Illinois Teen Learns About Bank Fees the Hard Way

[PrinceofWands]

Right but if you cant get it done in under 3 minutes then its inconvenient because it takes longer then what I'm doing now.

Just putting stamps and return addresses on 7 envelopes takes longer then 3 minutes.

And to others the issues surrounding having a bank could be inconvenient (visiting a remote location to obtain money, or having to carry a piece of plastic, or whatever), or the necessity to be at a computer to do something (not me, just saying in general).

Our perceptions of convenience are biased and subjective. It just takes a little adaptation and suddenly we find that our perceptions were wholly incorrect.

 

[Throckmorton]

Poor banks, always getting a bum rap! Read the contract you socialists! You agreed to the 100 pages of fine print where it clearly stated that if you're so poor you have less than $5, you get charged $9.95 maintenance fees which you don't have!

 

[arrfep]

Did not read this entire thread, but came to say that this exact same thing happened to me, almost to the dollar amount. I banked at TCF for 12 years...it was the first bank account I opened, junior year of high school. Stayed because, as the article states, they were convenient. Everything about the accounts used to be completely free.

A while back they started charging $9.95 a month if you don't have direct deposit or use your debit card 5 times a month. Around the same time, I stopped using them, but kept the account open because it was linked to paypal. I left $50 in it, meaning to eventually close it.

One day I get a letter saying I owe them $218 dollar in overdraft fees. I go to a physical location, ask for a supervisor, and she says she can reverse only one of them. Gives me a number to call instead. I call the number, that person says she can reverse only one of them. I tell her that's unacceptable, ask for someone with more power. Get a supervisor, tell her I'm not paying 6 overdraft fees caused by a bank charge. She says okay, purges them all and agrees to close my account at zero sum.

While I think the fees are beyond ridiculous, I also know it was my own fault for letting them accumulate. TCF is a pretty shitty bank, for plenty of reasons. They should be free to charge what they want, but maybe give their customers an assist by not waiting a week to notify them of mounting charges.

 

[thegimp03]

Seems to me like it's the kid's fault for not reading the fine print.

 

[halik]

Poor banks, always getting a bum rap! Read the contract you socialists! You agreed to the 100 pages of fine print where it clearly stated that if you're so poor you have less than $5, you get charged $9.95 maintenance fees which you don't have!

if only it wasn't on their front page ....
http://tcfbank.com/PersonalBanking/pb_checking_home.jsp

 

[cubby1223]

Money orders are accepted as payment for just about anything. Take cash to store, leave with money order, deposit in mail or utility company's deposit box/counter.

404 Bank requirement not found.

Wow, you really lack the ability to follow a conversation

Well, you can at least take comfort knowing you're not the only one lacking that ability in this thread

 

[werepossum]

Looks like mom and son learned a valuable lesson. Why is that in the news? Frankly, I would be really embarrassed if that happened to me.

This

Lesson learned. They should go to a credit union.

and this.

This is straight up financial abuse by the bank, it should be criminal. They should have emptied the account and sent a letter to the guy "your fees finally wiped out your $4.85 cent balance" The rest of their fees were abusive.

I also agree with you. There is no justification for charging a fee for a low balance, since all the tracking is automatic and costs literally fractions of a penny a month.

 

[Nemesis 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4yT0KAMyo

 

[Via]

If this was a sane country there would be a federal policy that states: if a fee wipes out your account the account is automatically suspended and you're liable for the balance of the fee. After a month or so your account would be permanently closed, and you'd have to re-apply for a new one (but you'd still be liable for the fee, of course).

Any unpaid fee balances could go to collections in 60 days.

But this isn't a sane country.

 

[Nemesis 1]

If this was a sane country there would be a federal policy that states: if a fee wipes out your account the account is automatically suspended and you're liable for the balance of the fee. After a month or so your account would be permanently closed, and you'd have to re-apply for a new one (but you'd still be liable for the fee, of course).

Any unpaid fee balances could go to collections in 60 days.

But this isn't a sane country.

Tale about sanity . This was a savings account . Under banking law the bank can borrow 20x out on reserves that includes savings accounts. There should be no fee on a savings account . The young man was entitled to interest from the bank . fractional reserve rippoff!