What to tell your bank when they say something you don't want to hear
Filed under: Banks, Banking-checking-account
There's a lot of public anger at banks these days. Pick a bank topic, any topic -- bailouts, executive pay, interest rates, ATM, NSF, overdraft fees -- and it's hard to imagine anyone nodding happily. But all this anger begs the question: When we're frustrated and being thwarted by our bank, what can we do to make ourselves... well, happy?If you've heard any of the following from your bank lately, here's what you ought to say in return.
"You have six overdraft charges." One or two overdraft charges certainly aren't fun, but five or more, and you can suddenly feel your monthly budget going to ruin. If your bank isn't one of those that's curtailing its overdraft fees (Bank of America), or it is but hasn't stopped yet (yeah, you heard us, U.S. Bank), you may, unfortunately, know that feeling.
If it happens to you: Call, or better yet go to, your local branch to talk to your bank manager about those fees. With a few hundred dollars on the line, it makes sense to invest the time to drive over there and talk to someone in person.
But before you launch into a tirade, realize that screaming at the manager isn't likely to win you any points. Understand that this isn't personal -- it's just the way that the bank works -- and your manager may not like enforcing the overdraft policy any better than you like paying those fees. After all, he or she probably gets yelled at several times a day. So if you're pleasant, right there, you may have an edge on getting those fees wiped out.
If your manager can't help you: Ask to speak to the bank's regional manager. Nobody's likely to suggest it, but if you ask for the regional manager, you'll likely be put in touch with them. That manager almost certainly has the power to eliminate those fees -- the question is whether he or she will use that power to help you, or the bank.
Another thing to consider: Are you banking with the branch at which you first opened your account? After all, people move. So if you opened your account in Pittsburgh and then moved to Denver, the person calling the shots on your account -- the one who has the power to remove your overdraft fees -- is most likely back at your old branch. If that's the case, you'll probably want to open a new account with your current branch and close the old one in order to be working with a manager empowered and willing to help you.
"Based on your credit score, we can't give you a loan at that rate." You know how it is. You see the ad. The bank tells you how you can get a fantastic rate. You confidently apply. You're soon humbled.
If it happens to you: Unfortunately, there's probably not much you can do about loan rates these days. Lenders are scrutinizing everybody's financial portfolio's more carefully than ever, and if you don't fit their requirements for lending, they're not going to budge. Gregory B. Meyer, a banking professional who spent nearly 20 years working at banks like Cal Fed Bank and then Citibank, told WalletPop that in those 20 years, "I never had any ability to influence the underwriters whatsoever." (And keep in mind, these were during relatively non-recessionary times.)
Now that doesn't mean you should wave the white flag. You can always try to find a loan at a different bank or look into LendingTree.com. Some organization specialize in working with people who have bad credit; for instance, HomeRun Homes is an operation that helps people lease homes and then buy them. While there may not be much you can say to your own bank at this point to get them to change their minds, there are other options out there you can investigate.
Another thing to consider: Asking another bank for a loan is the route that Meyer, currently the community relations manager at Meriwest Credit Union in San Jose, Calif., recommends. And then if you're still not getting a loan for the rate you want, there's likely a good reason. Maybe you're overextended with your debt, and maybe in a perverse way, the banks are doing you a favor. If that's the case, Meyer suggests getting a free copy of your credit report at the FTC's web site, AnnualCredit Report.com. Study it carefully to see what's on there that might be keeping you from getting a loan. After you've fixed any credit problems you might have, try again.
"You don't have as much money in your bank account as you thought." Bank tellers will rarely put it quite so nicely, but that's what your bank is telling you when you look at your checking account and the balance is much lower than you imagined.
If it happens to you: It's most likely that you probably do have less than you thought because you overspent. However, it just might be the case that the bank is wrong -- computer glitches can happen. For instance, as we wrote about at WalletPop not long ago, TD Bank had some horrendous computer problems, and customers were without access to their money for nearly a week. And it's not impossible for a teller to transpose a few numbers when plugging them into the system, and suddenly you're not as rich as you thought you were.
Obviously, if you feel the bank has made a mistake, you should talk to your teller, your branch manager or your regional manager, or even the regional administrator above that, if you're getting nowhere with the other bank employees.
Another thing to consider: If you're still getting nowhere after going up the chain of command, don't flip out. Meyer has a suggestion that may help you speak your banker's language. If you truly think money has vanished from your account but you can't prove it, ask your manager if he or she can check the bank's trial balance from the day before the money disappeared. These are the numbers that show what was in all the accounts the night before. Meyer says the bank should be able to look at those numbers and see exactly how much you had in your account before checks began clearing, debits disappeared from your account, and your money pile began to shrink.
"You're no longer welcome at this bank." It's rare, but I've interviewed people who have been kicked out of their bank.
If it happens: I'm sorry to say it, but you pretty much have to follow the straightforward advice of Dennis Nason, a former banking executive who's worked at Credit Suisse, Citigroup and Wells Fargo: "Find another bank."
Nason, who is now CEO of Nason and Nason, an executive recruiting firm for the banking industry based in Coral Gables, Fla., adds that if a big bank, in particular, has kicked you out, you should opt for a community bank. "Large banks don't intend to offer bad customer service," Nason told us, "but a lot of them are so large they've lost their personal touch. This is why we encourage people to deal with community banks -- they're still connected to the community."
Nason says he's heard of customers whose accounts were too small to make it worth a bank's while. Certainly, if you've had a lot of overdraft fees and have had trouble paying them back, your bank could decide to kick you to the curb. And if that happens, grab a new bank quickly. Why? If you're blackballed by your bank for not paying back fees, you could wind up on a list produced by ChexSystems, which is something of a consultancy for about 80% of the banks in America. Like a credit issuer that tells a lender if you're a bad credit risk, ChexSystems tells banks if you're a risky bank consumer. Once that happens, and you're on the list (the information they have on you remains there for five years), finding a new bank to join, while not impossible, gets very complicated, very quickly.
Another thing to consider: If you've been asked to leave your bank, says Meyer, the reason probably comes down to this: "The bank has decided that you're a liability to them. They probably lost money on your account, whether it's fees they've had to waive for you, or maybe it was the additional time that was taken to keep your account straight. After all, time is money, and if you have a teller constantly spending [time] explaining to the same customer why their account is in the negative or why these charges came about, that may explain why they've decided you're a persona non grata."
One way to become someone your bank will listen to -- no matter what the situation -- is to have more than just a checking account with your bank, Meyer adds. While there are a lot of good arguments for not having all your money at one bank, especially in this age of bank failures, it's hard to argue with Meyer on this point. He says that if you have your home loan with your bank and your savings, a branch manager is going to be much more willing to help you out, if they can, because, as Meyer explains, "If something goes wrong, they know where to find you. Relationships play a big role in banking."
Geoff Williams writes a lot about banking for WalletPop. He is also the co-author of the upcoming book Living Well with Bad Credit.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-10-2009 @ 2:51PM
Alisa said...
Bank of America is by far the worst bank. The employees are rude, sarcastic and completely useless most of the time. It doesn't matter if it is your "originating" branch that you go to if there is a problem, they won't help you either. I STRONGLY suggest any person looking to find a new bank to stay FAR away from Bank of America.
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 6:08AM
lcarllly said...
If you want to get free quotes from every major auto insurance company you can save much more money than any gecko can save you, right here. (Http://budurl.com/FreeInsuranceQuotes ) I switched insurance after getting my quotes there and I'm saving over $60 a month for our two cars now
11-10-2009 @ 6:27PM
SandynSoCal said...
Sorry Alisa - you can't lump all Bank of America branches and employees together like that, just because YOU'VE had bad experiences with them. Really, when you get down to it, how is the "Jane Johnson" working at B of A any different than the "Jane Johnson" that's working at (insert your current bank name here). I've found that, if customer service people are rude, sarcastic and won't help ME, it's probably more a reflection on how I'm treating them. You're totally entitled to your opinion, but here's a voice of reason just in case anyone really IS shopping for a bank and sees your comment.
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 8:36AM
Bank Manager said...
First off Bank of America has changed their overdraft policy, you will never get more than 4 overdrafts in a day. But mind you all, what have you done to your account that caused all the overdrafts, you need to look at how you manage your accounts before you yelling at the people at the bank. Also Regional managers can not help you, the last line is the manager at the bank, the Regionals don't even have the same system and are unable to go in the computer to override anything. Learn your facts before you write stories! You can always treat the people in the bank like crap, they need their jobs too...
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 8:44AM
gwilliams1 said...
I respectfully disagree with the bank manager who says that a customer can't go to a regional manager. Maybe at his bank, one can't, and I agree that it's always best to go to the bank manager first and try to resolve an issue. But I have gone to my regional manager once, at the suggestion of my bank manager, and he was able to help me with an overdraft problem. I've also had other bank experts tell me that the regional manager can help out if the bank manager can't. And I think I made it clear that one should always treat the bank staff with respect and have tried to make that clear in numerous bank posts. They don't make the policies; they're just doing their jobs.
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 9:10AM
Michael Absten said...
Huntingtom Natl Bank of Columbus ohio charged me over $700 in overdraft fees for 8 to 9 items totalling about $18, Like Starrbucks and some happy meals. I drove to the local bank whee they knew I had cancer and was about to go to florida on my own money for surgery and even tho I had been there 20 yrs with direct deposit they did not take 1 penney off and was proud of their over 1000% profit. Huntington is run by white collar criminals
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 10:05AM
tired of being nickeled & dimed said...
I am currently with B of A and I do most of my banking online.
Me & my husband own a small business that is seeing the hard line of the economy right now. Sometimes when we are low in our personal, we transfer from the business as payroll.
The cut-off time to transfer money online is 10:45pm. I checked my banking @ 10:00 to make sure I had transferred enough
money to keep from being overdrawn, I was fine till.... I recieved
an alert the next morning that my account is in danger of being charged an extended overdrawn fee. I called my bank where I opened the account,we have a friend inside, and she told me that the cut off time for things to clear is midnight. Now how in the hell can they do that?? Online cut-off is 10:45 pm, ATM's cut-off is 8 or so, and inside..., well they close at 5. How do I fix this crap?!?!?
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 10:39AM
msskt said...
Not true Bank of America is out for one thing, that is to take as much of your money as they can. Once you put your money in their bank they view it as an opportunity to see how much of it they can take. I was charged over 6 returned check charges even though I had made a deposit 5 days earlier but Bank of America said it was their policy to hold that deposit for 10 days, this inspite of the fact that I produced a cancelled check showing that the bank had the money in the bank for three days prior to my writing a check on my account. Makes no difference and they would not reduce nor return any fees. It did not help that English was not the first language, nor 2nd or 3rd. I could not even understand what she was saying. Bank America are crooks with a Banking license.
Reply
11-19-2009 @ 12:32AM
paul "Cash Only" Murphy said...
Thank God I stopped Banking in 87'! I have lived cash only since and it's frickin' great! I also happen to OWN my house, cars, sailboat and have zero payments! BTW, I have NEVER applied for a credit card. I read the fine print and decided it was BS. I also have no credit history. I know alot of people will tell you the world will end if you have no credit or a low credit score but thats BS, just shop around and you will find someone who will provide the service you need without credit. Life is great when you take charge!
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 10:53AM
Becky said...
I work at a bank. I'm sorry. Over draft fees, 99% of the time is not the banks fault. It is the fault of the customer spending more money than they have. Plain and simple. And you want us to take off fees why?
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 12:58PM
Bonnie said...
Oh please! My bank which was Washington Mutual who I chose and is now Chase who I did NOT choose charged me overdrafts on a day I made deposits and wrote checks the same day, my letter from them even SHOWED I had a positive balance when they bounced the checks! I say we take our money back and stick it in our mattress!
11-11-2009 @ 1:25PM
pam said...
The unethical practice of BofA of ordering transactions from the greatest to least in order to make more money off of overdraft fees is what I find appalling. It is a logical consequence for an overdraft fee to be charged when we have overspent, but that practice of reordering transactions in order to benefit the bank is criminal. Many, many people struggle hard and try to closely monitor their accounts but even $.15 off can quickly turn into over $100 after transactions are reordered instead of the single $35 (way too high) fee for the $.15 error; so those of us who are struggling are undercut by our own banks. Bank of America is mericless with this practice.
11-11-2009 @ 11:14AM
Mandy said...
Alisa, I totally agree that Bank of America sucks! While I like our personal banker at our branch, the bank manager and the other personal bankers are rude people who do not want to take a minuter more with you than they need to! We have more than 2 accounts with Bof A (for this final week only), our kids have accounts with them, and they still give me a hard time every month when I have to go up there to argue over why we are charged a monthly fee! This started a few months ago, and still no one at b of a has fixed it! They also upped our son's interest rate on his student credit card and he has not missed nor been late with one payment! We have been with them for almost 20 years, yet thier only interest is in how much money they can steal from thier customers, no customer service at all!
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 11:06AM
Steph said...
one thing i have noticed with banks especially TD is that they will no longer decline u debit/credit card. instead the give u insane over draft fees. i like bank of american because they have a application i can put on my phone and check my balance in the store before i even purchase it and i dont have to call the bank up. also i lke bank of america beacuse they are nation wide and my family can go to any branch and deposit money into my accounts without any fees or very little fees.
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 11:19AM
what the... said...
I work at a large banking firm. Neither the tellers or managers have the "power" to refund overdraft fees. While we would love to just for the sake of it, our particular bank has an automated form that MUST be filled in when a customer wants a refund. Everything is automated. Once your account # is plugged in, they know exactly how many times you have overdrafted. You can't tell someone "I never overdraft", when we can see by the fee alone that you have, and can look at the history of the account to see yes you have, 37 times. I rarely see bank error overdraft. I see everyday that the customer spent $30 somewhere when they only had $12 to begin with. And don't for heavens sake write checks against funds not yet in you account. Keep a register and check you balance daily. And remember, as soon as you swipe your check card the funds for that purchase are put on hold in your account, so dont swipe for anything you dont have funds for. You wont beat the purchase to the bank.
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 1:17PM
Becky said...
Amen. I see it everyday.
11-11-2009 @ 3:38PM
Steve said...
Bank of America is total crap!!! They are still one of my banks but not for long, I went to the bank branch to plead my case about overdraft protection kicking in and charging me several hundreds of dollars in the last couple of months. They put me on the phone with the Credit Card division as they said they do not handle it directly.They said nothing they can do about the fees ...sorry! I've been a customer of theirs since 1993 when they were Barnett Bank and have over $100k in Savings in this bank. Bottom line they could give a crap about there customers, at least this one, Whoever wrote this obviously doesn't bank there...
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 12:49PM
Sharleen said...
I have been forced to use Bank of America in business several times. Now they have bought my mortgage company. THEY ARE THE WORST BANK IN THE WORLD. I am seeking a refinance as I do not even want to speak to the rude people they employ. They were given money in the bail out but they can spend huge amounts of money for stupid printing costs etc. If you have a choice go some where else to bank. They treat you as if they are so important and you are blessed to just deal with them. Without the public, none of them would have a job..They will think up a fee to charge for anything you can imagine.
Reply
11-11-2009 @ 1:22PM
Becky said...
People, the banks aren't to blame. Blame the real culprit, YOU.
Customers spend 300.00 that day and they only had 112.00 in their account. What are you thinking?
I hear, "Well, I deposited my payroll check in the ATM on Friday night". Guess what, we don't have little fairies out there to fly the check inside to the bank. And checks not drawn on that bank will not be processed immediately. Only cash will and that does not mean you can stick cash into the ATM and expect immediate credit either. As far as we know, that could be a blank envelope.
Every customer at every banking institution is given literature pertaining to the type of account they open. READ it! It will tell you why you will incur fees.
Get a grip people. You try to play the system and you lose.
Reply
11-12-2009 @ 9:02AM
Tara said...
The reason why you get overdraft is because you are trying to spend money that you don''t have. People need to learn how to manager money better
Credit is a legal representation on how well you pay people back. If you can't pay your bills and you don't make that much the bank should not give you a loan plain and simple. If you make $8hr, the bank should not give you a 300k mortage. Hence to why the housing market is in its shambles
Reply