I am so mad at myself- overdraft fee!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
I am so mad at myself- overdraft fee!!
10
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 9:50am
I am soo stupid!!!! I wrote a check on 5/3 to DD's PTO for her yearbook and figured DH's check would cover it when it auto deposited on 5/5. I also figured some other checks hadn't gone through yet so it would be fine. DUH! Wrong!! When I checked our balance online the morning of his direct deposit, there was a -$5.14 for the day before. Although his check went through the very next day, I still got the $32 overdraft fee!! My own fault. Will this show on my credit report? I have only done it 1 other time years ago.
Do you think the PTO knows or did the bank just cash it and charge me?
Embarrassed Nicki
Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 10:06am

Hey Nicki - it won't show on your credit report (you pay

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 11:37am

$300 dollars in NSF fees? Thats crazy! I can't believe they can get away with treating their customers that way.

Lynne

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2003
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 12:09pm
Been there, done that, just a couple of weeks ago! I was not a happy camper either. Although It makes me feel better to know I am not the only one who does stuff like that!
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 12:43pm

BTDT, too!! I'm a CPA, for corn sakes, and this happens to me, too!

My budget's very tight these days, expenses high. I need to find a way to keep a few hundred dollars cushion in that account. I have so many of my recurring bills, insurance, tolltag, utilities on autopay--none of them are huge, but they add up and if I run my checking account down too low, I get in trouble. The bank acts as if they're doing me a huge favor by not bouncing my payments, but JEEZ LOUISE--it's $35 a mistake. Too much, if ya ask me. My goal is to never have that happen again. My solution is to keep an eagle eye on what's coming up and to try to keep an extra bit of $ in there at all times in addition to paying down my debt.

Simple to say, hard to do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2005
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 1:38pm

I have done this a couple of times too!! When it happened to me I called my bank and just basically told them that I had made a mistake and was sorry, and that the overdraft fees were such a shock to me, and was there anything that could be done. One time the person refunded all the fees, and another time they refunded half of the fees. So, it might be worth a try to call and see if anything can be done. Good luck!!

HTH!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 1:45pm
Really? I thought they treated their customer very well. They have a policy that is reasonable and fair (and common at every bank), and also that was agreed to when the account was opened, but when she brought it to their attention (since I am sure fee's are assessed automatically) they saw that she made an honest mistake and waived the fees. That is pretty good customer service if you ask me.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 2:26pm

I did something similar about a year into our debt recovery program. I was kicking myself! And the bad thing was, the check that put us over was for a large amount, and it went through *before* about five smaller checks, so I ended up with about five overdraft fees, to the tune of nearly $200. Oh, I was so angry with myself!!!!

After that, I immediately set about putting in a buffer to prevent it ever happening again. For one thing, I moved our automobile repair savings into an account with the same bank as my checking account, even though it gets lower interest. I set that account up as overdraft protection. Its balance fluctuates, but rarely goes below $100. The difference in the amount of interest I earn is less than 50 cents a month. The peace of mind is worth far more than that!

Then, I gradually "snowflaked" to my checking account until I had an additional $100 buffer sitting in the checking account.

Since that time, I have miscalculated on occasion, but I have never had an overdraft.

It happens. Pick up the bits, fix the holes, move on. And one overdraft is *highly* unlikely to show up on your credit record unless you keep the account overdrawn for more than 30 days.

Blessings,

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 8:15pm

firstamendment,

Actually, Danni didn't meantion anything about the bank waiving the $300 in NSF fees. Perhaps you thought I was replying to the initial poster?

I know for a fact that banks do not always follow the rules laid out in their customer agreements. I work for the government of canada/ontario and was involved in a local investigation last year into customer fraud (ie. not following the agreement). Just because a bank creates the agreement "plan" doesn't mean that they always follow it.

Lynne
Seniors Information and Advocacy
Government of Ontario
Government of Canada
(Boyfriend: Financial Fraud Investigator)

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 05-06-2005 - 11:25pm

Hey Lynne - sorry, I have shared this story here before, so firstamendment probably remembers that the bank

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Sat, 05-07-2005 - 5:32pm
Sorry, she did mention in her post that she went into the bank and pleaded her case, and I was thinking of her previous posts where the result of this was that she got them to waive the fees (or based on her other post, most of the fees). It's pretty common practice here that if you don't have money in your account to cover checks as they are presented, you will get a hefty fee for each check that is not covered. It is each of our responsibilty to have the money in the account before we write a check, and if you don't, to use some other form of payment like a credit card. Most people realize that and accept it (even if they don't like it) and I have read of many instances where fees were charged and banks (if you give them the chance) will waive them as long as it is a one-time honest mistake.

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