It's my fault you can't balance a checkbook?

[AtDIelement]

I love these people that come in here and blame me for the fact that they used their debit card, over and over again, then proceed to have checks come in which put them in the red.

If you're a grown adult, you should know how to use a checkbook register, or at least keep an eye on your online balance before you go buying $600 worth of stuff when you only have $400 in your account.

No, I will not be returning your overdraft fees, and no, I'm not doing it to screw up your Christmas... I would lose my job!

And from what I've seen, most of the people that have the most trouble are between the ages of 50-70. The twenty something people keep their balances in the positive.

Ugh, sorry, I had to rant, but now I feel a little better... Until the next SC comes in.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I love how people who are irresponsible with their money think it's everyone else's fault that their holiday/plans/life is "ruined"

I've had a couple late payments on credit cards (because of setting aside the bill to pay "later" and then forgetting about it; once I didn't realize until the next statement came and I saw the late fee). Once I sent in the bill and realized a couple days later when I went to write a check for something else that the check for the credit card was still in my checkbook ( - they waived the fee when I called them and explained, though, which was nice; I did ask if the fee could be waived, but I would have taken no for an answer; I was really calling to find out what I should do about making sure the check got to the right place since I no longer had the payment stub. Ironically, though, while sorting that one out, I realized that they had applied someone else's payment to my account and it was showing a credit of about $120, so maybe it was just as well that I was an idiot, since I'm sure it saved that person some big troubles). But I've never blamed anyone else for my own stupidity/carelessness. All in all, I do pretty well, considering I've had credit cards for 14 years and can count on one hand the number of times I've paid them late - and not once was it because I didn't have the money. I saw acquaintances in college rack up the bills; the only time I ever went overboard on "charging" was at school, and it was on my student ID, not a credit card. Had to answer to my parents for that, and I never did it again. That was freshman year; I didn't get a real credit card until I was a junior.

I've never once overdrawn my checking account, either. I rarely buy things with my debit card, and when I do I make sure to put it in my checkbook ASAP. Mostly I use a credit card so I can write one check to pay for everything, and I get out $100 every week or two from the ATM. If anything, though, I have too much money in my checking account. My paycheck is direct deposited, so whatever I don't spend just builds up. I need to get another savings account (I have one at a credit union that I stopped using because they didn't have any convenient branches after I moved; of course, a year later they opened one not far from me. )

[AtDIelement]

To be completely honest, I always try to help people out when I can. But sometimes it's beyond my control.

As assistant manager, I have to handle all operational aspects of a branch, and if I go over in my refunded fees, I have to take accountability for that. And if I give fees back for stupid stuff, I can't give fees back to the people where it is a genuine bank error.

Sometimes my job makes me feel like the bad guy.

[Teskeria]

To be completely honest, I always try to help people out when I can. But sometimes it's beyond my control.

As assistant manager, I have to handle all operational aspects of a branch, and if I go over in my refunded fees, I have to take accountability for that. And if I give fees back for stupid stuff, I can't give fees back to the people where it is a genuine bank error.

Sometimes my job makes me feel like the bad guy.

Then you need to step around and look from the other side. You're the GOOD guy! You are helping the people with a genuine right to have a refund. The only way to do that is to NOT help the scammers, and the people who don't bother to pay attention to their money because they are sure they can whine their way to a refund.

[alowlypotato]

I love these people that come in here and blame me for the fact that they used their debit card, over and over again, then proceed to have checks come in which put them in the red.

If you're a grown adult, you should know how to use a checkbook register, or at least keep an eye on your online balance before you go buying $600 worth of stuff when you only have $400 in your account.

Yes! Yes, yes, a million times YES!! I soooo feel your pain.

I work at a credit union, and the absolute worst members to deal with (besides those who can't understand why I'd dare to put a $20,000 check on hold :-p) are the ones who can't grasp the notion of taking responsibility for their own finances. It's not our job to personally monitor your balances, people -- it's yours!

I had a guy once who was rip-roaring mad that his account kept getting overdrawn. Since he mentioned that a few checks he deposited had been put on hold, and that he'd been told they were going to go on hold, I suggested that, in the future, he not write checks against the account until he was sure the money was available (...duh?). Know what he said?

"You mean I actually have to make sure money's in there before I write a check? That's just too much of a hassle."



But, yeah, clearly his overdrafts were our fault. *facepalm*

Sometimes my job makes me feel like the bad guy.

But you're totally not, dude. Enabling irresponsible people doesn't do them any favors, ya know?

[Peppergirl]

Sometimes my job makes me feel like the bad guy.

You're not. Like others have said, you're doing your job and saving your 'favors' for the customers who deserve it.

I'm a bit embarassed to admit that, at age 35, I was recently divorced and had no idea how to balance a checkbook or use a debit card properly.

I showed up at my new branch practically in tears, but I fully owned the fact that the issues were *my* fault and no one elses.

The asst manager sat me down in her office, and spent a good 30 minutes going over things with me and explaining to me how things worked. At no time did she make me feel stupid for being a grown-assed woman who didnt know how checks/debit cards worked. Perhaps it was the fact that I wasn't acting whiny and entitled or blaming the bank for it. I know that, as a customer service person, I tend to go over and above for people when they truly need help and arent blaming ME for THEIR mistakes - so maybe thats what happened here.

She split the fees with me - I think there were 3 - and I left a happy camper.

Anyway - that bank earned my loyalty that day.

Keep up the good work AtD, and don't let the bastards get you down.

[chainedbarista]

you're definitely not the bad guy; only irresponsible twits with no sense of 'consequences of of action/ignorance' will claim that.

these types of people believe that overspending=surplus, which may 'work' for the government, but for everyone else, no.

[ReverendBSB]

Most of my overdrafts have been my fault and I accept them, but there are a couple of cases when the bank had to hear from me.

I used to bank at Chase, and after my wedding I was living pretty much check to check. Then one day my account is overdrawn. I go online to see why, and a mystery check was cashed. It turned out to be a check I had written over TWO YEARS ago to a magazine. I called Chase to inquire about this, and was treated very rudely. If they had just told me that there was no expiration on my personal checks I would have accepted it, but the woman was snotty and short with me. So a couple of weeks later after everything had posted I closed my account and opened a new one with Capital One. When I called to cancel my Chase account then they got all friendly and offered to refund the overdraft fees. Too late I told them.

Then a couple of months ago I got a very large check ($25000) and deposited it. I was told the check may be held, and said no problem. But two days later I log into my account in the morning and there the money is. Great I thought, and started to pay some bills online. I go to work, then when I try to buy lunch on my debit card it is declined. I log in on my iPhone and my account is overdrawn. Turns out they waited until 9 AM to put a hold on the check, after I had left for work. Not only that, but they held it twice so my account was overdrawn for $25000 plus the bills I had paid. But to their credit I called and they fixed the double hold, then the next day the money was there and they did not charge me any fees. A few days later I got a letter about the hold, and it did state that any overdraft fees from the hold would be refunded, so I am still very happy with C1.

[alowlypotato]

Most of my overdrafts have been my fault and I accept them, but there are a couple of cases when the bank had to hear from me.

I used to bank at Chase, and after my wedding I was living pretty much check to check. Then one day my account is overdrawn. I go online to see why, and a mystery check was cashed. It turned out to be a check I had written over TWO YEARS ago to a magazine. I called Chase to inquire about this, and was treated very rudely. If they had just told me that there was no expiration on my personal checks I would have accepted it, but the woman was snotty and short with me. So a couple of weeks later after everything had posted I closed my account and opened a new one with Capital One. When I called to cancel my Chase account then they got all friendly and offered to refund the overdraft fees. Too late I told them.

o.O ...how long ago was that, perchance? As it stands currently, unless stated otherwise on the check, all checks (including personal) are void after six months. I've never seen a check that was valid longer than a year.

[ReverendBSB]

o.O ...how long ago was that, perchance? As it stands currently, unless stated otherwise on the check, all checks (including personal) are void after six months. I've never seen a check that was valid longer than a year.

The snotty woman told me that there was no expiration on my personal checks. Happened around June or so this year.

[alowlypotato]

The snotty woman told me that there was no expiration on my personal checks. Happened around June or so this year.

That is soooo bizarre!

Meh, sounds like you're better off without them one way or the other, anyway!

[Sightings Reporter]

Okay, when I was a kid (think early 20s) I had a few overdraft fees, mainly because I underestimated the time the check I just wrote would get to the bank before I could with my paycheck. After that happened a few times, I figured it out and quit doing it. I now am so obsessed with my checkbook balancing that I do it once a week.

As for credit cards, I have been late on a payment or two in the past 5 years and that is totally my fault. I switched banks and did an online payment using the old bank info. Crud. The person I spoke with at the cc company waived the fees both times. Rock on.

As far as banks being responsible for the fees? What? No way. While with one bank I used, thier policies were obsurd and did caused me to have a bounced check more than once, I changed banks shortly after that. (The bank would do debits first then credits, no matter the order they came in and if you went below zero started assessing fees.)

[Andara Bledin]

o.O ...how long ago was that, perchance? As it stands currently, unless stated otherwise on the check, all checks (including personal) are void after six months. I've never seen a check that was valid longer than a year.

o.O ...how long ago was that, perchance? As it stands currently, unless stated otherwise on the check, all checks (including personal) are void after six months. I've never seen a check that was valid longer than a year.

There are no expiration dates on checks.

However, they do go stale after a set amount of time (usually 6 months), and after that point, it is completely at the discretion of the bank as to whether or not they honor them.

If you know you have a check outstanding that's more than 6 months old, your best bet it to just put a stop payment on it and contact whoever it was written to to let them know that they will need a new payment as the old one is no longer valid. And if you're the holder of said check, then it's a good idea to contact the account holder and let them know you will need a new payment.

^-.-^

[AtDIelement]

Well, thank you for the backup on that. I feel better about it.

Stupid SC called my boss and complained that I should be reprimanded because now she can't pay bills.

My boss told her to shove it in so many words. So at least he backed me up on it. (Which is a first)

[trailerparkmedic]

Well, thank you for the backup on that. I feel better about it.

Stupid SC called my boss and complained that I should be reprimanded because now she can't pay bills.

My boss told her to shove it in so many words. So at least he backed me up on it. (Which is a first)

Maybe this woman will learn her lesson and watch her balance from now on. A few years ago, I was horrible with money. Eventually I ended up with 5 overdraft fees in one day, and that was the final straw that taught me I needed to keep an eye on my money. Now my credit cards are paid off and I have a nice stash in my savings account.