Complaint Review: Wachovia - Sandy Springs. Georgia Nationwide

First and foremost I am a third generation banker that can prove everything with firsthand experience and I urge anyone...(attorney, individual, or uninformed individuals of illegal bank practices)...to question me on the contents of my knowledge and personal experience as an employee of this bank. I can go into deep detail if need be but to keep things really simple (that's the kind of individual I am) and to break it down to the pieces that anyone can understand so here we go. 1 Wachovia pays their people extremely well. Creates loyalty to the firm. 2 Commissions are based off of financial center performance ratings (ex. customer surveys where a 1-7 rating is used) and this is a large part of monthly incentive payouts for all bank staff ESPECIALLY THE LFS (licensed financial specialist) position. By the way there is NO CAP on these monthly commissions. 3 Financial centers are given between $500 - $2,000 allowance monthly to credit what the Financial Center Manager deems to be "bank error." This is to guard against tellers not sending in their work (ex. client deposits) to proof each day at 2pm. 4 The amount of courtesy refunds is based on branch size, total deposit size, and future potential of client to make the bank more money. If you don't believe me I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE YOU I can prove this better than anyone. Now I can go on and on about the management and the employees being so sectioned and compartmentalized but I will leave all of that for another time just know that I had a $310 million dollar Book of Business or BOB and since I led the area in production for close to 3 years, my boss decided, when she was demoted due to 3 pending lawsuits against her, to conveniently take my job due to not meeting performance goals. I can tell you all day that I was the top producer but no one has to believe me, and that is the beautiful part about it because even though they shreded almost everything I had I managed to keep almost all of my awards and accomplishments to include the 4 months before I was "involuntarily dismissed" for not meeting performance standards I received on top of base pay, and should have received a monthly commission of around 18k but I will not get into all of that right now, but I will tell you that the certificates or recognition had additional monies with gift cards attached to them to prove I had met my sales goals for those months, and just so happened to win the competitions the bank had going on at that time. Also banks on average collect around $60k - $100k per financial center in this area. So the question I have is why do they need all of this money? Anyone with COMMON SENSE as someone said earlier would quit trying to defend the poor starving banks and look at why they are laying off their top producing employees? Then scaring them into an arbitration that they decline to accept and throw on top of that a state that is an at will employer and FOLKS YOU HAVE YOURSELF A GOOD OLD FASHIONED ..... most people call it rape and fraud but the funny thing is the state next to me fired a lot of LFS's for putting individuals into a checking account either Crown Banking or Crown Classic and a 90 day service of summary of accounts sheet (mandatory to fill out on each account and said Wachovia will refund any service charge on this account within 90 then if balances were not met as per Wachovia limits the client called the banker and the account title was switched to a free account. But after management pushed excessively to put people into this account and flip it after 90 days because it is a GREAT PRODUCT. Little did the LFS's know it was a great product to allow the bank to get rid of all of them. In my area we had some "Favorites of management" that got to keep their job though? Is that ethical? Ask yourself PLEASE if you would defend that before you stir the pot that you have NO IDEA WHAT HAS BEEN COOKING? You can reach me either by replying to this site. I look forward to responding to anyone calling me out on Wachovia being an ethical company or a company with integrity. THANKS for your time and I would be glad to help in a conviction of the theft they have caused clients.

If memory serves, no specific action was recommended. Even if a few politicians pretend to be outraged by the findings, it will take time for any new legislation to take effect and I'd be willing to bet there will still be expensive fees charged when someone overdrafts their account. People will still need to manage their finances. It would be great if people didn't have to pay overdraft fees. I just don't think they should wait for Congress to rescue them. There's no reason why someone couldn't improve their financial management skills today.

The FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Programs (Dec 2, 2008) is posted at www.fdic.gov. Bank overdraft loans are shockingly expensive. Small transactions at high fees for short repayment periods translate into interest rates that start at 1,000 percent APR. Bank overdraft loans are very expensive. Based on the average size of transactions that overdrew accounts, the FDIC calculated the annual percentage rate (APR) for a two week repayment period using the typical $27 fee. A $20 overdraft triggered by a debit card purchase at a store costs 3,520 percent APR. Consumers who live in low income areas pay the most in overdraft fees, and low income consumers are more likely to have recurrent overdrafts. The Federal Reserve's proposed rules should be strengthened to require affirmative consumer choice, Truth in Lending Act disclosures, and prohibit manipulation of the order of processing withdrawals. British bank customers are now filing for reimbursement of overdraft fees charged.

The FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Programs (Dec 2, 2008) is posted at www.fdic.gov. Bank overdraft loans are shockingly expensive. Small transactions at high fees for short repayment periods translate into interest rates that start at 1,000 percent APR. Bank overdraft loans are very expensive. Based on the average size of transactions that overdrew accounts, the FDIC calculated the annual percentage rate (APR) for a two week repayment period using the typical $27 fee. A $20 overdraft triggered by a debit card purchase at a store costs 3,520 percent APR. Consumers who live in low income areas pay the most in overdraft fees, and low income consumers are more likely to have recurrent overdrafts. The Federal Reserve's proposed rules should be strengthened to require affirmative consumer choice, Truth in Lending Act disclosures, and prohibit manipulation of the order of processing withdrawals. British bank customers are now filing for reimbursement of overdraft fees charged.

The FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Programs (Dec 2, 2008) is posted at www.fdic.gov. Bank overdraft loans are shockingly expensive. Small transactions at high fees for short repayment periods translate into interest rates that start at 1,000 percent APR. Bank overdraft loans are very expensive. Based on the average size of transactions that overdrew accounts, the FDIC calculated the annual percentage rate (APR) for a two week repayment period using the typical $27 fee. A $20 overdraft triggered by a debit card purchase at a store costs 3,520 percent APR. Consumers who live in low income areas pay the most in overdraft fees, and low income consumers are more likely to have recurrent overdrafts. The Federal Reserve's proposed rules should be strengthened to require affirmative consumer choice, Truth in Lending Act disclosures, and prohibit manipulation of the order of processing withdrawals. British bank customers are now filing for reimbursement of overdraft fees charged.

The FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Programs (Dec 2, 2008) is posted at www.fdic.gov. Bank overdraft loans are shockingly expensive. Small transactions at high fees for short repayment periods translate into interest rates that start at 1,000 percent APR. Bank overdraft loans are very expensive. Based on the average size of transactions that overdrew accounts, the FDIC calculated the annual percentage rate (APR) for a two week repayment period using the typical $27 fee. A $20 overdraft triggered by a debit card purchase at a store costs 3,520 percent APR. Consumers who live in low income areas pay the most in overdraft fees, and low income consumers are more likely to have recurrent overdrafts. The Federal Reserve's proposed rules should be strengthened to require affirmative consumer choice, Truth in Lending Act disclosures, and prohibit manipulation of the order of processing withdrawals. British bank customers are now filing for reimbursement of overdraft fees charged.

Jim, I wanted to point out something to you about mistakes. You are correct when you say that managing a banking register is something a child could do. You are incorrect when you say that a mistake is something a child wouldn't do. Mistakes are made by all kinds of people of all ages. And most people I know forgiven those mistakes. If the person repeatedly makes the mistake then some sort of punishment is meted out. Wachovia and most large banks feel that a mistake is something that need not be forgiven. Mary is correct when she says some mistakes are not the customers fault. Judging from her comments I'd say she was the victim of one of those situations. I know I have been and was charged fees for those mistakes. The response to me when a restaurant accidentially ran my ATM card for more than the bill and caused an overdraft was go to them for the fee refund. We didn't make the mistake. It sounds to me like you are someone from inside the bank and will defend them to the death. That is an admiral quality unless you're defending something that is clearly wrong. Then it is just blind loyallity. Even if your not from a bank defending practices that are marginally legal at best is wrong. Some day you may make a mistake, Maybe in your banking maybe some in soe other activity and lets see how you feel about it then.

To the person who came down negatively on those with NSF fees and called them a "child" (Jim, I think) The problem here is with Wachovia Bank. I understand that sometimes people do incur overdraft fees through their own fault, and of course those who repeatedly do it with no thought do deserve to be charged (obviously there must be some consequence). But when there is an error that is clearly not the consumer's fault (like a company withdrawing funds before they've stated), or dates/charges being switched around, and the bank then charges $121 for the same transaction, there is a major problem. This is a rip-off, plain and simple, and it's horrible business that apparently the consumers can't do anything about.

Thanks for your input Jim. I know most people don't incur the fees and those that do probably were charged due to there own negligence or, more commonly, a mistake. And that is where the problem lies. If I or anyone else makes an accounting mistake then the bank should take that into consideraion and reverse the fee. They know who the bad eggs are and who is responsible with their money. I was just recently the victim of an accounting error and was charged $30.00 or $40.00 for that mistake. I paid a bill out of the wrong account and before I realized the mistake several transactions came through causing my Overdraft protection to kick in. When I approached the bank and told them of my mistake they basically said too bad for you. I have been with this bank for several years, never had an overdraft and have several accounts with them but they, like most other large banks, seem to be more interested in gathering fees than providing good customer relations. That is why I have chosen to go with a small local bank. Charging $30.00 for a computer transaction that takes milliseconds is outrageous. I could go on at length about banks and their underhanded practices. If Wachovia was such a good bank why are there so many postings on the site, why are they in the trouble they are in and why do I have to bail them out? My point in writing this is to get people to take control of the system. We are the ones that control the market not the mega-banks of the world. If people are tried of fees for making too many withdrawals (I actually had a bank manager tell me that they charged me a fee for making more than 3 withdrawals of my own money from my savings account to encourage me to save money. If they want me to save money give me a better interest rate than .25%) or making a mistake or whatever other reason they think they have to charge a fee drop them and go somewhere else. As I said in my previous posting, if the banks think they're in trouble now wait until they don't have any customers. Let's see if they can fee their way out of that.

Thanks for your input Jim. I know most people don't incur the fees and those that do probably were charged due to there own negligence or, more commonly, a mistake. And that is where the problem lies. If I or anyone else makes an accounting mistake then the bank should take that into consideraion and reverse the fee. They know who the bad eggs are and who is responsible with their money. I was just recently the victim of an accounting error and was charged $30.00 or $40.00 for that mistake. I paid a bill out of the wrong account and before I realized the mistake several transactions came through causing my Overdraft protection to kick in. When I approached the bank and told them of my mistake they basically said too bad for you. I have been with this bank for several years, never had an overdraft and have several accounts with them but they, like most other large banks, seem to be more interested in gathering fees than providing good customer relations. That is why I have chosen to go with a small local bank. Charging $30.00 for a computer transaction that takes milliseconds is outrageous. I could go on at length about banks and their underhanded practices. If Wachovia was such a good bank why are there so many postings on the site, why are they in the trouble they are in and why do I have to bail them out? My point in writing this is to get people to take control of the system. We are the ones that control the market not the mega-banks of the world. If people are tried of fees for making too many withdrawals (I actually had a bank manager tell me that they charged me a fee for making more than 3 withdrawals of my own money from my savings account to encourage me to save money. If they want me to save money give me a better interest rate than .25%) or making a mistake or whatever other reason they think they have to charge a fee drop them and go somewhere else. As I said in my previous posting, if the banks think they're in trouble now wait until they don't have any customers. Let's see if they can fee their way out of that.

Thanks for your input Jim. I know most people don't incur the fees and those that do probably were charged due to there own negligence or, more commonly, a mistake. And that is where the problem lies. If I or anyone else makes an accounting mistake then the bank should take that into consideraion and reverse the fee. They know who the bad eggs are and who is responsible with their money. I was just recently the victim of an accounting error and was charged $30.00 or $40.00 for that mistake. I paid a bill out of the wrong account and before I realized the mistake several transactions came through causing my Overdraft protection to kick in. When I approached the bank and told them of my mistake they basically said too bad for you. I have been with this bank for several years, never had an overdraft and have several accounts with them but they, like most other large banks, seem to be more interested in gathering fees than providing good customer relations. That is why I have chosen to go with a small local bank. Charging $30.00 for a computer transaction that takes milliseconds is outrageous. I could go on at length about banks and their underhanded practices. If Wachovia was such a good bank why are there so many postings on the site, why are they in the trouble they are in and why do I have to bail them out? My point in writing this is to get people to take control of the system. We are the ones that control the market not the mega-banks of the world. If people are tried of fees for making too many withdrawals (I actually had a bank manager tell me that they charged me a fee for making more than 3 withdrawals of my own money from my savings account to encourage me to save money. If they want me to save money give me a better interest rate than .25%) or making a mistake or whatever other reason they think they have to charge a fee drop them and go somewhere else. As I said in my previous posting, if the banks think they're in trouble now wait until they don't have any customers. Let's see if they can fee their way out of that.

Thanks for your input Jim. I know most people don't incur the fees and those that do probably were charged due to there own negligence or, more commonly, a mistake. And that is where the problem lies. If I or anyone else makes an accounting mistake then the bank should take that into consideraion and reverse the fee. They know who the bad eggs are and who is responsible with their money. I was just recently the victim of an accounting error and was charged $30.00 or $40.00 for that mistake. I paid a bill out of the wrong account and before I realized the mistake several transactions came through causing my Overdraft protection to kick in. When I approached the bank and told them of my mistake they basically said too bad for you. I have been with this bank for several years, never had an overdraft and have several accounts with them but they, like most other large banks, seem to be more interested in gathering fees than providing good customer relations. That is why I have chosen to go with a small local bank. Charging $30.00 for a computer transaction that takes milliseconds is outrageous. I could go on at length about banks and their underhanded practices. If Wachovia was such a good bank why are there so many postings on the site, why are they in the trouble they are in and why do I have to bail them out? My point in writing this is to get people to take control of the system. We are the ones that control the market not the mega-banks of the world. If people are tried of fees for making too many withdrawals (I actually had a bank manager tell me that they charged me a fee for making more than 3 withdrawals of my own money from my savings account to encourage me to save money. If they want me to save money give me a better interest rate than .25%) or making a mistake or whatever other reason they think they have to charge a fee drop them and go somewhere else. As I said in my previous posting, if the banks think they're in trouble now wait until they don't have any customers. Let's see if they can fee their way out of that.

Pat, I read an internal bank report recently that puts the % of customers incurring NSF at around 20%, which isn't really surprising - since I always thought most people adequately keep a register and never overdraw their account. It would be hard to gather significant support when a small minority of people don't incur such fees except through their own fiscal mismanagement. And that's the perfect description for someone who overdraws an account - it's simple mismanagement of their funds made by performing a simple mistake a child could do correctly. Given that the courts have already adjudicated the decision on whether the fees are fair (they are) and whether their application to account holder was correct (it was, since it was based on a signed account agreement), no one is going to move forward on something like this. The best way to avoid overdraft fees is by keeping an accurate register that is reconciled monthly....never depend on any banking institution to tell you what your balance is - that's what your register is for.

Dan, First the reason my response to this posting is there several times is not because I like to hear myself talk, which apparently you do, but rather due to the submit button appearing not to have accepted my comment. Secondly, you must be very prod of yourself to not have ever paid NSF charges. Congratulations to you. I can see from your response to the people that have been ripped off by Wachovia that you must have a rather high opinion of yourself. I only wish I was as omnipotent as you so I could lead a mistake free life such as your own. Let me know when the beatification ceremony takes place so I can come and by blessed by you.

A docket number yet?

I can't wait to see you run out of money paying all those fees related to the lawsuit, and then still pay nsf/od fees to whatever bank you deal with because you don't READ and UNDERSTAND the terms of your account. Get a "for dummies" book on account management, and read it. It WILL help you. To Pat- posting the same drivel over and over DOESN'T help make people believe you. One post is enough to get your point across. Disclaimer- NEVER worked for a bank/financial co. NEVER paid a nsf/od fee to ANYONE in last 20 yrs by just using COMMON SENSE.

I think it's a great idea to get a class action suit against Wachovia or any other bank that is more interested in fees than customers. I think a bank has every right to charge fees if a person is truly irresponsible and continually overdrafts their account. On the other hand when someone makes an honest mistake and the banks refuses to reverse the charge or clears checks or payments in such a way as to maximize the fees they can collect then they are wrong and need to be stopped. I too was a victim of their practices and due to the attitude of the branch manager to treat me as if I was a two year old and needed a paddling instead of just reversing the fee I took actions into my own hands. First I picketed outside the bank and handed out fliers explaining what I was doing and why. The reaction of the manager was to call the cops on me and when they refused to tell me to cease and desist as the manager wanted them to do he threatened to sic Wachovia's lawyers on me. I encouraged him to do so since I wanted nothing more than to bring this to the attention of the courts. Needless to say I never heard from their lawyers. I then contacted the local news media consumer advocate department and they sent someone out to interview me about my experience with Wachovia. This interview was aired on the local evening news program. I then, and in my opinion this is the greatest tool we as consumers have considering the "banking crisis"' closed my accounts with them. If we as consumers, who control the markets, band together and decide not to allow banks to rip us off with fees etc by closing our accounts the banks may change their practices. This is a rare opportunity for the people to get what we want. If banks don't want to stop charging fees for honest mistakes people make or at least reverse them when someone makes an occasional overdraft then take your money out of their institution. A bank isn't going to be able to do business without our money. It's time to get theses huge corporate banks to treat us like customers and not revenue generators so the CEO's can reap huge bonuses at our expense. If they think they need a bailout now because of their greed and mismanagement what do you think they would do if everyone decided to take their money out of these "venerable institutions"? Take your money and deposit it in a small local bank that actually cares about their customers and treats them right because the people that own and work in these banks are your neighbors and friends. I'm sure your local bank would love to have you as a customer. Tell your big corporate bank to either stop with the fees and dubious practices or suffer the consequences of losing their customers. Now is the time to make a change.

I think it's a great idea to get a class action suit against Wachovia or any other bank that is more interested in fees than customers. I think a bank has every right to charge fees if a person is truly irresponsible and continually overdrafts their account. On the other hand when someone makes an honest mistake and the banks refuses to reverse the charge or clears checks or payments in such a way as to maximize the fees they can collect then they are wrong and need to be stopped. I too was a victim of their practices and due to the attitude of the branch manager to treat me as if I was a two year old and needed a paddling instead of just reversing the fee I took actions into my own hands. First I picketed outside the bank and handed out fliers explaining what I was doing and why. The reaction of the manager was to call the cops on me and when they refused to tell me to cease and desist as the manager wanted them to do he threatened to sic Wachovia's lawyers on me. I encouraged him to do so since I wanted nothing more than to bring this to the attention of the courts. Needless to say I never heard from their lawyers. I then contacted the local news media consumer advocate department and they sent someone out to interview me about my experience with Wachovia. This interview was aired on the local evening news program. I then, and in my opinion this is the greatest tool we as consumers have considering the "banking crisis"' closed my accounts with them. If we as consumers, who control the markets, band together and decide not to allow banks to rip us off with fees etc by closing our accounts the banks may change their practices. This is a rare opportunity for the people to get what we want. If banks don't want to stop charging fees for honest mistakes people make or at least reverse them when someone makes an occasional overdraft then take your money out of their institution. A bank isn't going to be able to do business without our money. It's time to get theses huge corporate banks to treat us like customers and not revenue generators so the CEO's can reap huge bonuses at our expense. If they think they need a bailout now because of their greed and mismanagement what do you think they would do if everyone decided to take their money out of these "venerable institutions"? Take your money and deposit it in a small local bank that actually cares about their customers and treats them right because the people that own and work in these banks are your neighbors and friends. I'm sure your local bank would love to have you as a customer. Tell your big corporate bank to either stop with the fees and dubious practices or suffer the consequences of losing their customers. Now is the time to make a change.

I think it's a great idea to get a class action suit against Wachovia or any other bank that is more interested in fees than customers. I think a bank has every right to charge fees if a person is truly irresponsible and continually overdrafts their account. On the other hand when someone makes an honest mistake and the banks refuses to reverse the charge or clears checks or payments in such a way as to maximize the fees they can collect then they are wrong and need to be stopped. I too was a victim of their practices and due to the attitude of the branch manager to treat me as if I was a two year old and needed a paddling instead of just reversing the fee I took actions into my own hands. First I picketed outside the bank and handed out fliers explaining what I was doing and why. The reaction of the manager was to call the cops on me and when they refused to tell me to cease and desist as the manager wanted them to do he threatened to sic Wachovia's lawyers on me. I encouraged him to do so since I wanted nothing more than to bring this to the attention of the courts. Needless to say I never heard from their lawyers. I then contacted the local news media consumer advocate department and they sent someone out to interview me about my experience with Wachovia. This interview was aired on the local evening news program. I then, and in my opinion this is the greatest tool we as consumers have considering the "banking crisis"' closed my accounts with them. If we as consumers, who control the markets, band together and decide not to allow banks to rip us off with fees etc by closing our accounts the banks may change their practices. This is a rare opportunity for the people to get what we want. If banks don't want to stop charging fees for honest mistakes people make or at least reverse them when someone makes an occasional overdraft then take your money out of their institution. A bank isn't going to be able to do business without our money. It's time to get theses huge corporate banks to treat us like customers and not revenue generators so the CEO's can reap huge bonuses at our expense. If they think they need a bailout now because of their greed and mismanagement what do you think they would do if everyone decided to take their money out of these "venerable institutions"? Take your money and deposit it in a small local bank that actually cares about their customers and treats them right because the people that own and work in these banks are your neighbors and friends. I'm sure your local bank would love to have you as a customer. Tell your big corporate bank to either stop with the fees and dubious practices or suffer the consequences of losing their customers. Now is the time to make a change.

If your husband attorney does have a good reason to file a class action lawsuit, I hope he has deep pockets. They cost from $200,000 to $500,000 just to file one and get the class certified. You also need to double check any agreements you have with the bank and see if their is an arbitration clause and a class action opt out which means you can only sue them in small claims court or they can force you to go to arbitration.

The courts have already established enough precedent for the banks to charge whatever they wish, so long as it is adequately disclosed in the account agreement. You'll find this could all have been solved by using a check register. What you could see happening as a result is that banks will cease to provide any online account balance information for you - thereby forcing you to keep a check register. Be careful what you wish for in a lawsuit here because you're liable to cost yourself more money (as well as other consumers) in the long run. It is your own mismanagement that caused this - own up to the problem, keep a check register, stop using a debit card, and you'll never have another problem with overdrafts again. Best of luck and have your husband sue some real criminals in this world.... like movers....

Take all the time you dedicate to posting on this site and the time you want to waste filing a lawsuit against a company with an army of lawyers and spend it actually keeping track of your deposits and withdrawals. All banks process deposits and withdrawals in the same way. Unless you ask for immediate credit, your deposits aren't available until the next business day at the earliest. All debit card, ATM, and some check transactions process the same day. If you try depositing a check then go use your debit card, you're going to get hit with overdraft fees. Stick with cash or learn how to use a credit card responsibly. Debit cards were invented by banks as a way to get your money faster and generate more fee income in the process. Debit cards offer no benefit to the consumer over a credit card when they are both used correctly. Charging to your credit card and paying the balance in full every month gives you more time to pay for your items as well as making it impossible to be charged overdraft fees. You pay no interest or fees and can even get reward points just for knowing how to use a credit card. On a side note, its probably not worth complaining about Wachovia anymore. They will be taken over by Wells Fargo on Wednesday, so at least hold off a week on your class action lawsuit so you can add another defendant who actually still has deep pockets.