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BBVA COMPASS BANK Exorbitant fees and backwards posting causes financial turmoil , Austin Texas
I have been with compass bank for a little over 11 years. Early in our relationship things were fine. I am good with keeping track of my money and not overspending. However, recently compass has moved to using a new "creative" way of posting transactions in order to collect fees. Over the course of one business day compass posts your debits and checks first, then they post your deposits. If you live paycheck to paycheck this means overdraft fees for you. It's not that you didn't have enough funds or that you are lazy and dont keep track of your money but if during the same business day you spend money, even a penny, more than what was in your account and deposit money or check to cover it you will still be hit with a Non Sufficient Funds charge of 38 or more dollars. This happened to me recently. I made two charges that equaled 46 dollars and the same day made an 800 dollar deposit. I was told by the teller that the check, equaling $500, that were written from compass accounts would post the same day. Not true. They charged me two seperate overdraft fees for a total of almost eighty dollars in fees.
On top of that, after the eight hundred cleared they began charging me NSF fees for new items which all in all totaled $570 so far in overdraft fees. How would compass expect someone to make up for this? Why do they post your checks and debits FIRST and not your deposits? Because they want to make money off of NSF fees. This is truly a deceptive practice and has for the last time brought my account into the negative. I am filing a lawsuit against them because not only have they sent me into finacnial distress but they are also unwilling to fix the error. I have been in contact with a banker at a local banch and she has done everything she can to make me feel unwanted, frustrated and today she even hung up on me. I have never been rude, pushy or angry with her. I have been calm, cool and collected but two weeks is more than enough time to handle this issue. If I owe for a real overdraft fee I will be more than happy to pay what I owe. But being charged ridiculous overdraft fees due to compass banks posting process is unacceptable. I am not looking for damages or restitution just what is owed me. I am just an individual trying to make ends meet and improve my quality of life. I also happen to be a fighter so to you compass bank, its coming.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
joyce
phoenix,Arizona,
USA
No Moral Compass
#6Consumer Comment
Fri, January 22, 2010
You are obviously an employee of the bank. You have no moral compass. get it.
Stacey
Dallas,Texas,
U.S.A.
Unbelievable
#6
Fri, August 21, 2009
You blame the bank for your inability to keep an accurate record of your OWN checking account and now you want to file a lawsuit against them for "stealing your money"
I have an answer to that - Keep a check register, reconcile your monthly statements and STOP using the online and ATM balance - I live paycheck to paycheck and have had NO overdraft fees in 5 + years
Grow up and take responsibility for your own actions
Jim
Anaheim,California,
U.S.A.
Banks Won Lawsuit....
#6
Fri, August 21, 2009
In the most recent cases, the banks have pursued this all the way through instead of settling like they used to, and the courts are finding that if the account holder failed to exercise any due diligence, the bank has no obligation to refund any of the fees. In other words, the court has found the fees as legal and decertified the class...
It is clearly disclosed that banks can post transactions in any order they wish and they choose to post debits before credits and in amounts highest to lowest. You can fight all you want - it is a waste of time to pursue. Maybe you can get the bank to settle the lawsuit with you. That's what BofA did last year. Each person in the class was paid $78. The lawyers were paid millions. The bank paid a few thousand and the insurance paid the rest.
That's what you have to look forward to. But don't worry, you should be able to easily find the person who is at fault. Where do you find this person?:
In a mirror.....best of luck to you.
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Suit?
#6
Thu, August 20, 2009
"Early in our relationship things were fine."
- 11 Years ago things were different.
I would bet that the quality of this "relationship" is in line with your Debit Card usage. In that the more you used your Debit Card the less fine the relationship became. Previously you probably either wrote checks or used cash. With cash you went to the ATM once and pulled out out a set amount of money instead of swiping your Debit Card 5-6 times for various small transactions. This act alone decreases the amount of your overdraft fees(if you do overdraft) significantly. In writing a check you could "hope" that the check will take a couple of days to get to the bank in effect "floating" the funds. So you never noticed how they post your debits or credits. But you can be pretty sure that it has been debits then credits for a very long time. It just didn't matter because the "debit"(check) came in after the credit(deposit).
If you do not have the money AVAILABLE in your account when you swipe your Debit Card or even write a check you have the very real possibility of over drafting. Yes, making sure you don't spend more than is available is a way to make sure you do not overdraft. Because then no matter how they post the transactions you won't go negative. If you don't go negative they can not hit you with Unavailable Funds or Overdraft fees.
"I am filing a lawsuit against them because not only have they sent me into financial distress but they are also unwilling to fix the error"
- Again the "error" was on your part. But what legal grounds are you filing the suit. Keep in mind that everything is disclosed to you when you open the account.
"am not looking for damages or restitution just what is owed me."
- I suggest you look up the term restitution.
If you really do keep track of your money and this is just a case that you don't know how the bank posts the transactions, take it as a learning experience(yes an expensive one). Because if you go to other banks, there is a very good chance that they post debits before credits. So be sure you know and understand how they do this before you open up your account.
Flynrider
Phoeix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Floating doesn't work anymore
#6
Thu, August 20, 2009
In the old days, what you are doing was called "floating a check". Basically, you write a check for money that is not in your account, then later you beat the check to the bank by making a deposit. Take your example :
"I made two charges that equaled 46 dollars and the same day made an 800 dollar deposit. "
At the time you made the charges, I'll bet you didn't have $46 in your account. That is an overdraft. In the old days, this would have worked because it took checks several days to get to the bank. Nowadays, the debit charges get to your bank within minutes. You just can't outrun them anymore unless you use checks.
The only way to keep from overdrafting is to keep an accurate check register for the account and avoid spending any more than your register tells you is in the account.