Complaint Review: SunTrust Bank - Richmond Virginia

This report was filed out of frustration.  I never assumed banks are bad as a matter of fact we have a very good financial institution that does not charge the fees the Sun Trust does.  We have always been customers in good standing and that also was not the case and it is the entire story.

It is very sad to see how several individuals attacked my character and thought I needed an education just because I vented about an what I see as a system of greed. That is why my previous replies were titled as ignorant responses.

Regardless of the reasoning behind any of it the fact remains that the fees were charged, the fact remains that I feel they are a sign of greed. Attacking my character and financial saavy is just mean.

I know it is very fashionable these days to dump on banks.  Heck, if all I knew about them were what I was hearing on television and in the media I would be hard pressed to defend them also.

However, I have had a number of dealings with SunTrust over the years and if your $.95 overdraft was the first one you had and you were a customer in good standing, SunTrust certainly would have waived the fee.  I am not saying that you aren't being truthful, just that there is more to the story then you are quite possibly reporting. 

One thing to remember is that banks are looking for new avenues of income, and those that make mistakes will indeed have to pay more.  Remember a few years ago when AT&T was broken up?  Long distance rates dropped tremendously, but then the local phone rates went up very high, because phone companies were using the long distance profits to prop up the local business model.  Once the large profits were gone from long distance, local users suffered.

That is what is happening in banking.  The Dodd-Frank amendment caused banks to lose a lot of revenue from transaction fees, and now they are getting revenue from other places.  By the way, have you seen the prices of goods at Wal-Mart and other retailers drop because they are no longer paying higher transaction fees?  Of course not, they are just pocketing the money that they used to pay the banks.

Once again, the consumer like you and I get the shaft.  but, that's what happens when you try to over regulate an industry. 

I clearly stated the problem and attempted to explain with reason. Yet, again the same straw man rebuttal with no proper response from the original poster is back. I wish the poster good luck in her life thinking that everyone is taking advantage of her and her family and taking no responsible for themselves but always blame others. No doubt that this type of people believe that the greed is everywhere against them.

 This is why there is so much greed in America.

"The fee for purchasing a SunTrust MasterCard® or Visa® Gift Card is $3.95 per card. There is a $2.50 monthly inactivity fee, which begins in the 13th month following the last day of activity; and a $5 replacement fee if your card is lost or stolen. All fees are subject to applicable laws and regulations."

Above is what you quoted from somewhere (I don't see where you say about its source). Anyway, it said on the 13th month following the last day of activity but you said "3 months was waived." This is very confusing to me.

To say whether or not it is a greed on the card, I am not going to answer that. I believe that the contract is clear and should be printed on the back of the card. If you want to ask questions, you should ask Chevolet about their campaign. Chevolet should have known when they marketed this campaign. They are the one who start and deal with the bank.

Also, the fee seem to be reasonable (if it will be charged a year after). The maintenance cost may be applied if a certain time has gone by, and I think a year is fine. If you want to argue that the card should be similar to cash, I would go back to the simpliest answer is that Chevolet then should give you $10 cash instead of a gift card.

To me, cash gift card is a stupid way of given money to a reciepient. It may look nice, but it is costly and is not as efficient as cash. If one wants to send money to someone else via a bank, at least use a real debit/credit card.

PS: The $0.95 overdraft is incurred by your husband (human error), so the punishment of $45 should be enough for him to not accidentally do it again. The punishment is harsh and may be interpreted as greedy; however, you need to look at who caused it as well? Does the bank invoke the over spending? Forgiveness is nice, but not necessary. If the mistake is not forgiven but instead being punished, the person who invokes it should admit the fault and reminds himself/herself to not do it again. Reinforced learning sounds very good, but it simultaneously encourages negative behaviors when the receivers found a way to abuse it.

 Your rebuttal is very ignorant. The issue is regarding the greed of Sun Trust Bank and a .95 mistakes does not make for irresponsible money managment. Thank you. 

 This is your problem not the banks.  If you and your husband would take responsibility for your actions then you could avoid overdrafts ie: keeping a check register, balancing your monthly statement and stop spending money you do not have.