ComplaintsforCloverbelt Credit Union

• Initial Complaint

  01/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  bank keeps charging me $15.00 over draft fees...for years. thousands of dollars stolen. some were charged multiple times for same item. illegal!I want a refund of all overdraft fees since opening my account. and moving forward...ONE per day only!

  Business response

  01/26/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to reply to the complaint submitted by a member of Cloverbelt Credit Union.  To summarize the complaint, she states her checking account has been repeatedly overdrawn and she does not believe she should have been charged any fees for this activity. She is requesting a refund of all overdraft fees that have been assessed on her checking account since 2014 and asks that in the future she receive no more than one overdraft fee per day.
  
  After reviewing her account history and notes made by our staff, we can share this summary:
  
  The complainant opened her checking account 4/3/2014 and the first overdraft was less than 2 weeks later - the overdraft fee was refunded to her as a courtesy, and she was advised that she must have sufficient funds in her account to cover transactions she initiates. Overdraft activity continued and on 4/29/2014 a warning letter was sent to her about the multiple overdrafts on her new checking account.
  
  Over the next 8 years, the complainant had occasional overdrafts and received several fee refunds. Details about these overdrafts are not included here but can be provided if deemed relevant.
  
  In 2023 the account had 30 overdrafts and the complainant received courtesy refunds for 6 of those fees, with some being given even after she was told we would not issue any more refunds.  She was counseled by our staff on several occasions to not initiate any transactions if she did not have sufficient funds in her account to pay for them or she would incur overdraft fees.  This did not stop her overdraft activity.
  
  To date in January **** the account has had 17 overdrafts. On 1/25/****, the day she filed this complaint, the complainant withdrew most of the funds from her checking account resulting in 3 overdrafts the following day. 
  
  Regarding the complainants statement that she should only have one overdraft fee per day, the credit union has no control over the number of withdrawals the complainant initiates, when the merchant processes them, if her account has sufficient funds, or if/when a merchant will re-submit a transaction that was previously not paid due to non-sufficient funds. On several days in January ****, merchants attempted to process multiple ACH withdrawals with each incurring an overdraft fee.  For example, on 1/24/**** PayPal attempted to process withdrawal transactions of $41.31 and $40.77, and Speedy #** attempted to withdraw two transactions of $86.30 each - these transactions each incurred an overdraft fee.
  
  As the complaint, transaction history and staff notes support, the complainant has repeatedly initiated withdrawal transactions when she does not have sufficient available funds to pay for them.  As detailed in our Fee Schedule, which was provided to the complainant at account opening, each instance of non-sufficient funds incurs an overdraft fee.  In addition, our Overdrafts brochure includes details explaining when overdraft fees are assessed, specifically A $15 non-sufficient funds fee is assessed each time a transaction overdraws the available balance of the account, with a daily maximum fee of $75.  Copies of these disclosures can be provided, if needed. There is no regulation stating that financial institutions are prohibited from assessing an overdraft fee, or that they are limited to assessing one fee per day when the account has multiple overdrafts.
  
  As the complainant has been told several times, we will not issue any more refunds on overdraft fees assessed for withdrawals she initiates but does not have funds to pay for. It may be in her best interest to close her current checking account and have a fresh start at another financial institution.
  
  
  

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