Banking Woes

Still ill from a deathplague I got Sunday so I'm reposting something from the past.

aaah the strangeness of the bank processing
I had one bank manager tell me that I had six dollar in my account and then I drew out 3 which put my account at a -1. Now I want you to let this sink in for a moment. She told me that I had six dollars in my account, made a three dollar purchase and then the account was overdrawn by a dollar. Rather then argue with her, I told I would come back another day to argue. And a week later I did.

First thing I did was ask for a complete withdrawals and deposits record for the last month. And then I asked them what happened. What proceeded was twenty minutes of the blind trying to lead the blind. Their paperwork was the most idiotic setup I had ever seen. On one part it shows your actual balance, then it shows your available balance, BUT unlike every other bank I have ever dealt with you available balance could be HIGHER than your actual balance, which means that you could think you had more money when you don't. I later figured out why. They tell you if deposit your money with a teller before 4 pm, which isn't true. It doesn't process onto the account until midnight AFTER all the charges for the day have processed. Wonderful, huh?

I got tired of their song and dance and began to stare at the paper. I couldn't deposit my check before 4pm with a teller and I get a receipt saying my account balance was now $200 and yet my account was still only at $6 and then how two days later after paying my bills (which took 173 dollars, I live on the edge.) I went from what should have a been a positive balance to a negative. Then it hit me, the deposit went in AFTER the charges for the day so later in the night when I put $9 in gas in my truck I over drew the account, and it charged me an overdraft fee. But at midnight when all the stuff went through, it went back into positive because it still had a positive balance (And I shit you not, this is how the banks OWN SOFTWARE displayed my account (I added the handy math) actual balance:6-9-15+200 = 182, available balance:6+200-9=197), so the bills I paid went through fine.

It was the 3 dollars I spent on lunch that put under for good.

And they were acting like I was being obtuse when they couldn't even understand why I had a problem with 6-3=-1.

After dealing with that for thirty minutes,I said screw it, take the charges off my account, close my account, and give me the money in saving back. They did and honestly, it has been easier to live without it.