Normally I don't like to discuss financial matters, but I'd like to get everyone's opinion on something.
My checking account at Bank of America was overdrawn by $69 on the 22nd. The problem is that sometime during the day about 12 purchases showed up for the 21st that had already been cleared before the weekend. A prime example: A purchase of roughly $32 from etix, that happened midday on the 17th was processed and cleared the same day (my account had the money taken out of it), showed back up on my statement for the 21st (with money being taken out of the account again)...with no record of the original purchase date. There is literally a gap between the 17th and the 21st with no purchases whatsoever showing. Now then, I realize that most of the time, purchases made over the weekend show up as being "cleared" by the next bank business day. But a five day gap? And even if something does not clear the same day, it is always shown as processing on my online statement (with those funds already being removed from my available balance), and the amount of money that shows up as being available always matches up with the mental tally I keep.
I'm not one to believe in conspiracy theories, or make them up. But I believe Bank of America charged me twice for some of my purchases. Literally, yesterday morning I was sitting at $207 available, waiting for my electricity bill of $187 to be withdrawn. I made one purchase of $8.30ish. By 7pm, I received an email saying I was $69 overdrawn....for "cleared" charges that all "went through" on the 21st (plus my electricity bill for the 22nd)...yet 10 hours earlier were not on my online statement, and nothing was processing when I checked that morning. Seems odd to me that suddenly a whole slew of charges showed up for the 21st, on the evening of the 22nd, that were not there that morning. Some of the charges included purchases made mid last week, that were all cleared last week, yet are now missing those statements and are instead showing up for the 21st.
Now then, I've managed to talk Bank of America into forgiving the Overdraft fees of $70 and allow me to only pay the $69 that was overdrawn. Their excuse: The merchants are to blame. Yet those merchants, who I've purchased from before (some on a weekly basis)...don't take between 5 and 8 days to clear transactions with my account. With the exception of one gas station I use, when I make a purchase, it is deducted from my account or at least shown as "processing" and my available balance reflects that "processing" purchase.
Also, side note: $31 was pulled from my savings account to help cover my overdraft, yet it does not show up anywhere on my checking account statement. I seem to be...missing that money.
Thoughts? Because I'm out of them.
My checking account at Bank of America was overdrawn by $69 on the 22nd. The problem is that sometime during the day about 12 purchases showed up for the 21st that had already been cleared before the weekend. A prime example: A purchase of roughly $32 from etix, that happened midday on the 17th was processed and cleared the same day (my account had the money taken out of it), showed back up on my statement for the 21st (with money being taken out of the account again)...with no record of the original purchase date. There is literally a gap between the 17th and the 21st with no purchases whatsoever showing. Now then, I realize that most of the time, purchases made over the weekend show up as being "cleared" by the next bank business day. But a five day gap? And even if something does not clear the same day, it is always shown as processing on my online statement (with those funds already being removed from my available balance), and the amount of money that shows up as being available always matches up with the mental tally I keep.
I'm not one to believe in conspiracy theories, or make them up. But I believe Bank of America charged me twice for some of my purchases. Literally, yesterday morning I was sitting at $207 available, waiting for my electricity bill of $187 to be withdrawn. I made one purchase of $8.30ish. By 7pm, I received an email saying I was $69 overdrawn....for "cleared" charges that all "went through" on the 21st (plus my electricity bill for the 22nd)...yet 10 hours earlier were not on my online statement, and nothing was processing when I checked that morning. Seems odd to me that suddenly a whole slew of charges showed up for the 21st, on the evening of the 22nd, that were not there that morning. Some of the charges included purchases made mid last week, that were all cleared last week, yet are now missing those statements and are instead showing up for the 21st.
Now then, I've managed to talk Bank of America into forgiving the Overdraft fees of $70 and allow me to only pay the $69 that was overdrawn. Their excuse: The merchants are to blame. Yet those merchants, who I've purchased from before (some on a weekly basis)...don't take between 5 and 8 days to clear transactions with my account. With the exception of one gas station I use, when I make a purchase, it is deducted from my account or at least shown as "processing" and my available balance reflects that "processing" purchase.
Also, side note: $31 was pulled from my savings account to help cover my overdraft, yet it does not show up anywhere on my checking account statement. I seem to be...missing that money.
Thoughts? Because I'm out of them.
I look for many fee-free ATM machine locations, and BOA has the most, and by a very large margin too.