As luck have it, I found that I had not yet deposited a check for the teaching part time job I have (I also have a full time IT job with direct deposit)
Today I did go to the credit union where I have an account that I had not used in a while, I did go to the teller and deposited the check in person, as the teller told me and I confirmed right away at the ATM, I have access to the money now!
Meanwhile at the [del]Legion of Doom[/del] bank my account still shows a negative balance even though online I can see the extra charge and the charge back that would deny the negative balance. :mad:
Shit, at my IT job if things go bad we support and help customers 24/7, as I said before the bank people think we are in the 19th century, as in the Robber Baron era.
And I have to thank the dopers that contacted me with offers of help, luckily the piggy bank was enough to get me for this 2 days. I thank you all for your input so far.
The stations around here have stickers on the pump that say the opposite. They say that if you use the “credit” feature on the debit card the back may put a hold fo up to $75. It stresses to press the debit button and enter your PIN to prevent this from happening. My bank hasn’t done it to me either way…
Banks must make mega-millions in their money float scheme. If I deposit money now, it isn’t available until the following business day. If I spend money now, it is gone immediately. Do this X a bajillion and I’ll bet the interest is amazing…
I’ve dealt with this from both sides. When my dad was, literally, a day away from death I needed to pay off a rental car and pay to get my car out of the repair shop after I rolled it in an accident. Problem was, AT&T had a hold on my credit card for a failed payment. I called AT&T and got a manager on the line, then she three-way called the credit card company. The credit card rep wouldn’t release the hold because the AT&T manager didn’t have the proper merchant ID number. I got the CC rep’s boss on the line and said to her, “My father is literally on his deathbed and will be dead within 24 hours. If you don’t release this hold, you are telling me that it is more important to you to uphold your policies and procedures than it is for me to attend my father’s funeral.” That shamed her into releasing it.
A lot of stations have started doing this because of increased numberd of drive-offs. I can’t say as I blame them, but the day my local station starts doing that is the day I switch to a different station. Note that in almost every instance it’s the gas station doing this and not the card issuers.
I think it ranges between gas stations and the banks. At one station I go to they do not put a hold on but they do verify that you have at least $75 in your account when using debit to buy gas. I think that is rather steep but since I mostly buy gas on payday the funds are there. That said, I don’t use the debit feature anymore because then I am charged a fee by my bank and a fee by the gas station. I was even told by my bank to use the credit selection to avoid fees. There appears to be no hold or limit when I use the credit card option.
There is another gas station I go to now and then and it displays a sign stating that they do not put a hold on any funds when using the debit feature. It claims that your bank is the one holding funds and to contact them with questions.
More on the topic of banking I know that most banks put through the largest transactions first. I have read this is because the bank is sort of doing us a favor. They assume the largest transactions are for things like rent/mortgage or a car payment so they put them through first. Of course if you have made an error in your balancing and have the large one pass but three more that come in bounce that is three NSF fees for the bank. If they did it the other way around then that might result in only one fee for the bank. I am so glad they are looking out for our best interest. :rolleyes:
I have had it happen to me and while I do not blame the bank as it was my fault for screwing up but It does make you a little angry when purchases made with a debit card do not get deducted for three days. I think that monies should be deducted by the date the transactions were made and not the amount of the transaction.
I know most people enjoy their credit union and when I joined mine over ten years ago it was better than a bank. There are no monthly fees. They gave you three free cashiers checks a month, free check cashing, free ATM and the minimum balance was $5 for your initial account.
Most of that is gone now. The only thing that remains is the $5 minimum balance and the free ATM. To cash a check you must have a $500 balance for more than three months in a row if not they charge you a $10 fee and the cashiers checks are now $10 a piece.
Where I bank, deposits clear first, then debit transactions, from largest to smallest. I like it.
Oh, you’re right in that they do have the ability to free your money up immediately. At least, when I worked for a financial institution, we could. And my current bank has for me, too, in the past. It’s just a matter of getting them to. You may have to tug at the chain for a while, but as long as you keep moving up the ladder from CSR to supervisor to floor manager… well, eventually, someone’s going to do it for you, if for no other reason than they’re tired of dealing with you.
Best of luck – glad things worked out for you over the weekend!
