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If you didn't wear your "I love Falcom." shirt I bet this wouldn't have happened. >_>

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Since I am the president of all banks(even the ones owned by little kids) I like to have a little fun once in a while. To have fun I randomly choose an account, and put Wheaties in it, which makes it all screwy and since my brain has pictures of everything it made me put the Wheaties in a Falcomonian account. What are the odds?

But seriously, I'm sorry that you got owned by late fees and others.

I had a recent issue with my bank (Webster Bank - Waterbury, CT based). I used my debit/check card three times before I found out I had a negative balance in my checking account and the bank slammed me with $30 fees for each overage transaction. Here's the kicker, the damn bank failed to decline my card (like you think it would) - instead it went ahead and just let those charges go through and continued to let me get kicked in the balls with ridiculous $30 fees.  I managed to get two of those fees knocked off because I wasn't going to let my bank screw me like that because I am not a completely irresponsible spender.

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This thread brings to mind that one particular Dilbert comic:

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/7710/dilbert2ze.jpg

I hate banks too...I work at the payroll department of one. If one of the employees annoys me, I can jack their paycheck to hell and back. There's been more than once I've wanted to pump all of a person's vacation days into a single paycheck of theirs...Or just replace the "80 Hours" with "8.0 Hours"...Oops!

But yeah, I've been hit with overdraft fees before...$28 a pop (and this was back when I was lucky if I made $28 a DAY!) Such a waste...I would have rather just have had the card flat-out decline. But...Hey, they have to make money somehow.

I have a couple accounts with my local Credit Union.  I've had a few overdrafts this year (not too bad, only about $20ish fee each), and I was wondering how the hell it happened, so I inquired.  Basically, when I signed up with them, an overdraft protection service was enabled by default.  In short, that means that they will authorize a debit even if I don't have adequate funds, just to spare the "embarassment" of my card being declined in public.  I explained that I never signed up for this and that I never wanted it, and how it was being a financial burden, and they knocked half the charges.

After that, I got one OD, so I called and asked how that could happen.  They explained that only DEBIT transactions are based on an available funds inquiry with the bank.  So if you don't type in your PIN when using your card, it is run as a CREDIT charge, and your balance is not checked, and a pending charge is not tacked onto  your bank account, so you can go into overdraft if you don't have enough when the charge goes through.  That's why you have to sign your name, to say you agree that you have the money to pay for your purchase.

So go to your bank, turn off overdraft protection if you don't want it, and come to understand the difference between a debit and a credit charge.  I could have saved probably a hundred dollars in charges during my lifetime if I had known this crap earlier.

Hehe, very good Dilbert.  Banks are definitely out of control!  There's a professor at Harvard Law School who deals with banks and contracts (and has for many years), and she says that these contracts are so needlessly complicated that she simply can't understand them!  Basically, the banks hire a bunch of lawyers to write these labyrinthine contracts so that their asses are covered, and they can suck as much money out of you as possible!  Let me send you a warning: If you can avoid it, DONT borrow money.  Of course, if you're planning to purchase a house or apartment it's nearly impossible to avoid, but do your best to stay out of debt, otherwise these banks suck you dry like ticks on a deer.

-avatar!