Ugh this makes me sick.

[Kellili]

Normally DH and I spend cash if we stop at the gas station or what have you. Well, today is payday, we are both out. Yesterday unknown to me/him we both spent our last $2 in the checking. I checked our account this morning and we are -0.77. So it shows negative $35.77. They took $35 over 77 cents!!!! I"M SICK! We NEVER do this. We are so good about checking w/ each other or just spending actual cash. It just happened that yesterday was a crazy fluke and bit us in the ass.

[vigilant20]

I would definitely call them! They'll usually reverse if you haven't had an over draft in a long time or if it's a silly small amount like that.

[TexasPeanut]

I second the advice of calling the bank. Sometimes they are understanding to the situation if you've never done something like that before. Our bank has overdraft protection but even with that I never let my account go under a certain figure. I just leave that amount out of the checkbook register like it's not even there, that way it's never used and we always have a little cushion without knowing it's there but really knowing it's there.

[frugalbabe]

Oh honey been there done that and the bank couldn't care less. Now we have our checking account linked to our short term savings account where I always keep a few hundred. Our long term savings (EF) is in an ING account which is much harder to get at.

[mom23boyz]

Oh honey been there done that and the bank couldn't care less. Now we have our checking account linked to our short term savings account where I always keep a few hundred. Our long term savings (EF) is in an ING account which is much harder to get at.

My bank could care less as well

[Kellili]

Yes, that's the problem....my bank couldn't give a flip. Lesson learned. It's just a bad time for this to happen. But I guess there's never a good time is there?

[rainbowgc]

Oh, honey I am so sorry this happened to you.

[madhen]

Heard on the news last night that banks are increasing their fees and adding new fees to once again make the public pay for the banks' mistakes and increase their revenue. One thing I thought was pretty disgusting was that the commentator talked about how banks are raising their rates, in part, because they are trying to discourage those people who don't have a lot of money from using banks, as those people are a "drain" on the banks, using customer rep time and counter time and not "contributing" to the revenue enough to offset the cost of the customer service.

So I would definitely call, just to cost them some money! My credit union would reverse the charge, so you may get your $35 back. If the person you talk to says no, ask to talk to the manager. If the manager says no, write a letter. I did that once, and I ended up prevailing.

[The Muse]

I'm sorry. A similar thing happened to me because I made a calculation error in my checkbook and transferred more than I had in checking to savings. Cost me $35 as well. I hope I never do that again, I hate paying the stupid tax.

[LynnLC]

1 cent over and they are going to hit you with that lovely fee. I could call my bank all day and they would never remove the charge.

[Neeley]

I agree with others, give them a call. If you do not have a history of overdrafts, they may reverse the fee. It can't hurt anything to try.

[outnumbered]

That happened to us SO much before we switched to the Credit Union through my employer. They are SO much easier to work with, and I never feel like just another number to them. I really dislike banks and their practice, they are definitely not set up to really benefit anyone but themselves.

[McD]

I always recommend trying to call the bank. Explain that it was a one time recurrence and you'd like to take steps to prevent this from happening again, such as linking your savings account to your checking account. Ask them (NICELY!) to waive the fee, if they don't, l'd look for a different bank.

[Grayce]

It's just criminal that a bank can charge such a huge fee.

[mmy2grls]

I hope they reverse it. A $35 fee could be food for a week.