banks

Does anyone bank with bank of america? And, have they had issues with their online banking? They keep charging a $22.00 fee... and my husbands paycheck went in not last night, but on Monday night. They keep charging me, and yet his direct deposit says its a pending transaction. This is pissing me off!! How the heck do you get into a positive balance, if they keep charging?

All banks charge fees, Tigger. When you opened your account, by law you have to get a 'schedule of fees' or something along those lines that explain what the fees are for, and under what circumstances you receive them.

I suspect if you look thru your original paperwork when you opened the account, it should explain what the 22 dollar fee is for, and perhaps how you can avoid it.

Also, most banks do not post direct deposits on federal holidays. It will post the evening before. So if your husband was due to be paid on Tues Nov 11th, that was Veterans day and it would have gone in at the close of business on Monday instead.

never mind... i got it straightened out. Honestly, I'd almost switch back to my credit union, but after the crap they have pulled on me.. I dont know what to think.

A $22 fee? Yikes, isnt that high? The highest our bank charges is $6. I agree with Daniela, check the schedule of fees thingy, sometimes it will charge you for certain things, etc. I guess thats how they make their money, as well as charging interest on loans, mortgages.

All financial institutions have problems. I'm dumping my credit union of 20 years because of the garbage they're pulling on me. I found a good bank in Chicago, but it was local and it was bought out. Here I use a Navy credit union because of hubby. I don't even want to think about trying to open an account with a bank. They all want credit checks and my credit is lousy due to my weakness with my ex.

Out here in CA, BofA is bad, but Wells Fargo is worse. Union Bank was also yucky but not as bad as either of them. My parents like USBank and haven't had any troubles lately with them. I had problems with Norwest (don't know what they're called now) back in the late 80s because they claimed they could work with international banks and then wouldn't transfer money for us (I was living in Germany).

I've heard Wells is bad. How do you find out which banks are good and which ones are not? What about Compass? Does anyone know anything about them? My auto loan is thru them.
Isn't Norwest Bank One now? Or did Norwest go under?

I am not 'pro' banks, but you have to look at it realistically.

First of all banks are a business. They want to make money, and the way to do that is to charge fees. Of course they make money w/ your money by investing, but the only sure fire way to have an income is to charge its consumers fees for everything. Most fees are easy to avoid, such as low balance fees, and bounced check fees. If you properly manage your account, and keep up with the maintenance, you should be incurring minimal fees each month.

I suspect a $22.00 fee is most likely for something to do w/ your checking account, such as a negative balance or something along those lines. The bank I worked for charged a $25.00 fee if you dropped below $5.00. That is a normal occurance for most financial institutions.

The federal gov't has very strict rules for banks, and its very rare that you will see a bank straying. As much as we as consumers think we are being shafted, most of the time that is not the case. Banks receive large fines if they do things like charge you for something that they have previously not told you about. and if you do find that they are not following the rules, contact the government and get it straightened out.

I found that working for a bank, that 99.99% of errors were made on the consumers part. They would not read the fine print, they would miscalculate, etc. I had so many customers come to my desk to complain, only to leave knowing that the error was on their part.

I am not defending the banks, just trying to show the other side of the story here.

Bank One and Norwest, what a combo! Oh well, they'd suit one another.

Ask around in your neighborhood. Find out who's happy with their bank and find out why and which bank it is.

I wouldn't go with anyone who requires a debit card simply because they're getting too much into my business (doesn't even matter that my credit is bad). I like banks that can do everything for free with direct deposit. They're usually pretty good on the fees. But I also check fees and go with who's lower.

One thing, and it is not Bank of America's fault. It is my husband's work to blame. They forgot to enter his hours in for 2 weeks ago. So, last week rolls around, and guess what! NO PAYCHECK because he damned lead forgot to enter his hours. So, I figured I'd transfer ALL of our savings into the checking, thinking it was enough, but apparently it was not.
You know, I can probably speak for a lot of people right now, but when you live paycheck to paycheck, it is hard to put money in savings and have a backup, in case things go wrong. But you know ... Im not going to get mad or anything, it's just frustrating. So, some can say I dont know how to manage my account, but I think I do a fairly good job of it. But, when things go wrong, what else can you do.

Tigger, we have the same problem with hubby's work. They seem to make that "mistake" a lot when you're money is low too.

If your local BofA is good, stick with them. Branches vary greatly.

No. I wont dump them. The people at the branches are great They are friendly, compared to the ones at the credit union/
I get a bonus in December, and hear it is supposed to be big. One person I used to work with told me she got one last year that was around $2200 after taxes. So, if this is true, I most likely will pay the visa off ($450) and the rest will be used for emergency only.

Daniella,
I dont think you are sticking up the banks. So, forgive me if I seemed a bit "mean", ok??

No need to apologize Tigger.

And I wasn't implying that you don't know how to manage your account. I was merely stating what I've seen in the past w/ customers who get annoyed w/ fees.

No offense intended towards you...I hope your husbands work gets their act together and pays him for the hours he works.

daniella,

Being that you worked in a bank, what things did you see with the customers who got upset with fees?