Bank of America charged Jason three overdraft fees for the hell of it, even though his account balance never approached $0. Jason called the bank for an explanation, and was told that due to some mathematical wormhole controlled exclusively by Bank of America, he now owed $105. Tired of the bank’s nonsensical jibber-jabber, Jason printed out his statement and headed to the local branch…
fees
Broken Scales Help Airlines Profit On Fraudulent Baggage Weight Fees
By 5.30.08
Before leaving home, Shawn’s bags weighed 44 pounds. At Chicago, the airport scale said they weighed 44 pounds. When lifting off from Phoenix, the airport’s scales said the bag weighed 52 lbs, incurring at $50 fee. When he landed in Chicago, he weighed the bags again at the check-in counter. 47.5 pounds. “Her bag had lost 4.5 pounds on a 3 1/2 hour flight,” Shawn told Elliot.org. After writing a complaint letter, Shawn received a $50 voucher from American Airlines who defended their fraudulent scale by saying they were in “full compliance with the policies for scale calibrations.” So apparently the policy allows for defrauding passengers. The voucher is nice, but I would want my actual money back. And what of all the other travelers who didn’t pay attention or didn’t complain? Pure profit.
The 10 Most Annoying Airline Fees
By 5.29.08
Forbes Traveler has put together a list of the top 10 most annoying airline fees, and it’s a good one — or is it a bad one? Airlines are feeling the effect of skyrocking oil prices and they’re trying their best to pass the costs along to you, their customers, without driving down demand. The result? These delightful fees. Gotcha!
Another EECB Scores Direct Hit On Best Buy And HSBC, Saves You $180
By 5.29.08
EECBs are scoring direct hits on HSBC and Best Buy. Reader Chad was having the same problem with his Best Buy credit card that reader Jason wrote in about. After he saw Jason’s successful EECB he launched one of his own. Reade Chad’s letter and Best Buy’s response inside.
By 5.29.08
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Frontier Airlines has increased the fee for transporting antlers, yes, antlers, from $75 to $100. [Frontier via Rick Seaney]
US Airways Officially Ends Snacks
By 5.28.08
US Airways has decided that the $.03 per package that they were spending on your snack is just too much money! They’re officially discontinuing free snacks for coach passengers as of June 1st.
Chase: Thanks For Depositing $3,193, Here's $200 In Non-Sufficient Funds Fees
By 5.27.08
Johanna deposited a financial aid check from her university into her Chase checking account. She’d done this before without incident, but this time something went wrong.
ATT Begins Reducing ETF Charges Month By Month
By 5.27.08
AT&T has started having early termination fees go down each month for new contracts (old customers are still screwed). The $175 fee for canceling AT&T service before the end of your two-year contract will go down $5 every month. This means that even by month 23 out of the total 24 you will still pay a $60 fee. While the other providers have announced their intention to do the same, Verizon and AT&T are the only companies to actually have ETFs go down over the course of the contract. This should not be confused with “pro-rating,” however, as the fee is not being divided proportionally. If it was, the fee would go down $7.30 each month and by month 23 you would only pay a $7.30 penalty.
Sprint: Military, Eh? Here's Your $500 Bill
By 5.24.08
Sprint thanked Ryan for his tour with the Navy by charging him $0.75 per minute for airtime, resulting in a $500 bill. When Ryan complained, Sprint’s customer service representatives called him irresponsible, and gently explained that they couldn’t care less about his problem.
Microsoft And The $1,632 Copy Of Vista
By 5.24.08
Microsoft charged Bill $1,632 for a single Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade license. Each time Bill, an IT Manager, tried to his enter his payment details through Windows Live Marketplace he was told that Microsoft could not be contacted, and to “please try again later.” What Microsoft really meant was, “Ha! Got your money! How ’bout some more?!”
Best Buy's "Same As Cash" Credit Card Conceals Major Hidden Fees
By 5.22.08
Reader Jason just finished paying off his 0% Best Buy/HSBC credit card, or so he thought, because this devilish card just sucker-punched him with a load of hidden fees. He did some research and found out he was entered into a program that makes him pay for “debt cancellation,” something Best Buy never discussed with him. He also discovered that there are many other people who feel tricked into joining this strange program. To make matters worse, HSBC, the card issuing bank, is giving Jason the runaround about reversing the fees. Jason’s letter, inside…
What To Expect From Airlines Now That Oil Is $130 A Barrel
By 5.21.08
Scott McCartney, who writes the Wall Street Journal’s “Middle Seat” column, has some thoughts about what consumers can expect from airlines, now that oil has hit $130 a barrel. He says that “he change in oil prices from a year ago to today translates into $24.6 billion in added fuel costs for passengers and cargo airlines on an annualized basis,” which is more than the airline industry has ever earned– its best year saw $5.3 billion in earnings.
How I Got Commerce To Refund $45 In Cycle Service Charge Fees
By 5.21.08
Yesterday I walked away from Commerce Bank victorious: my entire balance in my wallet, my fees reversed, and my account closed. I had an account there that I just sort of kept as a “money in a book” account. You know, you hide money in a book on your shelf so you forget about it and one day when you really need some extra scratch you realize, hey wait, I’ve got that money in a book. Except this way I wouldn’t run the risk of forgetting which book it was. In retrospect I realize that was kind of a half-stupid, half-smart idea. That’s how I roll. Another way I roll is a little policy called, “You don’t get to steal my money.”
Policy: Blockbuster Debits $1 To Test Your Card, Then Charges You For Your Rental
By 5.21.08
For every debit or credit card transaction at Blockbuster, the company will now debit $1 to “test” your card. If the transaction goes through, they’ll then debit the full amount of your purchase. Blockbuster tells us your dollar will be returned in 3-10 business days. Reader Jason says he rented a game on Thursday and hasn’t gotten the dollar Blockbuster borrowed back yet. Will he get it before the 10 days is up?
American Airlines Now Charges $15 For The First Checked Bag
By 5.21.08
American Airlines has just announced that it will begin charging a $15 fee for the first checked bag starting June 15. The airline also said that it would raise fees for things like “reservation help” and “oversized bags.”
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.
