Can I charge my bank an overdraft fee?

Factual Questions
1

I think that since my money wasn’t available to me when I went to withdraw funds, even though I had deposited in the bank, they should pay me a fee. I think…right? I know this is kind of long and boring, but please bear with me.
A few weeks ago, I made a stupid error which caused me to overdraft my account. I was charged $48.00, and I paid it without a fuss, of course.

About two weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, I went to the bank and deposited $500. It was about 3:30 pm.

That Friday night, I paid some bills and made some purchases on my debit card, which subtracted from that $500 by about $250.

On Sunday, I attempted to withdraw some money from my bank’s ATM (the bank was closed) and I got a receipt telling me I am negative by, I can’t remember, but I think it was like $300.

I was genuinely inconvenienced. I was in a position where I needed cash fast, and I was no where near anyone that could give me any cash. ( I don’t drive at all, so was on foot.)

It wasn’t a huge deal, but I did feel a bit put out, and very annoyed that my money wasn’t available to me.

On Monday, I called the bank and asked what happened. They stated they had no clue. The money was now back in my account as if nothing had ever happened.

I walked into the branch on Tuesday and showed them that my statement (printed from on line) showed that the money was there…I mean it showed that the money had always been there. The bank’s automated system had also confirmed that I had the money in the bank at the time I had tried to withdraw.

At that point, the teller told me that since I had made the $500 deposit after 3:00 pm on Friday, I was past some ‘deadline’ for deposit, and the money wouldn’t show up properly until that Monday. This didn’t add up to me for a couple reasons.

First, I had made purchases out of that self same $500 later that evening.
Secondly, she was unable to point out to me, in writing, that there was a 3:00pm deadline.

I have not talked to a manager yet, because, quite frankly, I don’t want to embarrass myself if I have no leg to stand on. I am hoping some dopers will tell me that it is a bank error. If that is the case, I am going to ask the manager for $48…equal to the fee that I paid when I made a banking error.

Any help will be appreciated.

2

A couple of extra questions -
Was the deposit you made cash or cheque? I’m presuming it was cash from the sound of your OP.
Did you physically go into the bank branch to deposit the money, or was it via an ATM?

If the answers are cash and physically deposited, you certainly have a case for a complaint. I wouldn’t say you can “charge” the bank a fee, however, I would definitely ask to speak to the manager/supervisor and register your complaint. At that time you could suggest that as an “act of good faith” they should refund the overdrawn fee you were charged.

That is the approach I would take, and whatever you do, go into the conversation calm and collected. Be firm if you need to, but don’t get aggressive or insulting. More than likely they will be embarrased about the error as it is and if you remain calm and nice they will be more likely to help and offer some monetary recompense.

Counterpoint to that if the deposit was a cheque, or made via an ATM after 3pm all bets are off!

3

Do you have anything in writing that states that the bank will pay you $48 if it makes an error that inconveniences you? If not, you probably don’t have a leg to stand on.

It is not unreasonable, however, to ask politely for an explaination and also to ask to see something in writing about banking deadlines for this particular bank.

4

No I don’t. Dammit. I don’t.

I walked in and handed them cash. Your post had me excited, until Zoe made the point that I don’t have anything in writing from them concerning banking errors.

And don’t worry about my demeanor when talking to management. I have been in Customer Support enough to know that you catch more flies with honey.

5

I recommend asking them what the dealio is. Most bank managers are happy to reverse fees for one-time problems, especially if it’s their fault.

$48 is really high for a single overdraft fee, though.

6

I know it is. Originally, when I signed on with this bank, the fee was $32. I thought it was odd that it jumped to $48., but I wasn’t sure if I had overdrafted on more than one purchase? Like maybe a made two purchases on that same week that I ran out of money…I had stupidly not kept up with my books, so I didn’t even research it. I just paid up.

ETA; They did not charge me an overdraft over this last issue, (the one that is their fault). I don’t know if I was clear about that, friedo.

7

In a sorta, kinda, maybe similar situation I got Bank of America to pay me a $39 late payment fee. See this thread for the details and some helpfull hints.

If you have the time it is sort of fun. Just call and, once the person you’re talking to admits they can’t help you, ask to speak to their boss. With some stick-to-itness and a bit of luck you will finally, as I managed, get to someone who’s high enough up and to busy too mess with you and just give you what you want so they can get rid of you.

8

When you opened the account, you agreed to contract terms that favor the bank. However, if you are generally good customer with relatively few bank problems, banks are usually happy to reverse a few fees here and there.

9

If that overdraft, where they charged you $48, was a very rare occurence, you might point out your deposit inconvenience and ask for the $48 charge to be reversed. Most banks will do this, even w/o the subsequent inconvenience you suffered, if you don’t make a habit of overdrawing your account.

10

I have been kind of skirting the issue of whether or not I make overdrafting a habit because I am honestly not sure how many times is considered normal. I know some people (most?) never overdraft. I have overdrafted more than once, but not often, and I always pay up with no problem. So I don’t know that they will be willing to consider compensating me, but I am certainly going to give it a shot.

11

Hmmm, I get walloped £30 a go for single overdraft fees here in the UK, that’s $61.60 at today’s exchange rate.

I’ve found that the odd time they’ll refund me on the aforementioned “good will”, how good a relationship do you have with the bank staff?

12

I’ve been overdrawn once (in 34 years). The bank refunded it as a gesture (i.e. not acknowledging any legal precedent).

13

I wish you could charge the bank for errors. I have direct deposit. A couple years ago I went to the bank on a Friday and withdrew some cash. Then on Saturday I went an ATM and it said I did not have the funds. I knew this was wrong as not only was my paycheck deposited the day before but I had withdrew cash at the drive through the day before.

I spent the entire weekend with no money. On Monday I went to the bank and all my money was there and I was able to use the ATM as well. No explanation of what happened. I can only assume that it was not the bank in error but that records had not been updated to the electronic banking system.

I don’t get my credit union at all. If I walk in and deposit cash I can’t access that cash ATM or debit card usage until the next day but yet if a check hits the bank the debit is recorded immediatly and reflects it in an ATM balance inquiry.

Same as withdrawls. If I withdrawl cash from the ATM it does not show the withdrawl until the next day, sometimes two days.

It makes it hard sometimes to keep track. I have to keep receipts sometimes for days because they have not cleared yet and I need them to make sure how much money I really have.

My mothers bank on the other hand will show a withdrawl from an ATM or a debit card purchase in a matter of seconds.

I like that my credit union has online account access but since it is not real time it sort of makes it useless.

14

I cannot remember the last time I entered a bank branch and didn’t see loads of signs that “Deposits made after 3 PM will be credited the next business day.” Please check next time you go into that bank. Could be that they’re there and you didn’t notice. Usually right by the teller window.

Anyway, the deposit went in at 3:30 PM Friday, but because you missed the deadline, it could just as well have been deposited at 2:59 PM the following Monday. Yes, you put it in, but it would have had a “hold” on it until early Tuesday morning.

You were able to make purchases, even without enough money in your account. This has happened to me too. The only explanation I can think of is that they deliberately avoid checking your available balance, so that they can profit more on overdraft fees. Complaining doesn’t help, because they just tell us that it was OUR error, as we should watch our balance better.

15

Erm… what?

Every time I’ve made a deposit in the bank- and I’ve had a bank account since I started Primary School- the the money has been in my account, available, from the instant the Teller has pressed the “Enter” key.

Given that we live in an age of computers, global communication, and instant access to information, when we can call up the railway station in Vladivostok to find out what time the Trans-Siberian Express gets in that week, watch Public Safety Films on Atomic Energy from the 1950s, and listen to radio stations from the other side of the planet (as I type this I’m listening to 91.3 Jack FM from Los Angeles), I find it preposterous that money deposited into a bank in the US after 3pm isn’t available the microsecond after the Deposit Receipt has printed.

You guys really need to get with the programme, Banking-wise. Sure, Aussie banks may charge higher fees than their US counterparts, but there seems to be a lot less bullshit involved here. Have you guys got a decent EFTPOS system yet? You’re missing out if you haven’t, you know…

16

So do we. :mad:

And 3 PM isn’t the only cutoff. Even if the deposit was prior to 3 PM, it’s still not available until the next morning. (The significance of 3 PM is that after that point, it is considered as tomorrow’s deposit, and the funds are available the following morning. Which can be several days if it is a weekend.)

To confuse the issue further, this 3 PM cutoff applies even if the branch is open all afternoon, or even into the evening. And some banks set the cutoff at 2:30 PM!

(In fairness though, a while back some laws were passed so that the first $100 of a day’s deposits is indeed available immediately.)

17

But it wasn’t. I am not the most observant person in the world, but I asked the teller to point it out and all she said was, “Ms. Seated, this is bank policy. I can get you a manager.”

I did not have time to tussle with a manager, especially since I wasn’t sure of my abilitiy to defend my position yet.

18

Thanks for that link. It was sweet inspiration. I am really going to go for it now.

19

Confused.

-FrL-

20

ATMs can show either of two balances. The names differ from bank to bank but the gist is either a total balance or an available balance. Your ATM obviously showed the total balance and not the available balance.

By the way, yes, you can charge your bank the fee. Collecting is another matter especially since you’re dealing with the people you’ve entrusted your money too. With doctor’s you charge outrageous fees I’ve successfully sent to them a bill for time spent while waiting past an appointment time. I’ve never collected the money but I’ve been able to have that amount applied to my bill.