Why am I being charged this bank fee when it wasn't my fault that the transaction was delayed!?

Question

HI,
I made a purchase the other day with my card and I had plenty of money for the purchase. However, it turns out that for some reason the transaction for the purchase I had made in the store was delayed and took the money out of my account two days later. By this time I had done the rest of my christmas shopping and therefore had no money in my account.
I made the purchase when I had money in my account! Why am I getting charged a fee by the bank!? Can I dispute it with the bank?
THanks

Hi everyone!~ Thanks for all the help!
I realize now if was my fault. I was just a little shocked that $2 worth of overdraft lead to a $40 bank fee. Seems excessive to me.
THankyou everyone! :)

Answer 1

Any way you look at it, you are required to have funds to cover purchases. IF you spent it on something else, it's still going to be your bad; holiday season can cause a lot of transaction delay.

Answer 2

Sounds 100% your fault. You didn't mention adding any money to the account, but you say you continued to make purchases. How exactly where you planning on paying for the purchases after the one that was not paid immediately? If you made 200 bucks in purchases with only 100 bucks in your account, of course things where going to bounce.
If you had enough in your account to cover all your purchases, it would be irrelavant what order the charges went through, as the total is still the same. In your case, your total purchases exceeded the balance, regardless of the order.
YOU are required to know your balance and not to exceed it. When you make a purchase, YOU are supposed to deduct that from the total, regardless of when it gets posted.

Answer 3

You were charged the fee because your account was overdrawn, the bak automatically charges tis fee. As for the transaction being delayed the bank doesn't really have a say in when a transaction goes through.

You can speak to someone at the bank and ask that the fee be reversed. If you don't overdraw your account regularly they may wave the fee this time. It never hurts to ask. I argue about this with my bank regularly and am successful most of the time.

Answer 4

Its your fault not the banks. you are the one who didnt leave enought money in the account for all your purchases. Once you spend the money, write it down, and forget you ever had the money in your account. Whether you pay by check, or use a debit card. the money is not yours to spend on something else just because that store or person waits to take it from your account. Dont be an idiot, you know its your fault. If it helps, keep 300 dollars in the account, extra so you never have overdraft fees.

Answer 5

Are you using a debt card? If so, usually it takes a couple of days to go through when you pick the credit option at check out. If you pick the debt option, you ahve to enter your pin, but the money is taken out immediately (unless it's a Saturday night or Sunday). Although it is your responsibility to watch and keep a record of the money you spend so you don't over draw, you can try calling the bank to see if there's any way you can have the NSF fee taken off. Things like "It was a fluke, and I've never done it before" are good things to say. No telling if it will work, but my bank has done it for me.

Answer 6

Most banks stipulate that payment must be received by a set date. Hence people must send in the payment a few days earlier, in order to allow time for processing. As an example, I always do the electronic transfer 2 working days in advance that the payment is received on the due date. If it is your first late payment, the bank might wave the fee. Try to talk to them and good luck!

Answer 7

If you are using a Debit card then the money will be taken out instantly, which will keep your account up to date. If you are using your Debit card as a credit card then the transaction will not show on your account for several days. Therefore, it is your responsibility to keep your account balances up to date by subtracting purchases from your account balance as they occur.

Answer 8

It's unfortunate, but there isn't much you can do. The bank will say, you shouldn't have spent "the rest." since in your mind there was no money left.

You probably checked your balance and thought you had more since the purchase wasn't deducted. They will claim that it isn't their fault that you failed to check all your purchases.

Answer 9

I presume you're speaking of a debit card.
You must enter those in your checkbook and deduct the amount from your bank balance at once.
What is so difficult to understand?

If you had written a check to someone, it may be a month before it is cashed. Same thing, eh?

You can only spend a dollar once, not over and over again. It has to be replenished.

Answer 10

Because you didn't have enough money in the bank to cover all of your purchases...It's called "insufficient funds".

If you kept up your bank book, subtracting your purchases from your balance everytime, you wouldn't have a problem.