Complaint Review: Astoria Federal Savings Bank

John - I am not naive to the fact that there are many people passing bad checks that seem to come from reputable companies. However, according to the research I have done on this matter, it takes less than 48 hours to verify a domestic check and most times far less. This is the computer age where things happen at the speed of light. If they can't validate a check from MetLife in 48 hours, they should not be in the banking business.

Jennifer - I do not rely on ATM balances at all. But, I do look at the online statements to see the activity on my account, as well as keep track in a financial software application. If I see a positive balance of $1000 on 11/25, 3 purchases totalling $800, then $210 in overdraft fees, then on 11/27 I see 2 more checks come in and bounce because of the overdraft fees, I'm pissed off. There are no other transactions entered after that point. I cannot get an explanation of why they took out the overdraft fees. I had the money in there and it would have covered everything if the fees were not taken out. Now, maybe it was a computer error (actually computers don't make errors, people do) and they should put the money back. Maybe there are other transactions that I do not know about, but then someone is using my accout and found a way to keep it off my statement. Or, maybe there is something amiss about the way this bank operates.

There were other occassions we were assessed overdraft fees, but it was our error and I take full responsibility for it. However, especially this time, the error is not mine and I refuse to let Astoria take Christmas presents away from my children because of their error.

An ATM or OnLine Balance will never be binding and there is a very good reason for it. You go to the ATM and it says you have $500. You think you have $500 to spend but you don't realize that your wife wrote a check to pay LIPA for $250. Off you go to the mall and spend $350 but then, the LIPA check hits the account. Boom, you're overdrawn. You really can't say that it was the banks fault. Also, if you use a debit card, the transactions are not "real time". When you swipe it, all the bank is telling the business is that the card is valid. They wait until the merchant presents the debit for payment to actually take the money out of your account. Many merchants batch these transactions and only send them at certain times so you could have several outstanding debits that have not hit your account. Would it be better if they took the money right away? Sure, but they don't do it.

Believe me, I don't like banks any more than you do. I don't bank with Astoria, I bank with one of their competitors. (we can't give names but many branches are located in supermarkets) We had an issue 8 yrs ago where we overdrew. It was our fault and we admitted it to them. They waived all but one fee and then recommended overdraft protection. We took it and never used it until recently. My husband forgot to tell me he wrote a check for his union dues so there was not enough money in the account. For a flat $20 fee, they transferred the amount from our savings to cover the check. It saved us a bunch of other fees.

An ATM or OnLine Balance will never be binding and there is a very good reason for it. You go to the ATM and it says you have $500. You think you have $500 to spend but you don't realize that your wife wrote a check to pay LIPA for $250. Off you go to the mall and spend $350 but then, the LIPA check hits the account. Boom, you're overdrawn. You really can't say that it was the banks fault. Also, if you use a debit card, the transactions are not "real time". When you swipe it, all the bank is telling the business is that the card is valid. They wait until the merchant presents the debit for payment to actually take the money out of your account. Many merchants batch these transactions and only send them at certain times so you could have several outstanding debits that have not hit your account. Would it be better if they took the money right away? Sure, but they don't do it.

Believe me, I don't like banks any more than you do. I don't bank with Astoria, I bank with one of their competitors. (we can't give names but many branches are located in supermarkets) We had an issue 8 yrs ago where we overdrew. It was our fault and we admitted it to them. They waived all but one fee and then recommended overdraft protection. We took it and never used it until recently. My husband forgot to tell me he wrote a check for his union dues so there was not enough money in the account. For a flat $20 fee, they transferred the amount from our savings to cover the check. It saved us a bunch of other fees.

An ATM or OnLine Balance will never be binding and there is a very good reason for it. You go to the ATM and it says you have $500. You think you have $500 to spend but you don't realize that your wife wrote a check to pay LIPA for $250. Off you go to the mall and spend $350 but then, the LIPA check hits the account. Boom, you're overdrawn. You really can't say that it was the banks fault. Also, if you use a debit card, the transactions are not "real time". When you swipe it, all the bank is telling the business is that the card is valid. They wait until the merchant presents the debit for payment to actually take the money out of your account. Many merchants batch these transactions and only send them at certain times so you could have several outstanding debits that have not hit your account. Would it be better if they took the money right away? Sure, but they don't do it.

Believe me, I don't like banks any more than you do. I don't bank with Astoria, I bank with one of their competitors. (we can't give names but many branches are located in supermarkets) We had an issue 8 yrs ago where we overdrew. It was our fault and we admitted it to them. They waived all but one fee and then recommended overdraft protection. We took it and never used it until recently. My husband forgot to tell me he wrote a check for his union dues so there was not enough money in the account. For a flat $20 fee, they transferred the amount from our savings to cover the check. It saved us a bunch of other fees.

An ATM or OnLine Balance will never be binding and there is a very good reason for it. You go to the ATM and it says you have $500. You think you have $500 to spend but you don't realize that your wife wrote a check to pay LIPA for $250. Off you go to the mall and spend $350 but then, the LIPA check hits the account. Boom, you're overdrawn. You really can't say that it was the banks fault. Also, if you use a debit card, the transactions are not "real time". When you swipe it, all the bank is telling the business is that the card is valid. They wait until the merchant presents the debit for payment to actually take the money out of your account. Many merchants batch these transactions and only send them at certain times so you could have several outstanding debits that have not hit your account. Would it be better if they took the money right away? Sure, but they don't do it.

Believe me, I don't like banks any more than you do. I don't bank with Astoria, I bank with one of their competitors. (we can't give names but many branches are located in supermarkets) We had an issue 8 yrs ago where we overdrew. It was our fault and we admitted it to them. They waived all but one fee and then recommended overdraft protection. We took it and never used it until recently. My husband forgot to tell me he wrote a check for his union dues so there was not enough money in the account. For a flat $20 fee, they transferred the amount from our savings to cover the check. It saved us a bunch of other fees.

but this is where you ar flawed.

"The check I deposited was from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Is that not a reputable company?"

While I would normally agree with your line of thinking, just look through this site and see all the people who have been taken because they got a check allegedly written from a reputable company and it was actually from a scammer. I think banks are seeing for more of this than the number of complaints we may read daily and that has to be taken into consideration.

You are correct Jennifer. Most financial institutions will conduct business in a manner that is financially beneficial to them. You are also correct that it is legal to hold my money hostage, charge fees of $30 for NSF when it costs them less than $1 to process, and give me 1% - 2% interest for the use of my money when they charge others 10%-15% to use my money. It's all legal. But, in some areas of the U.S., it is still legal for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. Does that make it right? Would the wife beater be looked upon as a pillar of his community? Of course not. Without complaints, this ?legal? fraud by banks will continue.

Legally, certain checks cannot be held. Treasury checks for one, and there are others, but there are checks that cannot be held. On the other hand, in-state checks can be held for a max of 2 days. Much of the holding depends on how long the consumer has been with the bank. I have been with Astoria for 10 years. Is that not a sufficient amount of time to find out if I pass bad checks? The check I deposited was from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Is that not a reputable company? So, the fact that the teller told my wife that the check would not be held is not something I would question. Why would they hold it from more than 1 day? It takes less than 48 hours in most circumstances for them to verify a check.

The time they hold on to your money (the float) is used to make money off of your money without paying you interest. This to me is fraud. If the bank can use my money and block me from accessing it, it is clearly fraud. Why is this still legal? Because many people say, ?what can I do?? Well, stand up and say something to start with, then make it an election thing. Stop worrying if homosexuals can achieve happiness, worry about how the banks are screwing you.

As for the automated balances, I believe they should be legally binding. If the bank has a hold against my account for a purchase, it should legally have to be put in my automated balance. Why can they withhold information from me about my account? Fraud, that's why. Get up and make a statement that we have had enough.

You are correct Jennifer. Most financial institutions will conduct business in a manner that is financially beneficial to them. You are also correct that it is legal to hold my money hostage, charge fees of $30 for NSF when it costs them less than $1 to process, and give me 1% - 2% interest for the use of my money when they charge others 10%-15% to use my money. It's all legal. But, in some areas of the U.S., it is still legal for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. Does that make it right? Would the wife beater be looked upon as a pillar of his community? Of course not. Without complaints, this ?legal? fraud by banks will continue.

Legally, certain checks cannot be held. Treasury checks for one, and there are others, but there are checks that cannot be held. On the other hand, in-state checks can be held for a max of 2 days. Much of the holding depends on how long the consumer has been with the bank. I have been with Astoria for 10 years. Is that not a sufficient amount of time to find out if I pass bad checks? The check I deposited was from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Is that not a reputable company? So, the fact that the teller told my wife that the check would not be held is not something I would question. Why would they hold it from more than 1 day? It takes less than 48 hours in most circumstances for them to verify a check.

The time they hold on to your money (the float) is used to make money off of your money without paying you interest. This to me is fraud. If the bank can use my money and block me from accessing it, it is clearly fraud. Why is this still legal? Because many people say, ?what can I do?? Well, stand up and say something to start with, then make it an election thing. Stop worrying if homosexuals can achieve happiness, worry about how the banks are screwing you.

As for the automated balances, I believe they should be legally binding. If the bank has a hold against my account for a purchase, it should legally have to be put in my automated balance. Why can they withhold information from me about my account? Fraud, that's why. Get up and make a statement that we have had enough.

You are correct Jennifer. Most financial institutions will conduct business in a manner that is financially beneficial to them. You are also correct that it is legal to hold my money hostage, charge fees of $30 for NSF when it costs them less than $1 to process, and give me 1% - 2% interest for the use of my money when they charge others 10%-15% to use my money. It's all legal. But, in some areas of the U.S., it is still legal for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. Does that make it right? Would the wife beater be looked upon as a pillar of his community? Of course not. Without complaints, this ?legal? fraud by banks will continue.

Legally, certain checks cannot be held. Treasury checks for one, and there are others, but there are checks that cannot be held. On the other hand, in-state checks can be held for a max of 2 days. Much of the holding depends on how long the consumer has been with the bank. I have been with Astoria for 10 years. Is that not a sufficient amount of time to find out if I pass bad checks? The check I deposited was from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Is that not a reputable company? So, the fact that the teller told my wife that the check would not be held is not something I would question. Why would they hold it from more than 1 day? It takes less than 48 hours in most circumstances for them to verify a check.

The time they hold on to your money (the float) is used to make money off of your money without paying you interest. This to me is fraud. If the bank can use my money and block me from accessing it, it is clearly fraud. Why is this still legal? Because many people say, ?what can I do?? Well, stand up and say something to start with, then make it an election thing. Stop worrying if homosexuals can achieve happiness, worry about how the banks are screwing you.

As for the automated balances, I believe they should be legally binding. If the bank has a hold against my account for a purchase, it should legally have to be put in my automated balance. Why can they withhold information from me about my account? Fraud, that's why. Get up and make a statement that we have had enough.

You are correct Jennifer. Most financial institutions will conduct business in a manner that is financially beneficial to them. You are also correct that it is legal to hold my money hostage, charge fees of $30 for NSF when it costs them less than $1 to process, and give me 1% - 2% interest for the use of my money when they charge others 10%-15% to use my money. It's all legal. But, in some areas of the U.S., it is still legal for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. Does that make it right? Would the wife beater be looked upon as a pillar of his community? Of course not. Without complaints, this ?legal? fraud by banks will continue.

Legally, certain checks cannot be held. Treasury checks for one, and there are others, but there are checks that cannot be held. On the other hand, in-state checks can be held for a max of 2 days. Much of the holding depends on how long the consumer has been with the bank. I have been with Astoria for 10 years. Is that not a sufficient amount of time to find out if I pass bad checks? The check I deposited was from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Is that not a reputable company? So, the fact that the teller told my wife that the check would not be held is not something I would question. Why would they hold it from more than 1 day? It takes less than 48 hours in most circumstances for them to verify a check.

The time they hold on to your money (the float) is used to make money off of your money without paying you interest. This to me is fraud. If the bank can use my money and block me from accessing it, it is clearly fraud. Why is this still legal? Because many people say, ?what can I do?? Well, stand up and say something to start with, then make it an election thing. Stop worrying if homosexuals can achieve happiness, worry about how the banks are screwing you.

As for the automated balances, I believe they should be legally binding. If the bank has a hold against my account for a purchase, it should legally have to be put in my automated balance. Why can they withhold information from me about my account? Fraud, that's why. Get up and make a statement that we have had enough.

You will find that most financial institutions handle debits and credits in much the same way. They process the debits first and then the credits. This results in more NSF fees for them. And yes, it is legal as long as it's laid out in the "terms and conditions" you received when you opened the account.

These terms and conditions and give you the check holding policies. I don't know why a teller would say that it was not being held, I don't know any bank that doesn't hold a check. Some will release a portion of the funds, usually based on how long you've been banking with them.

Lastly, never rely on the automated balances. They do not take into consideration any pending debits, ie: checks written and not cashed or debit card transactions not processed. You need to maintain a check register so you know at one glance what your balance is.