Yesterday my family and I received another lesson in how the banking system and some businesses make money from the general public, and probably most of the public doesn't realize it. I would say it appears to be totally legal, but I sure felt cheated, violated, and robbed by two local businesses I chose to deal with. We try to vote with our pocketbook. We try to spend locally in our community when possible. Our small town, like many, doesn't have some types of businesses. In the last twenty years stores have closed because of outside competition from bigger retail chains. So when we can we will spend money, even a bit more money, at stores within our city. I also understand that I should expect to pay when a service is rendered. Yes we all like to get free stuff, but businesses are hounded for donations and other contributions, so the paying customers need to pay some times. I agree, but to be charged when no service is given is wrong.
Here is what happened. Two days ago my wife and daughter went to a local gas station and mini mart we buy gas and food from occasionally. The family that runs the store is nice and they fit the profile of the kinds of stores we like to give our business. Daughter gets out to pump gas, swipes her mother's debit card, sees the price of the gas go up, cancels the transaction and pays with $25 in cash inside the store.
Yesterday, two days after the canceled transaction, I go into our bank to cash a check. The bank won't cash the check because we are overdrawn $60 plus dollars. The teller first says it's from a $123 PayPal transaction. I don't use PayPal, so I get my wife to come in and help with the details. After going through the bank records the problem is a $125 dollar "hold" on our account by the mini mart for the gas we didn't charge but paid cash for. The tellers and assistant manager explain that when the card was swiped the business puts a hold on our account because it doesn't know how much gas we will pump. That seems reasonable. The bank receives the "hold," which makes us overdrawn and they charge us a $30 overdraft fee. That's when things went south at the bank.
The bank was charging us a $30 overdraft fee for a transaction that didn't take place. The bank tellers kept saying, "It wasn't us; it was the store; they put the hold on." I said I understood that, but you are choosing to take a fee for something you know didn't happen, so you are culpable also. The store, or their gas company, used our $125 for at least two days and the bank took the $30 all for a deal that didn't happen. I said, "As a consumer I have been violated and have had to pay twice for something that didn't happen. You have to understand that and agree I have a right to be angry." The tellers and assistant manager nodded their heads sort of, but I think they have been drinking the Kool-Aid too long. Eventually the assistant manager cleared the $30 overdraft fee and we parted ways for now. But still didn't get the check cashed.
As my wife and I talked afterwards on the way to buy fruit, a few observations, thoughts and plans evolved. Firstly, the society we live in allows a business to hide fees and make money in questionable ways. I don't know who profited by our $125 being held for two plus days. I'm pretty sure it isn't the store owner.Yes the money will be returned, but I didn't give you permission to take it in the first place. One bank teller said we did the moment we swiped our card. The bank teller tried to explain that the gas station needed to hold the overage money to cover the "potential" cost of the gas. Okay I see that. But if you have the software to take the money for a "hold," can't you write into the software to read the amount and only charge that amount? And in our case the deal was canceled. You can't cancel the "hold" also?
The bank people were nice and respectful in the face of two angry people. They did their job. After a few minutes I started watching them with a partially detached eye. They had stepped back and were in protection mode. They weren't thinking, just following protocol. I was reminded of myself when an angry parent comes to "talk" about their child. The phrases they used were delivered with no passion nor thought. They didn't care; they just wanted to keep their job. I can understand that sentiment. They were following the party line. But that passionless non-judgmental thought process can lead to immoral actions. What has happened to the person or business taking care of the customer?
The problem is we have to use these stores again. If not this particular bank and gas station, then others that function the same way with the same money practices. We don't have the option of becoming hermits at this time. So we have to create a system that minimizes the bank's impact on us. Cash seems to be the way. We have some direct auto-pay accounts so some money will have to stay in the bank. We will calculate that amount and every other dollar will be taken out of the bank after payday. Gas will be paid for with cash. No more "holds." The biggest revelation was the reminder that no one is looking out for the common man; we have to look out for ourselves.
2 comments:
This same thing happened to me recently! I bought an on demand hot water heater for $$$ online from a very reputable dealer...I got an alert from my bank a $$$$ charge had been made...when I called the bank and the store I discovered the store "pulls" double the amount charged to cover their costs of ordering the heater from the manufacturer! To me that is theft, plain and simple.
I agree. Between actions at school that make little sense and don't educate students, and this banking fiasco, I've become extremely concerned about our society. The little person that makes the county work is being taken advantage of too much.
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