Question about overdraft fees and posting dates - BofA?

Question

I bank with bank of america and i had a check go through that was supposed to have been post dated but wasnt (long story). The check posted last night putting my account into the negative even though there wasnt enough money in there to even cover it. I have 11 purchases in red (neg) and 8 of them were made days before that check went through with my debit card.. so technically they shouldnt be overdrawn! I understand i will owe O/D fees, but will i have to pay overdraft fees on things that I bought days ago?

It doesn't make sense!

Answer 1

BofA stinks. There is no point in fighting them, unless they do something illegal that they can actually get in trouble for they don't care enough about you or your business to do anything to make you happy. They will pretty much get as much as they can from you in fees, and the thinking seems to be that if you are not willing to get ripped and want to go to another bank you should do so - because they won't make money off of you so why would they care about keeping you as a customer? Go open an account at a local or regional bank, the customer service is better and they don't kill you with fees. BofA stinks, but it is your own fault that you are overdrawn. Be more careful!

Answer 2

I read an article about BofA doing this on purpose and admitting it. They call it Biggest Check First. Example: You go to the gas station and purchase a coffee for $1 with your debit card, then you go to the store and purchase $25 worth of groceries and then you go to a furniture store and buy a couch for a 1k. Lets say there was $1,005 in your account. So obviously you have messed up because you completed $1,026 in transactions. So you are prepared to pay the ONE overdraft fee because the $25 and $1 transaction were made with plenty of cash in the account. Wrong. BofA will purposly process the $1,005 couch first so that all the other smaller purchases overdraft and they can charge THREE overdraft fees instead of one. They say this alleviates their liability and makes sure that they collect their money for the largest/most expensive transaction before you flee to mexico. It sucks. It will change though. People are getting sick of it and it's no accident that the banks now make most of their profit BY FAR from these fees.

Answer 3

A lot of banks won't bounce your check anymore, they just charge the overdraft fee. That can be good for you (an actual bounced check can cost you hundreds in fines) but it's also good for the bank, which gets to collect a lot of fees.

I had a similar problem, although I use USBank. As a matter of fact, purchases that had already gone through suddenly disappeared and reappeared after the overdraft.

Debit cards are tricky, too. You might have made the purchase a week ago, but it might not actually have "gone through" yet. That's especially true if you sign for your debit card instead of using the PIN.

It doesn't make sense to me, either, but I even took a lawyer friend in to the bank with me and there was nothing I could do. They took two of the charges off (just to be nice, I guess) but insisted that it's all completely fair.

In other words, you're screwed. I'm sorry, I've been there, it sucks. :(

Answer 4

Hate to say this but yes, purchases sometimes take a day or two to clear the bank. Really hate to say this but they will most likely charge you an overdraft for each one of those purchases and then if not covered in 3-5 days (depends on bank) another $5-7 a day. At $30 per overcharge thats $330 plus the amount of the purchases. I would go down there and have a heart to heart with the manager.

Answer 5

1) It is illegal to post date checks.
2) As long as your account in in overdraft, you will be hit with fees regardless of when you wrote the checks or made purchases.
3) Items do not necessarily clear your account in the order in which they were written.

If you have never had overdraft problems before, you could possibly talk to your local branch manager and see if he or she will refund a portion of your fees. I doubt it, but it's worth a try at least.

Answer 6

each and every economic organization and each branch is diverse. there's a splash wish, it is available in case you open a clean product that grants you over draft secure practices they might waive lots of the fees. yet each and every branch can in ordinary terms opposite lots in expenditures because of the fact they have targets, they opposite too many and that they are over their perameters, not reaching their purpose (which you will desire to talk). I in actual fact doubt they are going to waive all the fees. you may would desire to be a shopper that they like to maintain continuously, one that does countless company with the economic organization. If the branch has a male supervisor it may well be on your acceptable pastime in case you (the female) went into the branch with your baby, shed some tears, and he may well be a splash greater prepared, good success!