Debit Card Suckage (Long and ranty)

[blas]

We must deal with the same bank.

At the beginning of every month, I always see a lovely $3-$5 "card fee" on my account. I guess I should feel PRIVILEGED to be banking with them and feel that it's a golden privilege to use that debit card.

If it didn't hurt your credit to switch banks, I'd drain it all out tomorrow and take it to another bank where it was free to use your debit card whenever the hell you pleased.

[Kogarashi]

Rarely have I had a problem with my debit cards. I hardly use them anyway, except at Sam's Club and ATMs, since we've got the Amazon Rewards card and put everything on that (yay Amazon gift cards!). Every bank I've been with has sent out the new card at least a month before the old one expires.

With our current bank, I've got two cards. One is for the joint account I share with Hubby, and the other is for the personal account I keep my Fun Money in. I sell artwork at conventions and online, and like to keep track of it and art-related purchases separate rather than in a "paper account" under the joint account. Also makes it easier when I want to buy a video game to just keep track of it out of my own balance. But anyway. The two debit cards are absolutely identical, except for the card numbers themselves. I'm useless for memorizing card numbers (only ever done it once, and that card has since been cut into tiny pieces), so I keep the "call for activation" sticker on them and scribble "joint" or "pers" on the relevant cards to tell them apart.

Early this year, our cards were expiring. The bank sent Hubby's replacement out pronto, and sent my personal account card out as well, but I never received my replacement. It didn't come with Hubby's; it usually comes in an envelope of its own. We've kept an eye on the account, and nothing has been withdrawn without permission, thank goodness. I haven't bothered to ask for a replacement (especially since our bank was recently acquired by another bank due to Federal intervention), and really forgot about it until I was in Sam's Club recently and needed to use the card. Couldn't figure out why it was declining until the cashier noticed it was expired. Oops. Luckily I had other means of payment.

OF course, being irate and stressed means I now have an abundance of food, as I tend to cook when I'm upset, just to stay busy. I now have pasta salad with imitation crab meat and veggies, a sausage pasta dish in tomato basil sauce with mozarella cheese, chicken enchilada casserole, and a pot of turkey chili is currently simmering on the stove. I'm eating well this week...and I may have to give some away, that which doesn't freeze well.

Mmm...I'm coming over for dinner too!

And now you've got me hankering to make pasta salad with a bag of stir-fry veggies thrown in instead of the usual peas and celery. Pity I don't think imitation crab fits in the food budget right now.

[fma_fanatic]

Thankfully, with my bank, new check cards are printed on premises, so I just walk in and ask for a new card. No charge, no wait. Just a verification of identification and I'm back out spending my hard-earned cash.

I recently switched credit unions and the new one I'm at also has this service. SO kept asking me when they'd send me a real card, and I told him this was my real card. Sure, I could ask for a new one, but then this one would be deactivated and I pretty much use my debit card for everything. I don't mind going into my nearest branch as it is now much closer to my work - one of the main reasons I moved CUs.

The other reason is that I get some pretty neat perks. Like 5.01% on my checking account. My other CU couldn't even touch that unless I had a lot of money in the account, and I'm lucky if I still have 5 dollars left before the next payday after bills, gas and groceries are bought.

[TheComputerError]

Thankfully, with my bank, new check cards are printed on premises, so I just walk in and ask for a new card. No charge, no wait. Just a verification of identification and I'm back out spending my hard-earned cash.

[SG15Z]

OF course, being irate and stressed means I now have an abundance of food, as I tend to cook when I'm upset, just to stay busy. I now have pasta salad with imitation crab meat and veggies, a sausage pasta dish in tomato basil sauce with mozarella cheese, chicken enchilada casserole, and a pot of turkey chili is currently simmering on the stove. I'm eating well this week...and I may have to give some away, that which doesn't freeze well.

All in all, things are turning out all right, and I'll have a new DC, hopefully before October 20th.

Mmmm! Can I come over for supper! lol

Glad to hear everything worked out! That's why I handle everything with my bank in person if I have the time. The people at the actual branch tend to be more helpful than 1-800ers

[Difdi]

Ugh..I hate banks that charge you not only for the priviledge of letting you use their debit card, but charge you for all their fuck ups.

Haven't you heard? Banks have procedures and policies in place to prevent mistakes, and all their employees always follow them to the letter. Therefore mistakes cannot be made by the bank and must have been on the customer's end. Therefore charging a customer a fee for any mistakes is fully justified. Because, you know, nobody ever violates policy on the bank's end. Nope, never.

[PepperElf]

usually that'd be enough for me to say "thank you. I'll be changing banks now"

if I even tell them ... sometimes I've been known to just change banks without telling them too... they'll figure it out sooner or later

[Racket_Man]

you have to remember that sometimes the bank part and the card part are TOTALLY seperate entities with totaly seperate databases at are NOT always sync'ed up.

for example

my ex and I divorced 2 years ago. 1 1/2 years before that we got seperate bank accounts. I took over sole posession of our joint account and she opened a totally new one seperate from me at the same bank. the joint account was now mine with only my name addy signature SSN etc AND we canceled her ATM/debt card and access for said account.

after Ex and I split I moved to a new address and changed everything including address PINs and security features

fast forward to last Jan. I know my debt card is expiring. I get new card in the mail. cool beans as my mag strip on the current one is dying. I open the envelope and low and behold there are two (2) cards. one in my name and one in my Ex's name.

I think WHAT THE FREEKING HELLLLLLL is going on??????? I start to sweat bullets. Crap did my EX STILL have access to MY account??????

I get on the phone to the bank's 800 number (actually it is local. how do I know it IS local because I deliver to the call center ocassionally). the CSR verifies my info and security. they also verify that I am the sole possessor of the account and that my Ex is NOT on the account (stops sweating at that point) in any way shape for form. the CSR does not understand why I was sent 2 Debt cards so she puts me on hold to talk to her supervisor. even they are not sure why I got 2 cards. they tell me they will research and call back.

I get a call back about an hour later and here is what happened. they must "farm" out the debt card recording/printing/embossing to either an outside company (my best gues is this is the case) or another division of the bank. for some reason the databases of bank and the debt card division/issuer are not sync'ed up and the card company/division STILL had my Ex on the account. when it came time to send out new cards they used the "current" info they had to issue new cards.

so even though they got my address correct they did not have the proper account holder info correct

[lupo pazzesco]

Update of sorts...

Mk, so, said woman did in fact call me back, but not until earlier today, around noon. Turns out my bank DOES send out a debit card before the old on expires. Only problem is, they sent it to an address I haven't lived at in THREE YEARS. (Almost 4, actually) That was the reason I got the window on my online banking saying I was being charged for a new card, because the other one was bounced back, and rather than worry about it being intercepted, my old DC number was canceled. So, when I ordered the renewed card, it's essentially as though it were lost or stolen.

Problems with all of the above being, every time I've moved (Twice since I first opened the account), I've ALWAYS updated my address, both online, and going into a branch when I could afford the time to, and updating it there. So why in the blue bloody hell were they sending a replacement card to a 4 year old address still?

The lady had no explanation for that one when I brought it up. She did, however re-order a new debit card for me, asked if she could delete the old address off my account (which I had originally done each time I changed addys to avoid this kind of confusion, but why quibble?) She also said she was going to refund the charges for all the times I had the money deducted from my account, however there will be one fee charged because it is an annual fee that everyone pays once a year for use of a debit mastercard. I'm ok with that, since it was outlined when I originally signed up for the account. Allegedly, that's what one of the charges was, but if that were the case, why couldn't the 4 people I spoke with at the 1-800 customer number tell me this?? Why did it take some poor little bank worker at a local branch crammed into the corner of a Wal-mart who actually did look into it and get back to me to finally tell me the truth?

I behaved the entire time, though, folks, and not once did I turn sucky. I didn't even ask that all fees be waived, I just asked if I was going to be charged yet again for a replacement card, and she told me about refunding everything except the yearly fee, so she was a sweetie. And now that my irritation has subsided, I'm much less stressed at this point.

OF course, being irate and stressed means I now have an abundance of food, as I tend to cook when I'm upset, just to stay busy. I now have pasta salad with imitation crab meat and veggies, a sausage pasta dish in tomato basil sauce with mozarella cheese, chicken enchilada casserole, and a pot of turkey chili is currently simmering on the stove. I'm eating well this week...and I may have to give some away, that which doesn't freeze well.

All in all, things are turning out all right, and I'll have a new DC, hopefully before October 20th.

[Heatherina]

Yeah, every bank I have ever been with has sent a new debit card before the old one expired. You should do some bank shopping. Good luck.

[otakuneko]

BoFA's always sent me a new debit card a few weeks before the old one expired, and didn't charge for it either.

Your bank is a sucky bank.

[smileyeagle1021]

yeah, Lupo, my best advice (and this applies doubly with the economy), pull every penny you have out of your bank, and go to a credit union... not only are they much better at taking care of their members (they don't consider you a customer, they consider you a member, that should say a lot), but not a single credit union has gone under because of the economy and most credit unions have much better mortgages and aren't having a bunch of people default (at least in this area).

[simpleyme]

what ? i do not get any of this

every bank and credit card I have just sends new cards before the old ones expire sometimes way before for no apparent reason , they charge you for the card ? I would change banks

[fma_fanatic]

So they can charge you late fees when you realize the card has expired and want to renew it.

I guess I'm too used to my credit unions being on the ball about that. Still, why should OP have to pay for their mistakes. They're the ones that messed up; let them pay the fees.

Then find a new bank that won't charge fees for sending out new cards.

[jedimaster91]

I also don't understand why your bank doesn't send out new cards when the old one is getting close to expiring.

So they can charge you late fees when you realize the card has expired and want to renew it.