Quoted: Quoted: You can't go wrong with usaa.com.  Excellent insurance and investment products.  They do damnnear all my financial stuff.  Only catch is you or a family member must be associated with the military in some way. Actually, you can.  Or more precisely, I did.  Have been a USAA member for over 15 years.  Used to have all my Insurance through them in addition to some loans and CC.  Never even looked to see if another co was cheaper as they treated me well.   They non-renewed my homeowner's policy because I had too many claims.  Of course to them three claims in 5 years was enough.   Do you know what those three claims were?  We had an ice storm that happened over two days.  There was a small amount of damage on day one when the power went out and ice built up on the roof (within my deductible).  On day two the ice knocked down a tree that broke a window (we were all away as we lost power).  And finally, we found that we had spoiled food from the power outage.  Despite the fact that the ice storm was a single catastrophy they detemined that the damage occured over two days and therefore was two seperate claims.  They also counted the food spoilage as a third seperate claim. I got the state Ins. department involved and USAA agreed that the state catastrophy guidlines required it all to be one claim from one catastrophy.  But they would not amend the CLUE (like a credit report but listing your insurance claims) report and kicked us for claim activity.  State said they had no power to force the carrier to amend (or delete teh extra reports) its CLUE report to reflect one claim.  It was basically a wrong w/o a remedy.  The back story is that USAA was trying to limit its exposure in Kansas and used any excuse it could to drop insureds.  If it dropped them w/o a pretense the State could get involved as the regulator. I got us placed with another carrier without difficulty (for a lower price to boot) and their agent said it was very suspicious.  I really enjoyed my Subscriber Savings Account that got refunded 6 months after we dropped USAA.  Also my whole family dropped them over this.  My dad was a USAA member since the early 60's and had all his ins with them.  My brother and I had both insurance and banking with them.  It is all placed elsewhere now.  They can pound sand for all I care.

Food spoilage???


How did this even come into the claim?

B of A story:

I was 18, a brand new hire on the Forbes campaign in 1999.  I had just moved to DC.  I needed a checking account, and I wanted it to be with a bank that would have ATMs and branches everywhere, because I would be traveling a lot.  So I picked B of A.

The day after I arrived in DC, I opened the account with the cash I'd brought with me (about $1000).  I'd be getting a paycheck in about two weeks, but in the meantime, my new apartment building wouldn't take cash -- I had to have a checking account.  I planned to write my first month rent/security deposit with the money in the new account and then live off my credit card for two weeks while I waited for my first paycheck (yes, I was poor, yes, I was stupid).

So I went into the bank, handed them my thousand bucks, and opened the account.  At which point the nightmare began.  As they handed me my temporary checkbook and I began to walk away, the woman said "Oh, by the way, we place a hold on all deposits for the first three months of a new account."

WHAT??????

Deep breath.  "How long is the hold for?"

"Seven days," she said.

"But I need to write a check today."

"It won't clear."

"Then I need to close the account and withdraw my money."

"You can't make any withdrawals for seven days."

"But it's my money!  I gave it to you in cash, it's not like it has to clear or something!  You're holding my money hostage!"

"I'm sorry, miss, that's our policy."

Being 18 years old, alone in a new city 3,000 miles from home, I didn't know quite what to do.  I went to my apartment manager, asked very nicely if I could postdate the check for a week from now, and breathed a sigh of relief when she said yes.  For the next seven days I ate a little too well because I had to go to places that accepted credit cards (i.e. no fast food) and focused on learning my new job.

Day eight:  I get a phone call.  My rent check bounced.  I go to the bank, where they inform me that yes, my check bounced and I now owe them $37.50.  I demand to see the manager.  

"Well, miss," the manager says, "We do place a hold on all new accounts."

"I know that," I said.  "But it's been seven days since I deposited a thousand dollars IN CASH into that account.  How long do you plan on holding my money hostage?"

"Well, the hold is gone now."

"That's nice, but my check didn't pay out, I owe my landlord a thousand bucks plus a bounced check fee, and I owe you almost forty dollars for YOUR bounced check fee, when the money was right there the whole time!"

"But it was on hold."

"But you said it wouldn't BE on hold in seven days."

"Well, sometimes it can take a little bit longer."

"But you said UP TO seven days.  That implies LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO seven days, not seven days and twelve hours."

At this point the manager rolled her eyes, sighed and agreed to refund my bounced check fee and write a letter to my landlord indicating that the bounced check was a bank error.  Thank God, right?

Well, here's the kicker:

I had to have that exact same fight at least twice a month for the next three months.  It was as if they would INTENTIONALLY wait until I wrote checks on the account to remove the hold on my paycheck so that I would bounce the checks and owe them fees.  Then, after the 90-day probation period was up, they would delay deposits -- I would make a deposit at 10 AM, then use my check card or write a check later in the afternoon, and when I checked my account, I would see that they had waited to process the deposit until AFTER they processed the debits, causing me to bounce checks all over town and incurring literally hundreds of dollars a month in overdraft fees (which were ALL eventually refunded, but after hours and hours of bickering with the manager to get it taken care of -- I swear to God it was like a second full-time job dealing with their bullshit).

So why didn't I close the account?  Easy.  Every time I tried, they told me there was a hold on my account for one reason or another and I couldn't remove the funds.  And since I was 18 I didn't know enough to call them on their bullshit.  It took me a year to finally get my money out.  I will NEVER do business with Bank of America again.

Quoted: This will be an unpopular opinion. So be it. You and your family manage your financial affiairs in a way that exposes you to this situation. When you put your mother on both of your accounts, that means she's an owner and depositor on both of those accounts.  And for the dozens of years, standard depositor agreements specify that (1) all charges to the account are the obligations of all owners of the account; and (2) if they're not paid, those charges can be "set off" against any other accounts owned by that individual.   By putting your mom on your account knowing she's also on your brothers, you made your money a guaranty on his affairs.   Now, its seems to me that he should have paid the $.08 under protest, and then pushed up the ladder to get the charge reversed if it was inappropriate.  By refusing to pay, he brought your mother into it. The bank gets low marks on customer service, to be sure.   But the way you structured your affairs opened the door.  Personal responsibility and all that.   Note that having her as a coowner of each of your accounts can cause problems if she passes away intestate (without a will).

I was unaware that my mother's name was on my brother's account. My brother didn't even remember it until he got the notice yesterday. It wasn't as if we planned this little affair. I knew my mother was on my account because I had specifically placed her there. My kid brother's account was set up long long ago and he didn't remember.

My brother's account with them was, as I have just found out, about to be closed ANYWAY. Apparently he deposited 3,000 dollars in his checking account, and then 10 days later wrote some checks. They all bounced. Curious as to why that was, he went to the bank and they said he only had 250 dollars credited to his account before writing the checks.

When he produced the deposit receipt for 3,000 dollars marked 10 DAYS ago, they informed him that there was a 20 day hold on that deposit. Whereupon he produced a mini ATM statement from the day before writing the checks where it showed credit for a deposit of 3,000 dollars.

"Well there was a hold on it"

Was all the answer he could get. Of course the next day the hold was REMOVED, and they cleaned his account out with "overdraft" fees. They took out so much money, in fact, that it again left him with a negative balance, which they then charged another overdraft fee on....

First Union has screwed over EVERY MEMBER OF MY FAMILY in some way or another. My father mailed in a credit card payment 2 WEEKS before it was due, and then got hit with a late penalty AND his interest rate jumped 15%. When he informed them WHEN he sent out the check, they claimed it had been sitting in the mail room waiting to be processed.

"So the bill got there, but you didn't process it, and you expect ME to pay a late charge and have my interest rate go up??"

Yup. They did. My father is a minister, and it is a rare thing to hear an obscenity come out of his mouth, but boy oh boy did a few go flying into that phone.

I guess it was just my turn to take it up the tailpipe for not being smart enough to abandon FU already.

BTW -- After talking with these idiots, I was informed that if my account was suddenly over-drawn because of the money THEY took out, then I too would be charged overdraft fees. Even though THEY took the money and I had NOTHING to do with any of this.

Forgive me Lord for saying this, but they can just go FUCK themselves.  

First Union/Wachovia is the most fee gouging, avaricious, organization of pure userers I have ever seen. I would sooner flush my money down the toilet than EVER let them get their hands on it.

tagged

Quoted: So why didn't I close the account?  Easy.  Every time I tried, they told me there was a hold on my account for one reason or another and I couldn't remove the funds.  And since I was 18 I didn't know enough to call them on their bullshit.  It took me a year to finally get my money out.  I will NEVER do business with Bank of America again.

This is exactly the sort of thing First Union does, and was one of the reasons I got away from them in the first place. It is the reason I won't ever open a BofA account either.

Quoted: You can alway do what I did. I bought one share of stock so I could go to the shareholder's meeting and promptly tell everyone there my story.

This is extremely tempting.

Quoted: There is something called:  "IN TRUST FOR:.........".  Trustee without any legal obligation.

Which is what I THOUGHT she was set up as. Guess we know how reliably the banks fill out forms, don't we?

These people are nothing but crooked bastards in every sense of the word. They are THIEVES and USERERS of the worst kind.

One day their organization will pay for treating people like this.

Quoted: If you really feel wornged, small claims court may be the answer.

With their kind of money, I wouldn't stand a chance. By the time it was all over I might end up having to give THEM everything I own and having my dogs shot. These people are THAT evil.

Absolutely hate wachovia. Holds on checks drawn off of their own bank, fees, tricks, totally rude arrogant attitude.  They made me wake up my sleeping infant and come inside to cash a check that was "Too big for the drive through sir!". It was $700 and I had a Crown account which is supposed to be a preferred customer account.  I finally had enough and stopped using the account.
6 months later I tried to cash a check drawn on one of their accounts. "Do you have an account sir?"  "The check is drawn on your bank".  "But do you have an account sir???"  "I don't need one, the ck is from your bank!"  " DO YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT HERE???"   "Yes, but I no longer use it"  " Your going to have to come inside because you owe us 6 months of inactivity fees"  Then she held the ck and wouldn't give it back until I spoke to the manager and paid the fees.  Did I say I FUCKING HATE WACHOVIA?

I rank banks & insurance companies right beside lawyers in the "top businesses to f*c* you with fine print, refuse to be honorable, and generally screw their clients. The world would be better off without all three.

Bank of America

 Got a divorce.   Cancelled old cards and got  a new one.    Ex wife took the  mail and made rubbings of the new card numbers without opening the envelope and then returned it to the mailbox.    Yeah I know, psycho bitch..... but I have suspicions of a developing drug problem because  it didn't start out that way and the first 2 years of marriage were great.

 Anyway a  few days later , after I activate the new card, I get a  "Thank You for your recent balance transfers !" from them.

I went thru all the bullshit with their people and hit a wall too.    They kept insisting it was a civil matter because she was on the account ...even though I had the records  to prove it was not so .

At least I have the option of suing my ex first.... but either way, Bank of America is one outfit that will never see another dime from me.

B of  A   is not a good company to do business with.

Rip

Quoted: I rank banks & insurance companies right beside lawyers in the "top businesses to f*c* you with fine print, refuse to be honorable, and generally screw their clients. The world would be better off without all three.

AMEN!!  Credit unions are the only compromise I think.  Sunwest bank once turned me down for a cash advance because she said  "Your signature doesn't match".  I even had my drivers license to prove my identity. Ever since then I sign everything with a squigle instead of neatly on important things.

Centris blows.  They started up a overdraft protection scheme.  And since it started they pool up debits for 5+ days, and apply them to the account all at once.  If you come up .01 short they hit you with a $25 fee on every single one of them instead of the last one that caused the overdraft PLUS and additional fee for being overdrafted.

At the beginning of the month my account came up 22 cents shy, they nailed me with $475 in fees.  


I got $200 back by raising hell on the phone,  But I'm still moving my deposits to another credit union who believe it of not actually pulls debits out instantly.  

Quoted: B of A story: ....

That reminds me of a saying my dad has  

"It's expensive to be poor"

It's so true in so many way.  Loans, financing, maitining a beat-up car, having to use laundramats, banks fucking with you in way like you described, etc

I think it's a trait of all the megabanks. Bank of America are a bunch of losers, too. I had cancelled a credit card with them; they lost the cancel, then two years later, unbeknownst to me, started running up late fees on it. Found out about it a few months later. Of course they stiff-armed me at customer "service" and I wound up paying a couple hundred bucks. Well, fuck them; it will be a cold day in hell when they see another dime from me in any way, shape, or form.

Someone should email this link to Wachovia to let them see the chain reaction 80 cents can really accrue.

Wow!

Thank God I use USAA!

They did the same thing to me.

I wanted to cash my paycheck, which was drawn on a Wachovia acct. They said that I had to pay a $5 fee to cash the check, even thought it was drawn on an account from THEM.

SO I oppened an account, and left like $50 in there. Wrote a check for gas and used the debit card 2 times. Give it over 2 weeks to clear, and check my balance, which had become $10, which was verified by a teller, and all items had cleared. So I get the $10 out, and next thing I know, I have a bunch of fees.

So what do I do? Not a damn thing. They can go fuck themselves. The account has been closed. And they will not get a thin red dime from me.

I gave up on commercial banks 20 years ago. To them you're nothing more than a "profit center".  Credit unions charge less fees and loan interest, pay more deposit interest, and issue charge cards with reasonable terms. A couple of years ago I received a call from someone who was doing a customer service poll for a bank. I contrasted what his bank had to offer with what my credit union offered. By the time the call ended he was ready to switch his account.

Quoted: Unfortunately they say that what they did was legal, so they can't help me. But I will be darn sure to remember that adress for the future. I would verify that it was legal. http://www.occ.treas.gov/

444slayer beat me to it.  ..
It seems that you just took their word for it.  I don't believe it until I see it in writing.

As for First Union/Wachovia, the only dealings I had with them were for auto loans.  Every time I went to pay in person, I used a check from my credit union account.  The teller would say, "I see that you use a credit union.  Would you like to open an accont with us?  Here's our list of fees".  I laughed at him.  Not services, but fees.

I have been with one credit union for 20 years and another for 15.  I have very few problems, and when it was the bank's fault, it was fixed immediately, with apologies.  They offer everything a regular bank offers... why put up with the hassle?

I closed my FU account before the Wachovia deal closed. They screwed me on enough fees and had the worst customer service ever! Bastages will never get another cent from me. Same for Bank of America, what a bunch of asshats! Just try to get your IRA funds transferred to another firm, they create delay after delay and never return your calls.

+1 on the Chevy Chase bank, I've never had any problems with them.

OTOH, my bank here in PA, PNC bank, has screwed me over recently. They changed their policy so that deposits aren't cleared for 3 days, but checks are processed immidiately, instead of vice-versa. This of course caused me to incur all sorts of feeds.  

Something doesn't seem right about this whole thing.

Let me tell you about MY Wachovia story:

We sold our house in South Florida for "a buttload 'O money".  The closing agent had their bank with Wachovia and we needed this money right away to close on the house we were building in North Central Florida so we deposited our funds in Wachovia {minutes after getting the check (and never having a relationship with them in the past)... we ran downstairs to deposited the check before 6PM}.

On the advice of the banker at Wachovia, we opened 2 accounts - a money market account for $XXX,XXX.XX dollars and a checking account with $200.00 (Free Visa, Free Checks, No Fees, yada, yada, yada).

When it came time to start paying our bills....my wife mixed up the accounts and paid about $50,000 in debt on the wrong account!!!!!!  ON AN ACCOUNT THAT HAD A $200 BALANCE!!!!

It took us about 2 weeks to figure out what was going on and after $500.00 in bounced check charges (more than 16 Bounced Checks) we called Wachovia.  Knowing it was totally our fault for our stupidity for writing the checks on the wrong account we presented our pretty lame case to them.  My wife was in tears and all the woman could say was "you poor dear." and credited ALL the NSF charges and made everything right.

So I call this post B.S. - there must be something more to this story.

I used to work in a Bank and it's called the "Right of Offset".  There must be something more than $.80 fee charged to his account that is "now in the hundreds of dollars".

Fess up dude..... what is the real story?

I have dealt with them a few times, I use my local credit union though, free interest checking.

I really hate to say this, but after they treat people like shit, its no wonder that some people just snap...

I had a similar problem with Cingular Wireless. I moved out of their coverage area, and couldnt use my current service with them anymore. I had been a loyal customer, and told them I was happy with their service but couldnt use it anymore as it was. I wanted them to either provide me with a non-retail priced phone so i could use their national plan, or let me out of the $300 early cancellation fee.

In the end, they didnt care about my business, or my future business, no one wanted to help me, same thing - no one can help you, its just policy, BS, even the supervisors didnt return my calls. Well, that is fine, I cancelled my service - paid my $300, but they will never get a dirty cent out of me, my business, my family or other people who I warned against from going with Cingular.

It really sucks, but you just can't trust ANYONE these days - if someone can screw you and get away with it - they will.

Anyways - find someone else to pick up your loans, do your banking elsewhere, write a letter to the President of the company telling them why you went somewhere else.

Take comfort in the fact that you are a better person than anyone in their jackass company. I'll be sure to avoid Wachovia myself.

Ha, Cingular customer service is the shits.  I still remember being in one of their stores yelling and cursing into the phone.

Wells Fargo is a piece of crap as well.  I've never been happier than when I switched to my credit union.  Love them.  Almost no fees, very prompt and helpful when there is a problem, which is rare. They kick ass.

Have you tried going farther up the chain.  Send a letter, or better yet, just print out this thread, and mail it to the company headquarters.  Somebody higher up, not a Herbert, might have a larger vision of things and make things right.  Of course still get out when(if) you get your money back.

It's exactly situations like this (which I've also experienced) that has driven me to do business with a small bank in a small town. All the tellers are older women, and they all know me on a first name basis. They have gone above and beyond my expectations of customer service.

That's my advice... Find a solid small-town bank, and stick with them. These big fucking banks only know you as a number and couldn't give a rats ass if you ever come back...

A few things to consider:

1, What they did (according to your story) is called right of offset, and is practiced by every financial institution in the country.

2. Your beef is with your brother and mother who incurred a debt (no matter how that happened) and left you holding the bag.  Get pissed at who caused your problem.

3.  Make sure your brother gave you the straight skinny. (his story frankly smells.  How did he close an account in overdraft?)

4.  Wachovia has one of the highest customer service ratings in the industry.

Tagged

Banks suck.  Wachovia sucks more than most.  Fuck Wachovia

Quoted: Thanks for reminding me why I love credit unions. I haven't dealt with a bank in eight years and haven't missed it one bit.   Try closing an account and leaving enough money in there to cover the one check that has yet to be cleared.  Wait two weeks and get a letter from the bank saying that your account has been overdrafted.  Seems the check didn't clear until after the first of the month and they HAD to stick me with that $20 monthly service charge because I only had like $15 in the account.  Then, because of the "overdraft", I get stuck with a $30 service charge. I hate banks with all of their service charges and fees.  Now I pay $3 a month, free checks, checking, online banking and billpay, plus great interest rates on loans. Banks can kiss my black ass.

Thank you!!!!! I was going to say the same thing about credit unions.  If you look around, almost anyone can find a credit union that they can be a member of.  Mine is through my employer, and I have been very happy with them.  Direct Deposit, no fees for any of their services, and very easy to work with.  About a year and a half ago, I had a check pass on my account for 1000 dollars that I didn't write.  I called the credit union the told me what I had to do and fill out.  I had it all taken care of that day, and on the next day the 1000 dollars was re deposited in my new account.

Quoted: Quoted: Thanks for reminding me why I love credit unions. I haven't dealt with a bank in eight years and haven't missed it one bit.   Try closing an account and leaving enough money in there to cover the one check that has yet to be cleared.  Wait two weeks and get a letter from the bank saying that your account has been overdrafted.  Seems the check didn't clear until after the first of the month and they HAD to stick me with that $20 monthly service charge because I only had like $15 in the account.  Then, because of the "overdraft", I get stuck with a $30 service charge. I hate banks with all of their service charges and fees.  Now I pay $3 a month, free checks, checking, online banking and billpay, plus great interest rates on loans. Banks can kiss my black ass. Thank you!!!!! I was going to say the same thing about credit unions.  If you look around, almost anyone can find a credit union that they can be a member of.  Mine is through my employer, and I have been very happy with them.  Direct Deposit, no fees for any of their services, and very easy to work with.  About a year and a half ago, I had a check pass on my account for 1000 dollars that I didn't write.  I called the credit union the told me what I had to do and fill out.  I had it all taken care of that day, and on the next day the 1000 dollars was re deposited in my new account.

You must be with the same credit union as me.  Problem is they are not up here in SC.

Quoted: Something doesn't seem right about this whole thing. Let me tell you about MY Wachovia story: We sold our house in South Florida for "a buttload 'O money".  The closing agent had their bank with Wachovia and we needed this money right away to close on the house we were building in North Central Florida so we deposited our funds in Wachovia {minutes after getting the check (and never having a relationship with them in the past)... we ran downstairs to deposited the check before 6PM}. On the advice of the banker at Wachovia, we opened 2 accounts - a money market account for $XXX,XXX.XX dollars and a checking account with $200.00 (Free Visa, Free Checks, No Fees, yada, yada, yada). When it came time to start paying our bills....my wife mixed up the accounts and paid about $50,000 in debt on the wrong account!!!!!!  ON AN ACCOUNT THAT HAD A $200 BALANCE!!!! It took us about 2 weeks to figure out what was going on and after $500.00 in bounced check charges (more than 16 Bounced Checks) we called Wachovia.  Knowing it was totally our fault for our stupidity for writing the checks on the wrong account we presented our pretty lame case to them.  My wife was in tears and all the woman could say was "you poor dear." and credited ALL the NSF charges and made everything right. So I call this post B.S. - there must be something more to this story. I used to work in a Bank and it's called the "Right of Offset".  There must be something more than $.80 fee charged to his account that is "now in the hundreds of dollars". Fess up dude..... what is the real story?

Call BS all you want, but it happened, and it happened EXACTLY the way I have called it. I have the bank statements right here....

You may have never been screwed over by FU, but my family has repeatedly been hosed by FU. Because of how they treated my father, our church left FU as well. I am just the latest in a long line of people screwed over.

I know that they have the right of offset according to the law. I know WHY they have it. But in this case they did what was perfectly legal, but also perfectly unreasonable and perfectly according to their history of trying to bleed people dry.

Quoted: Quoted: I'm fairly happy with SunTrust. Pretty sure though that somebody here has a similar horror story from every bank on the planet. I just finished dealing with a fiasco that Suntrust caused.  My girlfriend just opened a college checking account at the  beginning of the semester.  She finally got her debit card and checks and 2 weeks after the account was opened, some asshole in Madrid Spain took every cent out of the account.  So then we have to battle the bank saying "yes I am sure we werent in madrid last week" and they wouldnt refund the money until after an affadavit had been signed (taking two weeks).  In the end, my girlfriend was without her money for two weeks, the bank wouldnt explain how it happened and they STILL stuck her with the $8 ATM transaction fees. sorry, had to get that one out of my system

Sorry to hear about that. Too bad she didn't get with my wife who is a financial services rep in a Suntrust branch in Pensacola. She's loves busting fraud and will do what is in her power and knows who to call to straighten out problems.

Quoted: A few things to consider: 1, What they did (according to your story) is called right of offset, and is practiced by every financial institution in the country.

Yes, I am aware that everyone has this ability. I am also aware that they COULD have understood all this mess and FIXED it. My mother never spent a dime out of that account. I have seen the bank statements from my brother because at first I frankly didn't believe him either. But it all washes out EXACTLY as I have stated it.

2. Your beef is with your brother and mother who incurred a debt (no matter how that happened) and left you holding the bag.  Get pissed at who caused your problem.

Had he actually taken deliberate action to cost me, I would agree with you. But this was such a backward chain of events that there was no way that he could have forseen the impact on me. And after finding out how they had messed him up on 3,000 bucks worth of deposits. I don't blame him for wanting to get away from them. He had already established a Credit Union account somewhere else and was having his check direct deposited there and was in the process of closing out the account.

My brother and my mother didn't take money from me. Wachovia did, and given the situation they should be the ones to repay me.

My brother, BTW, gave me the money yesterday afternoon because he hated the idea of costing me as he did. He isn't a rat who doesn't pay bills. We weren't raised that way.

3.  Make sure your brother gave you the straight skinny. (his story frankly smells.  How did he close an account in overdraft?)

I didn't believe him at first either. I figured that there was no way all this fuss would happen over 80 cents. (I misread the number as I later found out it was actually 8 cents. Number dislexia...) But after researching with him AND the bank, that was exactly what happened. That is why it is so hard to swallow....

4.  Wachovia has one of the highest customer service ratings in the industry.

Right. WACHOVIA has a decent CS rating. FU did NOT. That is why they ditched the FU name and kept the Wachovia name and came out with all those lame commercials.

The bottom line here is that I persued every single avenue possible with Wachovia's system. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and tried to use their customer service to resolve the problem. I got a lot of "I'm sorry" stories, but in the end what I REALLY got was stuck with a 200 charge that has nothing to do with me, and a bunch of weenies quoting me policy and not really giving a good gosh darn WHAT I wanted.

They were sympathetic, until I actually asked them to DO something about it, at which time they basically told me to go pound sand.

They can do that to other sheeple if they want, but I will not PAY anyone to treat me that way. EVER.

Quoted: great rant, jw777!

I am learning how to be really good at being pissed off....

Quoted: Here is a link to the corporate officers.  I would suggest contacting them directly.   www.hoovers.com/wachovia/--ID__103806--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

I didn't see any direct e-mail adresses, or I would most certainly contact the whole bloody board.

Not that they would care...

Ever wonder why they give away --suckers!

I love Wachovia.....great bank as long as you don't try to screw them.

Any time I have had a problem with something I always look up the prez-o-dent and/or CEO of the company and fire off a nice letter, followed by a business threatening nastygram. After that it seems like the big cheese screams at someone to fix this shit so he isn't getting letters like this because I have never had a negative result in doing it.

That being said... If they say it is in their policy, ask them exactly where and if this information was offered up when you opened the account, or if they have this particular policy of legal theft stashed away in the vault. That is utter nonsense. One of those things where you would no doubt get arrested if you had to deal with the person face to face because after the 10th time of hearing "it's our policy, there is nothign we can do, your money won't be refunded" they would probably be assaulted and then you'd face the charges. It's a wonderful system... much like the insurance business and their reluctance to give back a cent when you actually need their services.

It's times like these I think Project Mayhem might not be such a bad idea. It could easily be put together by simply going to a bar parking lot and beating the hell out myself while some people are watching...

Quoted: A few things to consider: 1, What they did (according to your story) is called right of offset, and is practiced by every financial institution in the country. 2. Your beef is with your brother and mother who incurred a debt (no matter how that happened) and left you holding the bag.  Get pissed at who caused your problem. 3.  Make sure your brother gave you the straight skinny. (his story frankly smells.  How did he close an account in overdraft?) *snip*

1 - No question about it - perfectly legal if she was truly joint on both accounts.  There are ways to get around this - use online banking or share an atm card in an emergency.
2 - Absolutely - it's always better to pay a debt first and argue later - why let it slip and cause you problems down the road?  Then just make sure to document document document...did I mention document?
3 - It's impossible to close an account that is negative - something's obviously wrong.  And even if they call it "closed," it really isn't - charges can still accrue that HE and therefore YOU are responsible for.

It was absolutely horrible customer service, but on the other hand it sounds like your brother and then yourself allowed it to get that way.  This is part of the problem dealing with huge corporations - do you want more laws governing them?  Do you think the lack of a customer or two is really going to hurt them?

Go to a credit union - I used to work for one.  Ten thousand times better service, less fees, etc. - and if you want to improve service more, you can always get on the board!  Everyone is a member, not a number.

Quoted: I love Wachovia.....great bank as long as you don't try to screw them.

I have never tried to screw with them. But boy howdy have they screwed with me. I recently ended up with a bunch of late bills because Wachovia and FU joined and said that all payments and checks and direct deposits would not be effected by the change.

Whoops! They changed my account number. Didn't they warn me about that? No? Well gee. Somebody should have.

Meanwhile my bills didn't get paid and my paycheck couldn't be deposited. Yippee.

This is the last straw in a long chain of events. I have been kicked in the balls enough.

It is true that some other bank may kick me in the balls in the future, but FU certainly won't get the chance to do it again.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Thanks for reminding me why I love credit unions. I haven't dealt with a bank in eight years and haven't missed it one bit.   Try closing an account and leaving enough money in there to cover the one check that has yet to be cleared.  Wait two weeks and get a letter from the bank saying that your account has been overdrafted.  Seems the check didn't clear until after the first of the month and they HAD to stick me with that $20 monthly service charge because I only had like $15 in the account.  Then, because of the "overdraft", I get stuck with a $30 service charge. I hate banks with all of their service charges and fees.  Now I pay $3 a month, free checks, checking, online banking and billpay, plus great interest rates on loans. Banks can kiss my black ass. Thank you!!!!! I was going to say the same thing about credit unions.  If you look around, almost anyone can find a credit union that they can be a member of.  Mine is through my employer, and I have been very happy with them.  Direct Deposit, no fees for any of their services, and very easy to work with.  About a year and a half ago, I had a check pass on my account for 1000 dollars that I didn't write.  I called the credit union the told me what I had to do and fill out.  I had it all taken care of that day, and on the next day the 1000 dollars was re deposited in my new account. You must be with the same credit union as me.  Problem is they are not up here in SC.

You have a nice prudy little red white and blue plane on your ATM card too?  If you go to almost any credit union around your area (teachers, fed employee, etc...) you should be able to withdraw with no finance charge.

Quoted: Quoted: A few things to consider: 1, What they did (according to your story) is called right of offset, and is practiced by every financial institution in the country. 2. Your beef is with your brother and mother who incurred a debt (no matter how that happened) and left you holding the bag.  Get pissed at who caused your problem. 3.  Make sure your brother gave you the straight skinny. (his story frankly smells.  How did he close an account in overdraft?) *snip* 1 - No question about it - perfectly legal if she was truly joint on both accounts.  There are ways to get around this - use online banking or share an atm card in an emergency. 2 - Absolutely - it's always better to pay a debt first and argue later - why let it slip and cause you problems down the road?  Then just make sure to document document document...did I mention document? 3 - It's impossible to close an account that is negative - something's obviously wrong.  And even if they call it "closed," it really isn't - charges can still accrue that HE and therefore YOU are responsible for. It was absolutely horrible customer service, but on the other hand it sounds like your brother and then yourself allowed it to get that way.  This is part of the problem dealing with huge corporations - do you want more laws governing them?  Do you think the lack of a customer or two is really going to hurt them? Go to a credit union - I used to work for one.  Ten thousand times better service, less fees, etc. - and if you want to improve service more, you can always get on the board!  Everyone is a member, not a number.

I'm not sure I understand how this could be justified. The only connection, as far as the bank is concerned, is that the mother has access to both sons accounts. They could just as easily be two perfect strangers that know her by proxy of her having emergency access to both accounts. How does this give the bank the right to use her as a channel to move money from one account to the other without anyone's permission? Am I missing something here? This doesn't make legal sense. I coudl see if it was a joint account between the two brothers, both having a separate savings account but contained within the same overall acount... but if they are two completely separate accounts that have no connection outside of the person with emergency access priveledges, it makes no sense.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Thanks for reminding me why I love credit unions. I haven't dealt with a bank in eight years and haven't missed it one bit.   Try closing an account and leaving enough money in there to cover the one check that has yet to be cleared.  Wait two weeks and get a letter from the bank saying that your account has been overdrafted.  Seems the check didn't clear until after the first of the month and they HAD to stick me with that $20 monthly service charge because I only had like $15 in the account.  Then, because of the "overdraft", I get stuck with a $30 service charge. I hate banks with all of their service charges and fees.  Now I pay $3 a month, free checks, checking, online banking and billpay, plus great interest rates on loans. Banks can kiss my black ass. Thank you!!!!! I was going to say the same thing about credit unions.  If you look around, almost anyone can find a credit union that they can be a member of.  Mine is through my employer, and I have been very happy with them.  Direct Deposit, no fees for any of their services, and very easy to work with.  About a year and a half ago, I had a check pass on my account for 1000 dollars that I didn't write.  I called the credit union the told me what I had to do and fill out.  I had it all taken care of that day, and on the next day the 1000 dollars was re deposited in my new account. You must be with the same credit union as me.  Problem is they are not up here in SC. You have a nice prudy little red white and blue plane on your ATM card too?  If you go to almost any credit union around your area (teachers, fed employee, etc...) you should be able to withdraw with no finance charge.

Yea but when I need to cash checks and such it is a pain in the ass.