When all else fails, assault somebody

Believe it or not, at some points in my life I've been a really nice guy. All things being equal, I'd really prefer to be one of the good guys.

But experience has shown me that people like me better if I'm am a bit of an A-hole. And today, that was reinforced in a way that I can't even begin to believe.

Recently I overdrafted my bank account by $1.32. This is the first time in something like two years that I've overdrafted my account- I check my balance zealously- even obsessively- whenever my balance is under $100, and keep an accounting of my transactions just in case the bank takes too long posting one.

But they got me on a $1.50 ATM fee at a gas station that I didn't think charged such a fee (in fact I thought they were legally required to warn you- all of my regular stops make you push the "ok" button or verbally tell you there's a fee for transactions under 10 bucks or what have you).

So I went to the bank, expecting to find that I'd just got a 40 dollar deposit, and instead I was 37 bucks under and looking at another 30someodd bucks coming out if I couldn't get them 37 bucks in the next couple of hours (before they closed).

I've been down this road with a lot of different banks before. It's no use arguing with them. They won't even let you close the account and stop your debt from growing- for as long as you owe them money, the account stays open and thus they get their account fees plus overdraft fees on the account fee every month. So I sighed and picked up the statement they printed out for me and started to just leave, but I couldn't help myself- i turned around, told the poor girl she was worse than any effin bank robber, and threw the bank statement at her. Technically I should have been arrested for assault. Having actually uttered the words "bank robber" inside a bank in a time and place as uptight as modern America, it's not inconcievable that I could have been accused of making a terrorist threat. But that's not what happened.

Before I was even a block a way they were calling me on my cellphone to apologize and tell me they were reversing the fees and I'd have my 40 bucks tomorrow.

I've been much nicer about much more ridiculous situations and gotten NOWHERE. I drop the F-bomb and throw stuff like a spoiled child, and I get money. So apparently, the next time some suit decides that he can exploit you because you're poor, the thing to do is rattle his cage. I'd love to tell you that you should respond with reason and understanding and good humor, but that's not how I got my money back- EVER.

And you'd think I'd be in a good mood about getting my way, but that's really not me. I don't like pushing people around- it's happened to me too many times. I can't tell you how depressed I am now.

I will have to agree. Of the few times I really got this upset at someone its the only way I was able to get things fixed. Its ridiculous they would overdraft your account for less than 2 dollars is beyond me! I worked in the banking system and we would never let someone, esp a client with a good record get an OD fee for less than 2 dollars! I left the bank because I didnt like how it was run. Made me never want to deal with them personally again. Bank tellers have more power than you think and they just choose not to do the extra paper work. I use to see it all the time and I still do even with my friends simple problems on their accounts. I am so glad I dont have to deal with a bank anymore.
I had a problem with Verizons phones for months and was always very nice and understanding but about 6 months and about 6 phones later I was tired of paying for their mistakes. I had to get pretty nasty, threaten a lawyer and I used words that I should never have said in public like that but I got my account credited for every phone they made me pay for (50 per phone) and I got a brand new phone of MY choice. I was like wth?! I talked to them for months about this and now they want to listen after I threaten them! I dont like being like that either but damn it, it seems like the only way one is able to get their money back now-a-days. I just wish the IRS was as easily threatened by a good tell off. They owe ME 600 dollars and do you think I will ever see it?! NO! lol I have yelled at them many times and they just say, we will get back to you.

Don't feel bad about having a go at someone in a bank, sad to say they ask for it.

A few years ago I wanted to transfer a lot of money from one savings account to another. In order for that to happen the money had to be put into my current account first, and transferred on from there.

The stupid bank clerk debited my current account with the amount before he put the money into it, making me overdrawn.

I was charged interest and bank charges due to his mistake. He wouldn't take any responsibility (this was all over the phone) so I had to find someone higher up to try and resolve the problem for me. I had to send a lot of faxes too.

The frustrating thing was that it was so obvious what had happened, but whoever I dealt with seemed unable to comprehend the problem.

Eventually, they refunded the charges but I couldn't get the interest refunded. It was a fairly small amount and although I wanted to keep at it until they refunded them too, I just got too tired of banging my head against a wall.

Since then, I was lucky that the bank survived the recent crisis. It was touch and go and I have started to find other places to invest my money. They don't deserve me

wow ..
Can't wait til you discover road rage

Yes you have your money back.

Try getting A loan.
Check your credit rating regularly.

I don't worry about my credit rating getting any lower. I'd have to get caught screwing the fed chairman's daughter for my credit rating to get any lower than it already is.

A few years back I lost a secured credit card to 600 dollars worth of overdraft and overlimit fees that I racked up for spending 60 dollars on gasoline, tylenol, and food during a rescue mission (going after my mom, after somebody beat her bloody, robbed her, and left her with no car, no money, no phone, no shoes, and a cracked rib in the gutter in Laughlin, NV). I explained that story in even greater detail to the bank, complete with police reports and reciepts, and reminded them that I actually had a credit card set up for overdraft protection- but the incident just happened to arise the same week I'd purchased texbooks on that card. They basically said, "that's nice, but we've already creamed in our pants at the idea of getting 1,000% interest out of you, so now you owe us 600 dollars and a clean pair of shorts".

So I paid them their 1,000% interest, closed the account, and then wrote a short story based on the incident that ended up being too obscene for any magazine I've contacted so far to publish.

So it's safe to say they wouldn't so much as loan me a rope if I wanted to hang myself, much less money.

Well, you could always go back to the bank, apologize, agree to pay the fees, and return their money.

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Umm....NOT!

[edit on Wed Oct 14th 2009 by TrueAmerican]

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
Well, you could always go back to the bank, apologize, agree to pay the fees, and return their money.

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Umm....NOT!

[edit on Wed Oct 14th 2009 by TrueAmerican]

Good idea. And even offer to donate another $40 to the bank just because you're a nice guy. Heck, just put the bank in your will.

repy to post by The Vagabond


You make it sound as if being rude served you in some way.
It did not.
It just makes it easier to do,the next time.

Have a nice day.

reply to post by The Utopian Penguin


Look, I'd prefer a world where being nice got me somewhere, I really would. I'm not gonna tell you my life story and try to prove it (as I sometimes do in similiar conversations)- you just couldn't appreciate it if you'd never met me. All I can say is that one of the great moments on film that reached out and touched me and made me think "wow, there are people out there just like me" was at the end of Falling Down when Michael Douglas is facing off with the cop and says, "I'm the bad guy? How did that happen? I did everything they told me to."

But here I am now, and on my bad days, I'm definitely the bad guy now. And I really can't argue with the results. If you think you can, I really really hope that gets you somewhere. It might take the edge off my depression if it did.

In all seriousness, Vagabond, give yourself a break. Everyone is entitled to have a bad day (or a bad moment) now and then. We're human.

reply to post by The Vagabond


Don't worry about it, sometimes you have to be the bad guy to stay the good guy.

If you are usually the good guy and the bad guy does something to you then most of the time you have to become the bad guy to protect yourself.

Isn't it sad that you have to do that? My sister works for a credit union and once when I was hit with an overdraft fee she told me to call them and give them a full on rant about it.

At first they were willing to reverse one of the fee charges. (there were two) she told me to keep at it and keep yelling. Let me remind you this is her talking about the credit union she works at. So I do, I get both taken off after an hour going on about bank fees and unfair practices and blah blah blah new world order, commie bastards, etc.

Why the two fees? One dollar charge at a gas station, that was held, giving me a false available balance. I charged something close to that available balance, and when the real gas charge hit it put both on as NSF.

I love being an ass, I really do. But not when I am actually at fault, and not to the people who's fault it really isn't.

Just so I'm not misunderstood, I really don't beat myself up too much about it, and to be honest I don't feel all that bad about what I did.

I recognize that it was risky, and probably illegal or even wrong. But I can't honestly say that I'm filled with sorrow for having done it. It's not like I would have beaten that girl bloody if things had escalated- I don't think of myself as being evil or anything. I'm just upset that what I did worked and being nice doesn't work. In a civil society that doesn't make any sense. The whole idea of having a social contract is that we're not supposed to do stuff like that and we're not supposed to need to.

What happens if everyone does what I did and gets their way? The bank's bottom line goes down appreciably. Then they've gotta take a harder stance to get those fee revenues back up. Then we've gotta fight back harder so we're not the one paying for it. Next thing you know, a crumpled up bank statement doesn't get the job done anymore, so somebody might end up throwing a brick instead- if not worse. That's not a slope we wanna go very far down, but I can't be spare the money to be the one who backs down- and if they can't either, then I've got a brick walk-way in the back yard that should last me through the next phase of the problem. But again, that's not supposed to happen. The whole concept of a society of laws was invented specifically to put an end to that kind of stuff.

reply to post by The Vagabond


While I understand you were angry, it was not the young lady's fault you were overdrafted. The bank's computer will automatically charge you the next day unless you cover the money that day.

I think you should go to her and apologize for being so rude to her. I used to work customer service over the phone and would see young girls cry because someone was screaming and swearing at them. The rule was if you were caught hanging up, you would be fired immediately. That didn't stop me, as soon as someone swore or raised their voice, I immediately would disconnect them. I made too little every week to be treated like that. (I was looking for a job when I got that one, and would be looking for a job if I was fired from it.)


Remember, we just answer the phones or are there at the band to assist you. We are not bank executives and do not make the rules. If you want a fee reversed, ask nicely to see or speak to a band manager or the teller's supervisor. They will usually reverse the fees for you.

Oh please. Its not as if your overdraft was negligent and stupid like most are.

A little anarchy is needed in a free society, or the big boys will keep pushing us around to squeeze every penny out of us, even if we don't necessarily have a penny.

Shake it up. No worries. Sad for the poor girl, but in the end, you gotta take care of yourself first.