macmandan

Ok,I've had a checking account with a debit card for the last 2 years or so. awhile back, I had a problem with overdrafting, about $150 worth of charges. The bank sent out a collection agency notice the day before I paid it, and everything was fine since, I learned my lesson for the most part.

Well now in the last week, I scheduled a credit card payment to my checking account and I forgot about it. I use my debit card alot, and alot of the time, for small purchases, like bottles of water at work. So I ended up having no money in my checking account about 4 days ago. Problem Is, the bank kept accepting my card. I logged on to my account today, and saw $237 in bold RED. I owe the bank about $47 in actuality, but $189 worth of fees for overdrafting ($27 a pop).

My question is, is there any way to just pay the money i really owe them, and close the account, without credit repercussion. I'm really irritated that they still accepted my card when I obviously had no money in the account.
My credit score is currently 643, so it's nothing spectacular, but it's not bad, so I don't want to jepardize that. I don't know what impact these sort of things have on credit, but I really can't see paying the bank $300 (i have 2 pending transactions still).

I called the bank and they didn't want to do anything to me. they don't mind charging me $28 per bottle of water.

Let me know what you guys think, if I have any options other than paying it or what.
P.S.
I'm in central new york if locale matters

Elphaba

Mac, if you were using your debit card in an offline mode there would not have been a check on your account balance possible. If you were using an online ATM, there should have been a balance check and the transaction would have been denied.

I would recommend preserving your current credit score by any way you can, and write it up as a lesson on good bookkeeping. If you were making online transactions, I think you should at least speak to the branch manager for a fee reduction.

My two cents.

macmandan

it was all store uses, such as best buy, gas station, fast food.
the only online transaction was the credit card payment.
they didn't care anything about reducing the fees for me.

wraithhibn

you are pretty much SOL. The bank I work at will reverse fees only if bank error. and thats at $33 a pop. Inquire on overdraft protection and they may halve your fees or something ot tell you out because its selling another of their services. Debit cards just make overdrafting easier. I see it at least 5 times a day. Don't trust ATM's or POS transactions because you never know when its going to go through. You just have to play it smart.

__________________
If you won't dress like the Victoria Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

Anexkahn

thats just one of the risks you run by using a debit card for small frequent purchases. not that i'm saying thats a bad thing to do, i do it myself, and likewise i've been in situations where i've overdrafted and had $34.00 overdraft fees on $3.00 purchases -- its a risk you take.

I'm personally glad that debit cards dont just "shut off" when you reach a possible overdraft state. Alot of times ACH payroll deposits dont go in until the next business day, so you wouldnt be able to make a bunch of debit purchases on payday and have it all come out in the wash that night when your available balance is updated to reflect the earlier deposit.

To prevent this in the future you might look into linked savings accounts. I have my savings linked to my checking and if i ever overdraft it will automatically transfer $100.00 incriments out of savings and into checking to cover the overdraft and there is no fee for this service. Sort of hard to do if you're prettymuch spending payday to payday, but even a 100$ buffer could really save on the bounce fees in these situations.

snowy

In the case of overdrafts and fees, here is what I would do:
Go to the local branch of your bank, explain what happened with the overdraft, and explain that you would like to pay them, at the very least, the money you overdrafted. If they waive the fees, you will keep your money at their bank. If not, pay the fees and close your account. Find a bank that offers overdraft protection and sign up for this. Even if you keep your money at their bank, GET OVERDRAFT PROTECTION.

Your bank is supposed to work for you. There are TONS of banks to choose from any more, so make it clear to them that you could take your money anywhere else. If they shrug their shoulders at you, they're not the kind of bank you want to be with anyways. You want a bank with good customer service, good products, and helpful employees.

And, please, GET OVERDRAFT PROTECTION. Furthermore, realize the bank will NEVER decline your card. They will let you overdraw your account to death.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

xepherys

a) If you use the card as credit vs. debit, it works differently. Keep that in mind.

b) You're best off to pay the fees, preserve your credit score and just write down all your purchases in your check ledger. My wife and I go through about a ledger every two months because we use our check cards so much... but every $1.50 and $2.98 purchase is recorded. We have not overdrafted in ages.

c) As mentioned above, inquire about overdraft protection. Maybe they'll wave at least SOME fees if you sign up for it (you need a savings account with them as well for this to apply)

pavel_lishin

If I were the manager, I wouldn't refund your money either - why would he?

I think your best bet is to just pay it off. You can try to shop around for a bank that doesn't allow overdrafts, or charges less, I guess. I generally use my credit card for small purchases and then throw some actual money at it once a week or so, just to make sure this doesn't happen to me. And I keep track of my balance and stuff, you know.

__________________
Vote Quimby!

macmandan

i'll check out my options.
i tried to sign up for overdraft protection, they offer a line of credit. the bank denied me a $200 line of credit based on my credit history, which is not that bad.
i'm gonna go talk to them on friday

credo

for debit cards the best thing you can do is get a ledger. Throw it in your glove box or something, whenever you make a purchase write it in. Balance it just like a check book.

I had a run it w/ Bank of America where I made no purchases for almost a week, checked my balance, saw that there were funds and paid towards my vehicle - to the limit of my balance. Problem is it put that balance close to zero when junk I had purchased almost two weeks before suddenly showed up. Now even though these items cleared ahead of the billpay, good old boa bumped the larger purchase infront of the smaller ones so I overdrafted about 4 times at 34 bux a hit- instead of just once on the carnote.

lesson learned- debit cards kill

xepherys

Also note that some banks have MUCH more lax policies than others, and credit unions are almost ALWAYS a better shot than a bank if you are not investing (just savings/checking). I only have a bank (Wells Fargo) now because of their military banking. Before I was in the Army, I would NOT use a bank over a credit union ever (my few bank banking experiences were horrific, even if partially my own fault).

wraithhibn

Credo makes a good point I forgot. Banks usually take out the largest item first, deeming it most important to be paid, then all the smaller ones. This makes their fee income much higher than if taken out in time sequence.

__________________
If you won't dress like the Victoria Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

snowy

Savings and loan banks generally are more lax than really commercial banks, and credit unions laxest of all. I was always able to get them to take overdraft fees off at my credit union.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Lindy

Apparently not.

Well now in the last week, I scheduled a credit card payment to my checking account and I forgot about it. Not a smart thing to do.
I use my debit card alot, and alot of the time, for small purchases, like bottles of water at work.
A stupid thing to do--as you found out. Why not carry some quarters and small bills with you??? There are no fees for using cash.

So I ended up having no money in my checking account about 4 days ago. Problem Is, the bank kept accepting my card. No, the problem is that you kept using the card.I logged on to my account today, and saw $237 in bold RED. I owe the bank about $47 in actuality, but $189 worth of fees for overdrafting ($27 a pop).

My question is, is there any way to just pay the money i really owe them, and close the account, without credit repercussion. No.

I'm really irritated that they still accepted my card when I obviously had no money in the account. They are probably "really irritated" that you kept using your card when you obviously had no money in the account. That certainly cuts both ways.
My credit score is currently 643, so it's nothing spectacular, but it's not bad, so I don't want to jepardize that. I don't know what impact these sort of things have on credit, but I really can't see paying the bank $300 (i have 2 pending transactions still).Your FICO Score reflects how you take care of your financial obligations. You are angry that the bank charged you you exorbitant fees. That does not remove your obligation. You could have easily avoided those fees. Take your lumps, pay the fees, learn your lesson, and move on.

I called the bank and they didn't want to do anything to me. they don't mind charging me $28 per bottle of water.Oh give me a break!.

Let me know what you guys think, if I have any options other than paying it or what.
P.S.
I'm in central new york if locale matters[/QUOTE]
This is an example of what we call "stupid tax." Some people pay stupid tax once, learn their lesson, and move on. Some people keep paying stupid tax their whole life, and, of course, someone else is always to blame. Some persons should just not have checking accounts. If you can't be diligent about keeping track (which means writing down purchases/payments/withdrawals--not checking your balance on line every few days) then your are probably one of those persons. My ex husband is 35 years old, and still can't keep track of his bank balance. He probably pays over a thousand dollars a year in bank fees.
Lindy

macmanmike6100

off-topic::

there are also people who incorrectly use "your" (or, alternatively, "your are") when they mean "you're"

if you really wanted to help the guy with some good advice, your tone should've been significantly less harsh. did you have a bad day at work or something, lindy?

on-topic::

dan, you really should just pay it (is $300 really that much?) and learn from it. it's not worth your time to argue with them, especially when their policies are probably not going to change. live and learn, right?

Lindy

My bad, my bad, my bad.

You are correct all the way around, macmanmike. I know the correct usage of "your/you're," and that "your are" makes no sense whatsoever. I should have previewed one more time before posting.

You are also right that my post was inexcusably aggressive and harsh. I did have a bad (and long) day at work. More than that, a rereading of my post tells me that I am still carrying a big load of resentment of my ex and his financial immaturity, his always blaming the bank, and his leaving me to clean up the mess. That, more than the bad day at work, was what led to my unloading with both barrels on macmandan. Macmandan, please accept my apology.
(macwoman)Lindy

Marvelous Marv

I second everything onesnowyowl said. While I don't overdraw my account, my son has done it frequently, and the branch manager reversed the bank charges each time. It's common knowledge they CAN; you just need to find out if they WILL. My suspicion is that they won't do it in this case, and I'd recommend you change to a credit union or savings and loan after they refuse. It will make you feel better, but I doubt that anyone at your former bank will care.

I'm curious about something, though--why does everyone seem to use a debit card? If you have a problem with a purchase, the money is gone from your account with a debit card. If you use a credit card, you can often handle the problem through the credit card company, and not have to try to get your money back from a corporation, or shyster, or whatever.

I would think that an over the limit fee on a credit card would be smaller than the charges you rang up, and there would only be one charge instead of multiple ones.

The suggestion about carrying a small amount of cash isn't a bad one, either, although it wasn't broached in an ideal way.

__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher

rfra3645

something i know wuite a bit about..

1st and msot important.. your debit card use only threatens your credit score if you dont pay or take and excessivley long time to pay..

i bounce regulalry.. the most i ever paid in a 1 weekend period is $283.00 yes it was a stupid tax...

i am not a financial genious.. nor do i have allot of money.. i do know my creidt score is important.. and i woudl much rather pay a $32 charge on a bounce debit or check than let a bill go late.. so often enough i write the check or do the online thing and pay it and then deal with repercutions later..

i have probally bonced 100's of times and the onloy time it ever came close to threating my credit score was when i was in jail and didnt pay the fees...

always pay the fees..

the bank will let you overdraw.. they love to have your money..

imo always pay your bills.. its incrediblly important.. even if you aint got the money for a few days... i would not recomend waitng more than 5 bussiness days to pay the fees...


just my 2 cents...

__________________
this post is a natural product made from recycled electrons.
the slight variations in spelling, grammar and punctuation
enhance its individual character and individuality and are
in no way to be considered flaws or defects.


if you cant read my post i dont want to hear about it move on. thanks

robbdn

As somebody who used to have this problem, I discovered that most banks allow you to go up to $100 in the red (without overdraft protection), just to capitalize on these kinds of fees. I also discovered that you can ask them to turn this "feature" off. Of course, that means that if you're really in a bind you won't have the luxury of intentionally going into the red...

I am also somebody who completely destroyed his credit the first chance I got... I've been paying the consequences for six years, and I'm finally almost in the clear. Pay your fees, it's not worth it. If you don't like the way your bank does business, find a small, local credit union that does business the way you like. I recently switched to a USAA checking account, and I absolutely love it, the guys are fair and honest and post every transaction to your account almost immediately, including pending transactions, so you can see online how much money you actually have within, say, 15 minutes of the transaction. They don't do the thing where they take out the largest first to get the most fees.

Of course, all of the above means nothing for offline transactions... you can still go over when the business doesn't check your balance online, or when the business doesn't post transactions right away. This is most common at gas stations.

__________________
I'm swimming in the digital residue of a media-drenched world. It's too cold.