I was with Fifth/Third Bank. I got overdrawn because I was in the Army and had no access to the Internet.
So, for every 2 dollar hamburger that I bought, they were pumping a 35 dollar fee. So, essentially, without my knowledge in any way, I was buying a 37 dollar hamburger.
But that was just the beginning.
So I paid off the balance due. Fine, we are done. Oh no! They sent me a bill the next month for 40 more dollars, late fee. I said I will not pay.
I wasn't late. You sent me bill and I paid it. End of story. Oh No. Then they charged me, and this is real, 100 dollars because I did not pay the 40.
So, after the arguments and cursing, I said OK here is your 100 dollars, I hope you die.
So that is the end right?
Oh no, then they sent me a bill for like 20 dollars as interest in the previous month. Now, knowing the bank, I knew that 20 can go to 200 dollars in a matter weeks.
Bottom line. They were lying. If you called them and said How much is my bill they would tell you anything, a hundred dollars. So, I paid. Then they would send a bill then next month saying that Well you paid the hundred but there is an interest charge of 20 dollars from last month.
And on and on and on. So, basically, it was impossible to pay off the debt. They would not let you. No matter how much you paid them.
It’s the end game of “buy-now-pay later” mentality we grew up with. The cheaters have completely taken over. I guess cash is still accepted at face value. The economy won’t come back until consumers have paid down their debt plus worked their way through all the scams.
I had an account at Wachovia for years I hadn’t used so I never looked at the mail from them....apparently the account had $3.80 in a free checking and they charged me a $5.00 dormant account fee for not using it. This made the account go negative then they charged me $35 and said I owed them around $40. When I caught it it was luckily still in their collections so they zeroed everything out and didn’t hurt my credit. Didn’t get back my 3.80 though!
You can usually argue with them and get that fee waived. BUT, then they turn around and get you another way, such as reducing your credit line, or raising your interest. I’ve had them do this to me with on-line payments too — slap a late fee on me even though I’ve paid on time. Read your statement every time.