Eighteen-year-old Daniel Ganziano had a savings account at TCF Bank, but he spent his money. The account eventually only had $4.85 cents left, so Ganziano quit making withdrawals. But the bank didn't.
Ganziano's mother tried to get the fees waived, with no luck. So she paid it and asked for a bank supervisor to contact her. A few weeks later, with no call from a supervisor, she told the story to a consumer columnist at the Chicago Tribune. That same day, the bank agreed to refund all the fees. Daniel Ganziano said he learned something from the experience: don't trust banks. Link -via Boing Boing
(Image credit: Flickr user Alan Cleaver)
He had all but forgotten about the account until he received a letter from TCF on Oct. 12 saying six days earlier, it had charged him a $9.95 "monthly maintenance fee" because his account had too little money in it.
The $9.95 charge made his account overdrawn by $5.10, which triggered another fee. At TCF, any account overdrawn by more than $5 is charged a $28-a-day overdraft fee. The net result: Ganziano was $33.10 in the hole.
By then, his nascent savings account was in a downward spiral. At $28 a day, the charges were adding up quickly.
When he and his mother went to the nearest branch that weekend to close the account, they were told they would first have to pay the accumulated fees, which totaled $229.10.
Ganziano's mother tried to get the fees waived, with no luck. So she paid it and asked for a bank supervisor to contact her. A few weeks later, with no call from a supervisor, she told the story to a consumer columnist at the Chicago Tribune. That same day, the bank agreed to refund all the fees. Daniel Ganziano said he learned something from the experience: don't trust banks. Link -via Boing Boing
(Image credit: Flickr user Alan Cleaver)
Banks are a necessary evil.
This is yet another example of why the OWS movement is important. Real people need to take back the power that corporations have usurped from normal people.
In what America do you want to live?
From the corporation's perspective you exist to be exploited and separated from your money as quickly as possible - preferably in a way that also penalizes you if you wish to terminate the relationship.
Being a 12 and a total pushover, I never pursued it further. I should have. How that lady at the bank who looked my 12 year old self in the eye and told me that no, they would not give me back the money that they had charged me as a result of their own incompetence is beyond me.
Banks are necessary yes, but not necessarily evil, it's the way our financial system is set up that makes them evil.
Why do we have banks as 'for profit' companies in the first place? Just create one single government owned bank, one single bank that does everything we need banks for, controlled by the (presumably democratic) government. This would be a bank that is not interested in making a profit, it would just be a bank that does all the stuff that needs to be done to keep things running.
Oh, too simple, my bad.
Banks have plenty of ways to turn a profit without destroying small depositors. They should have just taken the $4.85 and closed the account.
All of these fees are automated these days and the bank personnel have little to do with it.
Luckily for me the teller took pity on me and in a few strokes on the keyboard wiped out my fees. So while these fees are automated the bank can waive them in a few seconds if they aren't d!cks about it.
Someone's never heard of a credit union...