fees
Polite Letter Gets Bank Of America To Refund Overdraft Fees
Jenn’s checking account with Bank of America recently had a policy change designed to increase overdraft fees, and it worked: sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning she was hit with 6 NSF charges going back the previous 48 hours, because she was about 15 minutes late transferring funds into her account the day before. Technically she had broken the new policy, but Jenn hadn’t realized or remembered that there was a policy change and she was taken by surprise. She decided to try to reason with BoA’s corporate office about the fees, and explain why she thought they were unfair.
WaMu Backs Down, Returns The $1500 To Bill's Bank Account
Bill, whose small business checking account had been inappropriately drafted $1500, sent us the following email late last night:
../../../..//2008/05/12/hr-block-says-you-paid/
H&R Block says you paid it $2.8 billion to do your taxes this year. It was their best tax season in 9 years thanks to the company’s decision to increase fees by 7%-9.8% [CNNMoney ]
EECB Scores Direct Hit On Delta's $25 Extra Bag Fee
Reader Justin got hit with Delta’s new $25 extra bag fee on the way home from his vacation to West Palm Beach. He turned to the dreaded EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) to get his $25 refund. Let’s listen in:
American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Raise Fuel Surcharge $20
Grab your wallets, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have decided to raise “fuel surcharges” by $20 (round trip) reports the Associated Press. These charges now total $139 round trip on some flights.
Don't Get Cheated On Closing Costs
Some homebuyers are pissed because when the actual line item fees for various closing costs come in less than the estimation, their closing agents are simply pocketing the difference. How do you fight back? This article on LawyersandSettlements says,
Chase Closes Bank Account, Hold Money Hostage
What makes the next story about reader Pavel trying to get satisfaction from Chase executive customer service so interesting is that Pavel himself is Executive Assistant to the President of his company. He knows how executive customer service is supposed to work. As he puts in, he has the ability to “walk on water” within in his company. Which makes his experience with Chase, where they closed his account for having a zero-balance for less than a week, and then held his money hostage, all the more frustrating…
Commerce Bank Can't Decide Whether Funds Are Available Or Not
Meg in New Jersey wants to know what’s up with her Commerce Bank account. They say if you deposit a check before 6pm, the funds are made available that day—but when she did just that and then transferred the funds to another account, she was hit with a $35 “uncollected funds fee.” She never got a straight answer out of the Commerce CSR, and although they refunded the fee, they told her she “could only get that refund once ever,” as if to say it was her fault the fee was assessed.
Delta's Retroactive Baggage Fee Entitles Travelers To A Full Refund
Passengers who purchased Delta tickets before the airline announced its new baggage surcharge can request a full refund thanks to Delta’s contract of carriage. According to the contract, you “may request a full refund” if Delta makes a change that “materially affects the terms and conditions of your ticket purchase.” Most travelers won’t exercise their right to a refund, but if that planned vacation is starting to look a little too pricey, this tip is for you.
Delta's New Baggage Fee Is Retroactive
Delta is now charging $25, if you want to check more than one bag starting May 5, but they’re also backdating the fee. You can get it waived at check-in, but only if you bought between February 4, and April 4. This is of no help to reader Jason, who bought tickets back in January, and is now subject to a surprise $100 fee (he and his wife are both bringing two bags each). He writes, “If I would have known that when I booked I may have thought twice about Delta. I feel I was misled!” Jason tried emailing customer service but got nowhere. He might try sending them an executive email carpet bomb, based on the info in this post.
Bank Of America Charges $10 Fee For Paying Parking Tickets
Reader Anthony writes that the financial warlocks…
Revenues From Bank Fees Up 41% Over Last 4 Years
LowCards.com points out that fees are a huge source of revenue for credit card companies these days—they’ve gone from $12.8 billion in 2003 to $18.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 41% in 4 years.
"Comcast Treats My Bank Account Like A Cookie Jar"
Of all our random corporate screw-up stories, this is one of the funniest, if only because it’s so random and so persistent. Oh wait, Kelly’s out over $100 now and Comcast keeps debiting her account whenever they feel like it. Maybe that’s not that funny after all.
