Freddy watches his balances like a hawk, so he was surprised when TD Bank hit him for $126 in overdraft fees. Turns out the bar he had gone to had accidentally charged his debit card twice for one of his drinks, and though he was careful to stay within his low balance, it set the stage for a cascade of fees.

When Freddy made several small purchases during the beginning of the week, each put his account further into the red, adding up to $126.

Even though the bar realized its mistake and reversed the charge, it happened after TD Bank had already socked Freddy with the overdraft fees.

When he complained to the bank, they said it wasn’t their fault, and that he needed to take it up to the bar. Freddy tried to contact the bar’s management, who quickly started to screen his calls.

Calling TD Bank back, they agreed to chop the overdraft fees in half. His account was still in the negative, so 20 days later he was hit with a $20 fee for that.

“When I called customer service again to inquire about the charges,” Freddy writes, ” I asked, “why wasn’t I given a notice that this would happen through the mail or with a phone call?” They said they had no way to get in touch with me, and it was my job to call them to inquire.” They also said that no further action would be taken against his account.

He later met with a local branch rep who said this information was wrong. Actually, if Freddy didn’t bring his account current within 60 days, it would be closed and sent to collections.

“Since then, I have switched banks and refuse to bank with TD,” Freddy writes.

You would hope they would have shown more clemency in your situation since they can see that the transaction record supports your story. I wonder if you had escalated on the phone to a supervisor or spoken to a local branch manager you could have gotten them to waive all the charges.

I know that when I have a low balance I usually check it at least once a day. Not because I’m a super awesome consumer, but because I’m paranoid. It’s wise to try and leave a little buffer in your account if you can, because you never know when something like this might happen. Transacting mainly in cash helps too, as banking with a low balance at a fee-happy bank like TD can be hazardous to your account’s health.

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