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  #1  
Old 04-16-2010, 12:23 PM
I'm thinkin, I'm thinkin.
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, Texas
Posts: 440
Texas Convenience Bank. ATM Card Fraud goes unchecked.. Stay away.. LONG..

First off, we had no clue about their practices so shame on us for not looking into them first. My partner just wanted a basic account to have his payroll deposited into and an ATM card. Since they offered a Free Student Account, he signed up. The first sign should have been when they charged his account a $5 "Returned Statement Fee" a few months back. For five months, the statements came in the mail without a hitch. Month #6 never arrived and apparently was sent back to the bank as undeliverable.
- TCB: " Well did you move and not update your address with us ?"
- PARTNER - "Um, NO. I got the previous five statements without a hitch."

They reversed the $5.

Monday 8:30pm. He gets home from school and is checking his account online. There is "Pending Transaction" of $600+ to Bahrain Air posted at 9:15am. A Google search reveals that Bahrain Air not only does not fly to or from the U.S. but does not even have an office here. They're a small regional mid-east airline. Calls the bank's 800 line..
- TCB - "Well we have to wait for it to 'post', then you can file a fraud claim. But YOU will have to contact them and have them fax us a letter stating that you did not make the charge. The department that I can get the phone number for you is closed at this time so you can call back tomorrow."
- PARTNER: "You're telling me that I have to try to track someone IN BAHRAIN that A: MIGHT speak English, and B: is willing to do this ? That's absurd. I'm here on the phone right now telling you that I am NOT in Bahrain and did not make the charge."
She sticks to the story line and accomplishes NADA. Mind you, there is only $180 in the account, but there is a $700 Over-Draft Protection attached to the account.

Tuesday 7am. He checks the account again. There are now NINE "pending transactions" on it. One to Srilanka Air, two made in Paris, one to SKYPE, one to Feed The Children and others, ranging from $2-3 to $18. Calls the bank again.
- TCB: "Oh, it looks like they're testing the card. We'll go ahead and cancel it (which should have been done 12 hours ago) but we still have to wait for all these charges to 'post' to file a fraud claim or just wait to see if they drop off."

Wednesday 7am. Checks the account again. All the "pending transactions" have dropped off but the $180 balance on Monday, is now $64. (How "Convenient" that they 'dropped off' so that he now cannot file a fraud claim). Calls yet again.

They charged him THREE over-draft fees of $34 each and $2.XX per "Point Of Sale Denial Fee." I knew I loved him for a reason. He's just amazing !! He managed to be in Bahrain at 9:15 am on Monday and Srilanka AND Paris within minutes of each other to make Point of Sale transactions. I wanna sign up for the next Bullrun and have him as my co-driver. We are going to the branch later. If none of this gets resolved, the account is being closed ( either way it will be closed). They even offered to give him a "loan" to cover any of this stuff until the investigation is done. After some research on them, I found none of this as a fluke. This is how they operate. I found comments from others stating similar things about the "loan until this is cleared up."

They do things like: charge you $11 if you didn't use your ATM card 5 times over the course of the month; charge you an over-draft fee AND a $3 per day fee that the account remains in over-draft, charge $3 if a transaction is declined at point of sale. Live and learn but will never deal with or recommend this bank to anyone EVER...... The only thing "convenient" about them was the location.

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Last edited by AdvisorGuy; 04-16-2010 at 12:33 PM.
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  #2  
Old 04-16-2010, 01:23 PM
Skid Row Joe's Avatar
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Wow! That's a tough story!

I bank at Chase, which was handed down from Washington Mutual, which was handed down from First Texas, which was handed down from.....yet another bank 15 years ago.

I guess I'd go with Wells Fargo - were I to change at this time. Back in the day, I was buying up to the annual limit of U.S. Gov't issued I-Bonds through Wells Fargo - $60K. I-Bonds feature up to 30 year compounding with no tax event one of their huge advantages. Nowadays the limit is I believe $10K a year.

I think I'll stay put.....thanks for the heads-up.
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  #3  
Old 04-16-2010, 01:38 PM
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Location: Arlington, TX
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Sounds like a really good reason for banking oversight and regulation.

I have been with the American Airlines credit union since i started with them back in 1989. Love that place. Never had a screw up yet. Two home loans, 3 car loans, checking savings with no fees what so ever. Any problems they are right near the house. Online banking .. I'm staying put.
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  #4  
Old 04-16-2010, 01:38 PM
okyoureabeast's Avatar
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Location: North America
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Screw that bank.

I've been a member of Charles Schwab bank for almost two years now. They have been nothing but amazing in terms of service.

I opened a "high yield" investor checking account from them because (at the time) it had a great variable interest rate on the checking account which was 6%. I believe it is pegged to the fed funds rate and is now down to .25 % It will never lose value and is backed by the FDIC.

On top of that they rebate all ATM fees In college I deal with stupid ATMs all of the time that charge crazy fees. This alone has been a god send for me.

Another thing I noticed that I have become spoiled to is how they post money. If you see the cash on their online web banking system it is immediately ready to be deposited. At my older credit union it took a couple of hours to be able to be withdrawn and on top of that if I had under $50 the card would be declined.

The bank is reachable 24/7 via their 1-800 line. You can enable the account to do electronic fund transfers which use a clear an automated clearing house. It takes 3 days to transfer funds into and out of your account.

It also comes with a visa check card and book.

Sorry for the ad, but they have been nothing but awesome to me for the past 2 or so years. Check it out https://www.schwab.com/
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  #5  
Old 04-16-2010, 01:54 PM
I'm thinkin, I'm thinkin.
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, Texas
Posts: 440
As it looks right now, we'll be going to Capital One, since one car loan is with them. Free checking, atm card purchase "Change" is deposited into savings - they round up what ever your debit card purchases. Of course before ANYTHING is signed, we will inquire thoroughly about these kind of charges and how they handle them.
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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???
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  #6  
Old 04-16-2010, 03:02 PM
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Since the government announced they are likely making fraud chareges against Goldman-Sachs - whom sponsored gov't. activities previously - you gotta wonder just what is going on with the government.....?

It's the Wild West in banking - still!
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  #7  
Old 04-16-2010, 03:13 PM
I'm thinkin, I'm thinkin.
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, Texas
Posts: 440
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe View Post
Since the government announced they are likely making fraud chareges against Goldman-Sachs - whom sponsored gov't. activities previously - you gotta wonder just what is going on with the government.....?

It's the Wild West in banking - still!
Well of course. I know someone in banking on the east coast. Some of the stories are scary. Nothing has changed.. It's been business as usual since the minute after the "bail out", doing the same $hit that got us there...
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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???
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  #8  
Old 04-17-2010, 01:12 AM
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Protect yourself and your Money

F**K ALL the Commercial Banks!

A credit union has your best interest @ Heart.

We've seen NOTHING yet...
Compared to the DeFaults to come down the pipeline soon!

When you see Commercial Bankers/Hedge Fund Gurus/Commercial Mortgage/
default swap weenies/Etc.,Etc. Garroted LIVE on CNBC Nightly,
It'll Again be safe to put your money in Banks.
(About the same time you can make ICE in a 450 degree oven)

The Federal Government Cannot Emplace enough Regulatory Authority to
protect us.('Like they wanna? , RIGHT!)
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  #9  
Old 04-17-2010, 07:20 AM
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Capital One ?? You just might want to do a google for complaints prior to joining up. They are one step above a back alley 2 for 5 setup.
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  #10  
Old 04-17-2010, 08:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by compress ignite View Post
F**K ALL the Commercial Banks!

A credit union has your best interest @ Heart.
Don't think so. I have had a few issues with "Oopsies" from Wells Fargo but that is because we are doing transactions daily and sometimes it is either my fat fingers or their fat fingers that made a keystroke error when depositing. Most times on my personal accounts there has been zero issues for years on end.

Don't know why you think that but I tried them a couple of times and they haven't been that great. If you think that any company has your best interest at heart, think again. Only you do.
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  #11  
Old 04-17-2010, 08:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TnBob View Post
Capital One ?? You just might want to do a google for complaints prior to joining up. They are one step above a back alley 2 for 5 setup.
But I like their commercials. What's in your wallet.
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  #12  
Old 04-17-2010, 09:58 AM
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I think it has got to the stage of ~ Bank today, gone tomorrow!!~
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Old 04-17-2010, 02:11 PM
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I'd opt for Wells Fargo or Chase in Texas - there's just too many locations to not go with one of them - especially Chase. I'm not saying they're your friend, but I've never heard of a bad deal coming from either of them.
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  #14  
Old 04-17-2010, 03:04 PM
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When I was first looking at moving to the Austin/SA area, I went with Frost Bank. I forget the name of the list (might have been Moody's or S&P), but they were one of the top ten banks that had an "A" or "A+" rating, with assets of $10 billion or more, as far as financial health, ratio of risk to assets, and exposure to the subprime mortgage fiasco.

When I first opened an account with them back in 08, I mentioned to the bank officier about their rating and the whole subprime fiasco. She said that 8 years previously when they saw which way the wind was blowing with Fanny, Freddie, and the whole mortgage and derivative mess, they made the decision to get out of the mortgage business altogether, rather than put the bank at risk.

So, some banks still DO have a clue as to the proper way to do business.

Only downside is that they're a regional bank, mainly around SA, farthest north branch I know of is in San Marcos or Austin.

But then again, when I had to call customer service to cancel 2 checks the postal service had lost, at 6:30 PM, I was amazed to get someone that not only spoke understandable English, but had a Texas accent to boot!
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  #15  
Old 04-17-2010, 03:18 PM
Fold on dotted line
 
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Location: SE Mich
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This is a terrible thing. I would do things in response:

Send it all to the Texas Attorney general.

2. make a short video on You Tube.

When it goes viral, as long as there's nothing obscene or untrue, they can't stop it!!

There was a guy who did that when United broke his guitar. He made a song about it on YouTube., The same guys who were sneering at him initially offered him 250 grand to remove it from YouTube because of the damage it caused.

His response to the Uniter PRESIDENT/COO was the same one they gave when he had asked about simple reimbursement: " Good luck with that!"

The one thing that helps these guys is anonymity. So mention their names in a neutral way like:

" First I talked to Mr. Jones" BTW here's his picture etc etc etc"

Once they are identified the Bank will be real nice to you. Get everything including credit issues fixed at their cost and get it in writing.

And tell them if they violate the rules again, you'll go back on You Tube.

I just comp'd a $36.00 lunch after dealing with a snotty and incompetent waitress in Alexandria, VA. I'm on a business trip. I'm in the zone, lol.

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