September 2020 by Mark C.
I just got off the phone with a customer service rep at US Bank. It was the most horrible example of customer service I have ever experienced. It is all related to banking fees and balance updates. Here is the situation AND a watch out for consumers on Unfair Banking Practices. I had been unemployed for 3 moths (was doing consulting work prior), so I have been trying to stay current on my bills. 4 weeks I just got a full-time job. Now mind you this is during a Pandemic where I have been working with my Mortgage company, IRS and other creditors to help me during this time. All have been extremely willing to work and help during this time. Here is the unfair banking practice. A few weeks ago, I had 3 charges that went through and put me in an overdraft position. The bank charged me $36 for each - I accepted those fees which in a time when most families are struggling, I think these are excessive. For the next two weeks I've been monitoring my balance every day to make sure I don't go over and have turned off any direct pay bills. I get paid on a Friday so on Wed. prior I spend money on food and a $5.41 lunch. I see these charges as pending on my bank balance leaving me a positive $18+ balance as of Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon I get an email from an old hosting service of a charge for $203. I call immediately as I had cancelled this service, they see that and issue an immediate credit. Now the issue is I still don't see that on my banking balance as of Thursday afternoon. Remind you I get paid on Friday (Direct Deposit). I wake up Friday morning to check my balance and I see another $138 dollars in over draft fees. When I call customer service they tell me the balance you see online or on mobile is not reflective of everything and even though the posting date of the $203 is on the 24th (Thurs) and the other food an lunch charges - which showed on my online balance were Wednesday. The way the apply the overdrafts is different, so the balances and dates I see online don't mean anything. Then she tells me you should of setup alerts (which I thought I did), but I tell her even if I did I wouldn't of received the alert until mid-day Thursday about going over and you would of still charged me the $36 for the previous day charges...so how would an alert help? This is a very unfair system and does not make any sense. Not to mention the customer service was horrible - I sat on hold for over 30 minutes prior to connecting to a useless service rep. I think the current banking laws our very unfair to the consumer and banking practices are terrible where they put profit before customers. I've had many bad experiences with this bank. From extended periods of waiting for checks to clear, overdraft fees, transfers not processing immediately and now learning that even though you think your monitoring and managing your balance, what you see online is not actual and the dates and time of when you see charges get applied is different than how the bank applies them. STAY WAY from this bank! There are so many new and more customer focused banks and great online banks that offer greater customer service. I can only hope new laws are enacted to protect people from banks like US Bank
