Bill Paying, What Is Your Preference

[southsider2k5]

My brother was hassled endlessly when he tried to decline the coverage when opening a new account. "But don't you want to avoid the embarrassment of being denied?!" "yeah, but I'd rather not pay $40 for a cup of coffee as an alternative"

 

I got the same thing. I also had a time where I had a check not get posted and had about 10 of them, so I wasn't opting in. I'd rather be embarassed.

[iamshack]

I believe they are supposed to reject the charge, and then Amex could have come after you for the "bounced check" fee so to speak.

Yes, the rejected the charge but assessed their own insufficient funds fee.

 

American Express assessed an insufficient funds fee as well as a late fee and credited them back to my account without me even asking them to do so.

[southsider2k5]

Yes, the rejected the charge but assessed their own insufficient funds fee.

 

American Express assessed an insufficient funds fee as well as a late fee and credited them back to my account without me even asking them to do so.

 

Huh. I must not have understood the change then. I thought if you did not opt in, they were obligated to reject with no consequences. If that isn't the case, nothing has changed.

[iamshack]

Huh. I must not have understood the change then. I thought if you did not opt in, they were obligated to reject with no consequences. If that isn't the case, nothing has changed.

Well, what was happening was people were having creditors get funds from their account that did not exist...so for instance, if Paypal believed you owed them $300, they could attempt to collect that from your bank. Your bank, seeing that you are a respected customer, could go ahead and pay the funds for you, and then put you in overdraft status and then assess you an overdraft charge. So in essence, you would then owe $300 + the overdraft charge. What this does is prevent a creditor or payee like Paypal from getting those non-existent funds. However, it apparently does not protect you from your own bank's ridiculous fees and charges.

[iamshack]

I called them back and asked to record the conversation, and they hung up on me.

[southsider2k5]

I called them back and asked to record the conversation, and they hung up on me.

 

Ha. That is hilarious.

 

I agree with Strange. Go over their heads to management.

[iamshack]

Ha. That is hilarious.

 

I agree with Strange. Go over their heads to management.

They refuse to let me speak to anyone else. They insist that the only manner in which to resolve this issue is to go into a branch. I have never been treated this way by any company in my life. Especially over some bs fees THEY assessed. It's not like they were left on the hook to pay for some goods that I took ownership of or something.

 

They continue to just hang up on me when I request to speak to a supervisor.

[StrangeSox]

They refuse to let me speak to anyone else. They insist that the only manner in which to resolve this issue is to go into a branch. I have never been treated this way by any company in my life. Especially over some bs fees THEY assessed. It's not like they were left on the hook to pay for some goods that I took ownership of or something.

 

They continue to just hang up on me when I request to speak to a supervisor.

 

Document this and find the appropriate contact information for upper management. Failing that, contact your local news "man of the people" segment and write to local papers. Stay nice for as long as possible, but go scorched earth if they're refusing to meet you half way. That doesn't mean be an asshole, but it means no longer looking for a nice, cordial resolution.

 

https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/boardofdirectors/

 

https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/...irectors/stumpf

Edited January 26, 2012 by StrangeSox

[southsider2k5]

Document this and find the appropriate contact information for upper management. Failing that, contact your local news "man of the people" segment and write to local papers. Stay nice for as long as possible, but go scorched earth if they're refusing to meet you half way. That doesn't mean be an asshole, but it means no longer looking for a nice, cordial resolution.

 

https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/boardofdirectors/

 

https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/...irectors/stumpf

 

That is more what I was talking about.

[iamshack]

Thanks for your help, guys. I finally got a supervisor, and he refused to do anything either. Unbelievable.

[Texsox]

My girlfriend and I both switched to USAA for out banking. We switched and then left on vacation at Christmas. She miscalculated how much she had desposited in the old versus new accounts. She checked her USAA balance when we finally were within a cell signal and found out she was overdrawn. She called USAA in a panic. They calmed her down, explained they transfered funds from her savings to checking (she had pre-authorized that) and everything was fine. She asked what the fees would be for those transactions. The reply? "Zero, welcome to USAA!".

[iamshack]

My girlfriend and I both switched to USAA for out banking. We switched and then left on vacation at Christmas. She miscalculated how much she had desposited in the old versus new accounts. She checked her USAA balance when we finally were within a cell signal and found out she was overdrawn. She called USAA in a panic. They calmed her down, explained they transfered funds from her savings to checking (she had pre-authorized that) and everything was fine. She asked what the fees would be for those transactions. The reply? "Zero, welcome to USAA!".

Yeah, must be nice.

 

I just came from the branch where they told me they could not do anything for me since the account was "closed." I said your "overdrawn collections" department told me the branch level was the only people who could take care of this. She then went away and came back a few minutes later saying she just spoke with them and they told her that what they communicated to me was that I had to go to the branch where I had actually opened the account.

 

This just gets better and better.

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

Everything onto a credit card. Credit cards paid in full once a month from bank account online.

Thats what I do.

[Chisoxfn]

I don't auto-pay the credit cards, it gives me a reason to check to make sure statements are accurate every month.

I set-up auto pay in case I somehow forget, but I have a reminder on my outlook that pops up a couple days before the due date so I can do a quick check.

[Chisoxfn]

So I just got off the phone with Wells Fargo. When I moved to Vegas 3.5 years ago, I was a Chase banker, and Chase did not have branches out here yet. So I opened an account with Wells Fargo just so I would have a checking account I could deposit checks into. Well, then about 2 years ago Chase bought out WaMu and took over all their Vegas branches, at which point I went back to exclusively banking with Chase. Unfortunately, I did not close out my Wells Fargo account, but rather reduced the balance to mere pennies. I figured I would leave it open as long as there were no fees associated with it that would cause the account to be overdrawn. Bad mistake.

 

In November, I went to pay my Amex bill. Unfortunately, in the drop down menu, I selected the Wells Fargo account instead of the Chase account. Thus, Amex tried to pull the money from my Wells Fargo account (in which there was no money) three separate times. Wells Fargo, rather than call me to alert me to this, instead charges me three separate overdraft fees of $35.00 each. They took no other action than to leave my account overdrawn at $104.83. They did not place a courtesy call, they did not send me a letter, etc. So today, some 2 full months later, I get a letter from Wells Fargo stating that my account has been closed due to its "prolonged overdraft status" and that I can call to resolve the overdraft at such and such a number.

 

So I call and ask the woman if she can explain what happened for me to accrue an overdraft of $105 at which point she looks at my account and explains to me the issue with Amex. At that point I say oh, alright, well can I pay for the one overdraft fee and have the two others waived? This was obviously a simple mistake and certainly there is no need for three separate overdraft charges. She then says no, she cannot offer to waive any charges, but she can offer me a settlement of 25% off of the charges of $105. I asked to speak to her supervisor. She refused. I asked again, and she refused. She then mentioned that "no one is going to offer to waive these fees for you." I said how can you possibly determine what someone else is going to do?

 

Anyways, to make a long story short, she refused to do anything for me other than offer me 25% off, and would not allow me to speak to anyone else. I said "Do you really think it is worth $100 to Wells Fargo to lose a potential customer for life? Do you think I will EVER purchase a Wells Fargo financial product after the way you have treated me?" She said "We are not liable for your online banking errors, sir." I said "You are probably correct. However, this is perhaps the most terrible example of customer service I can ever recall being the recipient of. I am certain this phone call will be used for training purposes. I hope you enjoy your 15 minutes of fame."

 

I then called Amex, who, unsolicited, offered to refund the late charge and the insufficient funds charge they assessed to my account back in November. A lot of companies could learn from their example of customer service.

 

I understand I am not without blame here, which is why I was willing to pay for ONE insufficient funds charge. What I was unwilling to do was to pay for more, or to be treated like a piece of s***. Now I am going to have to go in and sit down with someone at a branch and resolve this. Ridiculous.

I truly love American Express. The few times I've needed something from them, there reps/service have been nothing less than outstanding.

[Chisoxfn]

Yeah, once I am completely cooled down, I will figure out something.

 

One of my questions to the woman was "What if it would have been an American Express' policy to just keep trying to withdrawal the funds, one time after another after another? What if they would have tried 20 times? Would you have charged me 20 insufficient funds charges? Where do you draw the line? Where does it end? I only tried to pay the bill one time. How can I control how many times a third party tries to carry out that request?"

 

She was like "There are costs associated with a third party trying to draw funds on an account without the funds."

 

I said "Oh and I am certain it is thirty-five dollars, too."

 

She admitted "Of course not, but that is our policy."

 

I swear, I would pay the $105 at this point if they would furnish me a copy of the recording. It must be priceless.

Shack, I'll reach out to someone I know at Wells and find out what the real answer is. I'm pretty sure they can waive those fees. My wife and her whole family has worked in the banking industry a lot (BofA and Wells) and one has been at Wells for a long time. When I see her this weekend I'm going to ask her out of curiosity sake. I know I've had a couple fees waived no questions asked (purely based on an extensive account history of NOT having issues). Usually if that is the case, you are fine.

 

Typically there system prevents them from doing it multiple times (so if you had like 4 waived in one year, they'd cut you out; but if you had 1 or 2 over a 4 year span, that shouldn't be an issue at all). Talking to the people involved, you'd be amazed at what people have the authority to do (whether people chose to use it or not, that is a whole nother story).

[iamshack]

Shack, I'll reach out to someone I know at Wells and find out what the real answer is. I'm pretty sure they can waive those fees. My wife and her whole family has worked in the banking industry a lot (BofA and Wells) and one has been at Wells for a long time. When I see her this weekend I'm going to ask her out of curiosity sake. I know I've had a couple fees waived no questions asked (purely based on an extensive account history of NOT having issues). Usually if that is the case, you are fine.

 

Typically there system prevents them from doing it multiple times (so if you had like 4 waived in one year, they'd cut you out; but if you had 1 or 2 over a 4 year span, that shouldn't be an issue at all). Talking to the people involved, you'd be amazed at what people have the authority to do (whether people chose to use it or not, that is a whole nother story).

Thanks Jason...

 

This afternoon, I called the bank manager of the bank where I originally opened my account. He tried to get me to pay the fees as well, and then seemed to soften a bit after I asked him if he would pay the charges had it happened to him. He offered me three choices:

 

1) Pay the fees;

2) Open a new account and pay half the fees, but please deposit $100 into the account within 30 days;

3) Do nothing.

 

I asked him if I took option 3 whether or not I would be barred from opening a new account due to them reporting me to Equifax or something. He admitted most banks do not report overdrafts of over $100. I pointed out their fees totaled $105. He said well, that would probably draw the same outcome as if it were below $100. He said he couldn't guarantee anything, but seemed to be implying that they would not report it.

 

I asked him to let me think it over and I would get back to him.

 

I do not feel comfortable with option 3. Option 2 involves paying less money than option 1, however, I don't think I have any interest in opening another account with Wells Fargo after this experience. Three of the four people I spoke with treated me worse than ANY other person in any service industry in my life.

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

Options 3 sounds like it wouldn't be worth it. No reason to take the hit to your credit score (even if you aren't sure whether it would happen or not). I really can't believe they wouldn't do something about it. I'm sure I'll see this person over the weekend but I'm also going to ask my wife tonight. The one unique case might be that the branch people have no authority since your account is "technically" closed.

[bigruss]

The sad thing is that if they just dropped the extra two charges they'd probably have broke even or saved money considering the amount of hours their employees have had to put into this.

 

Plus they would have had one less angry customer.

[iamshack]

The sad thing is that if they just dropped the extra two charges they'd probably have broke even or saved money considering the amount of hours their employees have had to put into this.

 

Plus they would have had one less angry customer.

Yeah, we all have wasted far more in productivity than $105 would deserve...but now it's about principle.

[southsider2k5]

I'd go with three out of principle.

[Texsox]

After my divorce I was opening a checking account and was refused because of a bounced check my ex wrote. Once I covered that with the store, life was good and it never appeared anywhere on my credit report. I'm not certain if fees would be the same, but the amount was more that double what you're talking about.

[StrangeSox]

My girlfriend and I both switched to USAA for out banking. We switched and then left on vacation at Christmas. She miscalculated how much she had desposited in the old versus new accounts. She checked her USAA balance when we finally were within a cell signal and found out she was overdrawn. She called USAA in a panic. They calmed her down, explained they transfered funds from her savings to checking (she had pre-authorized that) and everything was fine. She asked what the fees would be for those transactions. The reply? "Zero, welcome to USAA!".

 

Jealous. I'd use USAA in a heartbeat.

[Chisoxfn]

Shack. Talked to them yesterday. Sounds like you are pretty out of luck in terms of what an in-store branch can do. She said she would have been able to waive/reverse your fees, however, once it hits collections, they (meaning the instore branch) lose any ability to assist there customers. Basically she said it is up to whomever you talk to at customer service.

[iamshack]

Shack. Talked to them yesterday. Sounds like you are pretty out of luck in terms of what an in-store branch can do. She said she would have been able to waive/reverse your fees, however, once it hits collections, they (meaning the instore branch) lose any ability to assist there customers. Basically she said it is up to whomever you talk to at customer service.

Thanks Jason...I don't know why the branch would have more authority than the overdraft collections department, but that is what they claim. Sounds like the only options I have are those that the manager of the branch offered me that I listed previously.