Wachovia’s Brilliant Customer Disservice
I’ve a new Evil Empire for the list: Wachovia. I know that they’ve always been evil, but I wasn’t a customer of theirs until a few weeks ago when they finally completed their acquisition of Southtrust Bank.
The first shameful act of Wachovia is that they purchased and squished one of the best financial institutions I’ve ever done business with. Southtrust employees were courteous, their service was excellent, their product offering was wonderful, and my experience with them was just wonderful as a whole.
The second shameful act of Wachovia requires a bit of backstory…
To prevent little cash flow hiccups, my wife and I set up a line of credit on our Southtrust checking account and paid a small enrollment fee to eliminate a per-transfer charge for automatic transfers from our line of credit. This service was wonderful because we have a number of auto-draft bills that get paid all at once during the month rather than being evenly split between paychecks. Sometimes we’d drop to the red the day before payday and this would prevent NSFs (for free) and we’d pay the debt back in a day or two.
Wachovia doesn’t care. It has been my understanding that when you buy a business, you buy their liabilities as well. Southtrust offered this service to us on a per-year basis. We’ve paid for our year, which doesn’t end for several more months. Wachovia doesn’t care. I talked to a “Wachovia Representative” on the phone who was able to give my $5 back and then reiterate (in her own words) the aforementioned mantra of this fine bank (read: Evil Empire): “Wachovia doesn’t care.”
In the end, what they do is what they do. The minute I heard that my wonderfully customer service oriented bank was being bought by this giant, I started my search for a new financial institution for my day-to-day banking. This transition is nearly complete, so I need not worry about my $5 a pop transfer fee again.
So, to Wachovia: You had your chance and you blew it. Now, Bryan doesn’t care.
July 5th, 2005 at 9:51 am
She actually said “Wachovia doesn’t care??
I’d have her supervisor on the phone and then I’d drop them like a bad potato dress.
July 5th, 2005 at 12:16 pm
What she actually said was “It doesn’t matter” in response to my “So even though I paid Southtrust the larger fee to avoid transfer charges, I now have to pay Wachovia for each transfer?”
July 5th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
Ridiculous! I used to like Wachovia until they merged with some bank a few years ago. From then on out they drove me crazy! That’s also when they started the fee per transaction from your line of credit/ready reserve! I relied on that thing for similar reasons during college & it defeated the purpose to have that fee. The day I went in to close my account was so gratifying for me. I got to tell the customer service rep my whole list of complaints, which of course made me feel better (not that she neccessarily cared, but oh well)! And about the lady you spoke with, what’s with people in customer service positions that act like they hate people?!? They need to re-evaluate the situation & get a new job!
July 7th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Wow, I have never heard of that bank. Did you change the name to protect the parties involved?
July 8th, 2005 at 6:16 am
Which Bank haven’t you heard of? Both banks are (read: were) real. http://www.wachovia.com http://www.southtrust.com
July 12th, 2005 at 11:26 am
I agree with Jo Leigh… I worked in customer service for five years and HATED it, but only because of management. I enjoyed helping customers, so I went WAY beyond what was required in order to help them out. My co-workers, however, HATED their job because they HATED customers. I never could understand why people like that work in customer service?? My line of work was preventing people from losing their homes through foreclosure (Midland Mortgage, where I worked, should be added to the list of evil, by the way.) and the difference between a rep. who cares and one who doesn’t can very easily mean the difference between a person keeping or losing their house! Pissed me off to work with those people.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:58 pm
Wachovia is a great bank and I haven’t had any problems, Evertime I go into my local branch or call in to the 24hour phone line they are wonderful. I can’t tell you how many times they have gone out of there way to help me. You people need to find a bank that babysits your money. That’s no fault of wachovia’s that you people need to be reminded of where you money is.
September 9th, 2005 at 3:15 pm
I closed out my Wachovia account a few years ago and moved to Bank of America after I discovered a lovely little practice of theirs. They do not debit your account for charges made in the order in which they are recieved. Instead they debit them from highest dollar amount to lowest. This way they can hit you with as many overdraft charges as possible. Bank reps have affirmed that this is their policy. Bank of America does not do this.
Today I discovered a lovely new policy they have. If you walk into a branch and cash a check written from a Wachovia business account, they give you your cash minus $5. They already had the strictest ID requirements I’ve seen anywhere, requiring two forms of identification in addition to a thumb print. Now you can’t even cash a business check at all without giving them $5 of YOUR money, if you don’t have an account with them. The brochure the teller gave me calls cashing checks to non-customers a special service and suggests that you open an account with them to avoid the $5 fee.
September 30th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
I never banked with either First Union or Wachovia (read: WalkOverYa), though some small bank called Signet Bank paid me $100 to open a free checking account back in 1996. Signet was bought by First Union which merged with WalkOverYa.
The account I opened in 1996 lay dormant (since I moved to another state) till 2001, and then suddenly Wachovia decided to close the account and then charge me some kind of fee for $57. They never sent me any letter about this (or may be they did and got lost in mail, since I had moved twice already).
No action from 2001 to about May 2005, when they sent my account to collection agency to recover $57. Till Sept 2005, no action. In Sept, I decided to take advantage of free credit report and noticed the collection agency item. I called them and they were rude as hell and tell me I need to pay up. They had no info about what the charge was for (not even the fact whether it was checking or credit card etc). They told me talk to WalkOverYa. WalkOVerYa said I need to produce statements to prove them wrong. They are willing to sell them for $5 apiece!
Now, if I order all the statements from 1996-2001, I may know where my account had nay activity and see what I can do about it. (5*12*5 = $300!).
They are clever and know I will just pay $57 and close the books. They have another thing coming…
My family or I will never do any business with Wachovia EVER!! I am going to tell my story to anyone who is even looking at Wachovia for an account. I am plaaning to write to their Board of Directors, customer service and FTC and anyone in governement who has anything to do with banking.
Wachovia has similar values to First Union in screwing over the customers and being arrogant about their ability to push people around.
Wachovia, I am sure you don’t care but I now bank of Bank of America!
September 30th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
Wachovia just nailed me for $20,000 — yes, with four zero’s.
My business bank, SouthTrust, was bought by Wachovia, in June of last year. In my most recent statement, I noticed many large electronic refunds issued through my credit card processing account (as if I had refunded a customer money on their credit card.) I immediately called Wachovia to notify them.
After weeks of investigation, they found the money went to Banco National of Mexico, (like that’s not fishy). Then, today, in a conference call with two Loss Prevention managers, I was told I am responsible for the losses, because I did not notify Wachovia within 24 hours of the fraudelent occurances.
Even if I used online banking, would I really check it every day. And what about the service. A call would have been nice, say when $1000 dissappeared or $5,000, perhaps $10,000, but nothing til I noticed at $20,000 missing.
Wachovia Fraud Prevention? - You Decide.
October 13th, 2005 at 7:32 pm
Wachovia is evil. Chris is totally right on about how they pull their money out of your account I have only had wachovia for six months and hate them. I suggest no one use them. Their are some many better banks out there do not settle for them.
December 6th, 2005 at 8:57 pm
Wachovia Securities - Honolulu Branch - john.p.vanscholten. I used to have a pretty good relationship with my financial advisor, Ric Miller, and then Wachovia took over; then I just couldn’t get a timely response from my advisor. (At the time of my request, I was taking care of my mother at home who was dying.) I was passed on to an associate, months passed; I attempted to close and transfer my accounts to another agency, months passed. I contacted the Branch Manager to close my account;months passed. I called again and was passed to Valerie who refused to give her last name, and on the phone she gave me tone and ‘tude. They said there was no record of my request. Karma is…
December 22nd, 2005 at 12:58 am
You know when Wachovia of Charlotte,N.C. was bought by First Union(also headquartered within the same city) I asked a neighbor of mine who worked
in the Commercial Loans department of F.U. why they decided to use the name
of the takeover target instead of their own. What he said was that the First Union name had such a negative perception among banking customers,
that they didn’t want to use it anymore. Looks like they anti-customer viral corruption of Wachovia is complete.
I was there to cash a check written to me from my sister, and they indeed asked me for 2 forms of ID (gave them a drivers license and my employee badge) plus my thumb print. What concerned me was that they appeared to be entering all of that information in to their system, eventhough I personally do not have an account with them.
I can’t understand why MY employee badge or other personal information has to be recorded in the database of a bank I don’t even do business with.
Does anyone know whether or not you have a legal right to simply show your drivers license as proof of your identity?
March 17th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
My experience with Wachovia has been pretty good. I can’t address the original complaint here, but it seems like if you do common-sensical stuff like don’t let your account go into NSF in the first place, and cash checks at your own bank, and maybe keep track of your little-used accounts as you move around, there wouldn’t be a problem. Now for the $20,000 problem, that does sound like quite the snafu. There should be some remedy for that.
April 4th, 2006 at 6:05 am
I’m suing Wachovia after they failed to provide me with any respect or concern for my complaints.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Wachovia has killed me with their shifty posting practices! When I called customer service and asked why my debits were posted in order of largest to smallest amount, they gave me the run around! They “assured” me that they do not post that way, but isn’t it funny that I have a 15 page print-out that clearly states otherwise?!?! How can Wachovia say that they have the best customer service? The 3 women that I spoke with at Wachovia’s Customer Care Center, were rude and did not want to hear what I had to say. When I spoke with the “supervisor”, she explained their “policy” on how debits post to my account….the part that I liked the best was that the policy just kept changing to suit Wachovia! Well, Wachovia, I’m filing a complaint with the Banking Commission and the FDIC! I’m also going to discuss this with an attorney! Best customer service my butt!
July 24th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Wow, okay #1 if you want to not pay a fee for the bank taking care of your money for you then you need to do the tranfer yourself and there is no fee #2 Every bank that I have ever banked w/posts largest to smallest (yes even Bank of America) If you have more than one purchase coming through in a day you will see that they will take the most important things out first (your mortgage) so that they don’t pay your mcdonalds and then return your mortgage. Hmm.. makes sense to me. 3# $20,000 coming out of your checking? They charge back that money to the bank its coming from and if they show proof it’s authorized (like a recorded phone call or a purchase) then you are liable for letting people get ahold of your account number. 4# They make you show 2 forms of ID and fingerprint so that when our customer calls and says someone stole their checks we know how to find you that took the check. Photo Id’s can be copied, there are fake ones all around so it’s not the most widely trusted form of id. And you made your point, your not their customer so why would they trust you? 5# If you don’t use your account for more than 9 months, and you fail to send back the letter asking if you still know you have an account w/them they legally have the right to charge you dormancy fees ($5 per month) If you go 90 days without paying them or calling customer service and having them waive the fees and close the account it’s $40 to have the account charged off to a collection agency because you aren’t paying attention to what is coming on your statements obviously. All of this is in the Deposit Disclosures and Schedule of Fees you get when you open the account. If your posting on this board, it’s probably because you just threw it away. Yeah, so umm..any other questions?
August 9th, 2006 at 7:23 am
my account has been charged 7 overdraft fees and I dont think its fair I’ve been with this bank for many years and watch it change hands many times and I cant undrestand how they can charge a person who’s not eligeable for overdraft protection but has direct deposite for years so much over draft this bank fails the lower class working people.
Arletha West
213 Stevens street
Philadelphia PA 19111
215 728 6461
PS how is this possible when does someone look at the real banking needs of the person who dont make a lot of money and who just cant manage their money as others do I have more debt from overdraft fees as I do anything elese.
August 21st, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Wachovia sucks! Kat is obviously just another bainwashed employee that sees nothing wrong with the nickle-dime pickpocketing of it’s customers….a pity…they have a special place in hell for bankers…right next to the ambulance chasing attorneys and oprtunistic lobbyist-controled politcians. Did I mention Wachovia sucks!?!?!
August 25th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
I was prepared to purchase a car this weekend and had everything prepared. I went there this morning to cash my paycheck and they said I was overdrawn by $131.xx!!!! I could not believe it. They charged overdraft on a hold but held off on my deposit that I made the same day. They charged me $30 which made my account negative and then charged $35 for 3 other purchase the next day. They took off $80 but said that it was only a courtesy and it is all they can do to help me. Great customer service. If I call back to their customer service line again(you get 2 calls per cycle) then I will be charged $2. This will be $37 after they hit me with a charge AGAIN! Worst bank EVER!!
August 28th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Wachovia Sucks to their employees. If anyone worked for them and hates them please respond
August 30th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Wachovia likes to do run arounds and have you waste your time to call and be placed on hold forever to have a nonanswer to where your money is. If the transactions are placed from highest to lowest how come it doesnt reflect that on my billing statement? why not just the order purchased? and when i get charged for an overdraft fee for a mistake the bank made, when they refund my 35$ its a courtesy? Also how come only sometimes when i deposit (a wachovia check mind you) through the atm SOMETIMES $100 gets credited and then the rest at 12am but then other times that $100 goes through with the rest at 12am…at wachovia call center they told me $100 always gets credited before 4 at atm but in my branch the lady had no idea what i was talking about and never heard of the $100 being credited right away. just give me a bank thats honest and is easy to keep track of without always calling the 800 number and getting sick everytime i check my online billing.
September 12th, 2006 at 10:41 am
My wife and I opened our “Free Checking” account in 2000 with First Union. We were just married, just moved to the area, and had crappy jobs.
When First Union bought Wachovia everything was fine… at first…because we didn’t SEE anything.
The past 6 months we have been getting service fees for our “Free Checking” so I called and asked why. They said we had a “Grandfather account” that they couldn’t comment on, other than we needed a $500/$1500 balance in checking/savings in order to avoid a $10 service fee.
I told them that we opened a Free Checking account 6 years ago. They said, they couldn’t help me with that since they can only look 3 months into the records. But they would be more than happy to send me an “explanation of fees” for our account. What difference would that make if I had been switched arbitrarily to a different account, and they show no record for it???
Finally I got them to switch me to the “Free Checking” account and re-imburse me the last two months service fees.
What really happened:
Wachovia began purging First Union information from their records. So they had a account type they didn’t want to offer anymore. They assigned an arbitrary “generic checking account” title to that account and shuffled all these First Union accounts into “Generic”.
Our account balance never dropped below $1500 until recently (because of hospital bills) and the service fees started showing up. But since the change actually happened years ago there was nothing they could do.
BASTARDS.
September 30th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
I am currently in a fight for $1297.75 in fees from wachovia. They put a hold on my account (2 deposits totaling over $5000) and never notified me of the hold, no phone call, no letter, nothing. I proceeded to pay all my bills online (their billpay) as I normally do. They then charged me NSF fee per item of $35 PLUS a “funds unavailable fee” for the billpay of $35 each. Then proceeded to remove the fees from my account, then present the checks again. I eventually have paid $140 PER ITEM totaling $1297.75 in fees. It took over 10 days for anyone to even explain to me WHY they put a hold on my corporate deposits. View the whole story on www.WachoviaBank-Sucks.com. If you would like, please feel free to submit your story to me, I would be happy to post your stories also. I will certainly put a link to this page. THEIR SERVICE SUCKS!!!
swoodin@wachoviabank-sucks.com
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Its very obvious to me that Kat is a Wachovia Employee. Regardless of deposit disclosures and schedule fees, A rational person would contend that being assessed $40 for a dormant account is excessive. Why not just close the account out? No, that would be too simple. Wachovia has to extract a fee for closing a dormant account. I now do my banking with my local credit union. If a check bounces, its only $21. And there is no such thing as courtesy pay. My credit union has a half page disclosure of fees. I am sure Wachovia has multiple pages of disclosures. I could have $5 dollars in my checking account and my credit union will not close the account, or even charge a fee. You see Kat, they want my business. They are not robber barons trying to screw customers over with excessive fees by hiding behind the Deposit Disclosures and Schedule of Fees.
October 4th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Damn…got me twice…back when they were First Union I opened a checking with $7000 cash.Wrote check of $6800, then sent my secretary to put $3000 more in and wrote checks to another $450, shoulda left a good balance. Secretary comes back tells me they would not accept the $. I went down was told account was “opened in error”???! and refused to accept $316 to close account cleanly. Left $316 on my cbi and inability to open checking anywhere.
Finally ate crow and paid Wachovia under protest. Damn if I didnt get laid off
went $140 in da hole. NOT wanting it to happen again stayed in weekly contact, put $70 in 2 weeks ago was told account was being “notated” that I would be back in two weeks to clear up and move forward.Put $150 in yesterday,Miss Smiling teller tells me things are back on track told ehr I would be back in 2 days to drop $500 more in and “Thanks for your help, wont happen again”..Today I am told my account was closed last Thursday!!!
And they will “mail me a check soon”…I spoke with the branch manager..asked her why someone wouldnt say something the 3 times I was in the branch…Oh well…OH WELL? Kiss my ass. i used to send contracts for automobiles to Wachovia almost $500,000 a month. I am sending all my business elsewhere, credit unions etc. This is humiliating…Its my fault I overdrew the account, I know. Nobody could tellme the 3times I was in there in the last 2 weeks?At this point I feel and agree with the literally
HUNDREDS of customers I have spoken with that I now join them in the Wachovia Sucks club.
October 5th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Epilogue…went to pick up my difference check..They got me for another $40 charge off fee..should have received $80 back,NOOO $39…Check out Wachovia website..no place for a complaints, nothing.Yuk…They suck.
October 12th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
When Wachovia takes over World Savings, as they are poised to do, I will promptly cash out all my holdings. Wachovia is an insincere, predatory,and meretricious organization with no apparent redeeming qualities. s/ Richard in Clearwater, FL.
October 16th, 2006 at 11:54 am
I have contacted the Better Business Bureau in regards to problems I am having with Wachovia. Without notice or provication they switched my credit card to some other company and dramatically increased my APR to $25+ percent!
I called to complain and they told me none of my actions had caused this. I had not paid a late bill nor had I missed any bills to cause this.
They obvioulsy jacked up the APR in order to get me to switch to their new Wachovia credit card etc etc
This really ticks me off.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:57 am
I work for wachovi-HELL!. Let’s see what I can bitch about.
All of the managers are junkies…including their kids they allow work as tellers. (Kat, if you are who I think you are…yes, this applies to you).
During team meetings, ways of out smartings customers have been discussed and laughed about. They try to brainwash us. They constantly beat down and terrorise us tellers and managers to sell, sell, sell. Tellers are FORCED to constantly nag and harass customers to open accounts, get direct deposits, etc because if we do not sell them, we get written up and lose pay.
They under staff busy branches which results in many out of balances and overstaff slow branches who are allowed to slack off on sales simply cause they are slow.
The management there is so hitler like and crazy that you want to rip your hair out. they have this ridiculous and harmful customer service scoring thing where they cold call customers around dinner time and ask the person to rate the teller who waited on them. well, mind you, this person is already pissed that you called them at 6 pm, so if they dont rate the teller a 7 (which is the highest), and you end up getting a 6, you get written up. a ive can get you canned. you notice that one person gives u a 7 when another gives u a 4 and you are like, ‘i didnt do anything any differently’.
when one teller steals, they force the whole branch to do a polygraph.
and the best ever…no one ever knows whats up. you would think that this place was run by monkeys. i mean, to get anything done right is like having to ask don juan to hand over his dick. they let you break important rules for rich people and give the poorer ones a hard time.
and if you dont break the rules, they say you do bad service.
if i didnt need a job i would quit. when i tried to look for another job, they visciously told lie about me and then when i went to switch branches because of this act, the bitch wrote me up for every little tiny thing she could safel;y dig up without getting caught.
i hate you wachovia….and your $400 a month health insurance.
November 9th, 2006 at 11:28 am
I bank with Wachovia. If wasn’t for the hassle of rerouting my dirrect deposit and starting a new checking account.I would close the damn account. Let me tell u why…st off Wachovia has Financed my home and two vehicles. Still owe on the house. My check is deposited on the 1st and the 15th of every month. This month “Nov” I was in the negitive $75. Plus there $35 fee. So, $105 No problem Right? I went in on the 1st to deposit a bonus check in addition to my dirrect deposit. An the evil teller “the face of Wachovia” tells my account is over drawn. I say ok Paychex must be behind Im sure it will be 2 morrow. I figured I would deposit my $600 check to cover it and take $100 out. So Im not broke. She says she cant give me any money back because of company policy.She must put a hold on it for 7 days! I told her to give me my check back I would go The issuing bank to cash it.She told me she cant its already processed! She smilingly said Sorry sir…I asked to speak with a supervisor. Silly me thinking that my mortage,my car loans, my dirrect deposit…Would maybe mean somthing and she would override it…Boy was I wrong! The lady actually shows me a copy some deposit thing I thing had to have signed when I opened the account! I said obviously U have the right! But,Show a little customer appreciation!Your my chosen finacial institution! Im not a new customer! Its not a unknown check! She said she understood my postion!Thnx? It makes me wonder how many tests you must fail to be considered for employment there.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
In addition, My bonus check which I reluctantly deposited on the 1st.Has still not post to my freakin account. Today is the 9th! Im not a mathmatician. But, I do believe it should in there. I called them up got a lady by the name of Heather.She says that if I dont have the orginal deposit recipt.Then she cant help me! I called the the corporate office .They said she could have overrided it.But, it needs to be handle in the branch.I know that eventually it will post…But, it is just principle now…There “policy” was followed and now there just like oh well! it will be there. Harbor Federal here I come and Wachovia, John is displeased with your inability to cooperate with a valued customer.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
I have Wachovia too they put your money on hold when u use debit card than charge u overdraft fees out of this world they owe me over $300 in overdraft fees today……..but refuse to credit me back I wish it was something we can do about them if anyone knows please e-mail so I can do something. I hope someone does a class action lawsuit against them Does the Ceo Kent Thompson know what they are doing or is he part of the problem
Someone Help
November 17th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Me again, Two weeks later.My direct deposit went in this morning.Which is great cuz my mortage payment is auto withdrawn today also.Well, Since I knew there was a proplem last month Ive been very tight on purchases. But,Behold $210.00 overdraft fee. Its my fault I had less then I thought.It aggrevates me. When they say why did u go over?Anyways $3.18,$4.27,$6.78,$11.34,$21.50,$8.64. So, $55.71, cost me $210.00.Fine eventually I will get ahead fuckers. But, Im not argueing the valdility of the fines. I had deposited a harbor federal check for $700.00. To cover it an be able to pay my mortage. Guess what 7 day hold! Im like u got to be kidding me…take ur money, but dont make me late on my mortage,which u guyz financed! “Sorry sir, Your acct has been overdrawn $265.00. The computer wont let me do it.”…Needless to say I am back on this site typing away at my pointless boycott of their finacial services…Listen all! learn from my mistakes, In my opinion u should go somewhere else to bank.Oh yea and I brought up that I have and have had loans thru them.they said that was a different department and couldnt be considered in this situation…!all the same to me…..
December 6th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
I used to work for Wachovia(not by choice, I was acquired through the Southtrust merger) and I cannot even begin to tell you how evil this bank is. You think they treat the customers like shit? Try working for them! I could write a book on the things I went through and saw other employees go through. I have never worked for a company who cares so little about their employees.
December 8th, 2006 at 5:40 am
I’ve been searching through the internet to find a bank or credit union that will charge less than $35.00 per NSF. These big banks will bury me under the poor house! I was with Wachovia for years - since 1986. They were fiscally conservative, (meaning “no, you don’t have enough money in savings to convince us to loan you the money you need.” Gee - thanks for the news flash - if I could loan myself money, why would I be talking to you?), so getting a loan was tough. But ok with most other things. We had to go to SouthTrust to finance the mortgage of our shop.
SouthTrust was so appealing, and they really would let you slide a day or so in the red without penalty. That went away when Wachovia bought SouthTrust. But when First Union bought Wachovia, yet kept the Wachovia name, I felt like a stanger in my own bank. The account number changed and made me technically a “new” customer (not to be trusted anymore), and all tellers that knew me got shuffled to other branches. We likewise became annoyed with all the rising and creative charges. We still have a few hundred in savings and a free checking account with Wachovia, but have been doing most our banking with Bank of America.
BOA doesn’t have a free checking. We decided to try the “keep the change” program. Whatever you buy with your VisaChecking card gets rounded to the next dollar and the change goes to your savings account. Sounds good in theory. What you learn with time is it’s a real pain in the neck to keep up an acurate ledger balance, and slip away from reconciling. You think - that’s ok, if the check slides into the red, it will be drafted from savings. It’s never enough to cover the unexpected things. The school we gave a $70.00 check to held that sucker for 10 weeks! They deposited it at a time my balance happened to be low in checking & savings. The next 3 ATM card purchases totaling approximately 37 bucks cost $105 in NSF fees, even after I had tried to quickly deposit cash the next day! Yeah, I’m glad they honored the payments, but hiding my embarrassed discomfort is not worth that much money!! I’m still steaming over seeing my checking account in the red by over $90 bucks!!
FYI: www.veritycu.com, www.mycreditunion.net, www.peoplesstate.com all have good NSF rates - in order: $25.00, $25.00 or $22.00, and $20.00. Each have different criteria, so you must read the rules.
December 9th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
I just viewed my online statement showing a balance of $15.00, and no transactions for days, which is correct, because I made no transactions.
Then suddenly, there is an NSF charge for $35.00 and a negative balance of $-20.00. I called, and they can’t tell me what transaction was rejected to generate this $35.00 fee, yet they say that “there is no bank error.” What?!!!!
January 5th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
I thought it was just me, but I now see the other horror stories of Wachovia. I’m outta there.
January 7th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
If Wachovia is cheating you, why not report them to the FDIC, the Treasury Department, the FTC, and any other applicable authority? They’re very opportunistic to stick it to their customers regarding overdraft fees, as is the case with every bank, but since we’ve all learned that lesson at one time or another, why not only withdraw money a couple times a month, and keep a record of your transactions? Then, when they try to screw you over, present them with that record. If they still insist on ripping you off, file appropriate arrest warrants. Nothing could be a worse public relations disaster for a bank than to for members of its management to be escorted out of the building in handcuffs. If Wachovia forces your hand, make those arrests and report them to your local media.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I used to work for Wachovia. It was the best move I ever did to get out of there. I also worked for SouthTrust Bank, which was a great bank to work for. Wachovia Bank does not care about employees and customer. If you have a lot of money with the bank and complain they will do anything for you, but if you are the average customer they will charge you. I have had agruments with my Service Leader all the time. I would deny a refund to a customer who has a lot of money and she would call to say to refund because of his “large relationship”. I work for them is a night mare. I worked for them a couple of years and never got a raise. I was told “you must score over a 3″ to get a raise. But, you do not get the support or mentoring to do your job right. They also have a 6mos incentive but they keep changing the criteria to achieve the incentive, now the rule is “you are compared to your peers”. How do you compare peers with over 20yrs with the company to someone with a couple of years experience in the same position. Not Fair!!! Wachovia definetly sucks.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I have over heard a Sales Leader state “I would always promote a Wachovia employee over a SouthTrust employee any day” I tried to report to Human Resources but they never did anything. I did experience the Sales Leader give me a harder time ever since of my complaint. HR said it was confidential guess not!!!!!
January 30th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Wachovia has pissed me off for the last time.
First, when you swipe your debt card they put a hold on that money, well if other things need to be paid with that money they hit you with a NSF fee, even though the money has not been requested to be paid. The customer service response “well that money has been promised out.” Well if you look at it, all my money has been promised that’s why it’s being taken out of my checking account. Then when the debt is posted it will incure a NSF fee as well b/c Wachovia can’t pay other debts out of it, but they can pay themselves so that when the money they “held” is to be debted it’s no longer there. So for one transaction you can pay up to three NSF fee for it.
Second, they just screwed my mother over. My mother is an authorized user on my account although she’s not on my checks and she doesn’t have a debt card. Well after forgetting to write down a check (yes completely my fault) and incurring over 500 in NSF fees I didn’t have the money to pay them back quite yet. But despite my account being overdrawn, they still cashed a check for 850 really sending my account into the red. Well this was only a week ago, but today they took the entire overdrawn amount out of my mom’s account without prior warning!!!! This caused her account to incur many NSF fee’s and be thrown into the red. So question, why take money out of one account to bring another account current and then make that account in the red?
Finally, Wachovia’s customer service agents have to be the dumbest people alive. The few times I have had to talk with them (which after calling twice I’ve learned it’s more detremental to call) I have learned they do not know anything about banking, they are reading from a script, and if you ask them a question they actually have to think about, such as why if they held the money and wouldn’t pay anything else with it, then did the debt they held it for incur NSF fees as well, they do not know how to respond b/c questions they actually have to think about are not in their training. They have to be the preschool rejects.
January 31st, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Wow. I’m glad my husband and I aren’t the only ones to get ripped off (lucky for us, we actually received a refund for the full amount of charges). Never in my life have I dealt with such an unprofessional banking organization. Not only is your hard earned money not your own within this institution, they actually seem to promote the “stealing of money” in overdraft fees by allowing some checks to post right away while holding others, so that when you go to pay your bills with the $$ that is supposedly in your account, SURPRISE! it’s not there! How is anyone supposed to pay their bills on time when there is a 7-10 day hold on your paychecks?? How convenient for them!!! Wachovia’s slimey lawyers must have been pretty good with words when they wrote the Deposit Disclosures and Schedule of Fees.
Corruption is rampant in corporate America today. This is just another fine example of corporate greed at the customer’s expense. The best thing you can do for yourselves: walk into a Wachovia for the last time and take your business and your money with you when you leave. I don’t support companies who operate on the blood of the very customers who are making them successful.
And to Wachovia (who forgot about the future), in the next few years as I move up my own ladder and when my bank account suddenly triples, rest assured you won’t see a cent.
The greatest thing about living in capitalist, corporate America is that they go down when WE ALL decide it’s time.
March 10th, 2007 at 11:06 am
DIVORCING WACHOVIA!It would be wise to print out a daily balance from your computer if you have direct deposit and are about to have a four day weekend. Wachovia will post your daily available balance and what is waiting to be posted and it will Appear to be just as your check register says it should be. All will appear fine and dandy. You can get a balance from online and ATM and everything is as it should be then WHAM. The System will on that Tuesday reconfigure all your transactions and post them in different a order including deposits made before the weekend. The next thing you know your negative several hundred dollars. I have put over $200,000 in Wachovia in less than 2 years. Oh their all smiles and Welcome to Wachovia when you have no problems. But try to have a fee reverse and it’s like talking to the spawn of Satan. My account has gone from high amounts to smaller amounts doing repairs from Katrina. I donot have spare money to give Wachovia. I have been charged over $700 in NSF fees since Jan. 2007. I even showed them the original printout I had of debits, charges, deposits and refunds posted. Refunds deposited will definetely change posting dates to Wachovia convience. The bank manager who insist on handling my account was all smiles until I had aproblem then she turned me over to the banks pitbull who raised his voice and wouldn’t allow me to ask questions because he was so loud. I could tell that the other employees were embarassed. But the bank manager just looked at him and said nothing. I canceled my direct deposit and only left enough money in the account to be able to do a history search and print off documents from my account so I won’t ge charged any fees when I contact a lawyer. Wachovia only loves you when you have the big bucks in bank. I have other large deposits that will be coming through in the next two months but Not to Wachovia.
March 18th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
wachovia sucks ass. how does this make sense to anyone?
03/14/2007 Deposit REFUND COMPUSA COMPUSA#0677 03/13 $39.99 $43.81
03/13/2007 Other OVERDRAFT/UNAVAILABLE FUNDS FEE $70.00 $3.82
03/13/2007 Purchase PURCHASE WAWA #037 03/13 $3.98 $73.82
03/13/2007 Purchase PURCHASE SUNOCO SVC STATION 03/11 $15.52 $77.80
So at this time, there was a positive balance when I got hit with overdraft fees. That makes no sense whatsoever.
maybe if we bombard “Kennedy” with emails, something will change?
March 29th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Try not to spend more money than you have in your checking accounts. Or is that concept too complicated for you morons?
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
This is now even making it to Wachovia’s Wikipedia page. Read it quick–Corporate will delete it tomorrow!
April 4th, 2007 at 6:09 am
How about this - Wachovia absorbed a 48 yr. old 3 generation real estate Trust from South Carolina National Bank (fabulous bank lost to Walkoverya in aquasition) -and they have bankrupted it. The Trust holds over 3 million dollars of real property and as of this April it is bankrupt. They want us to liquidate the properties and put our money into their shitty Evergreen fund so they can lose it too. Since it is a real estate Trust based on real property and the instrument cannot be broken unless we - the remaindermen - all die - then Wachovia needs to get off their corporate asses and get our properties back into shape and rented. They rented one building to a “charter school” that did not get it’s Charter, and let them stay in our building for 26 months without paying the $8700.00 a month rent folks. Yep - that’s right - they let a bunch of kids destroy our building and refused to evict the school even though it had not paid rent after teh first month. We have over 60k in damages to the building, are out over 300k in rent and have to hire an attorney to make them evict the school. Now, Wachovia claims they are not responsible for the lease ? Hello - they are the Trustee - they made the lease - they signed the lease and they allowed the non-paying tenet to stay. Do you think Wachovia would let you stay in your house if you were 26 months behind in your mortgage payment to them?
Long story short - we’re litigating - they are denying and we want to move the Trust and try to save it. In 48 years of its existence my 80 yr. old Mother had the lowest income from it ever. Her income used to be 120k and this year it was less than 30k. Makes it hard to live in a nursing home when the bank eats your income - doesn’t it. My Grandfather left this to take care of her and then when she passes, for the three of us for our elderly care. He would be so sad to know it is bankrupt due to Wachovia.
April 5th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I had a problem this past week. I made a couple of purchases on thursday, knowing that my check would be direct deposited at midnight… I thought I had enough to cover it, but there was a single purchase that my wife had made that I didn’t know about… anyway, three small debit card purchases were applied to the account at midnight… and one small check… $35 for each of the debit purchases = $105… I had 600 or so left from my paycheck…
I was told by one CS agent that the check would incur a fee friday night
I was told by another CS that it wouldn’t. He told me multiple times that it would not incur the $35 fee. I asked over and over. He said it wouldn’t.
Lo and behold, I was charged $35 on friday night. I called again and was promptly yelled at by one CS agent, who told me that the other guy should never have said that. I spoke with his “supervisor” who gave me a lecture on money management. I wasn’t asking for a refund for the sake of a refund, I was asking them to honor what they had told me. They didn’t, and I’ve learned my lesson with corporate banks… i’m looking for a credit union now…
April 12th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
In response to Starr above:
I know someone who works for the 43 year old company recently sodomized…uh…purchased by Wachovia. They are destroying it. The “merger” (read: rape) is an unqualified disaster for the employees. Either the original owners are kept in the dark about how Walkovaya is destroying this company (supposedly their “baby), or the original owners are also evil and are gleefully participating. They got a couple billion - what do they care if they are destroying the careers of those who helped them get there?
The employees were fed a pile of BS last year and had high hopes - now they are dropping like flies and running for the exits.
I can’t post more now - you cannot believe how “big brother” this company is - or maybe you can - but I will when able. They are evil to the core and some of the crap is downright illegal.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:24 am
With regard to the accident of which customer service rep you get when you call, and how that can influence something as serious as whether or not you lose your house, I have a simple solution. If I call customer service, and the rep that picks up the phone 1.) sounds disgruntled, or 2.) doesn’t speak English, or 3.) I get a bad vibe of any kind, I HANG UP AND CALL BACK IMMEDIATELY! This should not be necessary, but guess what? It works. It’s time consuming, but it’s so worth it. Listen for that Disneyesque “Hi! Thank you for calling Wakovia! How can I help you today?”
April 17th, 2007 at 10:31 am
My Husband and I have a Mortgage with Wachovia and we are being screwed. My husband calls it rape by the bank. We pay over 300 a month in PMI. Yes we were stupid in financing 100 % but at the time it seemed like the only way. Anywats we were told by our loan officer that we could drop the PMI after a year when the property to loan value is higher. So we agreed. When I tried to drop the PMI after a year I was told that I was told wrong and that there was nothing that would be done. We had to wait 24 months and make sure all of our payments were on time. You can all ways refinance with us and drop the PMI of course you would suggest that stupid B**** so that you can get the 3 gran out of us either way. So I call today after call 6 weeks ago ( we bought that house 3/2005) I was told to fax a letter asking to drop the PMI. The CS rep I spoke to today said that there is no record of the fax and that our anniversary date is not until May 1st. Someone could have told me that 6 weeks ago. She started yelling at me and getting an attitude from the fisrt words she spoke and “transfered ” me when I asked a question that she didn’t like. I asked to speak with her sup when I was transfered and they said they would have someone call me!!! Sure they will. I have never been treated like this when give people so much of my hard earned money. I guess no one that works there really cares an doesn’t have to work hard with all the fees they are charging their customers.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I’ve noticed that Wachovia isn’t the only large bank with bad business practices. I’ve spoken to many people with many different banking accounts, and they all tell me that they’ve had discrepancies with their bank accounts.
Even those that didn’t think they had any problems, and later inspected their bank accounts, found discrepancies as small as $35.00 and as large as several thousand dollars.
If all banks are doing this with most of their accounts, then there’s quite a lot of money being stolen by banks.
I refuse to pay check-cashing fees. That is a ridiculous concept. I refuse to have a checking account, since I don’t manage thousands of dollars. I’m pretty low on the pay scale, but that doesn’t mean I can afford to have the bank “acquire” $100.00 a month in fees from me.
My advice to everyone?
Take back the power and your money from the banks. They’re already rich, and they’re not doing anything to help you.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:09 am
The “Double Hold Bank Scam”.
This is where a bank like Wachovia will change the date of your actual debit card purchase when they pay the charge to reflect a day or two after the actual date it was charged. This creates a temporary double hold on the available funds, which does not appear on the account but it reduces the available funds behind the scene not visible to the client. When the bank posts the payment(s), they change the initial charge date to the double hold date. However, the account summary still reflects a balance and date of when the initial hold was applied. Since the client only sees the initial hold on the account summary, they are not the wiser.
After the double hold is applied on a specific date after the initial charge date, any additional debit card charges or checks posted on that specific double hold date may take the account into overdraft and overdraft fees are applied. When the bank makes the payment, the double hold is removed and the initial charge date is changed on the posted payment to the double hold date (The new hold date is then recorded on the right hand side of the payment). If a client calls the bank to inquire about the overdraft charges, they are told that when charges came in on the double hold date (new charge date), there was not enough available balance to pay the charge. Therefore, they were overdrawn and thus the overdraft fees. If the client asks why the initial charge date was changed to the double hold date, they are told that the merchant double billed on that new date. However, there is no record of the double billing and the account summary still displays the initial charge date and balance.
The following example will demonstrate how the “Double Hold Banking Scam” can take a $100 bank balance and only $90 in charges and transfer it into a negative -$25 bank balance when the actual balance should be $10.
The “Double Hold Bank Scam” Example:
Starting Available Balance: $100
Charge#1 $60
Charge#2 $30
4/18/07 Initial hold of $60 - This is noted in the debit card hold section and the account summary reflects a
Posted Balance of $100 and an Available Balance of $40
4/18/07 Available balance $40
4/19/07 Double hold $60 - This is NOT noted anywhere on the client’s account and the posted balance and
available balance remain the same. At this time, there is an actual hold behind the
scene of $120 NOT $60.
4/19/07 Available balance $40
4/20/07 Initial hold $30 - The account is taken into overdraft yet this is NOT recorded on the account at this
time. Nothing looks out of the ordinary.
4/20/07 Available balance $10
4/24/07 Posted payment $60 (4/19/07) – The date of the initial charge is changed to 4/19/07; but the account
summary still reflects an available balance of $40 on 4/18/07.
If the client questions the changed charge date, they are told that
the merchant double billed. Yet the account has no record of the
double billing and the account summary still displays a date and
balance of when the initial charge was applied ($40 on 4/18/07).
In addition, the debit card hold section is deleted and there is
no available record.
4/24/07 Posted payment $30 – The bank pays this and charges an overdraft fee of $35.
If a client calls to inquire why they were charged an overdraft fee when they
had enough money to cover the charges, they are told that on 4/20/07 when
the charge of $30 came in, they had charges that were on hold that reduced
their available balance to a level that took them into overdraft.
4/24/07 Available balance (-$25)
* This is how the scam works to generate bank fees. This is a simple example. If you have some problem understanding it, add 10, 20 or 30+ transactions and the holds to it and see how complicated it gets to an average novice. It’s ingenious and extremely hard to detect in the middle of multiple transactions.
Since the bank does remove the temporary double hold and makes a single payment on the charge, the books even out. No client is the wiser and it would be extremely difficult to detect by any novice.
You can test this out for yourself. Get anyone with a Wachovia Bank Account and watch their accounts. It’s best to use an account with lots of movement. I suggest you take computer snap shots of the “debit card hold” section because they delete them. When the bank posts the payments, compare the dates of the debit card holds you took snaps shots of to the date the bank notes they were initially charged. What you will notice is that Wachovia is changing the initial charge dates when they pay the charge. If you study it more carefully, you will see that they are temporarily double holding to take the account into overdraft.
This bank scam reminds me of the old scam cashiers play on people even today. You would give them $20 for something you purchased. They would ring it up for $10 and put the $20 in the cash register. Then they would give you change on the $10. Later, during their shift or when they close the cash register out, they would pocket the extra $10. Since they only rung up a $10 sale on the cash register, the cash register ribbon that records the sale even out with the cash in the register (They keep a tally of the amount they took from people in their head or write it down somewhere. It can amount to hundreds of dollars per day). If a customer notices that they just got ripped off, the cashier or the store owner goes through the cash register’s ribbon and looks at the charges. Since only $10 was entered, they can’t see it from the ribbon. However, if the cashier did not pocket it yet and the cash in the register is checked with the ribbon, it is uncovered. The cashier apologizes for the “mistake” and there is no proof of “intent” and there is no possession. They are simply looked at as bad cashiers and they are free to do it again and again, etc.
May 14th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Today, I finished my transition to a new bank and went to a Wachovia branch and asked “To whom do I speak about closing my accounts?” To which the man behind the desk replied “I can take care of that for you.” No questions, no “what can I do to keep you as a customer”, no nothing. Thus my suspicions that Wachovia doesn’t give a damn about me were confirmed and I feel better than ever about my decision to dump them. The real shocker is that they don’t charge you an account closing fee.
May 16th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Been with Wachovia since last August. Deposited 70K and was promised a 5%APY and every month when my statement comes it is between 2.5% and 4%. SO each month I go in and complain ad I am assured it will be fixed ans adjusted. Never happened.
Tomorrow I am closing out and going to try another bank. Dont know which one but even if it is a lower rate if they do what they say I will be happy.
May 17th, 2007 at 9:34 am
maybe i wierd but today wack covia charged me a nsf fee for another bank. please tell me someone has heard of this. ok i gave a check to my daughters school who then gave it to someone else who took two weeks to cash the check. when they did it did not clear the check. it did two days later and they got their money. ok four days later i see this charge for 25$ nsfto. i call customer harrasment and they tell me that the bank that cashed the check was charging me for a bounced check. i can understand that bank senting me a letter asking for their money. but for my bank to give it to them without my permission or even telling me is crazy. at what point does this get out of hand when you owe someone money and they can take right out your bank account without your say so.
May 18th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
i have test to see if you can find the info you might need on the walk ova ya site. i am in the middle of changing banks but all of the things i read have made me think. after i wrote the last post i wanted to see if what they told had a written policy. of course it didn’t. so i wanted to what policies they do have. i ws told that everything is online in the website. ok cool lets see what i could find. anybody that says walk ova ya has nothing to hide is full of it. i could not find simple things like how long does it take for a check to clear or what fees they charge. i look at it like this what do you have to hide that this basic info can’t be found. i try it. go to their website. do a search on the site and tell me what you think.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I have all the problems with the double hold situation. I was even yelled at by a Wachovia Rep…that I had a spending problem…when it is their practice that is the problem! Does anyone out there want to start a class action lawsuit? Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop these evil? Email me dmg5447@yahoo.com
June 13th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I had been charged over $700.00 in fees by Wachovia, on my “free” checking account. If somebody start a class action lawsuit, count me in.
June 14th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Wachovia cheated me! My husband died and I’m now a widow. They then reported to the social security administration that I have a lot of money which I just don’t have. This has lead to destroying my line-of-credit.
July 6th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Wachovia, charges NSF fees while they hold checks and claim deposits don’t get credited until after your deposit. Wachovia has gobbled-up $120 of my money this past year. Time stamp show deposits first but they continually charge fees. They walk all over you I hate WACHOVIA.
SouthTrust at least had some decent people. You cannot even talk to the idiots at the bank. Let’s Boycott Wachovia.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:04 am
[…] space-age wasteland » Blog Archive » Wachovia’s Brilliant … They put a hold on my account (2 deposits totaling over $5000) and never … the cash register out, they would pocket the extra $10 … that bank senting me a letter asking for their money. but for my bank … http://spaceagewasteland.com/wachovias-brilliant-customer-disservice […]
July 20th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Hello All,
Is it just me or does everyone responding pro-Wachovia sound like they are a customer service agent from the 24 hr line. I have had horrible experiences with them. I was in another country and was unaware of the percentage they charge for conversion. Say you go to Mcdonalds and spend 5.00 I got charged about 1 penny for that. No big deal right. Well my pay check was coming in on Monday and over the weekend I went over with a purchase on sunday by 25 dollars. Wachovia doesn’t process anything until Monday. I was being reimbursed for my travels that week on top of my pay check and my bonus was coming in totaling close to 9000 dollars. Well, when Monday night came and they started processing everything from Friday through Monday they ignored the 9000 and pulled out the large purchase from sunday first which made me go over by 2 dollars. They then pulled out every stupid purchase (some from Thursday) after that. They then pulled out all of the 1 cent transfer charges totaling 350 dollars in over draft fees. I called up because if you want to go by time then I should have 1 overdraft fee. If you want to go by largest amount then they should go by my incoming paycheck. In total I was charged over 200 dollars for less than 1 dollar in ‘currency change fees’. Also, on Monday when I logged in nothing was on hold and it showed available funds of over 100 dollars. While I realize it is my responsibility to watch my money, when their online system does not properly account for things on hold it is sketchy. Then, I called up very upset and said I understand this is my fault, but this does not seem logical. It seems like Wachovia is just doing what will make them the most money. The first woman said she would refund me 30 dollars. I said I would prefer 200 of the 350. Not the full 350 which I thought was a fair compromise. She put her manager on the phone who started screaming at me. That is right, screaming. I asked her to please be professional and have a level headed conversation, but no. I was an idiot. She didn’t know how I was even employeed. My favorite was “Mam learn to read. If you did you would know this is our business model.” Luckily I went into the business center where a wonderful man said while that is our business model, I should have not been talked to that way and that I was proposing a fair deal. Since then I have been told different policies everytime I call. Gas stations are the only people who don’t do holds. They instantly withdrawl. I just got off the phone today because normally when I make a deposit it shows up available immediately. Today it only processed 100 dollars. I didn’t see anything on hold. So I called to confirm they weren’t about to screw me over. They had nothing processing however, even though I deposited money if I went to somewhere that automatically requested a hold they would overdraft me. 1030 in the morning. They have confirmed they have my check, but come midnight they will pull out purchases first. The even funnier thing is wachovia always uses buying gas as companies that automatically request the money. Today the woman said gas companies usually wait a few days, then request a hold, and then they process. Inconsistencies every time. I work in support and whenever I call up with a complaint I always preface it with. A nice tone saying I know you are in support and do not make the policies, but is there anyway to come to an understanding on this and I am continually treated with rude ignorant people. On August 15th I will be getting a good 2000 dollars. I am counting down the days until I will walk in. Pull all of my money out of there and open my account with Bank of America. While I make great money for someone who is 24. I am a recent college grad in an expensive area with ridiculous tuition bills. I will not be enjoying my salary for quite sometime. Until then, I look forward to going to a bank with fair practices that when you buy something it is done in real time. I don’t expect things to be done in my favor, but I expect consistency and policies that do not at least appear to be in the bank’s favor…
BTW, how are they number one in customer satisfaction. Who are they polling?
July 26th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Wachovia has stolen $2345 from me since Christmas. They have refunded a whopping $74 out of that amount.
My husband is a loan officer and as the housing market has tanked so has his paycheck. We are struggling to survive on my check alone. Unfortunately, my car loan is through Wachovia.
Wachovia has a policy that if your account will shortly hit 60 days past due, they will automatically take the money from your account. Monday, Wachovia took two months car payments from me for $978.68. I called and after about a half hour manager to get in touch with Sherrie the supervisor who after lecturing me for a time conceded to return one months payment at 489.34. The next morning, Tuesday, I looked at my account and saw that she did not do what she had promised. All of the little debit charges from the weekend had gone through leaving me with $350 in overdraft fees for a negative balance of (669.99). I called back and finally got through to Sherrie again. After explaining the situation I told her to take a look at my account. She did and said she would call me back. She did not.
The next morning – Wednesday, I saw online that she had refunded the whole $978.68 back to my account, but did not touch the $350 in overdraft fees. Since what she had refunded came in too late, I ended up with another $140 in overdraft fees. This means that I was out $490 in overdraft fees and my account was negative ($393.29). I called again and Sherrie refused to do anything about the fees so I asked to talk to her manager, Cindy. Cindy is a lovely person who gives the impression that she thinks she is a very important person. Therefore, she had to be condescending to me. After lecturing me for a time, she finally conceded to call me back, but not until after she forced me to beg for help.
She did not call me back. This morning, Thursday, I looked online and saw she had done nothing to my account. A couple of auto debits went through and I got hit with another $70 in overdraft fees. My account is now ($601.28) negative and we have no money coming in until next Tuesday, the 31st. We have no food in the house. I will call again this morning.
I would love to join a class action lawsuit. Wachovia needs to be stopped. It’s evil and greedy practices are destroying struggling Americans.
July 27th, 2007 at 9:34 am
I am so upset this morning. I pulled up my acct online and saw an nsf fee posted. When I looked to see where I was short, my account was negative only .62. My register showed more. I was a little pissed but got even more upset when I saw a 2.00 service charge. When I clicked on it to find out what the 2.00 was for, it stated person to person info. I called my husband at work and asked him if he called the 800 to talk to a live person to balance the account. He said no the only time he called was to get a new debit card because his was cracked. I am so fed up with this bank. My husband and I are looking to to change.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:44 am
We seriously need to report Wachovia’s shady business practices.
I admit I recently overdrew my account and I take full credit for the 3 overdraft fees. Now if the bank was really on my side, there would only be 2 because there was enough in my account to cover 2 but not all 3, but the highest to lowest policy got me.
Anyways, more importantly, in my account I saw 3 more overdraft fees from the day before when there was money in my account and I could not figure out why.
The rep explained to me that the computers see me make a purchase and place it on hold while requesting the money. Well, when I made the purchase there wasn’t enough money in my account so I was charged an NSF on the “hold”. Then the following day when the purchases posted, the “computers” don’t recognize them as the same chage so I was then charged another NSF when they posted.
So now if there is not enough money in your account, you will get charged on the pending transaction and the posted transaction even though it’s for the same purchase. I’ve been with them for 4 years and I have never been double charged like this.
She offered to change my debit card so if there is not enough money it will decline…yes, you have to actually request this. Isn’t it common sense that your card would be declined if there is not enough money in your account. What’s the point of a computer system if it can’t tell you right away what you have available. Instead they let everything go through racking up now double NSF charges.
Not to mention they always used to list each purchase separately that you were charged an NSF for, and now they just list it as 1 lump NSF charge so you can’t figure out what they’re from, and now when you call in to speak with a live person you get charged $2 for each call!!
On another occasion, I had made a deposit and for the past 4 years when I deposited a check there was immediately $100 available, while the rest would post the following day. So I go out and buy about $60 worth of groceries for the weekend. On Monday I see an NSF charge, and I don’t see my $100 available. I speak with a rep who can’t figure it out either. She put me on hold for almost 10 minutes only to come back and say this: “Based on your account history, we can no longer offer you this courtesy.” When were they going to tell me this? When I first signed up with them this “courtesy” was not explained as a priveleaged service that I could lose, and then they just take it away with no warning. I’m so fed up with them. I’m in the process of switching to WaMu and my husband is going to try Bank of America who seems to not pull all this “pending-hold” bull crap. I urge everyone to please send in complaints to your Attorney General about this. I made 1 transaction, 1 swipe of the card, only to be charged for 2 NSF on the pending and then posting transaction. How can this be legal?
September 4th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
I can’t agree more with what everybody is saying about wachovia. I as well have been baffled with wachovia’s practices. Because i have overdrawen my account in the past every time i deposit my payslip they do a 4-5 working day hold. On the receipt i get when i deposit my payslip it actually says: “We are delaying the availability of the funds you deposited because you have overdrawn your account repeatedly in the last six month”. To me that is very condescending for a bank. The tailer told me that this will continue for 5-6 months. The truth of the matter is I overdrue twice in a row, but this had a domino effect and i winded up paying $175 in overdraft fees for smaller amounts that weren’t overdrawn.
I am planning to change banks as soon as i can. there is no way i am going to continue banking with Wachovia. I am also advising to whoever will listen to me not to bank with wachovia.
September 8th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
gotta love the gallop poll..as a 10 year employee.. i have gone out of my way to give the best possible service to all my cuatomers. at the drive up( my manager won’t put me in the lobby…scared i might make more sales than her… so i am stuck at the drive up..all the time..90% of the cust’s on the cell, window up, kids screaming…then they get the call…not remembering anything about the transaction(how sweet i am to all) they will give a 5 or 6..thinking they are giving a good score..7 is the highest. 11 customers were called over the last few months. 9 out of 11 gave me a 7…3 did not…had to sit with my leader and get coached on how to give better service. when someone just wants to cash their check and get out of there, how can i go out of my way to please any more than what i am already doing!?! I am so sweet to everyone..I cannot control customer perception…or the cell phone/drive up hinderance. by the way I work 24 hours a week..the full timer who bearly speaks english only got called two times…both low scores…no caoching done. I think the gallpop is instructed NOT to call customers who’s transaction is done by a teller with a name that indicates their ethnicity. I am told not to give myself a “5″ (best score) on my self assessment..because nobody is perfect..and there is always room for improvement…but I am expected to get all 7’s from every person they call, which is only a handful of people…most of them distracted and annoyed that I interupt their cell call to ask them” is there anything else I can help you with, Mrs Smith?”…call 100 people..average the score….then tell me I don’t provide quality service…not three in a month!!! This is driving me crazy! and what do you do when your manager wants you to break policy and your afraid of re percussions? Thats another story later!
September 8th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Does anyone work in a branch were they feel not “part of the team”? Picked on? Not in “the click”..treated differently than the co-workers? Never acknowledge for excellent performance/attendance? Ignored like I am not even in the room? Have you ever been backed into a corner to do a transaction that was against the code of ethics? Did you regret it later? afraid to tell someone? for fear of your own job? If I did’nt need the medical… I would be out of here! Help! Any advise from anyone in a similar situation..please reply with any advise!
September 24th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
My most recent experience….
Wachovia will double charge their NSF fees. First charge for placing the hold and then again when they receive the receipt for payment…OR you’ll have the money, they’ll place the hold for several days, and if you happen to go over with 1 purchase a day or two later, they will overdraft all the holds on your account
September 28th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
To the author. To which bank did you transfer your services to? Last year Wachovia charged me a whopping $300 total for all this transfer services mainly because I had a problem similar to yours. Most of the times, it was within minutes (not 1-2 days as you mentioned). It feels to me that they are doing this deliberately.
October 6th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I have just discovered how Wachovia is looting the estate of my deceased mother. She had an Evergreen (Wachovia managed) account that pays dividends of, at best, 4%. I asked Wachovia to withdraw funds for her funeral and house repairs… instead of just taking the money out, they put it on something called “margin” (remember 1929) which is a loan at 12% and it’s taken me a couple of months to figure out what happened.
I want to file or join a class action suit, so far I have found two attorneys presently litigating against Wachovia. Does anyone know of either Ann Miller in Philadelphia or the Lawyers and Settlement group (probably a referral service). I am asking after finding another article about how some rabble got an attorney to file and win a class action - the attorney got money, the clients got certificates allowing them to purchase more Wachovia stock!
October 13th, 2007 at 2:36 am
I live in NYC. I have 3 bank accounts with CitiBank , Bank of America and Wachovia. My Direct deposit goes to CitiBank, and I put money to BOA and Wachovia incase I have to travel to other states and could not find CitiBank ATM.
Among these 3 banks, Wachovia is the worst. Wachovia has been charging me $5 a month for dormant fee! As a customer,I put money in the bank to get the interest and not the fee . The money I put in Wachovia is the same amount as in BOA and the time I opened these 2 accounts were about the same time. Bank Of America doesn’t have charge me for dormant fee.
I was not careful enough and had been paying for the fee so many months. ( they subtract the fee automatically from the acc. Be careful people if you use online-paperless bank statement and haven’t checked your acc.
I’m going to close my account “tomorrow “and transfer ALL my money to either CitiBank or BOA.
See… just only 5$ fee makes them lose a customer! They rather be straight forward to the customer OR lose customer ( with his/her money) FOREVER .
Good bye Wachovia money sucker !!
October 25th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
The wonderful thing about Wachovia is their way of charging you the NSF fees!! They post the checks/atm/debit transactions for the day then they will post your deposits/credits for the day. I other words if you don’t have enough money at the beginning of the “business” day to cover the checks coming in then they charge the fee. This has happened to us more than a handful of times because I pay my bills the same day my paycheck is direct-deposited into the account. The worst thing of all is that my wife is a teller @ one of their branches! I have told her to start finding a way to receive a paper paycheck and I will open an account somewhere else! STAY AWAY FROM WACHOVIA! They have robbed close to $200 in just 4 months and she is an employee there!
October 30th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I’m glad to read I’m not the only one in Wachovahell. Ever since May I have been having my issues with this bank. Between not getting a straight awnser on how they post. And the check card holds with changed dates. I’m ready to pull my hair out. It has cost us a mountain of fees and frustration. I’m really thinking of opening another account somewhere like a credit union I already have a savings there and they’ve already tried to get me to open a checking account. Today’s results are as follows. 210. in NSF and another 270 tonight. I guess with all the fees that they taken I must have paid a nice chuck of that Volvo they gave away. To the person who won it. YOUR WELCOME!!!!!!!
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I opened the Wachovia free checking two weeks ago via online, and I have not heard anything from the Bank. WTF!?
Californian, stay away from Wachovia!!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:51 am
I have been a Wachovia employee for a number of years. I work in a local branch and have dealt with these issues, especially the NSF charges, almost daily with my customers. I’d like to offer some advice and insight on some of the more popular complaints.
First of all, Wachovia makes the majority of it’s income via NSF fees. Especially the Unavailable fees that occur while we are “holding” the amount of your debit card purchases. This is the fee that sets us apart from the other big Banks as I know for a fact that many of our competitors do not assess this same fee. Personally I do not agree with the charges, but professionally I have no choice but to explain them and deny a refund whenever possible because we are mandated to retain a minimum of 95% of our service charges on a monthly basis. This is tracked, and if my branch is lower than a 95% collection rate, I am giving back too many fees and I will hear about it.
Every single day I have customers come in with their print out from Online Banking in hand to show me in black & white where we charged them Unavail/NSF charges on a date where their ending balance is clearly still positive. In each and every case, I am able to show the customer that they indeed spent (authorized) more purchases than their balance. The “pending checkcard holds” link which is also available online would have also shown this, but oddly enough not one person has ever brought that print out to show me. Simply stated, just don’t spend more than you have available. This is not as simple as it sounds though…..
Some customers defense is that the deposit they made (or expected) which posted the following day covered the purchases. The problem here is that every State has a different cutoff time for same day deposits. In some States it’s as early as 2:00pm. If you make your deposit after 2pm in those places, you can’t use that money until the next day. We post deposits first, but we don’t account for deposits made “effective the next day” when everything settles after midnight. However, we DO account for holds placed by authorized purchases made with your debit card, even if the transaction doesn’t actually post to your account until 2-3 days later. Holds are immediate and live, deposits are not. Our teller receipts clearly state the date the deposit is effective. If it’s the next business day, please don’t use that money today or you will incur fees.
A huge problem with our deposits is that if you deposit cash, and I mean real green US currency cash, our system makes it appear available immediately, EVEN IF IT’S MADE AFTER OUR CUTOVER TIME, but you still CAN”T USE IT without incurring a penalty. For example, lets assume cutover time is 2pm. You walk into your local branch at 3:00pm and hand the teller $500 in cold hard cash to deposit. Not something you believe is as good as cash, I mean actual CASH. The teller hands you the receipt which states that the effective date is tomorrow. You then walk outside to our ATM and inquire for your balance. It tells you that the $500 you just deposited is available! Had you logged on to Wachovia.com it would have told you the same thing! Yipee! You then run to WalMart that evening and purchase that new TV you had your eyes on with your debit card using the available balance our ATM or Online told you was available. Guess what, Walmart is placing an immediate hold on the amount of your purchase. If you have any transactions that are posting to your account that night (ie. pending debit card purchases, checks, etc.) you are going to be hit with unavailable funds fees because the $500 you deposited isn’t REALLY available until the next day even though our ATM or Online told you otherwise. This is by far the biggest flaw in our system and one I personally can not explain with a straight face. I have to defer to the teller receipt which states in black and white that the deposit is effective the next day. Of course nobody has that receipt with them when we have this discussion. The bottom line though is why did you deposit the cash and not just use it to make the purchase? If you’re depositing cash after cutover, don’t use it until the next day. Even if you see online that it’s actually available because it’s NOT! Had you waited until 12:01am that night to make the TV purchase at Walmart, you’d have been fine.
Another deposit problem is ones made at our ATM’s. While we will all tell you to use the ATM whenever possible for convenience, be aware that a hold will almost ALWAYS be placed on an ATM deposit. We’ll usually give you $100 immediate credit, but we’re also going to hold whatever you put in that envelope. Cash is even held some times for a day until the envelope contents are verified by a back office. The ATM machine doesn’t know what’s actually in the envelope, and the folks who process those envelopes hold everything. You won’t know about the hold until two days later in many cases because if you make the deposit late on Monday, it’s effective for Tuesday but the hold won’t appear until Wednesday! If you don’t need to use the money right away, go ahead and use the ATM. If you need to use the deposit, take it to a teller and get a printed receipt stating when the funds are available. The ATM can’t give you that because again, it doesn’t know what you put in the envelope (if anything!). If you’re making the deposit after hours then wait until the next day. As long as you get to us before cutover it won’t matter anyway. At least you’ll know.
Although I stated earlier that debit card holds are immediate and live, that’s also not 100% true. The exception to this is merchants (stores) who do not send us a hold request, or merchants that don’t settle their terminals daily. Example….gas stations. If you buy gas using your debit card as a credit card, one of two things will happen. Either the station sends us a request for $1 or they send us nothing! If we get the $1 request, they are just checking the card to see if it’s authentic and a $1 debit card hold is placed regardless of how much gas you actually purchase. If they send us nothing, no hold is placed. The problem here is that for those of you who depend on Wachovia to balance your account when you look online at your available balance, we’re not accounting for the full gas purchase because we don’t know about it! That truely isn’t our fault folks. You have to be aware of what purchases you make and account for any that seem to be missing from the pending checkcard hold area. That’s also true of the merchants who don’t settle daily. Lets say you go to a mom and pop restaurant over the weekend and pay for a $50 meal. They have a practice where they only settle their credit card terminal weekly and they’ve already done so before you paid for your dinner. So Monday morning you see the pending debit card purchase for $50. It stays there for three days because that’s how long Visa tells us to hold the funds. Thursday morning you log in and the hold is gone. By Friday evening you’re going out for drinks with your friends and look to see your available balance and the $50 is still there so you withdraw it! Guess what happens when the restaurant settles their terminal that weekend? You’re right, you’re overdrawn on Monday when the transaction you forgot about posts and you’re getting fees.
A suggestion for all. Whenever possible, use your debit card as a DEBIT card meaning you need to use your PIN. When you do that, the funds are immediately withdrawn from your account. There’s no pending checkcard holds to worry about. Almost every merchant has a PIN pad. They usually are programmed to request your PIN because they (the merchant) pay less for accepting a debit transaction than the 2% they pay VISA for a credit transaction. Of course Wachovia tells you to use the credit function because we give you reward points for credit purchases only, not debit purchases! This even avoids the problem with gas stations not holding the full purchase. If you use your PIN, the money comes all out immediately. No $1 authorization or no authorization at all! Please use your PIN’s!!!!
Secondly, everyone needs to call Wachovia or go to your branch and ask to opt out of overdraft on your debit card. When you do this we need to make an adjustment to your account that will deny a debit card transaction when you don’t have the available balance. Be aware!!! This only works for PIN transactions though and won’t be a 100% guarantee that you’ll never go overdrawn because you may have an outstanding check or automatic withdrawal we don’t know about. But it’s something everyone should do. Wachovia doesn’t default this because if we did we wouldn’t collect anywhere near the fees we do now. Then we wouldn’t be able to afford to provide “free checking”.
Wachovia is a good company to work for and I truly believe we are the best Customer Service bank out there. I’m sorry that not every one of my colleagues provides the level of service that we demand, but alot of us do. When you’re not getting good service please ask for a supervisor. If the supervisor doesn’t treat you better, ask for their supervisor. Unless you’re speaking with Ken Thompson, and I doubt you will, that personal has a supervisor! But please also understand that if you are at fault, and my experience is that 99% of the time you are, then you’re not going to like hearing what we’re trying to explain. Wachovia doesn’t spend your money, you do. Wachovia doesn’t use your debit card, you do. It’s your responsibility to know how much money is available in your account, not ours. That’s why we give you a register. Nobody seems to use them anymore, myself included! But if we don’t, then we better have a backup plan in place. Overdraft protection at $10 a day is a whole lot cheaper than $35 per item! Everyone has the ability to have overdraft protection. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone who has had hundreds of dollars in fees that could have been avoided by having at least $20 available in another account.
We may not be as good as a Credit Union when it comes to fees or rates, but we don’t compete with them. We compete wth BOA, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Sun Trust etc. That’s who we measure ourselves against folks. It’s true you can pay less fees and get higher rates at a Credit Union, but you’re not going to get the same branch network as a big bank will provide. Some people don’t need the locations of a big bank, but many of you do. I hope my suggestions are helpful to those of you who will stick with Wachovia. For those of you who choose to leave, we do care. We don’t want to lose customers. I’m also pretty sure that if you leave us because of any of the reasons stated above, you will have the same problems (or others) with your other Bank at some point. Please consider comeing back when you do.
November 27th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
My CD matured on 11/10/07, they didn’t mail out the check until 11/27/07. Worst service I ever had. And the customer service rep told me that they don’t offer wire transfer from matured CDs to other banks. I have to open a checking and transfer from there. I have three more CDs there(they were opened with World Savings Bank)…. Hate this bank!!!
November 30th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Julie,
I’m curious why it took so long to mail your CD check. How did you request to close it? Was it by mail or over the phone? Did you send in the request prior to the maturity date? There’s no good explanation why we would hold the check so long if we were notified of your intentions at the maturity date. If we didn’t pay you interest through the 27th you should call and complain to your Branch Manager. My advice would be to stay away from the 800 Customer Service line if possible because they aren’t as willing (or able) to do the right thing. Call the branch that opened the CD. They can do an interest adjustment if they didn’t pay you for the time between maturity and redemption. We are REQUIRED to do so by the FDIC. Something is amiss because 17 days is even beyond the grace period for redemption.
As for your remaining CD’s, when they come due if you can’t go to a branch to close them then send in your request as soon as you receive the maturity notice. Unfortunately we cannot wire funds from a CD so the snail mail will be the only option if your not in person. Wiring would be too costly for you anyway since we charge a $25 Outgoing wire fee and the receiving Bank probably charges an Incoming wire fee as well. Plus for security reasons we wouldn’t even do a wire if you weren’t in person unless you had established a wire PIN in advance (and had a checking or savings account). In person is the best way to deal with this sort of service request. The next best option is to call your local branch.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Thanks for the comment from Wachovia Employee.
I still haven’t received the check(12/4).
I live in Seattle area where there isn’t a Wachovia branch. So I requested to close this CD over the phone on 11/10.
The accounts were opened online from World Savings Bank. After the merger all the calls to the old branch # were routed to Wachovia’s 800#. Which wasn’t much help as you mentioned.
What would you suggest now? I really appreciate your input.
PS> Wiring would be a better option considering the interests I lost. But that’s not an option.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Amen Julie!! World Savings was GREAT wasn’t it? Wachovia. YUK! Workers walk around like know nothing robots. Simular thing with me. CD rolled over 11/9. Teller had no clue & had to call over one of the old World Savings people to get it done. Old employees of World Savings aren’t allowed to do anything anymore. Those poor gals remind me of the greeters at WalMart when I walk in the bank now. Not that their’s anything wrong with WalMart greeters but when I go to the bank, I’m there to TCOB & not be entertained while know nothing tellers take 15 to 30 mins. per customer.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Yes. World Savings was GREAT. It’s sad…
December 5th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Julie,
I will check tomorrow for a better number for you to call regarding the closure of your World Savings Online CD. I know we have a dedicated line for such problems but I don’t have that here at home with me. I’ll get back with you on that.
One of the BIG changes former World Savings customers are experiencing is that tellers no longer take care of CD’s at the teller window. That would explain Bobbie’s problem. Unfortunately it does take time to train the employees (and customers) on the new processes and systems. I’m not making excuses but believe me when I tell you that the poor former World employees did NOT get adequate training and I know it’s causing problems in their old branches because there’s nothing more frustrating then going to see the same people you always dealt with in the past (if they even stuck around) and they can’t help you anymore. Time will heal that problem Bobbie. In the meantime take all CD inquiries to the “greeters” (as you call us) and we’ll be happy to TCOB!!!
December 6th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I’m still trying to sort this thing out. The rep said that she will call me once she talk to the person who closed the account. She seems not willing to do the adjustment on the interest and stating that the CD has been closed since 11/13.
What is the FDIC rule in terms of CD interest adjustment?
December 8th, 2007 at 12:20 am
The 1st question I would pose is if the CD was closed on 11/13, why wasn’t the check mailed until 11/27? By the way, have you received it yet?
Also, the FDIC requires that we pay interest from the day of deposit to the day of withdrawal, which is why they are telling you that it was “withdrawn” on 11/13, but again, why wasn’t it mailed for two whole weeks??? You definately have to roll this up to a supervisor, if not the supervisors supervisor! Ask the next person you speak with what their full name, (or better yet employee number) is and I will let you know who is above them and get you their direct number! This is ridiculous Julie.
Make them aware that you have other CD’s with Wachovia, formerly World Savings and insist that you will be closing out all those accounts regardless of the rate we’re offering when they mature because the service you are receiving is pathetic. I know this is probably already the case regadless of what happens, but they don’t like to hear that just the same. Also if you got a name of the person you last spoke with call the 800# again just to file a complaint that they were not helpful and didn’t return your call. When you call in a service complaint it immediately gets reported to that persons supervisor and they will have to call you themselves (at least they are supposed to).
Let me know….
December 8th, 2007 at 5:58 am
Banks and overdraft fees. I found out the hard way. In my opinion the main reason that overdraft charges occur is the way that the banks computer processes charge transactions, when you use your ATM/debit card (visa or MasterCard) as a charge card. I’ll explain why.
Let’s say you have 100 dollars in your account and you go to your local Mall and make a purchase for 40 dollars and use your ATM card as a debt card (charge card) against your checking for the transaction, well, you should have 60 left in your account, right? You would think so wouldn’t you? You start with 100 charge 40, 60 left right? The next day you go to the ATM to make a withdrawal it says you have 60 dollars available, right, ok you take out 50,you should have 10 left…. Right? 50 + 40 =90, you started with 100 - 90 = 10 left right?
Wrong, you just triggered an overdraft when the transactions hit the bank computer that night, according to the banks computer, the 40 that you charged for the purchase the day before was a charge card transaction, even though they deducted the money from your available balance right away, there is still going to be a hold of 40 dollars against your account until the 40 charge transaction clears the banks computer which takes about 3 to 4 days and the hold drops off your account.
So even though the ATM says you have 60 available, which is what you have left in your account, any withdrawal over 20 will trigger an overdraft charge, until that 40 dollar hold gets cleared and dropped from your account. Why? When the transaction hits the bank computer that night. It sees the 60 that you have, but, it also sees a 40 hold on the account for the charge transaction that hasn’t cleared yet, so effectively until that hold drops from you account the banks computer will automatically kick out an overdraft fee for any withdrawal above 20 dollars.
That’s right folks when you use your ATM/debt card (visa card/MasterCard) as a charge card the bank is putting a hold for the amount of the charge against your account, even though they have already adjusted your balance for the amount of the transaction …That’s right, THEY HAVE A HOLD ON AN ALREADY ADJUSTED ACCOUNT BALANCE, AND THAT HOLD REMAINS UNTILL THE CHARGE TRANSACTION CLEARS AND THE HOLD DROPSOFF YOUR ACCOUNT.
I don’t know if your banks computer is set up to figure transactions this way, but I know of 2 that do, I had an account with one of them for years and never had a problem with my account until I got their new ATM/debt MasterCard and started using it as a charge card. That’s when I started to have problems and overdraft charges. I finally figured out what was happening and brought it to their attention, about what was triggering the overdraft charges and got into a long heated discussion with them about it. I got the overdraft charges back, after going over line for line on their computer, and proved that I had the money in there, it was just the way that the computer interpreted the hold against the already adjusted account balance that was causing the problems, It was a very hectic undertaking because one mistaken overdraft charge on the banks part can start a chain reaction of overdraft charges. After everything was said and done, I had to change banks.
So, to some this up, I’ll bet if you have had problems with overdraft charges and you can’t figure out why they’re happening, It’s because you used your ATM/Debit card as a charge card. Your first clue will be, when the bank official sits down with you to go over your account to try and explain the charges, if you hear them start talking about hold amounts against your account because of charge card transactions that haven’t cleared yet bend over because your being screwed.
December 8th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Hi Wachovia Employee,
I got the check on 12/6 from DHL over night delivery. The check was issued on 12/5.
And I never got a call back from the customer service rep(Kim at 18662284334 *61071). She told me that Sherri at the checks department was the one who closed my account. But didn’t gave me her full name.
I also sent requests through the secure message online and asked someone to call me to explain on what had happened, never got any response neither.
Would you suggest me calling Kim again or just call the 800 # to file a complain?
How come I wasn’t lucky enough to talk to someone like you when I call the 800#? Just knowing that there are people like you who care about customers makes me feel better.
Thank you so much.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Julie,
Please write a letter to this address:
Wachovia
Office of the President
301 South College Street
Charlotte, NC 28288
Detail everything regarding your request to close your CD. The date you telephoned in the request, the repeated phone calls and non-returned calls. The fact that you were “told” the CD was closed on 11/13 but the check is dated 12/5, and request that they reimburse you interest (at least) on the 22 days of interest you lost. Include a copy of the check!
You WILL get a response from them, and whoever was involved in this service break will also be getting a call….you can be sure of that!
December 11th, 2007 at 12:19 am
Phil,
The situation you describe is incorrect. While a hold is “generally” placed for 3 days whenever you use your atm/debitcard as a credit card, the hold is automatically deleted when the transaction hard posts to your account, whether it be one, two or three days after the transaction took place. The only time this won’t happen is if the transaction comes through as a different amount (ie. some restaurants automatically add a tip percentage onto the bill).
Any other instance of this would be a system error and I’m sure it would be a one time thing, otherwise the bank wouldn’t have any customers left. I’ve seen this happen but it is rare and we always make good on it. In fact we’re made aware of it by Corporate before any customers even notify us and they’ve already refunded any fees and corrected the situation before we hear about it.
People get overdraft fees when they use their debit cards for more than their balance. Plain and simple. It’s become the easist and most profitable way that banks make money because everybody does it.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Thank you Wachovia Employee! Wachovia should pay you for overtime for doing all the extra work after hours.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Who are you trying to kid, it’s during that hold period that the bank gets you with overdraft. The bank computer factors in the holds against the balance in your account, if you have a $100 in holds and your balance is $60 the computer kicks out an overdraft.
Hold amounts should not have anything to do with putting your account into overdraft. A Hold is money that hasn’t been sent out yet by the Bank, a lot of holds get dropped off with the bank never sending money to anyone. When the bank has to send the funds to clear the hold that should be the only time the computer should be able to kick out an overdraft. The bank uses creative accounting to steal money from their customers. The bank steals and Congress drives the getaway car.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Julie, your welcome!
Phil, you’re wrong my friend.
In your 1st post you stated that Banks routinely maintain holds on their systems even after they’ve deducted the money from your account. That’s wrong. You said that if you started with $100 and made a $40 purchase followed by a $50 ATM withdrawal that you would be charged an overdraft. Go back and read your post…that’s what you said. You’re wrong.
I’ll give you credit on the 2nd post though! You claim that if you have $100 in holds and only a $60 balance that you would get charged overdraft fees. That’s right!!! $100 is greater than $60. Technically it would be an “unavailable fee” rather than an insufficient fee but that’s just splitting hairs.
I said earlier that Banks make a TON of money on overdraft fees. This is because customers (like Phil) use their debit cards as if they were using old fashioned checks and allowing time for the check to clear (or debit transaction to post). Debit cards don’t work that way. They cause holds that are immedietly withdrawn from your account as long as the merchant sends the info to the bank. (gas stations don’t…read above)
Phil’s right in that sometimes holds are placed that never actually post from an account. This is because a merchant gets an authorization (from the debit card) but either the customer cancels the transaction, or the merchant runs it twice by mistake, or the transaction is reversed from a return, or whatever. But it is NEVER because the Bank just feels like placing a hold. It’s ALWAYS caused by the consumer using the card.
My goal is to help you all avoid paying my Bank (and others) so many fees. I personally feel like we’re ripping off the consumer, but I can ALWAYS show the customer that they used more money than they deposited. Every single solitary time. Debit cards are the best and worst things to have come out of banking during my 25 year career. I love them for their convenience, but I hate them for the troubles they cause my unsuspecting customers. Just don’t use them unless you have the money available in your account. If you deposit $100, only use $100 (or less) until you’ve made another deposit!!! Don’t say, “well my direct deposit is being credited at midnight tonight because tomorrow is payday, so I can use my card tonight”. That’s NOT TRUE!!! Please wait for the deposit, then use the card. Please?
December 14th, 2007 at 9:00 am
Dear Wachovia Employee
When I swipe my Debit card for a (POS) purchase, 2 things happen the account is verified and there is an initial hold placed on my account initiated by Merchant .for transaction cost.
If I check my account balance, I will see that the Bank has adjusted my account balance to reflect the purchase.
The money that shows up in the temp hold file on the Bank’s computer should be a (Positive Amount). All they did was move it from my available balance to a temp hold status.
That money in the hold status remains there until the Merchant does his transaction batch process. When that happens the Bank receives the request for funds verifying the transaction. When the hold and request match the funds are sent to the merchant and the hold gets dropped from the account.
Wachovia Employee, Do you understand where I’m going with this?
The temp holds that were initiated by the debit card, transaction are Positive Amounts of money.
They already have been subtracted from your available balance and just moved to a temp hold file.
A lot of Overdrafts are bogus; they’re created by the Bank’s computer through the use of their creative accounting software.
—————————————-
People get overdraft fees, they go to the Bank and ask, why did I get this overdraft fee I had enough money in my account
Bank representative’s answer, after looking at the customer’s account,
I can see by looking at your account that there were holds against your account that haven’t cleared yet.
Does that line sound familiar to you, Wachovia Employee?????
Holds against your account that haven’t cleared yet, how many times have you used that line to a customer?
December 14th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Wachovia Employee
I just read your post again, where you said:
————————————-
I’ll give you credit on the 2nd post though! You claim that if you have $100 in holds and only a $60 balance that you would get charged overdraft fees. That’s right!!! $100 is greater than $60. Technically it would be an “unavailable fee” rather than an insufficient fee but that’s just splitting hairs
————————————-
That’s how it works Banker Man
If I start with $160 in my account and make and make a debit card purchase for $100.
If I check my balance it’ll show $60 balance
If you check your Bank computer you will see my account with that $100 hold (against it).
If I make another purchase before that hold drops, I’m subject to some creative accounting.
December 15th, 2007 at 4:13 am
Wachovia Employee (where did you go)??
Arn’t you going to come back and give me some kind of dribble, as to how I’m wrong again???
December 15th, 2007 at 5:25 am
Wachovia Employee (Let me give you a hint)
Tell me how I only see the account balance and the available balance.
But, how the Bank sees those balances, but also how behind the scenes they use the almighty (Ledger Balance) that we don’t see, and how that balance is the one that they subtract the Holds from and how in no way that would effect the balance that we see.
That line is a good one.
Things should work out fine that way.
It’s to bad it doesn’t.
The computers don’t make mistakes, but humans do.
It’s to bad for us that the humans program the Bank’s computer.
——————————
Oh, and for the people out there that can’t figure out why they keep going into overdraft,,,,,, when they knew that they had enough money in their account to cover the purchase or ATM withdrawal.
STOP USING THOSE DEBIT CARDS (as charge cards)
But, if you feel that you just have to use it, use your pin number when you do.
——————————
Wachovia Employee (I’m looking forward to reading your response)
.
December 19th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Debit cards are bad.
I know how much money I have because I use my check register and cross-verify my register’s balance with the monthly statements and the online bank statements.
Each time the balance in my checkbook lines up with the balance online, I make a little mark next to the balance. I know exactly how much money I have. Each time I write a check, I make a log of it. Each time I withdraw cash, I make a log of it. Each time I deposit money, I make a log of it.
Wachovia gives me hell, because I withdraw money without an ATM card. I even know my bank account number by heart. It freaks them out. I like giving the cashiers a hard time.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
You have to see this Wachovia Sucks video!!!http://amypryor.com/WachoviaSucks
December 20th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Phil!!! Sorry I’ve been away for so long. Glad to see I was missed.
Your tune sure has changed from your original post on 12/8 to your most recent posts on 12/14 and 12/15. Anyway, I think you are starting to understand a little better now because you’ve made a couple of correct statements this go around and I’m proud of you! However, I can promise you that we (at Wachovia anyway) don’t see anything different than what you see using Online Banking. Any holds that are out there are visible to both of us.
The best thing I’ve read is what 765 Credit had to say. He knows how to avoid paying any unavailable or insufficient fees. Good old fashioned bookkeeping. Takes away the whole “hold” and “float” and “merchant processing” aspects which are out of his control. Believe me he is a very happy man (or she is a happy woman). It’s one of those “is it really that simple?” statements.
Phil, let me review and respond to a couple of your points:
————————————————————————————-
Phil - “A lot of Overdrafts are bogus; they’re created by the Bank’s computer through the use of their creative accounting software”
W.E. - No. A lot of Overdrafts are created by our customers spending money before it’s deposited.
————————————————————————————–
Phil - “I can see by looking at your account that there were holds against your account that haven’t cleared yet. Does that line sound familiar to you, Wachovia Employee?????”
W.E. - Yes it does!
Phil - “Holds against your account that haven’t cleared yet, how many times have you used that line to a customer?
W.E. - Way too many times Phil…..that’s why I come here to help people understand and avoid having this conversation because there really is no need for this to happen (ask 765 Credit)
————————————————————————————–
Phil - “If I start with $160 in my account and make and make a debit card purchase for $100. If I check my balance it’ll show $60 balance”
W.E. - Yes
Phil - “If you check your Bank computer you will see my account with that $100 hold (against it).
W.E. - Yes
Phil - “If I make another purchase before that hold drops, I’m subject to some creative accounting.”
W.E. - Only if your additional purchase is for more than $60.
————————————————————————————–
Phil - “Tell me how I only see the account balance and the available balance. But, how the Bank sees those balances, but also how behind the scenes they use the almighty (Ledger Balance) that we don’t see, and how that balance is the one that they subtract the Holds from and how in no way that would effect the balance that we see.”
W.E. - Ledger balance is the same as Account balance. There’s only two balances; account (or ledger, or posted) and available balance. That’s all we use and both are listed Online.
————————————————————————————–
Phil - “Oh, and for the people out there that can’t figure out why they keep going into overdraft,,,,,, when they knew that they had enough money in their account to cover the purchase or ATM withdrawal. STOP USING THOSE DEBIT CARDS (as charge cards) But, if you feel that you just have to use it, use your pin number when you do.
W.E. - Hey! I think you’ve finally got it!!!! Go back and read my original post on November 11th. I’m so proud of you Phil. Sigh!!!
————————————————————————————–
To all (including you Phil)….wishing you a great Holiday, and I sincerely hope you take my advice and STOP paying Wachovia, or anybody, these outrageous fees. The only one who has control is YOU, the consumer. Right 765 credit?
December 20th, 2007 at 1:05 am
If Wachovia is your first or second mortgage lender take a good second look at your statement. I did refinance my second mortgage with Wachovia because one of their mortgage marketing people called me and said that he can do better than what I am already paying for my second mortgage. They signed me up for a 7.37% APR on a $75,000.00 loan. Ended up that I am paying something close to 8.9% because of the way they calculate the interest. Pretty interesting, huh. For a regular person hearing to lower the interest rate is very appealing, and expectation is that all banks do it the same way, well, Wachovia doesn’t. Although my loan previously was sold to three different banks all of them did the regular amortization and calculated the payment in such a way that portion of my payment went to principle and another portion to interest. With Wachovia, although my payment can be the same every month, they apply all the payment to the interest. Interesting huh?? These guys are worse than highway robbers; I am looking for a decent lender to come forward with honesty. I hate cheaters.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Amy,
Let me start by saying that was a great video! However, I did notice that your FULL ACCOUNT NUMBER is visible on one of the screen shots and you should contact Wachovia immediately to close this account and get a new account number. Otherwise you’ve now opened yourself up to possible fraud and/or account takeover.
I can absolutely explain how the fees happened, because money was spent on 12/10 before the deposit was made, and you made the deposit on 12/10, but it was at 4:34pm, which is after the 2:00pm cutover for same day deposits in Florida. However it’s now past midnight here and I have to get to bed, so I’ll have to come back tomorrow evening and go through it with you.
I will say that in MY opinion, you should continue to pursue a refund because although this was your mistake, the fact that the refunds done in June were a result of correcting a merchant error, not your error, they should not hold them against you when decisioning this matter. Go back to the branch and speak to the Branch Manager. When they turn you down, ask to speak with the Service Leader (the managers boss). They (the Service Leader) will probably have to call you back but hopefully you will get somewhere with them. When you’re talking to them, accept that you made a mistake, but you were really only short by $27.78 and DID make a cash deposit as soon as you realized it, but you were a victim of the 2:00 Florida cutoff time. All the other fees are a snowball effect from the first, and none would have happened had the $30 deposit been made before 2pm on 12/10. No promises, but I do hope they do what’s right.
More importantly, while speaking with the Manager, get your account number changed. ASAP!!!
December 21st, 2007 at 12:55 am
http://amypryor.com/WachoviaSucks
This is perfect! Everyone needs to watch this video, not because I agree that Wachovia sucks, but because it explains everything I’ve been writing over the past month. This is a classic example of a customer making a mistake by spending more money than they have on deposit and believing that it is Wachovia’s fault for not releasing holds etc. when they’re charged NSF fees. I’m on the customers side here on this board, so I want to show the author, and everyone else who ever reads this board, how a single $27.78 error can snowball into $420 in fees.
Lets start with the customers register showing a balance of $4.05 after transactions dated (posted) 12/10. The Wachovia Online statement agreed with that balance, but also shows a $140 overdraft/unavailable fee as the final transaction of the day (12/10). That fee makes the customer overdrawn and subsequently causes all the additional fees which end up totalling an outreageous $420. The $140 fee is charged because we are assessing a $35 unavailable funds fee on each of the last four transactions that “posted” on 12/10. This is NOT because we didn’t release holds on posted transactions as stated by the customer, but because the customer used her debit card to make two additional purchases on 12/10 of $4.13 and $27.70, or a total of $31.83, which exceeded her balance.
These two purchases don’t “post” to the customers account until 12/11, but they were made on 12/10, causing an immediate hold to be placed for those amounts which remains in effect until the transactions either post (as they did on 12/11), or they expire (usually in 3 days), which ever comes first. When everything settles overnight, we release holds for transactions that are “posting”, but we continue to hold any transactions (purchases) that are still pending, like the two totalling $31.83 in this example.
Looking at the transactions dated 12/10, you have to subtract the total pending holds of $31.83 from the customers register balance (or Online Banking balance since they agree) after each transaction. If you do so, you see that she went negative starting with the $13.90 purchase, which left her a “posted” balance of $25.57. The holds totalling $31.83 are greater than the posted balance after that transaction, so a fee is charged because her available balance is now negative. This continues for the next three transactions that posted 12/10, making total fees for 12/10 of $140, or four times $35.
ILLUSTRATION
Trans Posted Pending Available
Date Merchant Amount Balance - Holds = Balance
12/6 Circle A $7.46 $59.42
12/10 Publix $19.95 $39.47 - $31.83 = $7.64 no fee
12/10 Circle A $13.90 $25.57 - $31.83 = ($6.26) FEE
12/10 Circle A $9.94 $15.63 - $31.83 = (16.20) FEE
12/10 Dollar Gen $7.22 $8.41 - $31.83 = ($23.42) FEE
12/10 Publix $4.36 $4.05 - $31.83 = ($27.78) FEE
Where Wachovia may have went wrong is that the customer may have been given misinformation regarding the deposit of $30. The customer claims that the same day she made the two purchases of $4.13 and $27.70, (which she says was 12/11 but it was really 12/10), she realized it, called Wachovia and was told by a teller not to worry, because if she came down to the branch with a cash deposit, she would avoid any fees. She claims she scurried up some cash and went right to the bank with her $30. The voice claims the receipt is dated 12/11 with a time stamp of 4:34PM. That proves that the deposit was MADE on 12/10, because since it was after 2:00PM the deposit was credited on the next business date. This is listed as the “Effective Date” on the teller receipt. Had that deposit been made prior to 2:00PM she would have been fine and would not have had ANY fees. But that wasn’t the case.
The customer also doesn’t understand why her debit card was able to make the purchases if she didn’t have the money available because his card wouldn’t have allowed him. There are several reasons this may have happened. The customers account does not have an overdraft block on it which would stop PIN based purchases if the available balance was not sufficient, or the available balance was sufficient because one (or more) of the posting transactions did not have a hold, or the customer didn’t use her PIN but instead used the credit function. More than likely it’s the lack of an overdraft block. I suggest everyone make sure they have that.
$420 for what amounts to an error of less than $30 is wrong. I know it, you know it, and anyone you speak to at Wachovia knows it. The problem is we are instructed to collect the fees and resist all requests for refunds unless it’s “bank error”. Guess what folks, it’s very very very very seldom a bank error. However in this case I would suggest the customer concentrate on the fact that an employee told her that she could come down and make a cash deposit to cover the overdraft and avoid fees without mentioning the 2:00 cutoff time. Truth is they may have mentioned it, but even if they did, how could either party prove it? We can look at the deposit slip, see that it was brought to our bank on 12/10 at 4:34pm and common sense tells us that the customer made a concerted effort to cover her purchases. That’s what I would concentrate on as a customer. Accept your mistake, but demonstrated your attempt to resolve it. Agree to pay a price, but a fair one. $420 is not fair. Everybody knows that. Ask to pay $70 maximum which would be $35 for each of the two purchases. Get back your $350. Wachovia really doesn’t need it.
Furthermore, open a second FREE checking account for overdraft protection! If this customer had as little as $40 in a linked account, we would have transferred $30 over to cover the pending purchases and charged a $10 fee. That would have saved $410, which would make a pretty nice Christmas present for the kids.
I wish I could help personally, but I can’t risk blowing my cover. Go talk to them. Go to the local Branch Manager and up to the Service Leader if necessary. Offer to pay up to $70. Open your overdraft account with some of what you get back as a refund. Play up the fact that it’s Christmas for God sake! We bankers do have hearts believe it or not. I hope you get your refund Amy, and remember to change your account number!
December 28th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Thank you Wachovia Employee!
I got a call from the Wachovia president’s office. They are sending me a check for the lost interests on my CD.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Anyone who has had any odd dealings with their trust accounts at Wachovia, please contact me at pab@cnx.com to tell your story. We’re suing Wachovia, and my attorney would love to have some other stories to tell.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Wachovia sent me a notice stating that I would be hit with a “Dormant Account Fee” if I did not make a deposit into the account. Following their instructions, I made a deposit. The next month I was hit with a Fee ANYWAY!
Now, their customer disservice is saying that they can’t do anything about it because it had been more than 60 days. I told them that the statute of limitations for theft was more than 60 days. When it comes down to it, I am closing the account now because I don’t to business with crooks.
At least I discovered it early unlike this guy… http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=311697
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
g,
Sorry you were not helped when you inquired about the dormant fee after your deposit was made. Fact is that the Customer Service Rep should have happily refunded your $2 fee and made sure the account was reactivated.
The problem is that since you made a deposit, your account probably wasn’t reactivated. Our system will accept a deposit on a dormant account and the teller will get a message on their screen but in your case they must not have seen it. With deposits, we don’t know for sure if it was our customer who made it so a deposit alone will not remove a dormant status from an account. You should have been told to make a withdrawal from the account in order to reactivate it, not a deposit. Sounds stupid doesn’t it? We tell customers to WITHDRAW their funds in order to reactivate their accounts? It is stupid, but logical if you think about it. With a withdrawal we have your signature as proof that you have accessed your account. We don’t have that with a deposit.
The other (better) alternative is to simply respond to the dormant warning letter that is sent our via mail before we start charging the account. Problem there is that most people never get that letter because they’ve moved which is probably why the account went dormant. Again with the letter, we have your signature.
Dormant fees are charged until the account closes at a zero balance to avoid us having to monitor the small accounts for five years when we’d have to turn them over to the State. Most dormant accounts are closed before the 5 years elapse. In any event you should have been given your fee back and received an apology. Please accept mine (apology).
I don’t blame you for wanting to close the account. I read the other board you referenced and can’t explain why people would have their accounts sent for collection because of dormant fees. As I stated before, those fees stop when the balance reaches zero. Something else must have happened in their cases but they are blaming dormancy.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:55 am
Ok, I’ve read all of these horror stories about Wachovia and-what a surprise-I have one of my own. I had started an account with Wachovia in Fredericksburg Va. I was living up there and commuting to Woodbridge for work. I remember that I got paid one Friday and I had Direct Deposit. I went to check my bank balance and they had eaten it up with Fees. I can remember leading up to this: they kept hitting me with more and more overdraft fees until I got this paycheck and they took every penny of it in fees. What started the overdraft fees? It wasn’t me overdrafting the account. I had purchased something on eBay using my PayPal Debit Card which was linked to the account. PayPal was good enough to convert the money from American Dollars to British Pounds and give me a detailed itemization of how much they charged me to do this. However, when I checked my bank balance at Wachovia-where the money was being debited from by PayPal, Wachovia also charged me a conversion rate exchange in addition to PayPal’s!!! I called them-spoke to one of their excellent Customer Service Reps. She said, and I quote “all it says is international service fee, I don’t know what it is. Have you been out of the country lately?” I said NO and started freaking out thinking it was Fraud.
Later I got to looking at my PayPal statement and figured out that Wachovia had charged me a fee that PayPal had already charged me, but I had already closed the account so they wouldn’t refund me anything and because they had taken it out of my account and I hadn’t budgeted for it, it of course overdrafted the account, which made ever other check that I had written bounce as well. I got hit with more overdraft fees than I can remember, it ate up one whole paycheck. Finally I got fed up, I closed that account. When they asked me why I was closing it I told them it was because their customer service reps couldn’t explain a fee to me to my satisfaction and I didn’t want to do business with them. I went to Suntrust after that, they were just as bad to tell the truth, not on the overdraft fees but on auto debits coming out on time.
In any case, what I learned was to be leary of Large Commercial Banks like: WACHOVIA (the worst monster), Suntrust (Not as bad but up there), Bank of America (they’ve got a lot of fees too), and BB&T (they just have horrible customer service-now how do you expect to gain a new customer when you are charging them five dollars to cash a check and being rude about it at the same time). Union Bank and Trust is another one to stay away from. They are all just Large Commercial Banks, they make most of their money off of Business Checking Accounts, and they don’t really care about their Personal Checking Accounts, you are just an account number to them.
The answer: well I’ll give up the secret. Best thing to do is find a Smaller Commercial Bank in your area. I found Provident Bank, they have the best customer service ever. I asked them to explain to me how my account got overdrafted, and they couldn’t figure it out and explain it to me-so they REFUNDED ME THE OVERDRAFT FEE!!!! I also found another bank (having since moved to Richmond Virginia from Fredericksburg) called River City Bank, they almost mirror Provident with their customer service. I like River City Bank, but I didn’t start an account their, because I was so happy with Provident that I didn’t want to leave them. I started my account in Mechanicsville with Provident, and they all know me in that branch BY MY FIRST NAME!!!!!!
February 28th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I switched from B of A to Wachovia only because of identity theft. This has got to be the worst bank for customer service along with some irratic bank posting. Not only do they have the incovenience of lacking in ATM’s. Two in a large city the others you have to walk into the bank (not very convenient when they close at 5:00 p.m.).
Deposits including cash made in the branch are not reflected until the end of the following business day at times. It varies. God forbid you make a deposit in a Thursday. You will possibly not see it until the following Monday or Tuesday. I understand waiitng for funds to clear but B of A never took that long and at least they reflected there was deposit made the day even if funds are not available and immediately reflected on-line, not like Wachovia who waits to post a deposit until funds are cleared.I found out the hard way my funds were held. The teller made no mention of funds being held on cash and the other was a payroll check so I made automatic payments through various vendors based on the cash deposit thinking the funds were there and they were returned. Although the vendors usually take two-three days to process the bank still returned them. The other thing I found out is on checkcard visa charges. They will immediately hold the amount spent but then process other charges and when the hold is released if the full funds are not there they will charge you OD fees on those charges. Confusing since the money was already held. THIEVES!!!!! I understand ultimately I as the customer am responsible but the bank sure is quick about processing their fees I wish they were that quick with their deposits.
I just read the above postings from the employee and really appreciate the honesty. I wish the banks would post that the cutoff time for a cash deposit is 2:00 p.m. No mention from the teller either. It would have saved me considerable fees.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
No kidding! And Wachovia dealer services are the a*holes of the Earth! I am one friggin payment late (like a week) and they are calling my friends cellphones and 86-year-old mother (embarrassing - and dont even know where they got these poor peoples numbers!!!), and harrassing me endlessly! Unbelievable! Whatever you do DO NOT GET A CARLOAN THROUGH THESE IDIOTS! They care nothing about you, but the minute your vehicle is worth more than you owe they have tow trucks in your driveway if you are only a few days late. Just thank gawd that you don’t have a loan thru these sharks!
March 7th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Haven’t been here for awhile, but will gladly respond to the last three posts.
Wachovia Dealer Services - Absolutely true. WDS does suck! Even as a Wachovia employee I have nothing but trouble dealing with WDS accounts. WDS is a seperate entity from Wachovia Bank and unfortunately we can’t even access their account information at a branch. We can see you have an account, but that’s it. We can’t even accept your payments!!! We have to call the very same WDS 800 Customer Service number you would as a customer and we get the same level of incompetence. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to help someone but couldn’t. Wachovia Bank employees have absolutely no authority on WDS accounts. Horrid. Sorry I can’t offer any opposing views to the poster on this one.
Deposit Delays - As stated in previous postings we have this cutoff time for same day credit regardless of whether you deposit a check or cash. It’s really too long to go into again, but it’s all been addressed before. One piece of advice, the “effective” date of deposit is printed on your receipt, and the cutoff time for your State is disclosed on the little silver and blue signs (in very fine print) posted by each teller station. It’s on the same display as the FDIC sign. If it’s missing let the Branch Manager know.
Checkcard holds - Again, please read above. Raping and pillaging, but perfectly legal and explainable.
International Fee - Again, I fall on the side of the customer with this one. It’s a nuisense fee we charge and I guarantee you would be hard pressed to find anyone who can explain it to you. We have other fees like this that aren’t disclosed anywhere but we charge them just the same. When confronted with this situation, I apologize to my customer, refund any fees I can’t explain and hope to GOD that they don’t appear again. It’s worked out OK for me for over 25 years now because I let my customers know the situation. Can’t explain it so giving it back.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:11 am
So I’m not the only one with a negative Wachovia experience?
I never even wanted Wachovia in the first place but they bought out SouthTrust (who had bought my original, smaller bank, Security National Bank). I’ve had the same account for about 7 years and my problem is with their NSF fees.
I had overdrafted about 5 years ago and after being hit with a $30 fee, requested that the overdraft ‘courtesy’ be removed from my account. I lost one of my jobs a few months back and have been struggling financially since. One weekend, I overdrafted and was charged $30 each transaction for a total of around $175. I’m a college student only making about $300/mo. so this is a HUGE portion of my income. After visiting a local branch, I was directed to call customer service. Customer service couldn’t help so they told me to write the Correspondence Team in Charlotte, NC. I wrote them a certified letter in mid January but hadn’t heard back from them over a month later. Wrote another certified letter in late February threatening to file a complaint with the BBB. I finally got a generic letter in the mail today (3/10/08… 2 months later!!!) stating they could only removed the NSF fee if it was assessed in error and since it wasn’t, they wouldn’t remove the fee. That’s it?? 2 certified letters and 2 months later, that’s all I got.
I realize it was my responsibility to keep track of my account, but feel since I had requested the overdraft feature be removed in my account in the first place, should have never overdrafted. I’m going to try a few time to get my money back but will most likely close the account. So much for “#1 Customer Satisfaction”.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Brenda,
Our policy on overdraft fees is killing us. My advice is forget about calling Customer Service or writing any letters or any of that. You need to go into your branch again and speak with the Manager. If they tell you to call Customer Service then ask to have their Service Leader call you because they (we) are NOT supposed to direct customers to call anyone else. When you get the Service Leader on the phone, explain that you understand there is no bank error but the fact that you’ve been with us for 7 years with only 1 courtesy refund 5 years ago should account for something. I’m not sure you’ll get the full amount back, but you should get something if your history is as you say. Good luck!
December 12th, 2009 at 6:38 am
I like your idea of Wachovia banking, can u help me more about banking on my website.
Great discussion is going on this blog for Wachovia, i’d like to join with you guys and gain knowledge from it. Just keep it up thanks…