Power to the gummi people!

I work for a large, regional bank. We take care of these fees on our customers' accounts as soon as we can see the recredit from the merchant.
The problem, of course, is that the laws aren't specifically written to address this issue. The banks have to reverse bank error overdraft fees, but not fees due to other people's errors.

Visa or Mastercard may be interested in this issue, but seeing as how they handle minimum purchase requirements and card usage fees (which is to say, not at all), I'd guess you won't get anywhere with them.

Keep at it, though, because like the future classic film says, "Something's Gotta Give"...

I think it's time to go to the bank's regulator. (This is going to be the FDIC, OCC, or FR.) The bank cannot approve incorrect charges and then turn around and keep the overdraft fees that resulted. It's nice that they cleared the ones directly associated with the incorrect debit, but they also need to credit the later ones that were the result.

If the bank really wants those overdraft fees, let THEM fight it over with the retailer.

As a side note, this is yet another reason to never, ever, use debit cards. Every time a bank sends me one to replace my ATM card, I send it right back. And these sorts of tricks are the precise reason why. With a credit card, the bank is out the money while you fight; with a debit card, YOU are missing money while they fight.

"When she finally got a hold of them, they said she needed to fill out a form and send it to them with an unaltered (eg, intact account #s etc) bank statement. Oh and that form would get mailed out to her sometime in the next month."

Send them service of your small claims lawsuit.

BofA did this to me on an eBay transaction, and I went straight to the top. In the end, they sent me $100 in cash for my troubles.

Not sure why this is such a hassle for anyone motivated enough to email a website. I would just spend an hour calling incessantly and escalating until they had no choice but to promote to the executive complaints team.

This happened to me a couple of months ago. I moved into a new apartment and had Two Men and A Truck move my furniture because I really didn't feel like lifting my 2 metric ton dresser. Anyways, they ended up charging me twice. I didn't have enough money in my checking account because I like to keep it in savings to at least earn what little interest I can. They zapped me 5 times and had a bounced check. Here is the best part; I had to clear it up their mistake with the bank. They typed me up a letter head explaining the situation and said, "Go to it." Thankfully, the bank manager there was cool about the situation and refunded the overdraft fees.

This is why I don't use debit cards to buy something. Who knows what will happen? I'd prefer to use a credit card, because then I can do chargebacks, and cc companies are usually better about handling such things. I'd rather not have my mortgage and car payment bounce because the cashier at Sheets rang up $1000 instead of $10 in gas, or there was a machine error.

@sirwired: That's the case if you're a wuss who won't escalate beyond the drones on the 1st tier phones. If you make enough of a stink, they'll refund everything.

Tell your friend to go straight to the top. Banks don't need this kind of headache, especially if they accepted TARP money. Surprisingly, they're pretty sensitive to criticism that they can't be trusted to their own devices.

I would think it's the merchant's responsibility to take care of these charges. It's not the bank's fault the OP was mischarged.

I would be a little concerned that the bank was fine with processing ten (presumably) identical transactions in a (presumably) short period of time. Even though it's technically the customer responsibility to catch stuff like this, most banks will at least red flag it.

@NightSteel: I don't usually (I don't think) jump to the "sue!" conclusion but I agree here.

As reprehensible as the banks are I think dragging the store to small claims may be appropriate here.

@JeffMc:

The kicker for me was the merchant's demand of an unaltered bank statement. Excuse me, no, my purchases and account number is private information. You want a redacted one showing all your transactions and the overdraft fees they caused, and without my account number, fine. But a complete copy? Forget it. It's a blatant attempt to shame the customer into going away.

- Did the OP's friend ask for a supervisor?
- Go to the bank branch in person?
- Write a letter?
- Call again?
- Anything????

Methinks sometimes Consumerist is a haven for consumers who don't try very hard to solve their own problems.

@twophrasebark:

I stand corrected. It looks as if the OP wrote: "I am just seeking advice, so if your advice is "have her email you with more details" that's fine.

@cooljames: What? The issue is whether or not you use something that puts you at greater risk for difficulty. Debit cards may put hair on your chest, but they seem like a stupid choice to me. If I want to fight for my money, I'll join the MMA.

@eelmonger: I know when I worked in retail, two identical charges on a CC would not go through.

@Saboth: This doesn't work for everyone. For some people, a credit card is like an addictive drug and should not be used under any circumstances. My partner and I prefer to use cash for all our purchases. Closely monitoring your account on-line will always prevent erroneous charges from going through.

Happened to me at Texas Roadhouse when i went they rang it in wrong as 600 dollars instead of 60 then turned around and did the 60 also. I only keep 500 in my checking and think of it as an "allowance" so I don't go on spending sprees. Bank refused to budge (5/3) and so did the restaurant. I was even offered gift certificates umm doesn't help the 168 dollars this was by the time I noticed it. Plus that 600 didn't come back into my account for like 4 days.

I never did escalate beyond branch manager at the bank and did get my money credit only after my parents came in with me to close all our account with them.
I still closed mine and now I carry a prepaid debit card that I set up to have 200 from each my checked direct deposited on. It only runs 3 a month and has a rewards system better than my banks. I get a 25 dollar amazon gift certificate for every 1000 I spend. When I first got it I even tested it by attempting to go over and it got denied each time.

@cooljames: An hour calling incessantly is a huge hassle for many people, including me.

@LandShark: It won't prevent them from actually going through though, will it? Doesn't it just alert you quickly when it happens? Which is a good thing, but it's not quite the same thing as prevention--you'd be just as screwed as the woman in the original story, after all, you'd just know it quickly.

While the bank is not being a "Good Business" here.... It's not the bank's fault that the merchant dup'ed the charges. I think the merchant should be responsible for the charges. I know our merchant bank will decline a charge if it see's the same account # and amount in the same day.... comes back with a QD Error (Quit Duplicating). Though the bank should be doing more thin it is!

@LandShark: what floraposte said. If someone decides to charge you ten times, on a debit card, that's just too damn bad, there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Your recourse is to follow up and try to get the charges reversed quickly. But if you had ten other charges that day, that's ten more overdrafts that you can do nothing about.

@corinthos:
Where did you get the prepaid debit card from? I would love to have something like that.

@twophrasebark: I know, expecting a company to make good on its mistakes without serious effort and time, how ridiculous!

Sounds like a case for small claims court.

I work for a national bank and the bank I work for would take care of the fees as long as the customer didn't spend more money then they would have had with out the merchant error.

Lets say the customer spent $5 and with out the extra charges would have had $10 left in there account. If while the error was being taken care of the customer spent under $10 all those fees from those charges should be reversed since its not the customers fault they were charged. If the customer spent more then $10 then the fees charged on those items that went over the $10 mark stand. They spent money that they didn't have, regardless of fees. I have had customers think that when they are told the fees will be reversed that means all fees no matter what.

I don't recommend using an account with those kind of errors at all while it being resolved (and why you should have multiple accounts just in case), but if you have to make sure you don't spend more then you would have had.

This is the merchant's responsibility - not the bank's. The OP has two options, follow the merchant's claim process or go to small claim's court. The court will look more favorably on the OP if he has first tried everything within his power to rectify things with the merchant first before filing suit. You're dealing with an insurance company here - it may take a while.

@NightSteel: I bank with Wells Fargo and I've never once had an overdraft fee actually post to my account. Their customer service is so good that if you see something pending and immediately call them, they fix it (unless it's your fault, of course - I've had a couple of those, too). I'm just trying to dispel this myth that the only safe way of making purchases is by employing one's credit line.

I had an overdraft fee due to someone else's error. I fixed it by switching to a credit union with a line-of-credit that is free to use (except interest).

@LandShark: People tend to have better things to do with their time than to watch their balances like a hawk every day.

Also, using a credit card is not the "only safe way", its just a "considerably safer by a magnitude" way.

@NightSteel: Ideally, yeah they should. But shooting off a letter to the Big C without really trying is a bit lazy.

Credit cards don't have this problem.

@NightSteel: Yes, I would think a copy with the customer's name on it, but the account numbers blacked out with a market at least for privacy, would be sufficient. They would see that the overdraft charges coincided with their massive screw up, and then pay her back.

I mean, I can see why the store would want SOME kind of verification of the amount of overdraft fees, so the customer couldn't just make up a much higher number and demand repayment for that. But the info should be able to be blacked out for privacy, as long as her name or say the last few digits are visible to verify it's her account.

@eelmonger: But if the bank stopped the 9 extra charges, how could they charge the overdraft fees?

@NightSteel: The bank didn't make a mistake. They simply processed the transactions according to the rules they have in place. Presumably the overdraft fees are automated.

In this situation the charges were incorrect and eventually taken off her bill, along with the overdraft fees that went with them. This was probably also done by the computer automatically. The key now is to spend more than 5 minutes talking to someone at the bank and get the rest manually taken off the bill.

@cooljames: I don't usually have an hour to spend, and I don't usually have enough stress tolerance to spend as well (having spent most of it throughout the day). Also, I hate interacting with humans.

@sirwired: I would love to have some sort of preloaded cash card without the BS fees tied to most of those just for things like gassing up the car simply to avoid the debt card roulette.

The other problem with the banks doing this while the person now has their account screwed up. Meanwhile they can't use their account or have some huge negative balance.

A jar in the backyard is sounding pretty sweet.

I recently had a similar fate of FEES FROM HELL. My bank put through a $25 charge with $15 in the account. Then charged fees for being overdrawn. Then charged a fee EVERY day until money was put in the account. Long story short, I had no money for a while. By the time I did, they had stiffed me for $160 in fees.

I contacted a branch manager I knew. Before she could do anything, the bank was sold and she lost her job. Nobody else wanted to help me. The bank is now owned by another bank. They say it was the old banks problem.

When you're living below the poverty line $160 is a fortune. The banks could care less.

@prag: Because, you know, everyone can get a credit card. Especially these days when cards are being canceled left and right.

@MostlyHarmless: Yeah, there are a lot of better things to be doing than that. Too bad we have to keep tabs on our finances, eh?

I just don't see what the hubbub is about. I've had to dispute posts to my bank account and the bank always reverses them if they weren't my fault. In that way it functions exactly as a credit card. And since we're quantifying the safety of different kinds of transactions, I would love to know what you consider "the totally most safety-conscious 100% fool-proof safe" way of buying something. Because, you know, I'm doing just fine with my debit card.

@Tzepish:
I don't like interacting with people, either. What I like less is when someone screws with my money. I'd be on the phone for as long as took to straighten it out. It's unpleasant but, in the end, worth it.

@CaesarBach:
I think going in person to the bank manager was a good move. The lower-level employees are useless in that kind of a situation.

@LandShark:
I bank with them, too. I haven't had this experience, but I'd know immediately if something happened because I get text alerts anytime something happens on my account.

@mizmoose:
Thank you. I've been saying this every time one of these posts come up. I have a few credit cards. I don't use them. I use my debit card because I've gotten myself into trouble with CCs. However, there are people who can't get a CC.

We see these "just use a credit card" posts every time one of these articles comes up. Sigh.

@Shivver:

You'll notice that I didn't *say* the bank made a mistake. I'm quite clear on the fact that this was the merchant's fault for all the extra charges. That's what the bank is saying, too--talk to the merchant, they should be reimbursing you for these fees since it's their fault. But the merchant wants way more information than they are entitled to in order to make good on their mistake, and they are not helping her in a timely manner.

Go to the store and demand to speak to a manager, when he says it's a bank problem pull make him call the bank with you. Explain to both the bank and store that the AG and BBB will be contact (most hate dealing with the paperwork that comes with a complaint). Then

@vitajex: i work for a small credit union. we would reverse the fees for our member in this instance, but i will say that it PISSES ME OFF TO NO END!

where's the incentive for the merchant not to screw up? i would rather keep the member happy than teach the merchant a lesson, but sometimes i wish there was a way to direct-debit the merchant's account for a portion of the fees, especially in cases like BIN-probing & other unauthorized charges.

@LandShark: what i would suggest is IF you are going to use a debit card THEN have a debit account separate from your bill account. you may even want to go as far as having them in different FIs for added protection.

me? my checking account is at my credit union. my debit account is with ING direct. even if my debit account gets f-ed up, my mortgage will still get paid.

@pmcpa4: i wish everyone used your merchant bank. most of these cheap-o a la carte processors have no such monitoring though. as far as their concerned, 10 transactions = 10 interchange fees. having to reverse 9 means another 9 interchange fees.

so, allow 10 transactions to make 19 fees or allow 1 transaction to make 1 fee? yeah, that's why their monthly fees are so low.

@cooljames: And to make more of a stink, name the bank in posts and blogs.