When I first graduated from college, I worked for Bank of America, BofA, at the time. I LOVED working at the bank. To me, nothing was better than helping people with their finances. But, nothing was more frustrating either. As the Operations Manger/Banking Center Service Manager aka Asst. Manager, I fielded a lot of disputes and upset client rants. I will say that whenever there was something that the bank did incorrectly (which was RARE), I was the first to apologize, reverse fees, and fix things to better than they were before. Nothing, however, enraged me so much as people that would be careless with their accounts and then come in and yell at me or my staff because they were being charged fees.
Now, I'm not a salesperson, but I was very good at selling products and services that would benefit the clients' needs, such as free online banking and overdraft protection. If I had a customer come in and they complained because they were charged an overdraft fee or the like and they did not have a 90 day history of poorly managing their accounts, I would always give a courtesy reversal. Let's face it, everyone makes mistakes, even I have made a mistake or two. And, to show that we valued their business, the right thing to do is to reverse the fees.
Today, I read a news story about how the courts have ordered Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and JPMorganChase to repay its customers for having high and excessive overdraft fees which disproportionately harmed low income customers. All I have to say is SHUT UP! Are you kidding me?! When you open an account, federal law mandates that you receive disclosures (they tell you the rules and fees, etc associated with the account you opened). Typically, and unless you have a crappy banker, the person that opens your account will go over most of those rules with you, especially the fees. Regardless though, of whether or not they did, and regardless of whether or not you read your disclosures, you should NOT spend money you don't have! A checking account is NOT a credit card! If you have $100 in the bank, you can only spend $100, not $100.01. If you do, shame on you! Okay, you did it once, or infrequently, not a huge deal. But, there are people that overdraw their accounts monthly, biweekly, or even weekly. Now, I don't want to sound cold or heartless, but if you know you have this problem, why do you keep doing it?! You don't have any money? Well, there are options: get a loan, credit card, budget your money more appropriately, change the payment dates for some of your expenses, re-evaluate your needs (do you need a smart phone, cable, etc..?), look into government assistance, or get an additional job. Stop acting like a victim all the time. Take responsibility for your actions.
This just highlights what is going on in this country. People have started to feel as if others owe them, as if they are not responsible for their station in life. You are responsible for following or breaking the rules that are set out for you. Most days, I choose to break the speed limit. If I get pulled over and get a ticket, shame on me...MY FAULT! I am not going to sue the police department for making their fines too high. Last month, we forgot to pay one of our credit card bills, just simply overlooked it. We got charge a CRAZY late fee, $35 or $55, I think. I will call and see if they will reverse it, but if not, oh well. I now have the date marked in my calendar so that I never overlook that bill again. Some lessons are expensive, not fun, but what are you going to do?...cry about it? sue the establishment that "made out"? Gosh...just can't stand that people think that they are "owed" something. Stop overdrawing your accounts and you won't be charged those excessive fees. Quit your whining!
Okay, I'll get off of my soap box for now...just can't stand craziness like that. I'm not saying that the Banks are Saints, but in this case, my opinion is that they did nothing wrong.
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