The Cellar - View Single Post - I hate my Bank

Iggy · 04-14-2006, 11:43 AM

Ok, first of all, I am a teller at a bank. And I am not trying to attack anyone but I thought I should clear some of this confusion up. I apologize for the crazy order...

Debit cards are not also credit cards. Period. You can have it ran through as a credit card, but it does not come out of a credit account that way, it still comes out of your checking account. The only differences are if you run it as debit you use a pin and it comes out of your account pretty fast (most of the time) and if you run it as credit you sign the slip and it can take longer to come out of your account. Running your debit card as a credit card does not mean it comes out of a credit account, which is the difference between the two.

A credit card does not have cash behind it like a debit card does. The only way it can come out of a credit card account (or line of credit) is if you have overdraft protection and you specify that if you are going to overdraw your account that the bank has authority to take funds from the credit card account. But again, running it as credit will not make it come out of the credit account (unless you are overdrawn). I hope that makes sense to you all, if not let me know and I will go into more detail.

Second of all, even if the bank makes money off of you when you are overdrawn, it is also a lot more likely that the bank will have to take a loss because of it. Many, many people overdraw their accounts and just never pay the bank. Then the bank charges-off what is left and closes the account so they can't lose more money. They have to go through a large process to get their money, and often they never do.

Also, if you go into a bank and start yelling at the employees for your account being overdrawn, then they don't really want you as a customer. If you start verbally abusing (i.e. cursing, yelling louder, etc) or threatening, they want you to leave. I don't know about your bank, but I have been told that if a customer is threatening you (the bank employee) then they are no longer a customer. We have closed accounts where the customer is abusive towards the employees.

So if you are yelling at them for letting your account be overdrawm, they might be trying to get you to change banks. It is pretty sad, but if happens. Many other business with customer service feel the same way. If you are being rude, yelling, abusive, etc, then for all they care you should go to the competitor. Let them deal with you.

Now for the mean part. It is your responsibility to keep track of how much you have in your account. Not the banks. If you spend more money than you have, you are going to be overdrawn. There is nothing the bank can do about that. If your bank is like we are, you can opt out of having the bank let you get overdrawn. We have something similar to them, and you can be overdrawn to a certain amount. But I don't know how long it was since you asked them the first time about being overdrawn, but it might have changed. I know for my bank they slowly increase the amount you are allowed to be overdrawn.

So if you asked them, lets say a month ago, you might have only been allowed to be overdrawn $100, whereas now you can be overdrawn up to $350. And if you start being more irresponsible with your account then they will lower it again. It just depends on the history of your account. So when they told you that you were allowed a negative balance of $100, that may have been the case at the time.

We also do not tell people about the option to be overdrawn, unless they ask or it becomes an issue. That is common practice, because many people (maybe not you, but they don't know that) abuse that service and cost the bank money in time and resources.

Think of it like this, if you are overdrawn, the bank loaned you money to pay your transactions (checks, debit card purchases, etc.). Any loan you get is going to have fees. Also, if you chose to opt out, then although they won't pay your checks and whatnot, you will still get a fee because the bank has to return the item and again, it costs money and resources.

So would you rather have them pay your checks and you have the one fee from the bank for each item, or do you want them to return everything that overdraws your account and pay the bank and the person who you gave the item?

I think that is all I had to say... again, not trying to attack anyone, but I thought I should clear some of this up.

04-14-2006, 11:43 AM	#12
Iggy Back and ready to tart up the place Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kansas Posts: 850	Ok, first of all, I am a teller at a bank. And I am not trying to attack anyone but I thought I should clear some of this confusion up. I apologize for the crazy order... Debit cards are not also credit cards. Period. You can have it ran through as a credit card, but it does not come out of a credit account that way, it still comes out of your checking account. The only differences are if you run it as debit you use a pin and it comes out of your account pretty fast (most of the time) and if you run it as credit you sign the slip and it can take longer to come out of your account. Running your debit card as a credit card does not mean it comes out of a credit account, which is the difference between the two. A credit card does not have cash behind it like a debit card does. The only way it can come out of a credit card account (or line of credit) is if you have overdraft protection and you specify that if you are going to overdraw your account that the bank has authority to take funds from the credit card account. But again, running it as credit will not make it come out of the credit account (unless you are overdrawn). I hope that makes sense to you all, if not let me know and I will go into more detail. Second of all, even if the bank makes money off of you when you are overdrawn, it is also a lot more likely that the bank will have to take a loss because of it. Many, many people overdraw their accounts and just never pay the bank. Then the bank charges-off what is left and closes the account so they can't lose more money. They have to go through a large process to get their money, and often they never do. Also, if you go into a bank and start yelling at the employees for your account being overdrawn, then they don't really want you as a customer. If you start verbally abusing (i.e. cursing, yelling louder, etc) or threatening, they want you to leave. I don't know about your bank, but I have been told that if a customer is threatening you (the bank employee) then they are no longer a customer. We have closed accounts where the customer is abusive towards the employees. So if you are yelling at them for letting your account be overdrawm, they might be trying to get you to change banks. It is pretty sad, but if happens. Many other business with customer service feel the same way. If you are being rude, yelling, abusive, etc, then for all they care you should go to the competitor. Let them deal with you. Now for the mean part. It is your responsibility to keep track of how much you have in your account. Not the banks. If you spend more money than you have, you are going to be overdrawn. There is nothing the bank can do about that. If your bank is like we are, you can opt out of having the bank let you get overdrawn. We have something similar to them, and you can be overdrawn to a certain amount. But I don't know how long it was since you asked them the first time about being overdrawn, but it might have changed. I know for my bank they slowly increase the amount you are allowed to be overdrawn. So if you asked them, lets say a month ago, you might have only been allowed to be overdrawn $100, whereas now you can be overdrawn up to $350. And if you start being more irresponsible with your account then they will lower it again. It just depends on the history of your account. So when they told you that you were allowed a negative balance of $100, that may have been the case at the time. We also do not tell people about the option to be overdrawn, unless they ask or it becomes an issue. That is common practice, because many people (maybe not you, but they don't know that) abuse that service and cost the bank money in time and resources. Think of it like this, if you are overdrawn, the bank loaned you money to pay your transactions (checks, debit card purchases, etc.). Any loan you get is going to have fees. Also, if you chose to opt out, then although they won't pay your checks and whatnot, you will still get a fee because the bank has to return the item and again, it costs money and resources. So would you rather have them pay your checks and you have the one fee from the bank for each item, or do you want them to return everything that overdraws your account and pay the bank and the person who you gave the item? I think that is all I had to say... again, not trying to attack anyone, but I thought I should clear some of this up. __________________ Chock-full of naughty goodness. Last edited by Iggy; 04-14-2006 at 01:36 PM.