Ok, So last weekend my boyfriend and I went out of town and transferred some money from our savings account to our checking account. Now I am very good with my finances and I keep track of our spending like no other. Imagine my surprise when I looked at our online banking Tuesday morning to find that our account was negative $181.44. So I looked over our transaction history to find that there were $175 in overdraft fees. Apparently when keeping track of my balance I didn't realize my boyfriend had gone to Hardee's. No biggie though, that's what overdraft protection is for, right? Wrong. Our overdraft protection never kicked in and we have plenty of money in our savings account. So I called Wachovia to attempt to straighten this out because SURELY it had to be a bank error to incur this many overdraft fees for $6.14, especially when overdraft protection should have kicked in. After being placed on hold for 30 minutes I was offered to have 25% of the fees removed, when I refused to accept anything less than a full refund and requested to speak with a manager, I was told there was no such person in any authoritative position and promptly hung up on. I then called a local branch because I also work at a bank and am unable to go there and speak with someone myself. Well, after the supposed manager "explained" for 20 minutes how their overdraft processes work, he then admitted that they pay out the most expensive purchases first. He also informed me that 2 of my 5 overdraft fees were from purchases done on 6/5 for less than $6, yet the $30 purchase that caused the account to go negative $6 was paid first and I did not incur any fees. He also stated that the $100 transfer I did 6/5 was not "available" until 6/8. Had I known this I would have simply withdrawn the money and not transferred it (between my own accounts nonetheless.) He refused to give me any fees back and said they were correct and accurate and there was no bank error in any way. 3 hours later I called customer service yet again and spoke with a very nice gentleman and explained my situation yet again. Less than 5 minutes later he returned the full $175 and said from looking at the account he could tell the overdraft protection was improperly set up, and that it was in fact a bank error. I thanked him and did not close my accounts that day, but will be doing so Monday morning. I have had Wachovia for well over 5 years and in that time I have had 3 checks written for rent cashed out for $780 instead of $750, causing all sorts of fees as well. The customer service rep stated that the 5 had looked like an 8. Even if it did, being that I work at a very large bank as well, I know you are supposed to read the hand written amount for that exact reason. A week later they returned all of the fees I incurred. Moral of the story? Don't open any accounts with Wachovia. Below is the transactions that started everything, it's amazing how the first overdraft fees are taken out a day before the transactions even posted. Wachovia must have their very own fortune teller.


06/09/2009 Other OVERDRAFT/UNAVAILABLE FUNDS FEE $105.00 ($181.14)
06/09/2009 Purchase PURCHASE WILCO 932 0000 06/07 $3.11 ($76.14)
06/09/2009 Purchase PURCHASE FUEL COLLEGE 06/06 $9.20 ($73.03)
06/09/2009 Purchase PURCHASE C. MORAGO SNAP ON 06/08 $30.00 ($63.83)
06/08/2009 Other OVERDRAFT/UNAVAILABLE FUNDS FEE $70.00 ($33.83)
06/08/2009 Purchase PURCHASE PARK LANE AMOCO 8224 06/05 $4.27 $36.17
06/08/2009 Purchase PURCHASE HARDEES 1501 06/05 $6.19 $40.44
06/08/2009 Purchase PURCHASE SBARRO CNCRD-M1148 06/06 $6.28 $46.63
06/08/2009 Purchase PURCHASE WHISKEY RIVER 06/07 $34.55 $52.91
06/08/2009 Purchase PURCHASE WHISKEY RIVER 06/07 $54.48 $87.46
06/08/2009 Purchase PURCHASE RACK ROOM SHOES #0 06/06 $67.24 $141.94
06/08/2009 Deposit TRNSFR 06/06 $100.00 $209.18

I used to be a Wachovia or Walk all over you bank customer for eight years having 2 paychecks direct deposited and hit with numerouse overdraft fees that's another story. I own a ford ranger extended cab truck that was financed with an auto finance company that was bought by Wachovia, needless to say the day I was calling them to pay the past due balance they sent someone to pick up the truck. I was able to pay the entire balance due a few days laer, thanks dad! but they won't tell me where the truck is or send my title for the truck either. I'm screwed, I am the mom in a working family who just lost her job, thanks economy, I don't know what to do against this giant of money takers from the poor and mediocre who do not know what my options ar. I've sent them a letter (registered) that tells them of my plight ilt has beeen 3-4 months and I know they received it because I received the receipt in the mail but I don't know what to do now. They will crush me as they did before when there was money coming to them each week from my paycheck. HELP!! If anyone has any good ideas please. Sincerely, Lisa

I have a HELOC with Wachovia and a first mortgage with another bank. I'm trying to refinance my first mortgage with the other bank and they have approved me with a 1% reduction in loan interest rate. However, in order to complete the refinance, Wachovia has to allow it and Wachovia will not allow the refinancing. The debt to Wachovia remains the same, I'm not taking any cash out, the overall risk reduces because my mortgage payment decreases, but Wachovia does not want to help. They even took $100 to review my application prior to telling me they couldn't approve the refinance because it's not their policy!

Wachovia has perfected the practice of bundling transactions! They take all of the transactions and conveniently sort them from highest to lowest. I was told that this is because "generally the highest amounts are the most important". So this activity by Wachovia takes the most money from your account as possible first so that all of the smaller transactions have a greater chance of being posted to a negative balance thus a $35 fee for each one. The best advise that I can give you is to keep good records. Wachovia/Wells Fargo is not in the business of taking care of their customers. They have informed me that the do not do any processing over the weekend (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday). So they take all of the transactions for 4 or 5 days and apply the same policy. This can lead to disaster when you "think" you have funds available, but the reality is that they are holding some items that they consider to be "soft posts".

For example: Your balance is $500 on Thursday. You do your daily grocery shopping, getting gas, drug store, etc and you have 15 transactions that you have recorded in your ledger that add up to $400. Unexpectedly, your car breaks down on Saturday and you have to get a repair that costs $450. Even though the original 15 transactions were made before the car repair, Wachovia puts these in a "Soft Post" category. Wachovia, looking
out for best interest of their customers, processes the $450 first and then charges $35 for all of the other transactions and Tuesday morning you wake up to $525 in overdraft charges.

Wachovia bank is composed of scam artists and thieves. My paycheck is directly deposited weekly into my Wachovia bank account. The past 3 out of 4 weeks I have been charged at least one overdraft fee. Even though there were sufficient funds to cover all transactions and my account NEVER goes into the negative, I have found fees in my account history that seem to have no transaction which causes them. I've been told that these fees are incurred when there is not enough money to cover "holds" on my account. Even though there was enough money to cover the charges both when they were made and the days they posted to my account, I get charged NSF fees. When I have called to discuss these matters, I am always told "It's not a bank error" so my money can not be refunded.

I URGE ANYONE WHO HAS HAD A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH WACHOVIA TO COMPLAIN TO THE FOLLOWING GOVERNMENT AGENCIES:

Comptroller of Currency
Customer Assistance Group,
1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010
(800) 613-6743


Office of Thrift Supervision
1700 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20552
(800) 842-6929

Describe events in the order in which they occurred, including any names, phone numbers, and a full description of the problem with the amount(s) and date(s) of any transaction(s). Do not include personal or confidential information such as your social security, credit card, or bank account numbers. If you need to provide COPIES of any supporting documentation such as contracts, monthly statements, receipts or any correspondence with the bank (do not send original documents), you may mail or fax this information to:

FDIC Consumer Response Center
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 100
Kansas City, MO 64108
877-275-3342

ALSO, WRITE A LETTER TO THE CEO OF WELLS FARGO:

Dick Kovacevich
C/o Wells Fargo
420 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104