Worst customer service ever. I too got fucked over with NSF fees, and bieng with them for 10 years I never had any fees, except literally 2 that were taken off because it was some mistake. literally 10 years.... then this happens:
sunday i have $99.21 and i was planning on closing the account but i had a $50 check floating around still i was waiting for to go through before i closed it. I spend 7.25, and 2.57 at wendys and a gas station. monday i spend 8.11, and 11.53 at two stores. tuesday i spend 3.50 and 7.15. now by this time the check had not gone through yet, but EVEN if it did post, i would have about $10.
i had spent about $40 knowing i had $99 - the $50 check. thinking i was safe. stupidly, wednesday morning i accidently spend $35 on gas, so my PENDING balance is -$25. i actually had tons of cash on me as im a delivery driver in college and make lots of cash tips, and i even went inside the gas station to pay cash instead of paying with the card knowing i didnt have money. but i stupidly handed him the card and he swiped it. i knew i messed up but i figured i could just deposit money before it posts. i was wrong, since TCF decided to change their policy on 4/1/09 to screw people like me over in situations like this. this is where it gets interesting.
my $35, 3.50, and 7.15 were still pending that morning, and those 4 transactions from sunday and monday posted, AND the $50 check. of course, what they did was said i had 99.21, but subtracted the pending first (they told me they have to put aside the pending transactions to make sure i have funds for them when they post) so that left me with $52.84. of course they subtract the $50 first, so they can fuck me over with those first 4 transactions from sunday and monday so i got slapped with 4 NSF fees and was at a -$26.62 balance.
i asked them how can this be, those top 3 pending transactions have not posted yet, so why would those be subtracted first? they kept telling me the reason this all happened is because that $50 check posted suddenly, and that pending transactions are always set aside so you have funds for them. so i argued, it didnt matter when the $50 check posted, what matters is you are telling me the pending transactions are withheld so i have money for them, and then telling me i didnt have money for the ones that posted that day.
shouldnt all the posted transactions have had the money set aside in the past also then? i asked them "OK, WHEN DOES MY MONEY GET TAKEN OUT? WHILE PENDING? OR WHEN THEY OFFICIALLY POST?!" they told me it doesnt matter when, and they can do it in any order they want, and "its just how it works, all banks work like this" and i told them no my other bank DOESNT. then the manager told me to manage my money better.
whats even more ridiculous is they told me if i dont put money in my account i will get 3 more fees for those other 3 pending transactions the next day!!!! i said HOW CAN THIS BE, ON THIS STATEMENT IT SAYS I HAVE A POSITIVE BALANCE OF $52 BECAUSE YOU ALREADY SUBTRACTED THEM, THEN THE NEXT DAY YOU SAY THE OTHER 4 + $50 CHECK WERE SUBTRACTED FIRST, THEN YOU SLAP ME WITH THREE MORE NSF FEES? its a SCAM. they are hoping you wont catch on to their corrupt system.
i kept getting the manager caught in her own lies and she would always end up saying something like "you cant spend money that you dont have" and i kept saying, well those first 4 transactions were made when i had enough money, and they posted WHEN i had the money, you just LIE and claim the 3 pending ones were set aside "to ensure sufficient funds for when those post" but then claim those ALSO posted with NSF. if the funds are set aside while pending, those first 6 should have had the funds set aside, and i should have only gotten a NSF on the $35 gas charge, but i deposited money before that posted, so technically i shouldnt have gotten any at all.
whats even crazier is the $140 in NSF fees for those first 4 posted before the next 3 even posted, so that proves I HAD THE MONEY AVAILABLE for those 4.
they are liars and thieves. you can outsmart them and at least make them feel like lieing assholes infront of other customers, but 99% of customers arent gonna realize whats really going on behind the scenes to fuck them over.
i did get two refunded after calling tcf and explaining the situation, but they only refund one to hope you are happy with that, and give up. they wanted to charge me $240 in fees because i made ONE transaction that made my pending balance go negative to -$26.
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My story is sort of confusing, so I wanted to add to this post and make a very simple situation that is possible, and shows how they are lieing:
If on Monday you have a balance of $2, and you spend $2, your pending balance is $0. technically you still have the money in your account until it POSTS. so now lets say TUESDAY you spend $2 again, and that first charge from the day before posts. this is what they do:
Previous balance ............... $2
Pending transactions ......... $2 (this is the one from tuesday)
Available Balance ............... $0
Posted Transactions ........... $2
Balance .............................. -$2
So you get a NSF for the monday transaction. this makes no sense because the $2 you ahve should go to the posted one, not the pending one first. they say the pending one is subtracted first to make sure you have the funds available when it posts, but you know its a lie because that would mean the $2 was already reserved for the first transaction) and it gets even crazier, this is what happens on wednesday when the 2nd transaction posts:
Previous Balance .............. $0 (this is because NOW they say its $2 minus the first monday trans)
None Pending
Posted Transactions ......... $2
Balance ............................ -$2
so you get hit with TWO NSF fees of $35.... so think about this, on tuesday, they told you the $2 was reserved or "set aside" as they tried to claim to me with my situation, to MAKE SURE i had the funds available, but then the next day they rearrange it again and say you didn't have those funds either!
so how can you have $2, make two $2 transactions, and not have funds for either?
the fact of the matter is YOU MUST HAVE HAD THE FUNDS FOR ATLEAST ONE OF THEM!! but the way they do it, makes it so you "don't" have funds for both. the manager will tell you you cant spend money you dont have.... like she told me, yet you would clearly have had money for atleast one of those. (likely tho, they would wave one of them just to try to appease you and make you go away, but will get away with atleast the one charge).
in the past, you could deposit money on tuesday, and you wouldnt have gotten a charge for the monday transaction because the $2 you DID have goes to the posted one, not the pending one, and then if you deposited money before the 2nd posted, you wouldnt have gotten an NSF for that either. in my situation, before 4/1/09, i wouldn't have gotten ANY NSF fees, but the new policy made it so i was GUARANTEED the first 4. just like in this analogy, you are guaranteed the first one.
now this gets even more interesting of course when they start arranging them by ammount. in my situation, i accidently charged $35 on a wednesday, my only charge that day, that put me negative $25, and they tried to slap me with a NSF for that, AND the previous 6 transactions from the three days before.
this shouldn't be legal because its a LIE! my analogy shows that YOU MUST HAVE HAD THE FUNDS available for atleast one of the two, or in my case i had the funds available for 6 of the 7 but they tried to fuck me over by rearranging shit over and over to maximize their NSF fees.
so people can argue that people who overdraft "need to manage their money better" like the manager at my tcf told me, and that i cant spend money i dont have, but its all a lie, they are screwing you over when YOU DO HAVE THE MONEY. in my case, i accidently used a card for an account i was planning on CLOSING the next day, and got screwed over.
