, it's an argument for moving the family out to the self sufficient compound in the middle of nowhere. Society's going to hell in a handbasket.

Sorry, I think I kinda lost my temper with you; I don't know why this makes me so angry, it's never happened to me, but I have seen it happen to a lot of my friends (generation plastic). But the simple fact is that someone who makes very little and has no discretionary income to pad their account with and pays almost everything out in bills could, despite keeping a check register, make a $1 error and have their whole next paycheck decimated by the bank's greed. It's evil.

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

I agree that bank fees are exorbitant...that's why I shill for credit unions because the local nature of them makes this kind of thing less likely and you will probably have a local person to deal with if there is a problem..Multinational banks have no soul or heart and couldn't care less if you live or die..

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

The prepaid visa thing is not a bad Idea particularly if you need to make on-line purchases..that way your bank accounts and info are not exposed to the possibility of fraud..

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

Oops, what happened? I noticed a typo in my previous post now it's gone completely. lol.

Anyway, I said, anyone who normally has this problem or runs a low balance in their account should consider dumping banks altogether and getting one of those prepaid Visas, they offer the security of a debit card (I hate carrying cash cause I'm afraid I'll lose it) with non of the nonsense of the banks. You can't overdraft them. You do have to pay to reload them, but it's nowhere near as much as one NSF fee. I might get one as a form of moral protest, that way the only money of mine the greedy b------ds will have their hands on is savings, which as of yet, they've not managed to screw me out of; they're still paying a modicum of interest on it.

I'd urge the OP to talk to his branch manager; the 1-800 people are as low on the totem pole as you can go; if you have to talk to them, as someone who works in a call center, take my advice. Get their names and employee #'s and ask the call be recorded so they can't just hang up. If you don't like theiranswer, ask for their manager, and when you get to someone who says there's no one higher you can speak to, don't take no from them. Have them try to explain to you in a coherent matter why you were charged NSF fees on earlier transactions you had the money for. That money went into pending, and was being held in anticipation of payment being cleared, which is why you went over on the later, larger charge. Chances are they won't be able to respond in a way that make sense, and you just have to be patient and refuse to let them off the phone. Eventually, it will be lunch time or time to go home, or they'll get sick of you and cave. Chances are you just paid their paycheck for their week, so you have the next 40 hours of their life coming to you, I'd call it in.

Posted by heaven17 on 2008-06-12:

So glad you missed me, tnchuck100. I've said all I wanted to say, but since you insist... I've paid WAY more overdraft fees in my lifetime due to my own screw-ups than I'd like to admit. And every time I'd go back and trace my steps and it was always my fault. Sure, the fees are outrageous. Are they fair? Depends on how you look at it. Do the banks twist this transaction and that transaction around to tack on more overdrafts? Not from my experience. I use BOA and they post sales in chronological order just like they post my deposits. I've not once noticed where they've messed with the order of things. Again, monitor your account and don't spend more than you have. It's been working for me for a while and guess what? No overdrafts in a while.

Posted by grandma005 on 2008-06-12:

I use the envelope system. On payday you take out cash that you can budget to spend and put into marked envelopes. When your envelope is empty there is no more spending from that envelope. For instance if you set aside $100 for food for the week and you have spent all the money in that envelope, there is no more buying food until the next payday, period. No worries about NSF fees. You know if you are out of money. Another way is to put all purchases on a credit card and deduct from check register and pay off in full when you get your statement. This method requires control and math skills.

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

That's the beauty of checking your balance on-line... you can balance your check book every day.... sometimes I check it two or three times a day and keep it in balance all the time...

Posted by grandma005 on 2008-06-12:

I do too! I love on-line Banking. But I check two or there times a day because I am from old school. It took a long time for me to sign up for on line-Banking. I wanted canceled checks.

Posted by old fart on 2008-06-12:

Yup yup Grandma.. If you use your debit card at Walmart (for example) it will clear instantly..most other places will clear the next day.
I only write 6 checks a month. The rest are with the debit card..

Posted by Anonymous on 2008-06-12:

Yoke has a valid point. If the poster is only a dollar short, since the bank posts highest to lowest, everything would have cleared except the last item. It appears we aren't getting the real story here.

Posted by Ponie on 2008-06-12:

wqaguy, 'someone who makes very little and has no discretionary income to pad their account with...' shouldn't be spending $29.00 for pizza (the poster's words)! Also, how do you 'accidentally' make a $31 transaction? I was at my friendly Meijer store yesterday and charged $107+. Before I left the store, I looked over my receipt and saw I was charged $12.99 for something that was marked $9.99. I simply went to Customer Service, pointed out the error and received the overcharge refund plus bonus. Why do people NOT PAY ATTENTION to how much money they have available before they try to spend it and then blame the bank? Absolutely ridiculous!

Posted by Anonymous on 2008-06-12:

Well ponie if we're going to embark down the road of life judgments let me toss this one your way. You shouldn't smoke. Sloppy check accounting merely costs fees whereas smoking kills. I'd rather pay a few overdraft fees than foolishly cutting years off my life practicing a silly smelly habit.

Partaking of a product that when used as directed kills??? Now that's absolutely ridiculous!

Posted by Ponie on 2008-06-12:

Stew, as you well know by now--only the good die young! I see you're still hangin' in there.

Posted by Anonymous on 2008-06-12:

Ponie - Chantix. I know five people who used it and all five are now *NON*-smokers. You're way too clever to be a smoker.

Posted by Ponie on 2008-06-12:

Turn your collar around, padre. It's choking off blood circulation to your grey matter. :)

Posted by tander on 2008-06-12:

Banks do this all the time, I know someone who works at a bank and I asked her one time if it was true if they take the transactions as they come through and she told me they don't they will take the most expensive one first so the can charge you overdraft charges for all the rest of them, it's how they make there money BUT if you don't overdraw your account all the time, some of the time, they will have a heart and reverse at least half the charges and I repeat if you don't do it all the time.

Posted by Alain on 2008-06-12:

Here's the world. Banks want money and small print. Never TRUST what you do not have. Always READ small print. ALWAYS keep track of YOUR money.

Posted by wgaguy1984 on 2008-06-12:

Ken, it doesn't matter that the original poster was only a dollar short, they clear the larger transaction first and because the available balance is negative when it is cleared (all the funds "used" on the previous transactions are in pending) all those charges are also charged an overdraft fee, even though, at the time they were made, there was enough money to cover them. I've seen it happen to my friend at SunTrust, only with them, transactions that had been listed as cleared for three days went back into pending and recleared with a negative available balance and she got charged NSF fees for them. People don't understand what's happening, they're just assuming it's irresponsibilty. I guess Ponie's math is never off by 1. No one is saying that if you intentionally or mistakenly spend more than you have in your account you shouldn't be charged a fee. If I make one transaction that makes my account into the negative by one dollar, fine, charge me a fee. And one for every transaction I make after I go negative. That's not what happening. What these banks are doing though is to charge a fee on every pending transaction that clears when there's a negative available balance. You may swipe your card 9 times Friday evening and have every cent you're spending in your account in there; but if you go over on Sunday by any amount, because everything clears on Monday, you're going to get charged 10 NSF fees. Please, Ponie, explain to me how that is reasonable? I think you'll have a very hard time.

This site is a waste of time, it's supposed to be about consumer empowerment; really, it's about employees defending their companies, corporatists defending inane and usurous policies, and otherwise bitter unhappy internet trolls passing judgment on everyone else.

Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2008-06-13:

I use a calculator whenever I do my checkbook.

Posted by starborne on 2008-06-17:

Honest intelligent people make bookkeeping errors. With or without a register. With or without a budget. What's particularly confusing as an on-line of Regions (up until today) is how something can show up as a 'pending transaction' and show the appropriate deducted balance, disappear into limbo or pergatory somewhere in internet land for A WEEK, then show up as a completed transaction. I've been TRYING to use their download services with Quick books, keep my own current register, and STILL haven't been able to figure out what they're up to. Nothing seems to reconcile properly. You BET there's more to this story than you know. I talked to my customer service representative to get an explanation for what happens. She looked me straight in the eye and said she wished she could get me an answer, but she has never received one herself. Here's an employee of Regions that was charged with $200 in overdraft fees because she made a bookkeeping error based on what was showing up under the 'pending transactions'.

After months of one thing after another with Regions, I am done with them and will open 3 accounts at a local community bank. Their acts may be 'legal', but are certainly not ethical by my own personal and business standard.

Posted by Brady1 on 2008-06-17:

Isn't it all about balancing? I mean, if you can take the time to write 9 paragraphs about how unhappy you are with a company, can't you sit down with a calculator? If you read the fine print, you just won't have the problems you've had. And for you big bank haters out there, small banks have small print too. And not even half the products. May want to start stuffing it under the mattress.

Posted by starborne on 2008-06-17:

Brady1, I hear you. Honestly.

I am 50 years young, have my own business, and know how to keep a checkbook. Or at least I used to. I thought this on-line checking downloading was going to make my life easier, not more complicated. I know the difference between what's technically available and 'mine' to spend and what is not -- at least according to my own records. But I started questioning my own bookkeeping entries when things continually were not jibing with what was showing as 'available'. It certainly isn't about over spending.

Sometimes I would find things under 'pending' that would totally disappear from pending -- NOT to be shown under transactions completed -- only to reappear a week later (not days, mind you and more than 5 business days). One transaction was with a personal friend, and I was concerned as to whether she actually got paid or not and was ready to give her cash when ... wah-la it magically appeared under the transaction completed after it had disappeared from the pending transaction portion for more than 7 days.

Yes, a person has to be responsible. For sure. And sometimes 'automatic' charges appear from -- oh say an internet site you did business with 30 days previous -- that suddenly charges something NOT AUTHORIZED. So don't judge us until you've walked a mile in our mocassins.

Clearly unless a person has experienced what those of us having problems with Region have experienced, you simply don't understand what we are talking about.

Are they the only bank to do such things? Probably not. But I sure in all my years of banking haven't had to have as many discussions with my branch manager and customer service rep in such a short period of time to figure out what happened to my money.

Posted by starborne on 2008-06-17:

Just for grins, thought I'd check my Regions account since I was up late. All THREE have 'projected' monies balances in error showing both 'pending' transactions with the same transactions as already processed. So supposedly I'm overdrawn in two of my checking accounts and have more money in my savings account than I'm suppose to.

Can't wait to see what kind of overdraft fees they're getting ready to charge me with tomorrow.

And can't wait to join the class action suit . Don't know if it's for real or not, but you can be sure I'm checking it out. For those interested ...
http://www.badregions.com/

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And

Posted by danielli1012 on 2008-07-27:

$280 in fees...This is how it happens (note that I everything on 07/22 was pending - nothing had cleared yet but because it dipped under for a few hours I was hit for ALL of the transactions that occurred after the auto debit that hit at midnight):

07/23/2008 CHK CRD RACK ROOM SHOES CLR $84.77 $608.08
07/23/2008 DEBIT ATM MINI STATEMENT FEE CLR $2.00 $692.85
07/23/2008 TRANSFER EB FROM CHECKING # 0077303806 CLR $130.00 $694.85
07/23/2008 ELEC CRDT BANK CREDIT FEE REFUND CLR $105.00 $564.85
07/23/2008 DEPOSIT DEPOSIT CLR $500.00 $459.85
07/22/2008 NSF FEE RETURNED ITEM FEE CLR $35.00 ($40.15)
07/22/2008 NSF FEE PAID OVERDRAFT ITEM FEE CLR $245.00 ($5.15)
07/22/2008 ATM DEBIT SITE FOOD MART SITE FOOD MAR CLR $4.85 $239.85
07/22/2008 CHK CRD MCDONALD S F312 CLR $5.93 $244.70
07/22/2008 ATM DEBIT BUILDABEAR WRK BUILDABEAR WR CLR $5.98 $250.63
07/22/2008 CHK CRD TGI FRIDAYS #04 CLR $35.24 $256.61
07/22/2008 CHK CRD APPLEBEE S #135 CLR $52.25 $291.85
07/22/2008 DEBIT WAMU/PVN PAYMT CREDITCARD CLR $500.00 $344.10 <---this hit at midnight of 07/22 causing a negative balance
07/22/2008 TRANSFER EB FROM CHECKING # 0077303806 CLR $300.00 $844.10 <---ANOTHER TRANSFER TO BE SAFE
07/22/2008 TRANSFER EB FROM CHECKING # 0077303806 CLR $500.00 $544.10 MY TRANSFER TO COVER NEGATIVE
07/22/2008 CREDIT CREDIT-RETURNED CK# 3014500395 CLR $6.00 $44.10
07/21/2008 DEBIT COUNTRYWIDE MORTGAGE CLR $6.00 $38.10
07/21/2008 CHK CRD CHICK-FIL-A #01 CLR $6.69 $44.10
07/21/2008 ATM DEBIT REGAL ENTERTAI 10028 GULF CE CLR $7.00 $50.79
07/21/2008 ATM DEBIT REGAL ENTERTAI 10028 GULF CE CLR $7.00 $57.79
07/21/2008 CHK CRD REGAL GULF COAS CLR $9.00 $64.79
07/21/2008 CHK CRD MCDONALD S F312 CLR $9.52 $73.79
07/21/2008 ATM DEBIT PUBLIX 16520 S PUBLIX 16520 CLR $9.53 $83.31
07/21/2008 ATM DEBIT REGAL ENTERTAI 10028 GULF CE CLR $14.00 $92.84
07/21/2008 CHK CRD CHINA INN RESTA CLR $21.73 $106.84
07/21/2008 CHK CRD OUTBACK #2025 CLR $44.88 $128.57
07/21/2008 ATM DEBIT TARGET T2059 L TARGET T2059 CLR $64.23 $173.45
07/21/2008 PAYMENT EB TO Lee County Ut CLR $64.37 $237.68
07/21/2008 ATM DEBIT PETSMART PETSMART CLR $95.29 $302.05
07/21/2008 PAYMENT EB TO David Berthel CLR $163.50 $397.34
07/21/2008 DEBIT FPL DIRECT DEBIT ELEC PYMT CLR $265.43 $560.84
07/21/2008 DEBIT COUNTRYWIDE MORTGAGE CLR $1,144.73 $826.27

Posted by laklisa on 2009-08-15:

I am a Regions customer, for the last 8 years. I have fallen "victim" myself to the over-drawn fees...but it was my fault and did not complain. However there has been one time where I deposited a check to cover a sale I was going to make that night. However the deposit was made after 2 and of course it did not post in time for the sale...I was considered over drawn and got 5 nsf fees charged. I was upset to say the least. I called them to see if I could get some of them removed...I got an awesome rep who explained what happened. She also removed ALL of them removed. That spoke a lot to me! So I am now a loyal Regions fan.