Announcement

**Chief Tomahawk** · November 25, 2009, 01:37 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Wow, not one comment to this thread? Or, is it that no one found anything worse???

**cbr** · November 25, 2009, 02:02 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

read your cell phone bill... you are not even in the ballpark for worst;

**BigBagel** · November 25, 2009, 02:08 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Look at last night's Frontline on PBS. They go into banking fees. WARNING: Take your blood pressure medicine before watching.

**Chief Tomahawk** · November 25, 2009, 02:09 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Originally posted by cbr View Post

read your cell phone bill... you are not even in the ballpark for worst;

Hmmm........ possibly a good point, though I think the amount of taxes on the car rental I posted above (at around 60% of the base rental price) is significantly worse.

My cell bill (Verizon), is a base of $40 and with other taxes and fees, comes to $48.11 a month. That's about 20%.

**Chief Tomahawk** · November 25, 2009, 02:13 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Originally posted by BigBagel View Post

Look at last night's Frontline on PBS. They go into banking fees. WARNING: Take your blood pressure medicine before watching.

Didn't see Frontline last night, but NBC Nightly News profiled an Army member who had used his debit card (Bank of America) for Starbucks and fast food over and over, eventhough he had gone below $0 in his account. BofA hit him for a $35 insufficient funds charge every time. I know, the guy should do some recordkeeping, but the outrage was hitting for $35 on a $5 debit. NBC contacted BofA and they waived the fees. Sometimes it's good to be a member of the military!

**cbr** · November 25, 2009, 02:17 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

I have a better one:

I transferred money from one bank checking account to my other; they each held the funds for a week, which was never disclosed that they would do.

my wife used the target account ATM during our move, for gas, food, etc.

the card worked the whole time, no notice of any issue was given though they send email notices, and each use charged $25 in INF fees during the period they were holding the deposit.

$700 in INSF fees in 48 hours on charges totalling $300, when they were sitting on a $5000 deposit for a week.

None of this was allowed by my user agreement, but they said sometime during the 18 months since i opened the account, they 'mailed me' a user agreement amendment (which we did not receive) allowing the covering of transactions, and charging NSF funds without notice.

And what is more? this is typical FIRE behavior. Outright fraud on the consumer

**Chief Tomahawk** · November 25, 2009, 02:29 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Wow! Sorry to read that. I'd start off with the branch manager (you've probably done that already...) and suggest "Okay, I'll pay one INF charge, but not all of them. Reason being, you have the check for $5k in your possession as a show of good faith." If they say no, well, there's always a jury option via the legal system. How would a jury view their behavior? If you can show it's abusive, you may well win the case. Course, you could always raise their recent cash bailout injection of (was it $50 billion for BofA?) on the back of the U.S. taxpayer. That behavior, once explained, may well agitate a jury. You can also report them to the Better Business Bureau.

**Chief Tomahawk** · November 25, 2009, 02:35 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

One more thing. Not only would I find out how much your bank received in bailout money, and then divide it by every man, woman, and child in the USofA, and then point at every member of the jury to tell them how much a VERY POORLY run bank has taken from them, but then ask said bank to explain where, in their "terms and conditions" they had a right to rob the taxpayer? [They might well run from that one...]

**tree** · November 25, 2009, 02:49 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Regarding car rentals,

This summer, I felt like I was the last person in America to discover that renting a car at the airport costs far, far more than getting it from a branch location even a short distance away.

At least that was my experience in So. Calif.

**Raz** · November 25, 2009, 03:01 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Originally posted by cbr View Post

I have a better one:

I transferred money from one bank checking account to my other; they each held the funds for a week, which was never disclosed that they would do.

my wife used the target account ATM during our move, for gas, food, etc.

the card worked the whole time, no notice of any issue was given though they send email notices, and each use charged $25 in INF fees during the period they were holding the deposit.

$700 in INSF fees in 48 hours on charges totalling $300, when they were sitting on a $5000 deposit for a week.

None of this was allowed by my user agreement, but they said sometime during the 18 months since i opened the account, they 'mailed me' a user agreement amendment (which we did not receive) allowing the covering of transactions, and charging NSF funds without notice.

And what is more? this is typical FIRE behavior. Outright fraud on the consumer

To be a banker under this Fractional Reserve System of Fiat money is to be
a happy and willing participant in fraud on a monumental scale.

This, however, is practically strong-arm robbery.:mad:

**Chief Tomahawk** · November 25, 2009, 03:10 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Originally posted by tree View Post

Regarding car rentals,

This summer, I felt like I was the last person in America to discover that renting a car at the airport costs far, far more than getting it from a branch location even a short distance away.

At least that was my experience in So. Calif.

I found that out too a little while back. That's why I use Enterprise. I search the airport, note their prices, then hit "change location", and check out the surrounding branches. One can then "lock in" a cheaper location under no obligation and then hope prices at an airport locale drop as time goes by. Because once a person reserves on a website like www.Hotwire.com, it's final.

**nedtheguy** · November 25, 2009, 08:11 PM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

redacted

**flintlock** · November 26, 2009, 12:31 AM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

I don't use a debit card. I don't write checks. I CHARGE everything or pay cash. Payoff the credit card in full every month and not only do you avoid all these BS fees, you earn cash or other discounts for using the banks money. They can't do that stuff if you don't play their game. Every time I go into the bank to cash a check they try to push their crappy debit card on me. I just smile and say "no thanks".

**Ghent12** · November 26, 2009, 12:39 AM

Re: Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

You want the worst in terms of fees and surcharges? Try a modern college tuition bill. Fees for every facility on campus regardless of your propensity to use them, fees for parking on top of parking passes, etc.

If you can tell me what an "Academic Excellence Fee" is, then be my guest. I'm not joking.

Announcement

Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Is this the worst in terms of fees and surcharges?

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment