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By: rorschach
Date: 7/31/99 6:18:58 PM
# Replies: 16
A while back Becky took me to dead lobster (I mean Red Lobster...) for a belated birthday meal (course *I* was paying but it IS the thought that counts after all....). we ran up a decent sized bill ($45) and then I pulled my atm/debit card out to pay. (mind you it was packed to the gills that day with about an half hour wait just to get in the door). the waitress comes back and says that it is declined.... I say, WHAT!?! I got over 600 bucks in that account! I asked her to please try it again but with the same result.... meanwhile everyone is staring (or at least it FEELS like they are staring....) while Becky and I start rummaging around counting money and spare change in an attempt to pay the bill. we luck out... we had 4 cents to spare but nothing to give the poor lady for a tip.
The following monday I get on the phone with Bank United and try to figure out what went wrong.... and after screaming and bitching for hours, i finally got down to the truth... it appears that in a fit of cost cutting, Bank United farmed out all it's atm/debit card processing to a company called First Data Resources in Omaha Neb. Bank United had also just purchased another bank and was in the process of having the new bank's files converted to BankU's file format and had farmed this too out to First Data Resources as well.... well, they crashed the system.... and it stayed down all day that saturday and part of sunday.... NOBODY's ATM or Debit card was working all weekend.....
When I learned of this I asked them what sort of compensation I could expect for the embarrassment of having to count pennies to pay a dinner bill. The response? "Due to the large number of people affected by this service outage, we cannot offer any monetary compensation for your embarrassment."
I said, "ok, I'm a reasonable person, and I try to be fair. Six months ago you up and cancelled my overdraft protection for no reason, (the reason given was that they had re-evaluated all overdraft apps and ours was decided to be a high risk one, even though I never missed a payment to them on the two times I had used it....) How about reinstating it?" thier response was "I'm sorry, you will have to reapply normally and we will not be able to offer you any preferential treatment on it's evaluation."
Bank U has lost a customer...
Fuck YOU Bank U!
Response #1
By: Jerichos Burlap
Date: 7/31/99 6:53:45 PM
Banks appear to be going to hell everywhere. Mine has merged/been absorbed 3 times in 4 years, with the usual catastrophies and bedlam every time. Wouldn't bother me if some intelligent folks would get into the business. I hate rewarding the dolts, but can't find any that are better.
Response #2
By: Da Sissop
Date: 7/31/99 10:37:57 PM
Ooohyeah, I opened an account with Bank U after my employment with the Atlanta company ended... I had had a checking account with Nations Bank where my checks were Direct-Deposited in Georgia, but I figured since that was no longer gonna be the case, I'd open an account with a bank a little more convenient to where I was living in Houston.
And with Nations Bank I was used to the luxury of being able to float the occasional check which would arrive the day before the deposit cleared, with the sure knowledge that they'd just charge me 20 or 30 bucks and all would be well in the long run.
But nooo... with Bank U, I found that one leetle slightly bouncy check resulted in my future deposited funds not being available to me for, like, a WEEK after I made the deposit. And I mean, absolutely not available. Not even to cover the next incoming check.
So I ditched 'em and just stuck with my Georgia-based Nations Bank account.
Response #3
By: Ralf
Date: 8/1/99 9:09:19 PM
We've been Nationsbank customers for nearly a decade, and after reading some of these horror stories I'm feeling very appreciative. So far, so good. The local branch even knows me by sight.
(And no, it's not "Aieee! Him Again! Secure your drawers! Hide the pens! Everyone into the vault...!")
BTW, Nationsbank is now Bank America, I think. They merged a few months back. Surely you got the memo...?
Just wait a few months. Come January 1 the Y2K Equalizer RetroRevenge Whammy will reduce them to hooting and jibbering, like the bankers of 10,000 years ago... just be sure and convert all your dollars into BayGen radios before December 31st.
Response #4
By: Jerichos Burlap
Date: 8/2/99 12:19:47 AM
Yup, Nations is now Bank of America - one of the 3 in 4 I mentioned.
At least the banks are equally mercenary when dealing with each other. When my original bank (Boatman's - a very old MO bank) was courting Nations for the buy-out, they offered free checking accts. Of course, everyone and their mutant dog opened an account, thus swelling the customer base incredibly. Which base vaporized after the buy-out when Nations did not continue the practice. My local bank is still cutting back. Perhaps BOA will save them.
Response #5
By: Ralf
Date: 8/2/99 8:28:37 PM
When BOA has consumed the entire market place, and merged with every other bank, they can drop the "..of America" from their name, because there WON'T BE any other banks. It'll just be "BANK". Imagine the service then...
Ring, ring.
"Bank. Can I Help you? No... we don't have your money. Stop calling."
Click.
Response #6
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 8/3/99 11:29:42 PM
I used to use Bank One. I finally got tired of the fees they were charging me for everything and moved over to Wells Fargo. I figure, it's a big bank already and unlikely to get bought out any time soon.
So, my fees are scads lower (I pay like $4/month) and here in Houston, there's a Wells Fargo ATM in every Randall's and on just about every street corner. The one thing they lack is actual convenience. They have, by my count, THREE drive-thru ATMs in the whole city.
Oh, and bank logic escapes me. They actually charge me a fee to NOT keep my checks. Instead of saying "Thank you for not making us do anything except put your checks in an envelope with your statement", they WANT to spend extra money to put my checks on microfile. Huh?
Response #7
By: Jerichos Burlap
Date: 8/4/99 4:34:25 AM
They are required by law to keep microfiche copies of your checks. Neat trick if they can get you to pay for it, too.
Response #8
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 8/4/99 12:19:24 PM
No, see, microfiche is FREE.
If I want to get my checks, they make me pay for it.
What struck me as weird is that to send me my checks back, they don't have to do ANYTHING. Just put the checks in an envelope. Whereas in order to get them on microfiche, they have to go through some special process. I didn't realize that said process is a requirement and they make it look like a "feature".
Response #9
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 8/7/99 1:15:32 AM
They have to keep them on microfiche anyway, though. This way they just toss 'em into an incinerator or something, rather than having to put them into the right envelope.
Response #10
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/12/99 10:46:08 AM
I agree, I have had more trouble with banks than I care to emntion, but I will becasue work is slow today :)
I used Compass some years ago, (trying to make this short), they lost a $2000 deposit, for teh course of a week. Caused checks to bounce. THEY did not charge me a return check fee, but everyone that had a bouced chekc to DID. After almost 10 days of hell, hassling with theses people, I finally went down to the bank, VERY pissed off, and told them to if they had to, to SHIT money Mut Pronto, because I as taking my funds OUT of that bank, right now. The Branch Manager had the NERVE to come over there ask me if there wasn't someway to work throught his. to which i said, yeah, there was...a week ago and approxiamtely 7 phone calls previously. I asked them, twice, to make SURE that 2 checks had cleared. One was rather large to SWB. Tehy said they had, and gave me the rest of my account. A month later, I get a returned check charge from Compass. For what? The SWB check that they said HAD cleared. I called them up, pissed again. I told them there was no way, after all the hell I had ot go thrhough, and the fact that the assured me that the money was there, that I was gonna pay that money. So I didn't, they turne me over to Tele-Check, and to this day, I can't write a check at any palce that takes Tele-Check. Not becasue of a bounced check, I've never had one of those in my life, because of this fuck-up that Compass made. Which is also why I hate Tele-Check so much. They will deny your check to a merchant, not based on whether or not you've ever ahd a bounced check, but for somehting like this!!!
I'd start in on Bank United, which I went to AFTER Compass, but that would be another VERY long post.
Response #11
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 9/13/99 12:20:37 AM
Well, since we're sharing...
I'm the reason most credit card companies have reworded the agreement they send with the checks they send out to write on your account. I have an account with Chase (Shell Mastercard) and at one point they sent me some of these checks and it was very ambiguously worded. It basically said that I could write checks equal to my credit limit and the amount that I wrote the checks for would be added to my credit limit. For example, if my credit limit was $2000, I could write checks for up to $2000 even if I didn't have that much available to my account and then my credit limit would be $4000. So, I wrote out my checks to move my credit around and, lo and behold, I start getting these checks returned. In my case, however, I spoke to an account manager and faxed the agreement to them and they honored it. Of course, it's a win situation for them as well since I now pay outrageous monthly charges and am looking to get out from under them any way I can.
Response #12
By: sooz
Date: 9/13/99 10:49:30 AM
Any way you can? You could always sell whatever it is you bought with the checks.
Response #13
By: Ralf
Date: 9/13/99 5:43:07 PM
You can actually shop for better interest rates. Just find a card with a better deal and sign up. But don't bother transferring anything yet...
Call your old card company and notify them you're transferring the balance to your new card and would like them to help you with it over the phone. 9 times out of 10 they'll squawk and match the deal.
Cancel the new card, or keep it for an emergency. Repeat as necessary.
Response #14
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 9/14/99 12:38:23 AM
Hookers, booze, gasoline, drugs and trips to California are non-returnable items.
Response #15
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/14/99 4:01:11 AM
You can buy hookers and drugs on credit?
Damn, I'm moving back to Houston...
Response #16
By: Da Sissop
Date: 9/14/99 7:20:58 AM
Well there's usually a cash discount, but then you don't get the Frequent Flyer miles...