Can someone reccommend a good bank?

[mugs]

Take a chill pill man. Ask them to reduce/remove the charges. If it's your first time, they probably will. I had the exact same thing happen to me, they took all of the overdraft fees off.

 

[theGlove]

BoA: charges you (on free checking accounts) if you use their tellers. Not a prob for me since I hardly use tellers. I just use ATMs and online banking.
BoA also charges you $5 fee if you use ATM outside of USA (except for some parts in europe)

I am evaluating compass bank at the moment

 

[GasX]

perhaps it is time to grow up and keep a cash buffer in your account and not overdraft every month...

The issue is squarely in your lap - not the banks.

 

[Fingolfin269]

This is not the bank's fault. Start writing down your transactions and you won't go below $0. It really is that simple.

Let's just chalk this up as another 'it is someone else's fault' shall we?

 

[dullard]

1) Switching banks is like having your leg chopped off, putting a normal-sized bandaid on the wound, and then switching that bandaid for a different bandaid because the first bandaid didn't help your problem. Yes, new bandaid will temporarilly be better than the old soaked bandaid. However, you don't need a bandaid, you need surgery. Thus switching banks will not fix your fundamental problems at all.

2) You need to realise the magnitude of your problem. You need to fix the problem of "every once and awhile I get hit with overdraft fees". It is a criminal offense to write a bad check or to overdraft. You are regularly breaking the law. You are lucky you are just getting hit with a few fees and that none of these things have landed you in jail. Yes, it is that serious. After being booked and charged with a crime, you'll be happy that for now you only were hit with a few bank fees. Laws do vary by state. Many states have a minimum amount before they will prosecute. However, CT doesn't appear to have a minimum. If someone wants to prosecute you, it is a $1,000 fine and/or up to 1 year in jail. Think about it? Do you want to switch banks just to continue breaking the laws?

3) How can you not realize a $300 check hit your account? The instant you write the check, ALWAYS assume it has hit your account. Plan the rest of your spending accordingly.

4) If you don't have the money, don't use your checking account. Create a buffer so that this will never happen to you (eat only ramen noodles for a month if you have to, or donate plasma, or just spend less, or work more.).

I'm sorry to be so harsh when I said this, but I think harshness is needed for you to change.

 

[DT4K]

I agree that in the end, it's the OP's fault and this could be avoided by keeping better track of his spending and balance. But mistakes do happen and I'm sure that most people have accidentally overdrawn their account at one time or another.

But I also think that it's bordering on fraud(or at least incredibly slimy) for BofA to manipulate the order in which they process withdrawals to maximize the amount of overdraft fees they can collect.

Say you have $200 in the bank. You use your debit card for 5 purchases, totalling $50. At the time you made those purchases, you had sufficient funds to cover the purchases. Later that same day, you use the debit card for a $250 purchase because you were mistaken about how much was in your account. In this case, the right thing for the bank to do is to charge you 1 overdraft fee. Instead, they manipulate the order of the transactions to ensure that the $250 purchase is deducted first so they can hit you with 6 overdraft fees.

 

[exodus454]

Originally posted by: DT4K
I agree that in the end, it's the OP's fault and this could be avoided by keeping better track of his spending and balance. But mistakes do happen and I'm sure that most people have accidentally overdrawn their account at one time or another.

But I also think that it's bordering on fraud(or at least incredibly slimy) for BofA to manipulate the order in which they process withdrawals to maximize the amount of overdraft fees they can collect.

Say you have $200 in the bank. You use your debit card for 5 purchases, totalling $50. At the time you made those purchases, you had sufficient funds to cover the purchases. Later that same day, you use the debit card for a $250 purchase because you were mistaken about how much was in your account. In this case, the right thing for the bank to do is to charge you 1 overdraft fee. Instead, they manipulate the order of the transactions to ensure that the $250 purchase is deducted first so they can hit you with 6 overdraft fees.

Which is exactly how I've been screwed over on a number of occasions.