Complaint Review: Wachovia Bank

But for now, I tend to focus my efforts on the shady practices of the LARGE National banks. Specifically the ones in the top ten or top 20. You know. Where the BIG money is. Or, you could say I focus my efforts on the ones where the Ripoff Reports are. Just can't seem to find too many against Amsouth/Regions to be overly concerned with. Not to say that there aren't any or the few that do exist aren't important.

I just found it odd that a LARGE National bank the size of Wachovia could have a new fee in existence for YEARS, which the majority of it's customers don't know about and a fee which a lot if it's own employees and Branch Managers don't even understand and can't explain. Then when us outsiders read these Ripoff Reports against Wachovia, ALL of us are dumbfounded by it as well.......until FINALLY the light comes on about how this Ripoff practice works and the reason for the customer's complaint. That's the reason for the SPOTLIGHTED angst with Wachovia, but it's not to say there aren't other banks out there using shady practices.

"So, when Wachovia and First Union merged, the executives had a decision. Which name to choose. It should have been an easy decision. Even though it was billed as a merger for obvious reasons, in essence it was actually a purchase of Wachovia by First Union. So woudn't it seem logical that the new company would retain the name of the larger entity? Not so and here's why. The executives looked at First Union's consumer ratings, then they looked at Wachovia's consumer ratings and made a great business decision. They chose the name of the smaller bank because it had MUCH BETTER consumer ratings."

Look at AmSouth / Regions.

Supposedly, AmSouth is covered in lawsuits regarding fraudulent practises, while Regions had always been #1 in customer service. So what happens when they merge? Unsurprisingly, they use the Regions name, but follow the shady deceptive practises of AmSouth. If you think Wachovia is corrupt, I would highly recommend doing a google search of "badamsouth." I would also highly advise you to read about their scorecard abuse, along with how "closed accounts" are handled, and, most importantly, the "penny scams."

Then, we can talk about how horrible Wachovia is.

This report sums up the issue on all of these Wachovia reports regarding Unavailable Funds Fees. Review the history of First Union and Wachovia before the merger. Specifically look at their policies and then look at their CUSTOMER RATINGS. It was actually First Union that implemented the HATED Unavailable Funds Fee among other consumer unfriendly practices. So is it not surprising that First Union had horrible consumer ratings. On the other hand you had Wachovia which has always enjoyed stellar consumer ratings.

So, when Wachovia and First Union merged, the executives had a decision. Which name to choose. It should have been an easy decision. Even though it was billed as a merger for obvious reasons, in essence it was actually a purchase of Wachovia by First Union. So woudn't it seem logical that the new company would retain the name of the larger entity? Not so and here's why. The executives looked at First Union's consumer ratings, then they looked at Wachovia's consumer ratings and made a great business decision. They chose the name of the smaller bank because it had MUCH BETTER consumer ratings.

So they retained the Wachovia name, but they retained the hated policies of First Union. They slapped lipstick on that 'pig' and expected customers to say it was beautiful. Lisa, you left First Union for obvious reasons. Little did you know that when you opened an account with Wachovia, you were basically opening an account at your old First Union bank all over again, it just now has a different name. Dejavu! It's the Wachovia name with First Union policies, including the Unavailable Funds Fee which they don't tell you about in the Deposit Agreement. That's why so many of the original Wachovia customers are 'out of the loop', 'in the dark', and 'totally oblivious' to the unheard of Unavailable Funds Fee.

That's the history and that's the Ripoff Here.

Although I understand the obvious frustration of mutiple overdraft fees there is a simple solution to all overdraft problems. DO NOT spend money you don't have. Keep a record of every deposit made into your account and every withdrawl/purchase/payment/whatever that comes out of your account. That way you know exactly what is in your account at all times. (a good way to keep track of possible fraud by the way).
It is your responsibility as an adult to keep track of your accounts. If you don't have the money in your account then Wachovia has every right to charge you when they have to pay an item for you.

I did the same thing- made a mistake and made 4 separate purchases that exceeded my account balance by $2.67. I had 4 items on 'hold' and as result had 4 overdraft fees. My fiance banks at Wells Fargo and while they do post the highest item first I have NEVER EVER known her to be charged for a pending item. Did I mention they didn't post the highest item first and all were processed on different days ( a week and a half ago and I just received the glad tidings in the mail today) Oh and when the smallest item did post it shows a positive account balance on my online statement. It was only after that when they posted the 1st overdraft fee, for reasons still murky to me, than I went negative and s****.> What I want to know is why I can be charged an overdraft fee for an item on 'hold' but the bank won't deny a charge if it exceeds my available account balance due to items on 'hold'?

Wachovia customer service was equally unsupportive so I have filed complaint with:
-ripoffreport.com
-nevada banking commission
-national treasury
-my state legislator
-consumer reports
-better business bureau

$140 doesn't seem like it's worth all of this trouble but honestly I am peeved. I disliked Wells Fargo's banking practice simply from my fiances' experiences but compared to headache I got from Wachovia they look like heaven.

Did I mention that during my recent online investigation of Wachovia I found they have some rather unsavory business issues regarding posting un-endorsed checks to telemarketing scam accounts. Telemarketing scams that targeted elderly persons. When contacted about the abuse Wachovia ignored the issue, multiple occasions.

Also according to a forbes.com article Wachovia has allegedly been 'connected to Mexican exchange houses used to launder drug proceeds'.

And I am supposed to pay THESE people the overdraft amount?

I did the same thing- made a mistake and made 4 separate purchases that exceeded my account balance by $2.67. I had 4 items on 'hold' and as result had 4 overdraft fees. My fiance banks at Wells Fargo and while they do post the highest item first I have NEVER EVER known her to be charged for a pending item. Did I mention they didn't post the highest item first and all were processed on different days ( a week and a half ago and I just received the glad tidings in the mail today) Oh and when the smallest item did post it shows a positive account balance on my online statement. It was only after that when they posted the 1st overdraft fee, for reasons still murky to me, than I went negative and s****.> What I want to know is why I can be charged an overdraft fee for an item on 'hold' but the bank won't deny a charge if it exceeds my available account balance due to items on 'hold'?

Wachovia customer service was equally unsupportive so I have filed complaint with:
-ripoffreport.com
-nevada banking commission
-national treasury
-my state legislator
-consumer reports
-better business bureau

$140 doesn't seem like it's worth all of this trouble but honestly I am peeved. I disliked Wells Fargo's banking practice simply from my fiances' experiences but compared to headache I got from Wachovia they look like heaven.

Did I mention that during my recent online investigation of Wachovia I found they have some rather unsavory business issues regarding posting un-endorsed checks to telemarketing scam accounts. Telemarketing scams that targeted elderly persons. When contacted about the abuse Wachovia ignored the issue, multiple occasions.

Also according to a forbes.com article Wachovia has allegedly been 'connected to Mexican exchange houses used to launder drug proceeds'.

And I am supposed to pay THESE people the overdraft amount?

Banks create they're own polices in favor of the bank, provided there is no violation of the law governing banks. Wachovia seems to be the most creative at doing this. It only makes it legal until legislation catches up with their game.
Wachovia has been taken to court for numerous fraud and deception practices. We need to get this one added to the long list Wachovia thought they could get away with.

Because I pay all my bills at the same time each month a single simple mistake can cost me hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees. My single mistake, I was short $1.17, my overdraft charge $210. The best thing was when Wachovia transferred the shortage from another account without informing me and bounced 2 checks charging me another $70 on that account. Luckily these checks were written as a transfer to my new bank and they understood and didn't charge me anything.

Wow Dave, your story sure is a tough one. I only have a couple of issues with it...

First, the fact that your wife made the car payment without you knowing -technically- means this situation was a case of client-error. By no means did the bank have any reason to credit you back half of the overdraft fee's other than the fact that you are most likely a valuable client to them and they were trying to salvage the relationship.

Second, your idea that the bank was going to pay all of the items regardless of the fact is untrue. Most banks use an automated "matrix" system to pay items into the negative up to a certain point. This is generally different for every bank, client, situation, etc. Although in many (dare I say most?) cases all of the items will be posted without issue, there is still a very strong possibility that items will be returned (sans debit card purchases -- I believe those have to be paid regardless.)

Here is the tricky part: pretty much every bank in the nation operates in this exact same way. The fact-of-the-matter is that overdraft fees exist -- so perhaps rather than attacking a particular institution we should debate the need for overdraft fees at all. Banks justify these fee's in several ways: first, overdrafting your account is like giving you an unsecured loan (the interest paid being the fee) -- while this is understandable, paying a $32 fee for a $4 item is an 800% interest rate. Ridiculous. Second, "banks are a business, not a non-profit organization and fee-income is a main part of profitability" -- Ok, I can subscribe to this, but if banks can afford to offer free checking and still maintain multi-billion dollar operating budgets, I think they can skim off a bit of the overdraft fees.

Congratulations Dave, you closed your account at Wachovia and probably moved to a bank that would do the exact same thing to you in a heartbeat. I hate to say it, but unless there is an over-arching reform in modern banking, this is just the way things are going to go.

Once again, I'm not a Wachovia customer, nor am I a bank employee. However, in this modern world, how else is there to operate without a bank? I'm not justifying their practices, I'm just saying that unless there is a movement to reform banking overall, we must learn to adapt to their practices. And I guarantee you, as long as banks can charge these fees, they will.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,

I have Wachovia, and they finally screwed me too.

What we are forgetting about all this talk about highest to lowest... is that THEY ARE GOING TO PAY THE CHECK ANYWAY! This is my problem. In 20 years or more, I have never had a banking problem. I closed my accounts over this one.

Like the rest of you, I had several charges 'pending' and a couple of ATM withdrawls. I transferred a few thousand to another account (ebay transaction account). What I didn't know at the time was that my wife made a car payment. I check online, everything is fine. That night, the car payment comes in. Now, I have pending debit charges for a couple of days. I had 2 atm withdrawls the day before. The car payment check comes in, and they pay it, then go back AND CHARGE ME OVERDRAFTS on every item INCLUDING THE ATM WITHDRAWLS, which POST IMMEDIATELY!!! I am furious, and go down to the branch and ask the manager this question.

If I came in yesterday, and wanted to withdraw all my money, how much would I get. She checks the account and gives me a number. I ask her does that number include the pending items and atm, she says NO. I say why not? She says because that money isn't available to you. Then I ask, THEN HOW CAN YOU CHARGE ME FEES ON THOSE ITEMS? Since I didn't have access to that money, you can only charge me for the 1 Check! IT'S THE SAME d**n THING. And, the sad thing is a deposit came in and posted that night. Yet, they changed their rules about posting checks, they can do it anytime of day or night, instead of posting credits at midnight and then debits for that days receipts.

She hasn't a clue. She refunds 1/2 of the $220 in overdrafts. I close my accounts the next day.

To the Wachovia employees here - EXPLAIN THAT! No matter what you say, it's not right.

In response to Jennifer, most of us responding to this article HAVE been there. I'm not a customer of Wachovia nor an employee and unfortunately in your case the inproperly keyed deposit should have been considered bank error and the fees should have been refunded -- that much I agree with.

However, going back to Lisa's original problem, this is exactly how every bank in the entire world works. Banks often use the term "hold" to describe how a debit card purchase clears your account; I think this is misleading. You need to think about it in rational terms: you used your card to spend the money and the money is no longer available for you to use. Hence the term "available balance" -- money that is available for you to spend.

Modern banks will pay accounts into a negative balance as a curtousy to you; how emberassed would you have been if that $300 eye doctor purchase had been declined and you had to scramble around for another way to pay. You could have potentially had a serious situation on your hand, possibly even legal trouble if you were unable to present a secondary form of payment. If you find this unacceptable, most banks offer a way to have your debit card rejected when funds are not available, although they rarely advertise this for obvious reasons.

And in response to your complaint about larger items being paid first, put yourself in a real-life situation. Which purchase would you have rather had rejected -- a $300 eye doctor visit or a $4 purchase at the gas station? I would much rather the bank pay my mortgage and reject my pack of cigarettes -- who wants to deal with mortgage lates, increased rates and possible forclosure versus a return check fee?

If you absolutely cannot keep track of your finances in a written form and are spending more money than you have in your account, there is no reason to have a debit card. Simply keep an ATM card and deal with cash, as most ATM's will not let you overdraw. Having a debit card it a huge responsibility and many people, unfortunately, are not mature or responsible enough to handle it. I sympathize with your frustration, but perhaps next time you should identify the cause of the problem and learn from your mistake.

Annie said it best: Keep an account balance, don't spend money you don't have. Period.

Just a word to the wise who are very much siding with Wachovia because IT HASN'T HAPPENED TO YOU YET... It is very easy to sit back and criticize someone's banking practices and the robbing of Peter to pay Paul scenario that we are all guilty of at some point in our life when you've never been on the receiving end of this deal. I agree that when you chance it in certain situations, you have to pay up as one of you mentioned earlier and be responsible for your actions. BUT... What happens when you do everything the right way and you deposit the correct amount of money into your account (so you think) but the person who retreives the deposits from the drop box mind is elsewhere and he/she opens your paycheck and keys in the INCORRECT amount of the deposit (EMPLOYEE KEYED: $243.88; ACTUAL CHECK AMOUNT $2438.88). The problem seems so easily solved right? WRONG! I incurred over $200 dollars in $10 increments from my "OVERDRAFT PROTECTION" the money was being pulled over from my savings account to cover the charges against my account. It took me & a lawyer and about 37 days to get my overdraft charges back from these idiots... and they never apologized for the MISTAKE. Needless to say I closed my account.

Just a word to the wise who are very much siding with Wachovia because IT HASN'T HAPPENED TO YOU YET... It is very easy to sit back and criticize someone's banking practices and the robbing of Peter to pay Paul scenario that we are all guilty of at some point in our life when you've never been on the receiving end of this deal. I agree that when you chance it in certain situations, you have to pay up as one of you mentioned earlier and be responsible for your actions. BUT... What happens when you do everything the right way and you deposit the correct amount of money into your account (so you think) but the person who retreives the deposits from the drop box mind is elsewhere and he/she opens your paycheck and keys in the INCORRECT amount of the deposit (EMPLOYEE KEYED: $243.88; ACTUAL CHECK AMOUNT $2438.88). The problem seems so easily solved right? WRONG! I incurred over $200 dollars in $10 increments from my "OVERDRAFT PROTECTION" the money was being pulled over from my savings account to cover the charges against my account. It took me & a lawyer and about 37 days to get my overdraft charges back from these idiots... and they never apologized for the MISTAKE. Needless to say I closed my account.

Just a word to the wise who are very much siding with Wachovia because IT HASN'T HAPPENED TO YOU YET... It is very easy to sit back and criticize someone's banking practices and the robbing of Peter to pay Paul scenario that we are all guilty of at some point in our life when you've never been on the receiving end of this deal. I agree that when you chance it in certain situations, you have to pay up as one of you mentioned earlier and be responsible for your actions. BUT... What happens when you do everything the right way and you deposit the correct amount of money into your account (so you think) but the person who retreives the deposits from the drop box mind is elsewhere and he/she opens your paycheck and keys in the INCORRECT amount of the deposit (EMPLOYEE KEYED: $243.88; ACTUAL CHECK AMOUNT $2438.88). The problem seems so easily solved right? WRONG! I incurred over $200 dollars in $10 increments from my "OVERDRAFT PROTECTION" the money was being pulled over from my savings account to cover the charges against my account. It took me & a lawyer and about 37 days to get my overdraft charges back from these idiots... and they never apologized for the MISTAKE. Needless to say I closed my account.

Just a word to the wise who are very much siding with Wachovia because IT HASN'T HAPPENED TO YOU YET... It is very easy to sit back and criticize someone's banking practices and the robbing of Peter to pay Paul scenario that we are all guilty of at some point in our life when you've never been on the receiving end of this deal. I agree that when you chance it in certain situations, you have to pay up as one of you mentioned earlier and be responsible for your actions. BUT... What happens when you do everything the right way and you deposit the correct amount of money into your account (so you think) but the person who retreives the deposits from the drop box mind is elsewhere and he/she opens your paycheck and keys in the INCORRECT amount of the deposit (EMPLOYEE KEYED: $243.88; ACTUAL CHECK AMOUNT $2438.88). The problem seems so easily solved right? WRONG! I incurred over $200 dollars in $10 increments from my "OVERDRAFT PROTECTION" the money was being pulled over from my savings account to cover the charges against my account. It took me & a lawyer and about 37 days to get my overdraft charges back from these idiots... and they never apologized for the MISTAKE. Needless to say I closed my account.

Does NOT hold your funds for DAYS. The bank will hold it for ONE (1) BUSINESS DAY once they recieve the hold request. If the business that you use the card at doesn't send the request off for a couple of days, it's NOT the banks fault. So keep an acurate checkbook balance and you will NEVER get an overdraft fee, I PROMISE. And if you aren't able to do that SIMPLE thing, I then recomend you CLOSE your accounts and ONLY WORK WITH CASH.

It is absurd to lay the blame 100% on the consumer's shoulders when a bank is allowed by law to skillfully manipulate your funds in such as way as to cheat you. Wachovia is ripping folks off. A minor overdraft of $3.00 caused charges of over $200 as THEIR charges make you go into overdraft. They hold your funds on check card purchases for days then clear a newer larger item prior to crediting your deposit adn then hit you with fees for EVERY LITTLE ONE OF THE ALREADY "HELD" FUNDS. Do not aggravate me by pointing your self righteous finger and saying it is all my fault! The punishment should fit the crime, I can tell you that a very, very minor shortfall in your account will cost you the equivalent of a car payment while you sit helplessly watching items you would have been able to cover bounce and accumulate charges until next you get paid. This should not be legal. The banks do not deserve to profit so heavily upon the poor cash flows of working folks. I have no patience with people who defend banks, banks are bloodsuckers.

Lisa,

Nope, not a Wachovia employee...not even a banker by profession. I'm an artist, live commission by commission. I know what it's like to rob Peter to pay Paul, and I've been bitten in the butt multiple times by my own doing.

However, I also acknowledge what I'm doing. I take my lumps when it happens and move on.

Are you ready to do the same? If you know you authorized more in transactions than your account has money for, why do you gripe? Be prepared, expect the unexpected. If you don't like the rules, change the game.

Why didn't you pay the doctor from the 600 dollars you were going to deposit instead of knowingly overdrawing your account.

A hold on you account simply means those funds are no longer available to draw against. The actual charge is not posted until the amount is verified.

It would be wise of you to read through you account terms and conditions to get familiar with your bank's policies on funds availablity and holds so that you can avoid making this kind of mistake in the future.

Good luck.

If Peter (Wachovia) had actually paid Paul (my eye Doctor) your response may me valid, but the funds are still in my account. Essentially Wachovia charged me $90 to use my own money.

Annie's response is an exemplary example of Wachovia customer service.

About ten years ago I had my business account at First Union, which later became Wachovia. I was incurring several hundred dollars' worth of overdraft charges each month: it was taking up to 10 business days for the funds from my deposited checks to be available. I should point out that I have a local business and the vast majority of my customers were paying me from local banks. After a while I started requesting customers to make out the checks to me personally; that way I would cash them at the customer's bank and deposit cash in my account. But Wachovia (nee First Union, or FU as I began to refer to them) continued to charge overdrafts, even though there was a continual balance. At that point we parted ways. I have recently spoken with some local Wachovia officers and they tell me the bank is much more customer-friendly these days. I have been banking at Commerce for the past several years and have had absolutley no complaints. Just thought you'd like to have my two cents.

Lisa,

Welcome to the electronic age. Keep an account balance. Don't write, authorize, debit, etc. anything that isn't actually in your account at the time. That's it.

Your complaint is no different than those posted about other banks. Wachovia is probably no different than hundreds of other banks. The days of robbing Peter to pay Paul is over. Get used to it.