Get Your Overdraft Fees Back!

Mr. Kenneth D. Lewis
100 N. Tryon Street.
Mail Code NC-1-007-18-01
Charlotte, NC 28255
(Change according to Bank.)

Uncle Sam
420 Liberty Lane
ApplePie, US, 111111
(Supply your own address)

Dear Mr. Lewis,

My name is Uncle Sam and I write to inform you of an unjust overdraft fee that I accumulated on 9 September 2009. I have been a long time customer of Bank of America and have often recommended your bank to many of my friends, but I am afraid I will have to cease this practice, in light of my current troubles. I hate to think badly of a bank that I have been a long time supporter of, as it’s the Bank of America, a country I am quite fond of. But after you read my story, I am sure you will see how the overdraft fees charged by your bank boarder on shaky lines of legality.

Like many Americans, and many of your customer base, I have been hit hard by these financial times. Me and the Ms. have returned to our Great Depression spending ways. Though to be truthful, during the Great Depression I was rather well off with the lucrative government kick backs from the use of my face on every wall in America. Back in those days, I was a great use to the American Propaganda Machine but the current state of America no longer needs the services of an old fuddy duddy like your old Uncle Sam. I get by on a good pension and kickbacks for appearances at Fourth of July BBQs. I am no complainer and a salt of the Earth American. I may be a strapped for cash but I pay my debts. No one is going to call me a long haired beatnic.

So imagine my surprise when I went of my local Bank of America Branch to find I had a negative account balance. I was flabbergasted to say the least. I am an avid user of Bank of America’s online account manager and keep up to date with my financial situation. Why only a week prior, I had caught a slight oversight of $17 from an automatic charge and ran to my local ATM to deposit enough money to cover the fee.

Before the $20 deposit, my account total was $10 on the day of the charge. This is not when the charge was cleared, as I am sure you know the process to clear a check may take up to 2 business days, which means the $17 charge was pending, by which I mean Bank of America had not paid the debt and I had covered the cost before any human action was taken by any Bank of America staff.

Yet the plot thickens. Earlier that day, I went to my local independent connivence store and impulse bought a bag of Beef Jerky, as you live in North Carolina I am sure you know the merits of good Beef Jerky. To purchase the beef jerky I used my ATM card to charge $9 from my account, it was a big bag of Beef Jerky.

Mr. Lewis, as you have been the CEO of Bank of America since 2000 and have a history of involvement with the company, I am sure you know what happened. I was not only charged a $35 overdraft fee for the $17 that had was still pending, but I was charged another $35 overdraft fee for the $9 I spent on beef jerky. This turned what may have been -$16, had I not rectified my balance with the $20 deposit, into a -$86 balance. Or simply put, I was charged $70 for a $16 discrepancy that did not exist. What seems like pure madness was explained to me by one of your less than helpful bank managers. I will include a short paraphrased transcription.

“In June of “09, We here at Bank of America changed their overdraft policy. The Overdraft fees are now incurred on the date the check is received, not the day it is paid out.” The slick suit said.

“O.K., now you are going to have to explain this slowly to me. And correct me if I am wrong, but Bank of America charges their customer base a overcharge fee, not on the day that money changes hands, but on the day that they first know about the check?”

“Yes.”

“Now what is the definition of an Overdraft fee?”

“An Overdraft Item Fee is charged when you write a check or make a withdrawal for an amount that is more than the balance in your checking or savings account.”

“Damn you sound like a robot from Planet 9. Could you just tell me what a Overdraft fee is?”

“In laymen’s terms, and don’t quote me, but a Overdraft fee is a penalty given to the customer for their errors in banking. Basically if the bank has to pay out money that is not yours, then we charge you a fee.”

“But the bank didn’t pay out money that was not there. The $17 charge was pending when I deposited money in the account.”

“Ahh see, as of 5 June 2009, Bank of America charges when you write a check or make a withdrawal for an amount that is more than the balance in your checking or savings account. We do not charge Overdraft fees on the date the checks clear.”

“Not on the day it clears?”

“Not on the day it clears, right.”

“So if Bank of America were to charge the overdraft fee on the day that the bank was inconvenienced than I would have no Overdraft fees?”

“That is besides the point sir, I am sure you got literature in the mail all about the Overdraft change and it is not our job to keep you informed, but we do offer you all the information and services you need to keep you away from overdraft fees.”

“Besides the point!?! Bank of America charges people serious fees for thought crimes and you say it’s besides the point?” At which point I walked out of the bank and ran from a 1984 environment you, Mr. Lewis, have helped create.

Now I ask you sir in concern to Bank of America’s outlandish fees, does the punishment fit the crime? Every worker in the branch or any employee that I could reach by phone seemed to think so. Which is why I am appealing to a high source as I am sure your intelligence far exceeds that of the common counter jockey or Branch Manager.

Though I must admit I found further information on the internet that left a bad taste in my mouth. Why I was rather enraged when I got home from the bank ordeal. I was left with unanswered questions and feared for the financial future of Bank of America, fore if a big time Wall street bank needs to sheer the sheep, then we are all in big trouble.

Yet a far different picture reviled itself when I read the financial times, in a report on a study conducted by Moebs Services, a research company who collected data from 2,000 banks and credit unions, found that U.S banks will make 38.5 billion in Overdraft fees, this year, and that 44.5% of all banks have Overdraft incomes that far exceed their normal income.

Sir, this is criminal! Anyone with half a brain can tell you who the majority of the charges go to. Why it’s poor old tax paying Americans who have to suffer the cost of your sick financial institution. While I am sure up to now, Mr. Lewis, you may have perceived that I intend to kneel before your mighty alter of money and beg for the return of my $70.

Well I am afraid to tell you that once again assumption has made an ass out of both of us. I had assumed Bank of America would act as though they had America in their name, and you assumed I was another sheep in the herd.

No sir, I will not ask you to return my bank fee. Instead, I will take matters into the American Justice System’s hands. I will see you in small claims court and I hope you’re schedule is free to show up for the case. Though from what I expect, there will be no day in court. Because of my legal actions, as is my right as a full blooded American, I will get a call from a very friendly Bank of America agent who will be more than happy to return all fees and I will bet Bank of America will end up paying the paper work fee incurred by processing the small claims action. And that’s mighty White of Bank of America.

Mr. Lewis, you can sleep well tonight. Finally a small portion of the money Bank of America robbed from their customer base will go back to tax payers, in the form of legal fees. Lewis, you know it’s true, as you must have seen “OverDrawn”, a feature-length documentary exploring the predatory lending practices of the major national banks, focusing on overdraft charges. Karney Hatch goes as far as to show the viewing audience each step in reclaiming lost funds. Remember when Ralph Nader said “If a million consumers filed a million small claims actions against the banks, the banks would ether try to abolish the small claims court or they would improve their performance.”

Until Next time, 1 down, 1 million more to go,

Uncle Sam