Get back some of $10000 in NSF fees in past few years? $2 overdraft = $33 fee = ouch

[phoenyx]

I'm filing a personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy within the next few weeks. It's due to massive debt that I have personally guaranteed for an S-Corporation that I own.

While doing my accounting/taxes for the S-Corp, I'm shocked to see how much NSF banking fees added up. Over the past few years, my S-Corp paid about $10,000 in NSF fees.

They were paid by my S-Corp, which isn't filing BK. My S-Corp is just withdrawing its charter.

Besides cursing myself, I'm wondering if there's any way to successfully try to get some of that back. The ones that were bank error have already been refunded.

Some if them are over $2-5 items that were returned. $33 NSF fee on a $2 item hardly seems fair. When there were 8-10 items in a day, some of them larger, but some of them being that small, $330 on one day really seems unfair.

None of the NSF fees are within the past 6 months or so, so there's no case to be made for preferential payment.


Is there anything I can do?

[dkNY]

Sorry to hear that you were also a victim of a greedy bank who enjoyed kicking you while you were down. Until some banking regulation kicks in and governs this practice, banks will continue to fee the crap out of any customer, anyway they can. The computers are designed to let the largest check go through first, then let all the small ones soak up the fees. Add a debit card to the equation and it gets real interesting.

Some banks are nice enough to at least pay the NSF checks to save you some embarrassment and fees from the payees bank, but thats hit or miss.

I also played this game for years and had similar daily overdraft charges when things started to get ugly. No matter how any bank employee tries to sugar coat this practice of paying the larger checks first, it is strictly a revenue producing trick that banks have been practicing for years now. Its fine if you want to buy some time or you buy inventory for your business today and pay a few days later, 33.00 on a 20,000 check is cake. But usually they get you by surprise when you dont expect it and the slightest problem starts the domino effect and the smallest checks get all the fees.

If your issue were more current you could keep on being a pain in the but and repeatedly call any employee you could speak to over the phone, show up in person, etc. I have used the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" practice and had hundreds of dollars of these reversed. Its a push of the button for them and makes an annoying customer go away, so they have time to make money off a new one, hA.

At this point I am sure some other department would be handling this issue and getting fee money out of their well trained hands would be impossible.

That is one advantage of Credit Unions. They go a little lighter on the fees, but it is still the same game.

Sorry I couldnt be of more help, but since nobody else even responded to your post, I had to at least vent some!

[stephanie4686]

I'm sorry about that. I think NSF fees should be illegal.

[rrockinggramma]

LOLOL I learned the hard way that this is indeed the practice of not just banks but cu also. I use my debit card. When I use it, the money is instantly put on "hold" and is no longer available. However, to my dismay, I discovered that if a check clears which kicks in your OD, that little debit also kicks in an OD fee, even though that money was already on "hold" I learned real quick to not pay 25.00 OD fee for a 94 cent soda refill from the gas station.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

I too think NSF fees should be illegal. I just got my first one in 18 years last week, when my ISP did their normal monthly debit the same day I made the deposit to cover it. I called the bank and they dropped the fee, but it's still a sore spot.

I tell you what, though, I am about done with credit in all its various appearances anyway. I have been using those little $100 Visa gift cards which have a rate I like ($5.44 per $100 is what WalMart is charging, for example) whenever I need non-cash, such as purchases from Amazon. Anywhere else I use cash. The ISP charge is my *single* exception to that rule, by necessity, unfortunately, and look how it bit me in the ass.

[epiphany]

I too think NSF fees should be illegal. I just got my first one in 18 years last week, when my ISP did their normal monthly debit the same day I made the deposit to cover it. I called the bank and they dropped the fee, but it's still a sore spot.

I tell you what, though, I am about done with credit in all its various appearances anyway. I have been using those little $100 Visa gift cards which have a rate I like ($5.44 per $100 is what WalMart is charging, for example) whenever I need non-cash, such as purchases from Amazon. Anywhere else I use cash. The ISP charge is my *single* exception to that rule, by necessity, unfortunately, and look how it bit me in the ass.

Hey Flad, just curious why you don't use a debit card with a visa or mastercard logo from your bank rather than pay those rates on a visa gift card????

EP

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Because it's a credit union, and they are all about seeing a direct deposit every two weeks. When I cashed a $100 check last year on an acct that had maybe $6 in it, they not only verified the check six ways from Sunday, they PULLED A HARD CREDIT REPORT. This is after 18 years of spotless banking with them: never an overdraft, never an NSF, nothing. I'm not usually quick to anger, but that just really pissed me off, and every time I make a deposit or do any banking there, it pisses me off a little more.

So even though I don't feel all that good about WalMart as a store, I'll give them my $5.44 before I'll open anything more with my current CU. After everything is said and done, and I return to work, I intend to open an account at a little bank I currently have my eyes on. When I do, I'll get the debit card and close this particular acct. The other bank I have my (now depleted) savings in, I never did get an ATM or debit card by design: if it's hard to get to, it's hard to spend. I only got checks for that acct, deliberately, and I had to fight them when I opened it to NOT give me electronic access to it. But that's why there was actually money in there when I needed it.

[epiphany]

Oh I see...I didn't mean to get personal...I just thought you knew of some advantage to that that I could not momentarily fathom.

Thanks for the info...I hear you on the Credit Union thing. Next week the feeces are going to hit the fan between me and mine. I'm so done with them.

EP

Because it's a credit union, and they are all about seeing a direct deposit every two weeks. When I cashed a $100 check last year on an acct that had maybe $6 in it, they not only verified the check six ways from Sunday, they PULLED A HARD CREDIT REPORT. This is after 18 years of spotless banking with them: never an overdraft, never an NSF, nothing. I'm not usually quick to anger, but that just really pissed me off, and every time I make a deposit or do any banking there, it pisses me off a little more.

So even though I don't feel all that good about WalMart as a store, I'll give them my $5.44 before I'll open anything more with my current CU. After everything is said and done, and I return to work, I intend to open an account at a little bank I currently have my eyes on. When I do, I'll get the debit card and close this particular acct. The other bank I have my (now depleted) savings in, I never did get an ATM or debit card by design: if it's hard to get to, it's hard to spend. I only got checks for that acct, deliberately, and I had to fight them when I opened it to NOT give me electronic access to it. But that's why there was actually money in there when I needed it.