Thursday, August 28, 2008

I Hate My Bank!

When we first moved here we got bank accounts at a local bank because the bank we had before (Bank Of America) the closest one was about 30 mins away. They (the local bank) had great service, were very friendly and helpful. The thing is.....they are a crappy bank! It takes forever to do bill pay, takes forever for transactions to show up etc! At the bank we had before they went in instantly. Now 3 times in the past week I've had my bank card declined. Now if I did not have money in there I could understand it. It's quite embarrassing when you are tying to pay for something and have it declined. Now at my job at Walmart.....I see lots of customers using the same bank card that I have. They have problems with it also. Just yesterday a woman came in and tried to pay for her purchases and she was declined. I waited while she called the bank and checked her account. They told her she had plenty of money in there to cover it. I tried again to run her check and no go. It would not go through. So I had to suspend the transaction while she left her whole cut full of stuff at customer service. She went to the bank which is very close to Walmart. She had to come back with cash.
Small town banks may seem nice and pleasant but they may not be up there with the national chain banks. Their online banking is lacking as well. We both rely on online banking.
So anyhow....back to what I was saying. I went to get gas and my card went through. I decided to stop at the Bank ATM at the bank and check my balance. It said I had .30 in there!!! I wanted to go to CVS but instead I went home and got online. I had plenty of money in there. So I go to check out this natural foods store to look for some vitamins. My card is declined on a $7 purchase!!!! So I go back to the ATM and see if I can take money out. Nope, it won't let me. I hate not being able to have access to my money that I have in the bank. It sucks! So I go back home and get online again. It still says I have plenty of money in there. I call the bank and do a balance check which is a recording but it tells me that I have the same balance that I have online. I am very mad by this time. So now I'm online looking for a bank here and is not just local. State Farm is the only one I can seem to find that may be national or at least not local. I know....I thought State Farm was just insurance but no they have lots of other stuff too. Anyhow I'm still researching this stuff. I shouldn't even have to be doing this. I just want access to my money that I have in the bank.
Blessings to y'all

6 comments:

  1. Oh I feel your pain. Our old bank was the same way. It was very frustrating and embarrassing at the check out and the thing says your card is declined when you know you have money in there. I hope you find a bank. {{{hugs}}}

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  2. Indigo Incarnates

    First Mariner Bank plays the same shenanigans. When I deposit a paper check, they withhold the funds for as long as legally permisable. most banks put a 1-3 day hold, but 1st Mariner holds a check for the full 5 days.

    Then there's Provident Bank, which will charge you an overdraft fee for a "potential" overdraft that never actually happens. For example, my ISP queries my card five days before they actually draw funds. If I have a transaction in those five days that would make my balance go negative IF the ISP HAD drawn the money, I get an overdraft fee -- even though in reality my account balance stayed positive at all times.

    Banks suck.

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  3. I tried to do business with a local bank recently and at first like you said, they came across friendly and helpful but when it came time to actually make the deal, they were hard to deal with. I will stick with BOA even though they sometimes mess up.

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  4. Thanks Shirla. I will find a better bank even if I have to go to Bank of America. I'm going to do direct deposit so I don't really need to be able to go to the actual bank. :)

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  5. It's not just local banks, and it's not just over there. I had problems like this with a bank a while back. They were also one of these banks that open their doors and allow you to go up to the desk and wait at 9:00 am. But - even though people are sat behind the desk - they wont serve you until 9:30 am because they're "not supposed to turn on the computers until 9:430 am!" But if that's the case, why open the main doors, and pull up the shutter thingys on the screen of the desk?

    I stopped using them a couple of years ago, but my Mam still has an account with them because they say she owes them from a loan that had it not been for them messing about with the "yes you've got money. Oops, no you haven't" issue would have been paid off ages ago.

    And this is a bank with branches all over the country!

    No bank is perfect though. Even with my new bank (well, it's not exactly new... Been with them for about 5 years now) I often have trouble using my card in shops. It's gotten so that I get the cash out at the atm and avoid using the card. It's fine online though, and I never have trouble accessing money, so I don't mind that bit too much.

    I know from my experience with the other bank how frustrating your situation is though.

    Just wanted to warn you that changing banks wont neccesarily fix all the issues.

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  6. That sounds wholly irritating - it's probably better that you changed.
    Sometimes the internet can be just as annoying as that!

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