TCF National Bank Minnesota Questionable Business Practice West St. Paul, S, Minnesota
I had a 55+ free checking account with TCF since 2005. In the beginning I received paper statement every month. I changed to on line banking a few years later. Since February 2010, TCF amended the terms twice without sending email or US mail to notify me. A $9.95 monthly maintenance fee was imposed unless certain conditions were met:
Starting on 3/15/2010, they asked for a monthly deposit of $100.00 or more, maintaining a minimum balance of $500.00 or a combined balance of $2,500.00. The terms was changed in Jan. 2011. Effective 3/09/2011, they demanded a monthly deposit of $500.00 or more, 10 qualified withdraws or a combined balance of $2,500.00.
The bank is going to change the terms again next month. Starting on Nov. 11, 2011, customers are required to have 15 qualifying withdraws, or $10,000.00 balance with TCF; otherwise $9.95 per month.
I didn't use this checking account very often. I believed that my money with TCF was in good hand; I should be notified by mail if there is any change of terms. On 10/14/2011, I found out that my account was charged a total of about $100.00 maintenance fees. I talked to the branch manager and was told that it's their management decision to charge the fee; it's not their practice to notify customers the changes by email or regular mail. The notice they sent was buried in the monthly e-statement, mingled with their advertisements sometimes. They claimed that's my responsiblity to find out any new charges and there is nothing they can do for me.
I feel like being robbed. My money was stolen because I open the door for them.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Here is your problem
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, October 24, 2011
On 10/14/2011, I found out that my account was charged a total of about $100.00 maintenance fees.
- They didn't just charge you $100 all of the sudden. At $9.95 a month, that is about 10 months.
Had you complained about not being notified the first month you MAY have had a valid complaint. But letting it go 10 months because you didn't use the account "very often", is your fault. Whether your account has $10 or $10,000 it is YOUR money and your responsibility to reconcile your accounts every month. If you did you would have found this out sooner.
The notice they sent was buried in the monthly e-statement, mingled with their advertisements sometimes. They claimed that's my responsiblity to find out any new charges and there is nothing they can do for me.
- Had they sent it in a separate e-mail how would they know you wouldn't think it was spam? If they sent it by regular mail, how do they know you won't just trash it thinking it was junk mail? The fact is that they sent it with your regular monthly e-statement, because that is something you SHOULD be reading.
Oh, and this is a fairly standard way to notify customers of changes, so perhaps if you get other statements from other companies you may want to make sure that they don't have any changes included in their statements as well.