Bite Me, Wachovia! A Case Study in What’s Gone Wrong with the Banking Industry

Posted on June 7th, 2008 in corporate world by Kelby

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I am not that old. I am in my 30s. But I feel like a geriatric for what I’m about to say. I remember way back when banks didn’t piss me off. They didn’t suck. I actually used to have a bank that would call my cell phone or work if I was overdrawn just to let me know, and they would give me a couple hours to run the few doors over from my newsroom with some cash or a check to cover it instead of bouncing it. They wouldn’t put a 5-day hold if I told them I really needed the money now, and they would waive a silly fee if I asked nicely.

But banks like that keep getting devoured by banks that suck. Banks like Wachovia (although in my experience, Bank of America is a nightmare, as bad as bad banks go, but that is another tale for another time). Needless to say, the banking system long ago stopped serving customers and starting serving their own CEOs and investors.

I have my own personal case study in banking BS absurdity. We had a financial hit (as you may have read, when we unexpectedly one Wednesday lost our cat and cut a check to the vet for more than $700). It was a tough hit to the account, but I figured we’d live tightly for the few days until the next direct deposit went in.

Then an unauthorized charge went through, something that came about as a simple misunderstanding but resulted in $170-some in charges that weren’t correct or expected. This bumped the account only a mere $48 in the negative. So I’m sure I know what you must be thinking. That’s not a big deal right.

Think again, my friends. Think again. It was $48 in little charges like gas and a few $9 domain renewals. Each charge was a new fee. Grand total in fees was $280. Now, they only had to cover that for two days until the bad charge was reversed, but I can’t find an APR calculator that will calculate one day’s interest… so presuming they fronted me that money for an entire month, the APR they charged was 7,000% (or like 250 times the typical limit for interest rates on consumer loans). And yes, nearly six times the amount we were overdrawn.

Now they argued it wasn’t a loan, but really it is. But that’s besides the point.

I can understand how the charges got there in the first place, but here’s where I take issue. They flat out, absolutely refused to refund the fees. They acknowledged that it wasn’t my fault the account went negative. They also acknowledged that the money was refunded, and it was clearly an unauthorized charge. But they argued that it wasn’t THEIR mistake, so the fees were valid, and they would not refund them. Period.

Don’t think that I let it go at that. I made a grand total of five phone calls. I spoke to supervisors. One supervisor didn’t take kindly when I stated I would spread bad word of mouth about Wachovia. Here was how that pleasant convo went down:

Rude Wachovia supervisor: “Are you making threats?”

Me: “No, I’m stating a fact. If you treat a customer like crap, they will of course spread the word about it. How is that a threat?”

Rude Wachovia supervisor hung up.

Nice.

I talked to the local branch. Twice. They said there was nothing they could do.

Here’s what really gets me. It’s not like they would be losing money by crediting those fees back. This wasn’t money out of their pockets. This was less money they were making. There is a huge difference. So really, to decide to refuse to refund it is sending the message: “Screw you! No matter what the circumstances are, we will drain you of cash if we legally can do it.”

I actually did think about filing complaints and writing letters. But I decided to blog about it. Because I think there is more to this obnoxious tale than one customer’s bad experience (and nasty hit to the wallet). Just do a search with the name of any major bank and the word “sucks,” and you’ll find endless results. Can you do that with any other industry?

People are getting fed up, too. The owner of Wachoviabank-sucks dot com, for example, has an awesome statement blasting the bank plastered across the back of his minivan. Oh, too funny.

Banks are on a downward spiral, from the insane mortgage crisis (mortgage anyone? I mean anyone? ANYONE???) to credit card rates that double if you pay one day late to the incessant nit-picking of checking account customers with fees and loopholes and rules. In fact, the Charlotte Observer just did a piece about the impact of the banking industry’s calamity on their city (which is the second biggest banking center in the nation).

This is our money! You don’t have a right to have your way with it. Obviously, major legislation (and enforcement) is needed to get this out-of-control industry in line. I mean, we clearly (above example as a case in point) can’t count on them to do the right thing just because a customer asks.

Meanwhile, I’m moving to a smaller bank. I will keep moving to new banks until I find one that isn’t ridiculous, until I find one that treats me like a human and not their personal slush fund.

And I am asking you guys to help me prove a point. One, link to this post (and please comment if you do). Better yet, write your local senator or congressman and tell them the banking nonsense needs to stop now. Write your fave presidential candidate (or both!) and tell them the same. Write to your bank and tell them what you’ve done.

We need to send a message that we aren’t taking their crap anymore.

Until they get it, ask around. Find out which locally-owned bank people like (if you even have any left in your town). Open an account, and close your account with that mammoth bank. Let’s hit them where it really hurts. In their wallets.

_{Bank / money graphic © Barun Patro.}