Should people be more accountable for bank fees?

Question

I know that banks charge big fees & such for bounced checks, overdraft fees, paying the largest check 1st & bounce the other 3, some even charge per week for being overdrawn. But when do we turn to ourselves & say "I have a lot of control over the fees I am charged". If you have $50 in account, write 4 checks for $100 each & get mad we got $30 fees X 4?

I work for a credit union & make no excuse for kicking someone when down! But come on! There are errors on the banks & publics side but Im talking about the regular everyday stuff. People who overdraft 10-15X/month, live off the o/d loans, use other ATMs 2X/day & get fee of $4 to get $20!

And I know that $30 is a high fee for o/d by $2. But it is called a penalty for a reason! It is to discourage the use of. Do you think it really costs a city $30 b/c you didnt put a dime in the meter? No, its to teach a lesson for next time to be careful. Just like credit cards, folks complain about late & over limit & still charge any way!

Additional Details

20 hours ago
I brought this topic up because I was reading an article on MSNBC about fees charged for small purchases.

Why blame the bank b/c you dont keep track of spending? Or just dont care? What about personal accountability? I am as much a consumer advocate as the next guy, but are we not to share in the blame for this? If we stopped making it so profitable for banks because we dont write down we went to the store, there would be no fees!

Again, I know that we all make mistakes, I have done it myself. Cant we accept our mistakes as that & move on? Why must the blame go to the deep pockets because we cant add & subtract?

Answer 1

You are absolutely correct!

I used to work for Wells Fargo, in their El Monte call center (Los Angeles).

Some people made honest mistakes...it happens. I was very happy to reverse all of their fees. For instance:

The college student who had his first debit card, and didn't know that $120 worth of books had tax added;

The lady who had the Direct Deposit advance (payday loan) come through all at once while she was on strike with the grocery stores;

The lady who wrote a large check to her sister and forgot that an annual automatic payment was coming through; and

The man who was the victim of a debit card scam and didn't realize it until he tried to make a $20 purchase. His account was overdrawn by $4,000 and his rent was due.

Other people lived in overdraft. Some blamed the bank, actually most people, and others didn't:

The lady who hadn't had a positive balance in over 3 months and had the nerve to call in and say "Has anything cleared my account?" Are you serious???????

The lady who made several empty envelope deposits, then complained about the OD fees the bank had.