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587 Comments
- DarkStar3333, on 03/26/2009, -56/+434"Not Knowing" you were essentially broke is not a valid excuse, you should generally have an idea of how much money is in your debit account if your a avid user.
In the end he paid $4 for a coffee and $34 in stupidity tax. - Fallooza, on 03/27/2009, -21/+318what the ***** was his broke ass doin buyin a latte?
- belyle, on 03/26/2009, -41/+275Please... this has happened to almost everyone. Stop being a whiny bitch and call your bank. They'll refund your NSF charge as long as you haven't done it frequently. Then check you account balance once in awhile to make sure you have enough for your $4 fat bomb coffee drink.
- Lucas123, on 03/26/2009, -21/+169This is so true, and so wrong. I've actually had this happen to me. Usually, it's right after the bank has slapped a monthly fee on my account and I go to purchase some two buck item and get charge a huge overdraft fee. I now have overdraft protection, but it's tied to my credit card - so every time I go over, the bank generously places $100 or $200 dollars (I still haven't figured out why $200) in my account with 5.99% interest on it, plus a $10 admin fee. You have to be so careful these days with your electronic banking or you'll end up broke.
- darthjure, on 03/27/2009, -3/+115Would you pay $4 for a cup of coffee? I wouldn't.
- satanherself, on 03/27/2009, -21/+126It's called taking advantage of every situation that they can to rob your ass blind.
- mirunit, on 03/27/2009, -4/+99Why would you be buying a latte if you don't even have $38?
If I was down to 38$ I would seriously turn off all the lights and eat ramen noodles until it was fixed. - lucy22, on 03/26/2009, -14/+107Truly, a person should always carry a little cash for a cup of coffee.
- mine4321, on 03/27/2009, -2/+68That is exactly what I thought. $4 is a lot when you're poor.
- swagv, on 03/26/2009, -40/+102If you can't do the math, don't do the card. It's that simple.
- Elliuotatar, on 03/27/2009, -19/+81This is exploitation by the banks, plain and simple.
Let's say I call the bank and tell them my car is stolen. It will magically stop working immediately. Yet they can't make it stop working when my balance is exceeded? PUHLEASE.
I can't believe anyone would even try to defend this. This isn't the 1980's anymore. And these aren't checks which take time to clear. This is an artificial fee banks tack on to take advantage of people just because they can. - ejlewis, on 03/27/2009, -12/+51Seriously, be a responsible adult and learn how to manage your damn money. It's not like overdraft fees are anything new. Everyone is a helpless victim these days...
- aqcarter, on 03/26/2009, -33/+71How about a little personal responsibility, not the banks fault he doesn't know how much money he has.... How else are banks going to make money these days ;)
- gnorb, on 03/27/2009, -0/+33Bull. I've called various times for this kind of stuff. (At one point we were charged $75 in overdraft fees (3 charges @ $25/ea) for 3 charges of $6, $3, and $10.) If this is the FIRST time this happens to you, then yes, they MIGHT cancel the feel. Otherwise, at most they take half the fee off, then give you a speech about how magnanimous they're being. Once upon a time you could dispute it and they would back down, but right now many banks (BoA is a great example) are surviving off of these fees. Better to cut up the debit cards and keep a credit card which you may off immediately upon use.
/Happened a lot when I first got married and had to get used to a joint spending account.
//It used to be that my bank would simply deny the charge. This worked just fine with me. - kerouac906, on 03/27/2009, -7/+40It's not a birth right to spend money you don't have...
- teamgwho, on 03/27/2009, -12/+44I completely agree that the overdraft protection comes with ridiculously high fees, and if he doesn't want it he should be able to cancel.
that said... lemme get this straight....
he doesn't have enough cash on him to buy coffee...
he doesn't have enough cash in his checking account to buy coffee...
he gets hit with an overdraft because he isn't paying attention to his balance...
so wtf is he buying a $4 cup of coffee for?
consider this an idiot tax. hopefully lesson learned. spend within your means. pay attention to your finances. - jefjefjef, on 03/27/2009, -1/+32If my car stops working whenever I exceed my balance I'd be rather confused and pissed.
- RainingHellfir, on 03/27/2009, -8/+38Hey man, my girlfriend was just hit with $80 in overdraft charges within the past 3 days, when she called the bank to dispute the charges they basically said tough ***** and that National City has told their reps to not take ANY charges off anyone's account, no matter how valid the dispute.
- linagee, on 03/27/2009, -6/+35Unless you're a bank or the fed.
- trdrstv, on 03/27/2009, -1/+29@wmuldoon
The term is "Dear John"... unless you feel getting her a tractor will help things... - IKORKYI, on 03/27/2009, -9/+37its basic personal accounting to know your account balance. If a bank accepts the transaction and imposes an overdraught fee the first time and for some reason you didn't know about it or feel "tricked," shame on them. They could have informed their customer better, i guess. If it happens again, shame on you.
wouldn't you rather it be like this in a situation where you absolutely HAD to make the transaction? I'm comforted knowing that if its ever an emergency, I can overdraft, while responsible purchasing can avoid overdraft fees. I mean, that's what its for - you're bank gives you an emergency line of credit on the sole fact you have an account with them, and charge you for it.
The guy overdrafted, he got charged. Has he even consider, you know, calling the bank and seeing if he can get the charge removed instead of whining about it in what is supposed to be "the news?" - richirwin, on 03/27/2009, -9/+36This article could have been "$38 for a hamburger" or "$38 for a six pack of beer" or "$38 for a pack of printer paper."
If you spend money you don't have, don't complain about the charges. - ryancawdor, on 03/27/2009, -5/+29So... he DIDN'T pay $38 for the coffee, but instead was faced with the consequences of his actions: punitive charges for neglecting to pay attention to his balance.
Buried for for lying headline and whiny, "Look how he got shafted by the man, maaaaaaaaan!" attitude. - covertbadger, on 03/27/2009, -1/+24"send her a john deer."
Do you mean a 'Dear John'? - inactive, on 03/27/2009, -3/+25It's SO MUCH better just to keep a certain amount of "cushion" money in your account.
- browe07, on 03/27/2009, -0/+20Depends on the bank, but they seem to be getting progressively more greedy. I used to work at a bank. The official policy was that fees would only be reversed due to bank error. Even if someone was wrongfully charged which led to an overdraft I actually had managers tell the customer that they had to collect the fee from the company that charged them. Yet everyone always pranced around singing "customer first". It was sickening.
Another trick is that banks clear your largest purchases first which leads to the most fees possible. Imagine you had $900 in the bank and made purchases of $1000, $5, $4 and $1. They pull the $1000 first and that way you get charged 4 overdraft fees instead of doing 5, 4 and 1 first so that you only get charged 1 fee. - woodrow8292, on 03/27/2009, -8/+28Another example of common sense being completely absent from a situation. If you don't have $4 in your account maybe you shouldn't be drinking $4 cups of coffee. Maybe thats why he couldn't afford it, I can buy coffee every morning for a week using $4. Did he ever think of checking his balance? Maybe carrying some of that un-cool stuff we call "cash"? And like I said maybe quit having such expensive taste in coffee!
Another whinny crying article about people not being responsible and then acting like spoiled brats when they have to face the consequences of their actions! - Toshibi, on 03/27/2009, -0/+19I payed by what I thought was a debit for a hotel room years ago. I kept close track of my money and deducted the expense from what I had. I noticed that money never came out of my account. Well, later that month i moved out of state and closed my account with that local bank. The hotel ran my card as an imprinted credit card and didn't go after the money until later. I ended up in the stupid bank system "Bad Customer" list. I come back to my home town a couple of years later and attempt to open a new account only to find out I'm in this system and have to go way out of my way to pay back this debt I didn't even know about. Banks will ***** you any way they can.
- t3hfrank, on 03/27/2009, -2/+21If you run out of money on your credit card your transaction will just be denied. The same thing should be for a debit card too. Checks on the other hand should definitely be handled this way. There is no way to tell instantly that a check will go through, its only fair to the receiver.But they can find out immediately if you have enough money in your account when you use a debit card, so if anything they should allow you to choose to have the transaction denied or accepted with an overdraft fee.
- trib4lmaniac, on 03/27/2009, -1/+19The same thing happened to me when I bought Geometry Wars off of Steam for about £3. Was hit by a £38 charge, and that didn't even cover the cost of the game itself! That was meant to be GBP not USD btw, about $55 at the current exchange rate.
Most expensive game I've ever bought =( - derekivey, on 03/27/2009, -0/+18This happened to me a week ago. I purchased something, assuming I had enough in my account to pay for it... I was 26 cents short and got charged a $30 insufficient funds fee. I complained to my credit union about this and they removed the charge no questions asked. I was told that they will remove it once a year as a courtesy.
- abstracthuman, on 03/27/2009, -1/+18Reminds me of college.
- thebeck, on 03/27/2009, -4/+21Two words for you Clifford; Credit union.
- gheide, on 03/27/2009, -0/+17I had a restaurant in Florida enter my signed receipt total as $100 over what it actually was. Even with my receipt, and an apology letter from the restaurant, the bank still would not refund the overdraft fees because it wasn't "their fault"... And wells Fargo - my current bank - will not let me opt out of overdraft protection.
- GoatMonkey2112, on 03/27/2009, -0/+15"But the bank won’t let him cancel."
That's why there are OTHER banks. Pay that off, close account, open new account elsewhere that doesn't do that. Done. - JRHodes88, on 03/27/2009, -0/+15a $4 latte everyday is almost $1,500 every year!!!
- diggduggjoe, on 03/27/2009, -2/+16I agree that debit cards should just be denied when your account is empty. However, how will the bankers make it out of this depression without it.
Remember, bankers first, then women, children and the rest of us. - DarkStar3333, on 03/27/2009, -0/+14Has it ever gone sub $4?
- Gareth321, on 03/27/2009, -1/+14One bank my girlfriend used to belong to would charge her account fees only when her balance was low enough to kick in the overdraught fees. So she'd spend down til there was a few dollars left, thinking she was safe. Then the automatic fees would kick in, dipping her below $0 and charging a $30 overdraught fee as well. She couldn't understand why, as most banks charge consistently on the same day every month. We checked through the last year and, sure enough, the fees seemed to kick in right at the "wrong" time of the the month.
- drunkenoaf, on 03/27/2009, -0/+13I saw the price of a cappuccino in a fancy hotel in England called the Lygon Arms.
£12. At the time that was ~$25! (Although now it's only about $17). Bank charges not included.
For that price, it would have to have been the best damn coffee I'd ever have. - IKORKYI, on 03/27/2009, -6/+19@ Solis
YOU PHYSICALLY MAKE THE PURCHASE WITH NOT ENOUGH IN YOUR ACCOUNT
The bank is not your mom. - jehan60188, on 03/27/2009, -4/+17he might not be broke, or poor
he might just be stupid, or irresponsible... - linagee, on 03/27/2009, -2/+15Keep your entire monthly expenses in your account and you will never overdraw. Look at the previous month to estimate how much this is. If you can't make this much money from your current job to set aside, you're living above your means.
- iskin, on 03/27/2009, -0/+12This is nothing. I actually had to spend 18 hours trying to get my bank to give me back the $180 of overdraft fees when they lost $200 of my money, and I still was forced to pay my bounced check fees. This 18 hours was on top of the time I spent trying to get the $200 they lost back.
Then 9 months later, I had an additional $40 sitting in my account for a few months and figured I had made a rounding error and decided to spend it. Two days later - the day my automatic bill pay goes thru - the bank realizes that they made a mistake and my payments bounce in the most inconvenient way possible, and my gym made 8 attempts to get their money. My bills were only supposed to be $200, however, now I was overdrafted nearly $500 and not one of my bills had been paid. After trying to talk it out with the bank, I was told that they had already done me a really big favor when they gave me my overdraft fees back after losing my money and that they wouldn't do that again. I told the lady behind the desk that she was a "worthless *****" - I was still angry at her from 9 months earlier - that I hope the bank fails, and that I wont pay a dime of it... Did I mention that I didn't find out I owed the bank money until after I had deposited my $300 check?
Now, I receive multiple calls from collection agencies and they tell me that I have to pay it and sue the bank for the money. I tell them to get *****, they tell me about how much not paying the money I don't feel I owe will hurt me, hang up, and then I do it all over again 1 hour later when another ***** for the same company calls.
$34 fees are outrageous for no real service! Banks used to offer accounts that couldn't over draft, and the posses the ability to provide them but they wont unless forced to. Considering it is near impossible to survive without a checking account, all banks should be forced to provide an account that can't overdraft, instead of forcing you to get their ***** credit card and having to pay a reduced $5 fee when you -or they- ***** up. - jaytek13, on 03/27/2009, -3/+15Really bad idea. You may want to read up on something called chexsystems before deciding not to pay a bank balance.
Also, give the bank a call... you'd be surprised how willing they are to work with you/reduce the balance. - mirunit, on 03/27/2009, -3/+15@miggyb
Very clever. Its a good think I don't drink coffee, right? - sikosmurf, on 03/27/2009, -5/+16The one time I overdrafted was when the bank "accidentally" charged me a monthly fee on my "No fee" checking. There was $10 less than there should have been. Also, just because you have a low checking account at one bank, doesn't mean you're broke.
- Solis, on 03/27/2009, -14/+25You realize a lot of people live check to check, so have $38 or less for a number of days out of the month or pay period is very very easy. Not everyone can be rich like you.
- TheSkunkMonkey, on 03/27/2009, -4/+15I love how they will let you spend money you don't have but won't give you a ***** loan.
The main problem is that it is impossible to know exactly what your bank balance is because of fee gouging. While I may be able to calculate my balance or even view it online, it's not going to be accurate when the bank is slipping in fees. We all know they process debits before credits in an effort to hit you with fees if they can drain your account before processing your deposits.
When a bank gives you a DEBIT card, it should never be allowed to spend non-existent funds. That's what a CREDIT card is for. If I wanted to be able to spend money I don't have, I would have asked for a credit card, but I want a DEBIT card.
Before the days of the ATM card, people used checks and there was know way to verify if funds were truly present so the banks offered overdraft protection. With today's technology and debit cards, the balance can be checked at the time of transaction and the balance verified. If I don't have the money, DECLINE THE CARD.
The worst part is when they say they charged you the overdraft fee as a convenience.
***** BANKSTERS! - linagee, on 03/27/2009, -1/+12I'd shut off the circuit breaker and immediately rent out every square feet of house that I could.
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