Kathleen
Vancouver,,#2Author of original report
Tue, July 13, 2004
To clarify my report re: Bank of America, since it seems that some of it may have been poorly or mis-understood: RE: Overdrafts: Not all overdrafts occur as a result of my "writing checks that cannot be cashed". As a matter of fact one of the other issues I have had with BofA is that they will sometimes not post their outrageous fees for certain transactions-for example "A non-Bank of America out of state" transaction(whether or not there was a BofA within a resonable distance, or one that you could access-(note- I am disabled)-is $4.00. A plain old non-BofA transaction in WA is $1.75. There have been many times, as my bank statements will attest-that some of these have been posted to my account months after they occurred. Because I am a disabled person living on Social Security Disability, I live in poverty-and that $6.00 or so can push me over the edge into an overdraft state without my knowing anything about it! Once the bank posts its $28.00 fee, any subsequent debits-even one for $2.00- will then be an overdraft. See how these little amounts can turn into big money fast? I was out of town in March and came home 5 days later to discover I was "overdrawn" because of this very situation-by $105.00. All because I had written a check for $7.00 and at the time it posted-Thanks to a BofA "fee-fest"-I had only %5.00 in my account. After that it took on a life of its own. Second- I left out some details that seem to be discrediting my legitimate complaint for some, so I will clarify one more trivial thing-the check from LINA was NOT for a life insurance pay-out. It was a settlement check from one of it's subsidiaries that provides medical and disability insurance-(the terms of which settlement state that I am not allowed to say from whom)on a disability claim for which I took a cash pay out rather than pursuing a lawsuit that would have been in court for years. Finally-I know that ALL banks hold checks-its a throwback to a time before instantaneous electronic debits. But they don't ALL hold them for 7 days, and if they do, then they are also using our money interest free and should be stopped. Just because something made sense once upon a time doesn't mean it is ethical to keep doing it just because they CAN, when they no longer need to. And since (I just read this on BofA's own website) 1 in 4 households in the USA now uses BofA or a BofA owned bank-they are the biggest culprit. I hope this is a good enough clarification; I truly want everyone to fully understand that this is a valid complaint.
Robert
Hubert,#3Consumer Suggestion
Mon, July 12, 2004
I stopped reading you missive after the first paragraph. You write checks that can't be cashed and blame the bank?? You can't be serious. Unfortunately, you propably are. As for the 10 day wait on a DRAFT, insurance companies do NOT send checks for life insurance payoffs, that is federal banking law. Any bank or credit union you go to will do the same. Most hold them for anything over $2500. DUH!!!