# Sovereign Bank and their predatory practices



## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

I am posting this because I am PO'ed ath this piece of crap bank.  I opened up an account with this back with my daughter as it is the one on campus with an ATM to avoid fees.  She only uses it during the school year so she could not remember her PIN.  She called the bank and requested a new PIN, while the call the person convinced her to get overdraft and linked it to her saving account which at opening we got both checking and savings. The person linked her savings account with $10 in it and has had only $10 in for the whole time the account has been open.  I know shame on my daughter but she is still a little green.  So she has four transactions last week for a total of $75 and the bank charges $35 for each transaction ($140 total).  Since the saviungs accoutn did not have enough money to cover them. 

I am so PO'ed and I am getting no sastisfaction from the large Mother F'ing bank.

All she wanted was a new PIN number. Now it is costing us $140.


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## hammer (Sep 24, 2013)

Not sure I understand...she got automatic overdraft protection but she is still getting charged fees for purchases that are tapping into the companion savings account?

I have BoA accounts for the kiddos so I'm usually cautious of anything...and for the 16YO one I also insisted on getting e-mail alerts when the account balance is low (which happens a few days after the paycheck is deposited ).


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

hammer said:


> Not sure I understand...she got automatic overdraft protection but she is still getting charged fees for purchases that are tapping into the companion savings account?
> 
> I have BoA accounts for the kiddos so I'm usually cautious of anything...and for the 16YO one I also insisted on getting e-mail alerts when the account balance is low (which happens a few days after the paycheck is deposited ).



The overdraft protection was linked to the savings account with only $10 in it.  The account was originally set up at the bank so that if there was not enough money in the account then the transaction would be denied. Thus avoiding any fees


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## hammer (Sep 24, 2013)

Puck it said:


> The overdraft protection was linked to the savings account with only $10 in it.  The account was originally set up at the bank so that if there was not enough money in the account then the transaction would be denied. Thus avoiding any fees


Got it...BoA charges $10 for each overdraft transfer if you have a basic account.  Disgusting since transfers can be done online at no charge.

Guessing the customer service rep who sold the overdraft protection didn't disclose all of the details on fees etc. when it was set up.

Hope you eventually get some satisfaction but I tend to think all larger banks are evil.


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

hammer said:


> Got it...BoA charges $10 for each overdraft transfer if you have a basic account. Disgusting since transfers can be done online at no charge.
> 
> Guessing the customer service rep who sold the overdraft protection didn't disclose all of the details on fees etc. when it was set up.
> 
> Hope you eventually get some satisfaction but I tend to think all larger banks are evil.



I know I won't but they will get some hits when people google them at least.  I am posting on every forum that I am a member.

I would think a community bank would never done this.


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

First hit on google from the epic site.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 24, 2013)

I'm not sure I'd call Sovereign a "community" bank as it was a pretty big state/regional chain. If you're not happy, contact the BBB or the state banking regulators (if Sovereign is MA chartered as opposed to being nationally chartered).

And how is this "overdraft" protection?  That implies that if you overdraw you won't be charged fees.  Sounds to me like there was a misunderstanding as to what she was agreeing to do and opened the door to them allowing for overdrafts and these fees.  That sounds dumb.  I'd just ask them to drop the overdraft, waive the fees, and move on or you will switch banks.


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I'm not sure I'd call Sovereign a "community" bank



I wasn't.  Just a piece of crap large bank that cares nothing for customer's.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 24, 2013)

Puck it said:


> I wasn't. Just a piece of crap large bank that cares nothing for customer's.



Sounds like at the least a misunderstanding and at most deception.  Again, if I were them, I'd waive it to keep you as a customer.  Don't bother calling them about this.  Walk into a branch and talk with a manager and ask them to waive the fees.  I bet that face-to-face they'd help you whereas on the phone they'd be more likely to say "F-off" because you're not there.  At least that was my experience with Citizens.  And, coincidentally, I was a member of a class lawsuit against Citizens for overdraft fees and just got my $4.56 settlement check! :lol:


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> Sounds like at the least a misunderstanding and at most deception.




She is a naive 19 yr old that should know better.  But still,  I may go into the branch and raise a little ruckus and see what floats.


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## MadMadWorld (Sep 24, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I'm not sure I'd call Sovereign a "community" bank as it was a pretty big state/regional chain. If you're not happy, contact the BBB or the state banking regulators (if Sovereign is MA chartered as opposed to being nationally chartered).
> 
> And how is this "overdraft" protection?  That implies that if you overdraw you won't be charged fees.  Sounds to me like there was a misunderstanding as to what she was agreeing to do and opened the door to them allowing for overdrafts and these fees.  That sounds dumb.  I'd just ask them to drop the overdraft, waive the fees, and move on or you will switch banks.




I work for a truly regional bank in MA and if you wanted to file a complaint I would first address it at a branch. As with anything you may have to work your way up the ladder. But at least at our bank, the branch officer has the ability to credit these fees. If you still feel upset you can file a complaint with the FDIC. Sovereign is awful and I have heard so many horror stories.


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## deadheadskier (Sep 24, 2013)

Pay up.  Spain needs your money!  :lol:


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## hammer (Sep 24, 2013)

Puck it said:


> First hit on google from the epic site.


BTW if you want good hits you might want to change the thread title...unless you intentionally misspelled something?


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

hammer said:


> BTW if you want good hits you might want to change the thread title...unless you intentionally misspelled something?


I fixed it on other sites.  Can one of the admins fix the misspelling?


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## wa-loaf (Sep 24, 2013)

I believe it was the Dodd Frank law that covers this. The banks all used predatory overdraft fees on people. The law made it so you had to opt-in on the overdraft protection. Your daughter got talked into opting in ... I think I get something every month from my bank trying to get me to sign up for it.


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## hammer (Sep 24, 2013)

wa-loaf said:


> I believe it was the Dodd Frank law that covers this. The banks all used predatory overdraft fees on people. The law made it so you had to opt-in on the overdraft protection. Your daughter got talked into opting in ... I think I get something every month from my bank trying to get me to sign up for it.


I have free overdraft protection but only because I keep enough in a companion investment account.  Usually forget that they make you pay for it.  Will watch for that for my kiddos.

One fee that really got me was on an investment account that lost money to the point where it was below the threshold for a "maintenance fee".  My mutual funds with your company lose money and you have the audacity to now charge me for it?


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## wa-loaf (Sep 24, 2013)

hammer said:


> I have free overdraft protection but only because I keep enough in a companion investment account.  Usually forget that they make you pay for it.  Will watch for that for my kiddos.



It only costs you money if you don't have enough cash in another account to cover the overdraft. Not really an issue for most of us I think. I I never overdraft, but kids finances are always on the edge and they don't pay attention to this kind of thing so they get caught up in the overdraft fees and quickly fall behind.


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## hammer (Sep 24, 2013)

wa-loaf said:


> It only costs you money if you don't have enough cash in another account to cover the overdraft. Not really an issue for most of us I think. I I never overdraft, but kids finances are always on the edge and they don't pay attention to this kind of thing so they get caught up in the overdraft fees and quickly fall behind.


Actually BoA charges $10 even if there are enough funds in the companion savings account...but if there wasn't enough there I'm guessing a debit card transaction would just be denied.


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

After an hour and half,  I paid the $300 for the $100 worth of overcharges and closed the account.  They said that your daughter opted back in and was read the charges and agreed.  Customer service at all time, I did get irate.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 24, 2013)

Puck it said:


> After an hour and half, I paid the $300 for the $100 worth of overcharges and closed the account. They said that your daughter opted back in and was read the charges and agreed. Customer service at all time, I did get irate.




Did you go in and speak to someone in person?


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> Did you go in and speak to someone in person?


Yes, at the branch in my hometown.  I spoke with one person then the branch manager.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 24, 2013)

Puck it said:


> Yes, at the branch in my hometown. I spoke with one person then the branch manager.



Wow.  They endured 90 minutes?  I'd ask to speak to the regional manager.  That's ridiculous.  I hope that you took your accounts elsewhere.


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> Wow.  They endured 90 minutes?  I'd ask to speak to the regional manager.  That's ridiculous.  I hope that you took your accounts elsewhere.



I may call the regional office in Boston.  I even considering an ad in the local paper.


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## ScottySkis (Sep 24, 2013)

Puck it said:


> I may call the regional office in Boston.  I even considering an ad in the local paper.



That is really expensive.


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## JimG. (Sep 24, 2013)

One of the reasons I'm considering the Bank of Mattress. Banks are evil money suckers.


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## deadheadskier (Sep 24, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> Wow.  They endured 90 minutes?  I'd ask to speak to the regional manager.  That's ridiculous.  I hope that you took your accounts elsewhere.



Like I said, Spain wants his money.  :lol:

I haven't had an account with a "real" bank outside of credit cards for about ten years.  I was a long time member of Vermont Federal Credit Union and currently I'm a member of a local CU my wife works at.  Never been screwed by either.


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## Geoff (Sep 24, 2013)

Here's the link to file a complaint with the Massachusetts State Banking Commission:
http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/government/oca-agencies/dob-lp/file-a-complaint.html

It's a very predatory practice.   

Go find a credit union that has a no-fee ATM deal at Sovereign Bank ATM machines.

I have a $5K line of credit attached to my checking account at Citizens Bank.   In the last decade, I might have gone negative 2 or 3 times for a day and paid a few pennies of interest.   My bank recently started charging me a fee for it.   I called, bitched, and they waived the fee but I'm likely going to cancel that line of credit so I don't have to make that phone call every year.

I'd love to change banks and go with a credit union but I'm straddling Vermont and Massachusetts so it's very useful to have a drive-to brick and mortar bank for those rare times I need to do something like a wire transfer, get a bank check cut, or deposit/withdraw a large-ish amount of cash.     Citizens is marginally less evil than the BayBank->BankBoston->Fleet->BOA merger mess I lived through but they're a lot less consumer-friendly than they were a decade ago.


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## Puck it (Sep 24, 2013)

Geoff said:


> Here's the link to file a complaint with the Massachusetts State Banking Commission:
> http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/government/oca-agencies/dob-lp/file-a-complaint.html
> 
> It's a very predatory practice.
> ...



Thanks.  I know she should have known better but she is new to all this.  They would even cut a newbie a break that is all I was asking.  My wife and I are with B of A but it would be such a pain to move everything. Thanks for agreeing on it being predatory.


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## mriceyman (Sep 24, 2013)

honestly sovereign used to be a good bank to deal with. they are too big a company now and the customers are treated like it. ive moved my business accounts to a smaller community bank.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 24, 2013)

Geoff said:


> Here's the link to file a complaint with the Massachusetts State Banking Commission:
> http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/government/oca-agencies/dob-lp/file-a-complaint.html
> 
> It's a very predatory practice.
> ...



I hear you on Citizens and BOA.  I was with Citizens because they had so many branches in VT, NH, and MA.  But I agree with you that when the economy tanked RBS and Citizens got burned...big time...and their great rates and service went down the toilet.  

BOA:  absolutely HATE them.  My first credit card (ever) was with MBNA and when they got bought by BOA it was nothing but problems.  And my first LL Bean Credit Card was BOA and they could not get anything right either.  Fortunately LL Bean dropped them like a bad habit.


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## ScottySkis (Sep 25, 2013)

Capitol One is also horrible.


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## Puck it (Sep 25, 2013)

It was the lack of compassion that really ticked me off.

And this is what I got my change in when I closed the account.


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## o3jeff (Sep 25, 2013)

Puck it said:


> It was the lack of compassion that really ticked me off.
> 
> And this is what I got my change in when I closed the account.
> 
> View attachment 9214



Lol, we'll thank you for warning us!


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## Riverskier (Sep 25, 2013)

I have my accounts with TD Bank and have been happy- free checking, no fee debit card, low minimum balances, extended hours, etc. That said I have always been diligent about maintaining adequate balances, so I have never had an issues that would really test their customer service.


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## dmc (Sep 25, 2013)

F*#K banks....

I use a credit union...


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## xwhaler (Sep 25, 2013)

deadheadskier said:


> and currently I'm a member of a local CU my wife works at.  Never been screwed by either.



We recently re-financed through SCU (we have an savings/checking acct w/ them) and were real impressed with the process. 

Just last week I closed out my TD Bank account---I hadn't used it in years and got a letter saying that there was a transaction that caused me to dip below the negative mark. TD then charged me a $15 overdraft fee and $20 for 2 months of 'acct maintenance fees'. The letter stated that if I did not settle up my account would be in default and they would turn it over to a collection agency----the additional scare tactic was that it could affect my ability to get credit in the future. Rather than test the theory and mess up my excellent credit over $42.xx I just wrote them a check and closed the account.

I'd love to also get rid of BOA but their wide reaching ATM network makes it tough to do.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 25, 2013)

Puck it said:


> It was the lack of compassion that really ticked me off.
> 
> And this is what I got my change in when I closed the account.
> 
> View attachment 9214



Wow, that's so stupid it's funny!


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## dmc (Sep 25, 2013)

xwhaler said:


> I'd love to also get rid of BOA but their wide reaching ATM network makes it tough to do.



My Credit Union has a ton of free ATMs to access through other networks...  I hardly ever pay fees...
It may be worth a look...


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## steamboat1 (Sep 25, 2013)

Let me see, your daughter spent $75 knowing there is only $10 in the account. You're lucky she didn't write a check. You can go to jail for writing bad checks. Get over it.


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## Puck it (Sep 25, 2013)

steamboat1 said:


> Let me see, your daughter spent $75 knowing there is only $10 in the account. You're lucky she didn't write a check. You can go to jail for writing bad checks. Get over it.



She has no checks.  we puposely did not order them.  it was a debit account only.  The first transaction would have been declined if the opt in had not been changed.


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## Cannonball (Sep 25, 2013)

xwhaler said:


> I'd love to also get rid of BOA but their wide reaching ATM network makes it tough to do.



My accounts are with a very small CU but I find their network is of ATMs is plenty expansive.  It's also not that hard to think ahead a little bit and have some cash in pocket.  If I know I'm going out of network (away skiing for the weekend) I just take out a little extra cash.

I had a BOA account for about one year (~10years ago) when they gobbled up my local bank.  The amount of fees and BS they put me through in one year far exceeded the amount of ATM fees paid in past 10yrs with a small CU.


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## hammer (Sep 25, 2013)

Ok so how did the transactions get approved if the savings account didn't have enough money to cover the amount?


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## Puck it (Sep 25, 2013)

hammer said:


> Ok so how did the transactions get approved if the savings account didn't have enough money to cover the amount?


  If there is not money in the account then they cover it and that is what the $35 fee is.  Also if it maintains a negative balance that $35 fee recurring.  I am not sure at what time interval though.  I know there was an additonal $35 charged by the time I went to the bank.


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## ScottySkis (Sep 25, 2013)

I been with M&T for several months so far no issues. And all the quick check gas stations by me have their ATm s., and their are a lot of gas stations in Mid Hudson valley NY.


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