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So apparently, the disaster with my bank account is not completely my fault. It still won't correct the money I lost in bank fees and charges. I made a $9 miscalculation and I forgot to record a few of the monthly fees...totally my fault so I accept it, but my bank allowed me to continue spending without telling me I was under and I did not know this as I had not gotten any nsf charge notifications for 2 weeks or so after the fact. Anyhow, I switched my account from Gold to Free checking. I had attempted to do this before on more than one occasion to rid myself of the $7 monthly maintenance fee, but always found a reason to stay with the Gold account. Today I changed it, as the only thing that changes is how much I can spend daily...2500 vs 3500. I never have over anywhere near that, so I think I am ok. The only thing that changes outside of me not having the monthly fee is that I will have a different check card, and presumably a different number (though I hope it is the same because I know it by heart now which I can't say for my actual account number). Unfortunately, at the time of doing this, I had not thought of the other problems with this whole mess...like why my card continued to work when I was under or why it took 2 weeks to notify me of the first nsf charge. Well, my overdraft protection is why I did not get declined...if I don't have it, they don't pay the charge and then trouble ensues with the merchant...if I do have it, the charges are paid but I get the fee as a result, so I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. As for the notification, you would think that since I do have access to the website (since they redid it and I can finally get in again!), that they would be able to automatically generate an email regarding my low balance. My car insurance company sends me email that my statement is about to be sent, and if late, that the payment hasn't been received yet. But they don't have this, considering they are a national bank. And, "their paper notifications are sent from their central office and are at the mercy of the postal service" they say to me. So check this out, I ask the lady where this central office of theirs that they mentioned and they tell me that it is in either California or Washington (state)...and I AM IN FLORIDA(!!!) at the opposite end of the country. No fucking wonder it took 2 weeks to get to me! Would it kill them to have an East Coast office to handle us over here so we don't get so screwed?It might takea few days to get to me, maybe a week even, but that has to be better than 2 weeks, right? I mean, I made math mistakes, plain and simple, but the bank sure aren't helping any with their policies to make it a pleasing experience. The sooner I know of a problem, the sooner I am able to say "Hang on a minute" and re-evaluate my finances before spending again. If it takes 2 weeks to be notified by mail, that can be disastrous. I mean, what if I had no access to the internet? Am I supposed to wait for that 1 monthly statement which is usually out of date anyway? Am I supposed to sit through a phone call and write everything down all the time? No, there just has to be a better way. I am considering switching to either a local bank, or Chas' credit union, though I have to do research on the different options. Ugh. This frustrates me to no end.
31 May 2004
So apparently, the disaster with my bank account is not completely my fault. It still won't correct the money I lost in bank fees and charges. I made a $9 miscalculation and I forgot to record a few of the monthly fees...totally my fault so I accept it, but my bank allowed me to continue spending without telling me I was under and I did not know this as I had not gotten any nsf charge notifications for 2 weeks or so after the fact. Anyhow, I switched my account from Gold to Free checking. I had attempted to do this before on more than one occasion to rid myself of the $7 monthly maintenance fee, but always found a reason to stay with the Gold account. Today I changed it, as the only thing that changes is how much I can spend daily...2500 vs 3500. I never have over anywhere near that, so I think I am ok. The only thing that changes outside of me not having the monthly fee is that I will have a different check card, and presumably a different number (though I hope it is the same because I know it by heart now which I can't say for my actual account number). Unfortunately, at the time of doing this, I had not thought of the other problems with this whole mess...like why my card continued to work when I was under or why it took 2 weeks to notify me of the first nsf charge. Well, my overdraft protection is why I did not get declined...if I don't have it, they don't pay the charge and then trouble ensues with the merchant...if I do have it, the charges are paid but I get the fee as a result, so I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. As for the notification, you would think that since I do have access to the website (since they redid it and I can finally get in again!), that they would be able to automatically generate an email regarding my low balance. My car insurance company sends me email that my statement is about to be sent, and if late, that the payment hasn't been received yet. But they don't have this, considering they are a national bank. And, "their paper notifications are sent from their central office and are at the mercy of the postal service" they say to me. So check this out, I ask the lady where this central office of theirs that they mentioned and they tell me that it is in either California or Washington (state)...and I AM IN FLORIDA(!!!) at the opposite end of the country. No fucking wonder it took 2 weeks to get to me! Would it kill them to have an East Coast office to handle us over here so we don't get so screwed?It might takea few days to get to me, maybe a week even, but that has to be better than 2 weeks, right? I mean, I made math mistakes, plain and simple, but the bank sure aren't helping any with their policies to make it a pleasing experience. The sooner I know of a problem, the sooner I am able to say "Hang on a minute" and re-evaluate my finances before spending again. If it takes 2 weeks to be notified by mail, that can be disastrous. I mean, what if I had no access to the internet? Am I supposed to wait for that 1 monthly statement which is usually out of date anyway? Am I supposed to sit through a phone call and write everything down all the time? No, there just has to be a better way. I am considering switching to either a local bank, or Chas' credit union, though I have to do research on the different options. Ugh. This frustrates me to no end.