Woman sues bank for $3 fee; settles for $1,000

Well DUH!

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. LAWYERS CHARGE EXHORBANT(sp) FEES ANYWAY. BUT THAT TAKES THE CAKE.

First of all, to flashygrrl21: The settlement was for $90,000, so the law firm getting $27,000 is not unheard of. A typical fee for a civil suit is usually 1/3 or 30-33%, depending on how the firm wishes to calculate their fee.

Second, any ATM I've always used that carries a fee has ALWAYS asked if I accept the fee, and if so, press a button indicating that I accept. In Las Vegas casinos, the ATM fees can be up to $4. YES, these ATM companies (and banks) take advantage of the customer, but in some cases, the customer really doesn't have a choice.

Dear Person who doesn't understand economics:

These lawyers went to school for seven years to learn the law. It is about as difficult as med school. The lawyers probably took this case on a contingency basis which means they get $0.00 if they lose. Since no one wins all the time (and despite whining from doctors, they win more than 75% of the time, which they shouldn't because they are sloppy), it is a gamble on the part of the lawyers to take the case. By herself, should could not afford to sue at all. This was structured as a class action, which occurs when lots of the little people get screwed over by a big company, for a small amount of money each. The only way to stop the screw job is for lawyers to risk their own funds (by advancing costs) to represent the whole class. Why do you think it is bad for the lawyers who risk their time and money to charge a fee which is, based on the cost of legal services today, minimal. I suppose you'd li8ke for them to donate their time to the woman who had three dollars at risk..n That's a good way to get rid of any possibility of stopping an illegal or fraudulent activity.

Lawyers are always willing to take anything & everything to court becuase if they win, they get at least 30%, not bad for just rolling the dice. And for those that say lawyers spend 7 yrs in school and work hard...no they don't their paralegals work hard for about$12...most lawyers are pigs and those are the people that are going to make all the money with the Obama stimulus...I would like to limit what lawyers can make...PERIOD! After all everyone voted for redistributing wealth...right?

That's fleecing? You should have been involved in the Trac-Fone class action a few years ago. Main plaintiff won $8,000 and class action parties (like me) got about $11 worth of prepaid phone time. The thieving lawyers got (ready for this?) over TWO MILLION DOLLARS! No wonder people hate lawyers. And what profession do you think the majority of politicians are? Time to vote ALL of the incumbants out of Congress in 2010. Yes, even your "good guy."

NO kidding.... what a rip off attorneys are ... just like obama is ripping off all of america...

=Besides finding lawyers to do the work for her, what did she do or incur to deserve more?

it is a ATm fee...Not a OD fee........geesh

Conrann ... She was talking about HER overdraft fee charge ... NOT about the ATM fee in the story. Follow? She's agreeing that banks are taking advantage of consumers and giving her own example. Oy vay.

I have to say that I work for a bank. If you are upset with the overdraft fees that you're charged, you have a few options:

1. Keep track of your purchases in a register/computer program so that you don't go overdrawn and know how much money you have to spend

2. Utilize the tools given to you. I don't know of a bank that doesn't provide online banking and telephone access. You can keep track of your purchases that way.

3. Talk with them about overdraft protection or some sort of similar product offering. The bank that I work for provides that for a small fee either per time or monthly from my savings account. I pay to have this protection myself so that I can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing I'm protected.

Also, banks are for profit, and that means that they have to have a way to pay their employees. My wages come out of overdraft fees/ATM fees/wire transfer fees etc.

Before you get angry, think about the situation and take responsibility for your actions! If you aren't going to plan to take enough cash with you when you go somewhere, use your debit card or accept the fact that you will be charged a fee.

Or use a bank that doesn't charge for things like od coverage from your savings and refunds atm fees.....and yes they do exist---at least for the military----but avoiding the overage is really not that hard.