Complaint Review: BB&T - Lumberton North Carolina

WOW. Sounds so familiar. BB&T is the biggest rip off bank. I have used several other banks in the past and I can  say that I've paid out more in overdraft fees in the last six months than ever in my life with this banking institution. So I refuse to pay...I racked up $600 in overdraft because they are telling me my available balance (the direct deposited pay for the week $980) is actually not in my account though my account reflects. In order to spend $980 in one weekend blows my mind especially when I only had spent about $300.  Well I opened another account, changed my direct deposit and am leaving BB&T with this negative balance. I refuse to pay it. I don't care if it goes on my credit report...its the principal of the matter!

All of them. Local, Regional, and National. ABC News just did a report on this subject and they concluded the very same thing. All banks sort transactions, all banks charge oerdrafts based on available balance. The only difference is the fee paid. Even credt unions - the place where fee avoidance was possible - is no more as their fees are coming closer to those charged by banks (about a $5-$8 difference based on the ABC report). Since all banks are the same, this boils down to money management. In other words, if you overdraft here, you overdraft everywhere. It really is that simple.

All of them. Local, Regional, and National. ABC News just did a report on this subject and they concluded the very same thing. All banks sort transactions, all banks charge oerdrafts based on available balance. The only difference is the fee paid. Even credt unions - the place where fee avoidance was possible - is no more as their fees are coming closer to those charged by banks (about a $5-$8 difference based on the ABC report). Since all banks are the same, this boils down to money management. In other words, if you overdraft here, you overdraft everywhere. It really is that simple.

I have read many of the BB&T complaints. There seem to be a lot of self righteous people telling the complainers that they need to learn how to manage their money, then we have to listen to third parties justify the practices of BB&T (or one of 10-20 other banks who have changed their practices under the direction of consultants who have advised the industry on ways to make more revenue. Some are legitimate, innovative ways to help consumers and bring costs down. Some of the changes are clearly ways to wring more fees out of unsuspecting consumers. It's well known that banks used to pay overdrafts for "good customers" simply as a courtesy. Since the Supreme Court changed the rules of oversight banks have been allowed to charge virtually any sort of fees they wish. The first issue is the change itself. Many of the complaints talk about the fact that the way they bank was changed. Even responsible people were caught off guard (the banks new that changes would generate enormous amounts of revenue). Many of them complained and I'm sure many of them got some of their money back. But the changes, overall mostly impact the irresponsible, the lazy, and the ignorant. Before the perfectly responsible among you jump up on your soap box and start to lecture on how they deserve it, consider this. Your tax money provides services to those that can't afford them. Has anyone considered that if corporations didn't prey on these people that the amount we pay in taxes might go down because people might have a little more of their own money? Does anyone else resent the fact that the tax money used for these programs is indirectly going to corporations that are perfecting the art of wringing money out of those without it? Clearly the most predatory practice is rearranging your withdrawals so that they hit largest first. While other changes were made to prevent the practice of floating checks. Everything is real time, but withdrawals aren't taken in the order they are received, they are strategically and purposefully rearranged to earn more money for the banks. Not all banks do this mind you. Many local banks don't rearrange checks. I'm going to address the next comment that is sure to arise. Why not simply switch banks and stop complaining? If charging fees is as lucrative as we all know it is (45% of banks would have been in the red last year of not for these fees - I'll address this in a min). So if banks like BB&Fee, Wachovia, Citibank and others are making billions, they can and will use that money to create perceptions though advertizing. In other words they will lie. My local bank will be forced to follow the practices established by the corporate banks in order to stay competitive. The banking industry is lobbying hard to prevent changes and oversight claiming that 45% of banks wouldn't have shown a profit last year without them. So instead of asking a company like BB&Fee to use the 109 billion in revenue they earned last year to innovate and become more efficient, you know, the American way, banks want to maintain the status quo and ask the government for bailout money and they want to take advantage of peoples ignorance. Something that we all will end of having to pay for in the end.

> If you have payroll check, check with the your local bank and how long do they put on hold. Most well know local business payroll check will not put on hold and will clear that night. The only thing that will put in deposit and clear is direct-deposit. Double check again. Almost all personal check by other will put on hold. Don't spend money on these until it really clear from your bank. If large personal check by other, tell the bank that you would like to have bank put hold check until it clear by other bank. Bank can do this for you. I had done this once and my bank notify me of return check (NSF) but it was on hold. No return charge on me. So my bank reverse the hold and drop. Total service charge: $5.00. I notify the friend of return check. Cash + service change of $40.

You did not make the deposit in time for the deposit to post and clear before the debits hit your account-you overdrafted your account. Ways to avoid these NSF/OD fees: Using an account register and reconciling that register with a monthly account statement from the bank will prevent any account holder from causing any NSF/OD fees. The majority (if not all) of the reports I've read about NSF/OD fees have common behaviors of the account holders: -using atm cards for everyday purchases. -using more than ONE card attached to the account (husband and wife) -using atm cards for online purchases. -using atm cards for 'auto-bill pay' (autodebits) **relying upon telephone or online account balances to determine what money is available for that shopping trip to Walmart. **NOT using an account register. **NOT being aware of deposit holds; types and durations. 1. Use an account register and reconcile the account register with a monthly written statement generated by the bank. If the bank is not mailing statements, contact customer service to have monthly statements MAILED to you. 1a. Be aware of ATM fees, such as the 'non-bank ATM fee' that most banks charge when you use an ATM that is not owned by your bank to make a withdrawal and post that fee in your account register immediately. 1b. Also be aware of any monthly 'account service fee' charged by your bank and post that to your register on the appropriate date. 2. Do NOT GIVE bank account information (or ATM card info) to any merchant, service provider, utility, online service to pay for services and goods. Use a REAL credit card for this purpose (either secured cc or unsecured cc.) Do not setup any automatic deposit to an account that is attached to said cc-NO auto payments to CC company-mail a check each month. If the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're gonna have a host of problems and risk OD/NSF fees. 3. Do NOT use an ATM card for everyday expenses-USE CASH. Establish a monthly budget and withdrawal a weekly 'allowance' for every day expenses such as 'milk and bread' from the corner store, Burger King, etc. This will reduce the amount of transactions on the bank account which in turn makes RECONCILING the account and detecting ERRORS easier to accomplish. Again, if the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're gonna risk NSF/OD fees. 4. Do not shop with the ATM card-use a real credit card. A real credit card offers protections that you don't have with an ATM card. If the merchant/service makes a mistake, you can dispute it with the CC company WITHOUT getting any OD/NSF. Not true if you use an ATM card-if the merchant makes a mistake, your money is gone until you can convince your bank to give it back, as well as OD/NSF fees. 5. ONLY ONE ATM CARD to one account. Do NOT have 2 or more atm cards for one bank account. Having 'his and hers' ATM cards attached to the same account is the same as in the old days when some folks would have 2 checkbooks for writing checks. It was an invitation to disaster then, and it is today. 6. Verify that deposits to the account have actually cleared. Deposits can take anywhere between 1 and 5 BUSINESS days to clear depending on the type and/or source of the deposit. Deposits over $5000 can take even LONGER before they are posted to the account. The Federal Reserve publishes a Consumer Compliance Handbook which gives detailed information about what banks can and cannot do with deposits, holds, and funds availability. You can download this handbook at http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/200711/cch200711.pdf Follow ALL of these suggestions and you will NEVER pay an OD/NSF fee again unless it is a LEGITIMATE bank error or caused by a merchant. If it is caused by a bank error the bank will gladly and quickly rectify the situation and credit any fees generated as well as contact payees and cover any fees the payees assess to you. If the fee is caused by a merchant error, you will need to hold the merchant accountable for the fees, although in many cases the bank may reverse the fees as a courtesy if the merchant confirms that the merchant made an error. This is a tried and true method to avoid these fees. It works EVERY TIME it's tried.

Tired, you did this to yourself. By your own admission, you deposited $560 on Wednesday befoe 1PM. However, you made your car payment on a Monday. So in essence, you did intentionally overdraw your account. All of the bookkeeping in the world won't show your account as overdrafted on Monday - that's what your own check register should have said, right? So you were really overdrawn on that day, right? In essence you floated for two days in the hope you would not overdraft the account. That's too bad....floating is something banks don't really tolerate much of anymore. Now the bank immediately made $100 available to you on the 24th (Wednesday); that isn't simply a policy your bank provides - it's a policy at EVERY bank; it's a requirement under the law. If you had done this at BofA, Chase, US Bank, Citi, and any other bank out there, you would also have overdrafted your account. When you opened your account, you agreed with the bank that they would process all debits before they would process your deposits or any other credits; again this is industry-wide and would be the same at any bank you go to. Again, if you deposited the $560 in your account at any other bank, you would have been treated in the exact same way as you were here. It's irrelevant whether there was enough money in the account; what's relevant is whether the money was available. $460 of your deposit would not have been available for you to use until Thursday at the earliest, so you end up overdrafting. It isn't simply a matter of keeping a register; it's a matter of making decisions based on what it says. If your account would have been overdrawn on a Monday by making the car payment, then I suspect being late a couple of days would not have cost you $105 in NSF fees. This wasn't the big bank preying on the small customer. This was the case of the small customer mismanaging their money... Best of luck to you...

You have to have the money available in your account BEFORE you make the payment. By making a payment and then trying to make a deposit to cover the payment you will cause yourself fees every time.

For your information, I spoke to a BB&T customer service representative who stated I DID deposit my money on time, but said their policy is to only credit $100 of a deposit made the first day. Which means although I had MORE THAN ENOUGH to pay a bill with I MAILED (so they couldn't see it), they only gave me $100 credit in my account. (Whoo h*o! Let's make money!!) He also said I should have "cashed the check" and deposited the cash for immediate credit. What difference does it make??? I have spoken to NUMEROUS bank employees from other banks, and have been informed that if you bring in a check for deposit, they will only give you the 1st $100 of it "in cash" if you don't have that amount in your account. But they will BY NO MEANS not credit you that amount to your account that night - CREDITS BEFORE DEBITS - terminology BB&T are not familiar with. Apparently Ms. Ashley of Missouri must be a loyal BB&T employee, not a "customer." I feel soooooo sorry for her. She sounds like the perfect BB&T flunkie working behind the counter. You can keep your advice sweetheart. I doubt you're so perfect that you would never dream of throwing a bill in the mail before making a deposit! Oh God forbid!! FYI, I used to work for a bank and have not had this problem in the past with any other financial institutions. It's unheard of! And since I have since closed this account, I WILL NOT HAVE IT AGAIN!

STOP OVERDRAFTING YOUR ACCOUNT You make it clear you have no idea how a bank works: You paid your car payment on monday, knowing full well the money was not in the account. You went to the bank on Wed. to try and cover the payment. You didn't make it in time and got an NSF charge. Guess what, you can't bank that way. If you want to avoid NSF charges, then you have to have the money sitting in the bank when you authorize the charge. You cannot deposit money AFTER authorizing the charge and expect the deposit to clear. Your bank was right to charge you NSF fund fees. They saw you sent a payment on monday, and did not have the funds for it on monday. You will have this same problem at any bank you go to until you learn how to bank correctly.