City National Bank, you can suck it. Suck it long, and suck it hard.

The BBQ Pit
1

I deposited an $85 check the other day. The person that wrote it to me hasn’t bounced a check in years, but due to a mixup at HER bank, this one bounced. It happens.

So what does City National Bank do to me, as their Valued Customer?

Not only do they go into my account and yank out the $85, thus setting ME up to bounce checks that I’ve written (I don’t know if I have yet), they have to take it one step further and charge me $10 extra.

[Now, the person that wrote this check has already made it right and paid the $10 fee, but still.]

Let me get this straight, you moneygrubbing assholes:

Someone writes me a check and it bounces. You go in, yank out the amount of that check plus an extra $10, I suppose as a punishment for, oh, making money to begin with and having the nerve to deposit it in my bank account.

Then, as you’ve taken money out of my account and tell me about it at your leisure, I write checks thinking that they are covered. If I have bounced anything, as your Valued Customer you will gleefully charge me $30 PER BOUNCED CHECK.

I HATE you, City National. Yes, I’m using the word hate. I know for a FACT that if I were one of your rich customers, I would have heard about this the day the check bounced. You would have called me on the phone and told me about it, and you would have told me to make sure to put some money in my account soon so my checks wouldn’t bounce. If I did end up bouncing checks, you would waive the $30 fee to keep my business.

But no. I’m a poor college student. You could care less if I shut down my account. Oh, you’d kiss my ass tomorrow if I won the Powerball, but today I’m nothing more than a bug.

I’d switch banks, but all you bank bastards are the same.

2

If you were a rich customer you would probably have a line of credit to cover overdrafts on your account and it wouldn’t matter to you.

You are right, every bank will do something similiar. You are suppose to make sure the check clears before you start writing checks off of it. Or else take it to the bank it was drawn on and get it cashed and deposit cash in your account.

3

Dude, you agreed that they could charge you $10 if you deposited a check that bounced. Why are you now getting upset that the bank did something that you agreed the bank could do?

4

Because YOU DONT HAVE A FUCKING CHOICE as to what you agree to let the bank do. You either let them assrape you, or you DONT get a bank account period!

5

So you’ve read the account agreement for every bank in America and you’ve determined that they all charge $10 if you deposit a check that bounces?

6

One of my all-time favorite financial decisions was moving from a Megabank (BofA) to a smaller credit union–shop around! Banks staffed by reasonable people with good customer service do exist.

7

Take a look around and find a small community bank. The bank we use has two branches: one is five minutes from my home, the other is five minutes from my work. If god was not willing and/or the creek rose and we bounced a check, we got a call at 9:00 in the morning letting us know. When I was out of work and ended up bouncing numerous checks, the bank forgave half the fees due to our situation. They know us by name and greet us every time we go in. I’ll never use First Ubercorp Bank again if I can help it.

8

I hate banks. That’s why I’ve arranged with my employer to pay me only in 24 karat gold, which I then use to barter with local merchants for goods and services. Fuck you, system!

9

I accidentally bounced a check once…I reversed the amounts I owed to two different bills.

My phone company confirmed that yes, I had overpaid my phone bill that month. I called the bank and explained, and the snooty woman said, “Well, since this is the first time this has happened, we’ll waive the fee this once.”

Part of me wanted to jack slap her for her tone, but I did get the fee waived.

Hey, it can’t hurt to call and ask. They can pull up your account and see your history. You may also want to get the issuing bank to call your bank and explain it was their error.

Worth a shot…but be nice!

10

It’s worth it to voice your complaint and then to move to a bank with a better deal. That is the only way you can make your feelings known in a way the bank will understand. One really needs to shop for a bank the way one would shop for any other product.

11

Well obviously the your bank is liable to cover for the mistakes made by your creditors. They have a big pot of money in an account named: “Bailing Out Complete Stranger’s Screw Ups”

And obviously it’s up to them to manage your account for you to and make sure you’ve enough money in it when you write check. Or failing that, be liable for the mistakes when you don’t. They have another big pot of money called “Bailing Out Customers Who Won’t Keep Track Of What Money They Have.”

Maybe you should give them your check book, you obviously either aren’t to be trusted with it or don’t wish to be.

12

Once again, Taxguy nailed it.

13

Once again, I can say “Thank goodness for my credit union!!” We closed our last bank account 6 years ago, having watched our balance eaten by various and sundry fees that seemed to increase every month.

I love my credit union. Deeply.

14

Umm - I had a similar problem with a bank named National City Bank, and I live not far from you. In my case, I opened an account and deposited a fair amount of money, then went out and wrote some checks. They deducted the checks, but kinda forgot to credit the deposit, so everything went negative. When I confronted them with the paperwork to prove their error, they fixed it and rescinded all the insufficient funds fees, but then left it up to me to deal with the folks I’d written checks to who had me in their database as a bad guy. Also, cleaning up my sullied credit record was my problem - they didn’t want to get involved. I closed my account with them. FWIW, 5th 3rd has always treated me right. And previous posters are right - do something to have a cushion, with either a line of credit or a savings account tied to your checking account for overdraft protection.

15

Overdraft protection, essentially a credit line, is a beautiful thing Snoopy…as is keeping sufficient funds in your account to cover yourself no matter what deposits go south. Beyond that, your account balance is your personal responsibility…not the banks!

And if it makes you feel any better, I have business and personal accounts with my bank. In the absense of overdraft protection similar rules apply to me. It still cost $6 per transaction to cover overdrafts but that’s a damn site better than $10 plus additional charges and irritation should your own checks be subject to insufficient funds.

My advice, take a chill pill than go down to the bank and get yourself some protection.

16

Oh we HAVE overdraft protection.

We bounce a check, they pay it. Then they charge us $30 per check.

Turns out we bounced 7 checks. They are “doing us a favor” because we are “such good customers” and forgiving $90 out of the $210.

We’re going there tomorrow morning and we’re going to ask nicely that they forgive the rest. Turns out they knew Thursday what happened, but didn’t tell us till Saturday. All the while, their automated system was telling us we were fine.

If they don’t forgive it, we’re closing down the account. We have been with them 4 years, they have always gone out of their way to piss us off and enough is enough. There is no reason that they can’t do this just this once. Considering it was THEIR system telling us everything was fine the entire time.

Oh, and TaxGuy and Futile Gesture? Kiss my ass, you unsympathetic fuckers. Do you regularly kick people while they’re down or was today just my lucky day? Assholes.

17

FRom a fellow West Virginian college student, I sympathize.

Advise on banks…I have no clue where you are (feel free to PM me, we can also bitch about schools). If you are in Morgantown, do not go to BB&T. I have heard nightmare stories about them.

I bank at United which is good and has locations all over the state. Huntington Bank is also an option.

Not sure on the status of Bank One in Huntington and surrounding areas. My mom didn’t like them and now banks with her work’s credit union.

If you or your parents have ties to a credit union through work or what not, I would take that route. They are just better overall to deal with.

As for Centra, FEB, or the other thousand or so dinky banks, I am not sure.

Good luck and I am sorry!

18

Bitch all you want, I do sympathise. You have a perfect right to be annoyed. I got hit for 60 quid last month from both sides in a similar screw up. I was annoyed, but it was chiefly my own fault.

But you’re taking it out on the wrong people. Your problem (apart from with yourself for not ensuring the check had cleared) should be with either the bank of whoever wrote you the bad check, or that person.

But instead you wave it away with “this one bounced. It happens.” Very forgiving, so why then take it out on your bank? Why should they be the ones to take the hit for this screw up? They’re not the ones at fault.

19

You bounced 7 cheques because you were $85 short?

20

I have a relative who sells software to banks that tracks the profitability of each customer. She says if you just have a checking account with a bank they are losing money on you. That’s probably why they feel justified in treating you like dirt.

Once you are out of college and getting loans or other products they will be much nicer. Of course since they are dicking you around now, they’ll never see that profit.