Reader Jeff is now in a situation that we find all too familiar, but most people have never even heard of: Electronic Funds Transfer Error Hell. You see, Jeff bought a camera at Best Buy and something went wrong — causing his debit card to be charged twice. This in turn caused him to overdraft. Now he’s shocked to learn that the process for reversing the charge isn’t as simple as it would be with a credit card. [More]
bank error not in your favor
Recently Deceased Soap Business Says Chase Killed It With Bank Error
By 7.7.10
Bliss Soaps in Seattle is owned by a guy whose family has been making soaps for three generations. The four-year-old business recently had to shut its doors — allegedly over a bank error that froze its accounts during the holiday season. Now there is a goodbye sign on the door and a possible lawsuit pending against Chase. [More]
State Farm Refunds Money Lost In Bank Error, Thanks Commenters
By 5.19.10
It’s a big no-no for banks to take money out of customers’ accounts in $20,000 increments. State Farm Bank recognized this fact and says it has refunded all the mistakenly zapped money and will refund all overdraft fees. [More]
State Farm Bank Took $20K Out Of My Account
By 5.18.10
Chris says he meant to pay $1,700 from a State Farm Bank account but instead was stuck with a $20,000 charge. The scary thing is he is just one of thousands to make an accidental $20K donation to a black hole of despair, according to WFTV in Orlando: [More]
Bank Of America Robbed Me, Didn't Need A Mask Or Getaway Car
By 5.10.10
Tom says Bank of America closes his checking account and refunded only $60 of the $100 he had in the account, dinging him $40 for an “investigation fee.” The bank hasn’t given him a reason for the closure or the fee. [More]
The Most Reasonable Letter We've Ever Received From A Guy Whose Bank Misplaced $14,000
By 4.4.10
Meet Matt. He’s is the writer of the most reasonable, calm, thoughtful letter we’ve ever gotten from someone whose bank misplaced a check for $14,000. That bank is Bank of America, and they’ve lost a customer. Was it because their ATM ate the check? Not really. It was because they couldn’t even bother to act concerned about it. Matt is ready for a bank that thinks $14,000 is important. [More]
Bank Of America Spurs Late Fee With Error, Piles On Additional Charges
By 8.5.09
Reader R Turner has a cautionary tale about Bank of America. He says a BofA error led to a late charge on his credit card account, then without his authorization the bank took out a cash advance to cover the payment.
Bank's Fix For Erroneous Charges: Disclose Personal Information To Other Customers!
By 7.27.09
Taking outsourcing to an extreme, Bank of New Zealand decided that instead of figuring out why one woman’s charges ended up on another customer’s account, they would just give the customer the woman’s name, home address, work address, email address and cellphone number so they could settle things for themselves.
Commerce Bank/Metro Bank Shows How Not To Handle A Bank Changeover
By 6.16.09
Commerce Bank in central Pennsylvania is changing its name. Former Commerce Banks in that area will now be called Metro Bank. Yawn, right? Banks merge and change names all the time. What they don’t normally do is cancel ATM cards with no notice, and lock customers out of their accounts due to those changes. Maybe this is a new trend.
Both Dell And AT&T Cash Checks Not Made Out To Them, Cause Much Sadness
By 7.10.08
It’s sure to be a pain in the butt if you accidentally switch two of your payments — but we’d always assumed that companies like AT&T and Dell wouldn’t cash checks that were not even made out to them. We we wrong!
Bank of America Suddenly Charges You $146 In Fees For Using Your Checking Account Too Much
By 5.19.08
Reader Ophelia has a problem. It seems that after 10 years of perfect customer service from Bank of America, they suddenly decided to treat her checking account like a savings account and are charging her hundreds of dollars in “over use” fees. Her apoplectic letter is inside.
Bank of America Mistakenly Shuts Down Access To Your Account, Charges You For The Pleasure
By 5.17.08
Poor Jacob. He only wanted to deposit a $2,019 check with Bank of America. Apparently, this was enough to provoke the bank into shutting down his account, leading to overdraft fees whenever Jacob tried to access his money.
IRS Sends 15,000 Stimulus Checks To The Wrong Bank Accounts
By 5.17.08
That economic stimulus check you were expecting may have accidentally stimulated your neighbor’s bank account. Newsday is reporting that 15,000 checks tumbled astray thanks to an IRS “computer programming glitch.”
Wachovia Doesn't Give You Your Money, Then Yells At You
By 3.10.08
Reader G writes:
On Saturday 3/8/08 at approximately 4pm I went to a drive-up ATM at the Wachovia Bank branch located at 951 South George Mason Drive, Arlington, VA 22204. I put my card in and asked to withdraw $80. The machine was acting normally until it was supposed to dispense the money.
Chase Accuses You Of Check Fraud, Threatens To Report You
By 9.6.07
Dan got a new job (Congratulations, Dan!) and moved from Chicago to Indianapolis. The move meant he had to close his Citibank account and open a new one. He chose Chase because they have lots of branches nearby.
Apple Debits Money From The Wrong Account, Now You Can't Pay Your Mortgage
By 8.6.07
Julie would really like to pay her mortgage, but she can’t. Why not? Because when she tried to help her son buy a MacBook, Apple decided to debit $1517.27 from her account without permission. When she called to tell them they’d pulled the money from the wrong card, causing her account to over draft, they apologized and told her they’d fix it. Instead, they debited another $186 from Julie’s account, and another $1517.27 from her son’s account.
