Consumer complaint received 2021-11-22
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: OK
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Fee problem

Complaint:
Earlier this year- I called overdraft fees to be refunded, because they did that in the past, and was informed that they changed their policy and no longer waive overdraft fees. I asked where/ when this occurred and the representative said over the summer ( XXXX ). I have not seen any such record of a change. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called Navy Federal Credit Union ( NFCU ) about overdraft fees that occurred due to my account being overdrawn. I was given a {$40.00} credit, in order to compensate for XXXX overdraft fees. The solution they offer did not help me at the time. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called NFCU about overdraft fees, XXXX of them, they occurred on the XXXX and XXXX of this month. They denied the refund with the response that they have the discretion to do so at will. I ask to speak to a XXXX. She mentioned that they have this policy as an option and as such they can choose to waive fees. She also said that she does not refund fees at all. Not only that, but she then said that during XXXX, they waived fees as a discretion. I hung up the phone due to my health issues exacerbating. 

I have not been able to find the documentation that describes any of this type of changes or the legitimacy of their discretion with the overdraft fees. The XXXX XXXX Terms and Conditions does not list the OOPS information. I have to search for it, and it only describes the policy of charging my account when it is overdrawn. As far as I can tell, they do not violate this policy, but they also remove my account balance information from the past, so I can not tell if they overcharge me or not. 

I recognize that I make the decision to take money that is not there at the moment, and according to the policy they can charge me {$20.00} a day. This kinda makes sense. I ran into issues years ago and due to my health can not get out of the financial rut. As of this year, I have been charged {$460.00} in overdraft fees, and have been given {$60.00} returned. I attempted to look at last year, but they do not let me see my full accounting information past a few months. I am not seeing where they denied my XXXX attempt to get overdraft fees returned. And today I was told that they did help individuals during the pandemic. But why not me? Are they discriminating against my veteran status, or my XXXX, or my lack of employment? I had XXXX XXXX XXXX tell me that I shouldn't have a bank account because I am XXXX. Maybe there is a trend here for XXXX veterans being taking advantage of by EVERYONE! 

I am a XXXX veteran with mental and physical health issues. The VA has not helped with those issues. I feel trapped in this situation. I am attempting to resolve my health issues, but I am technically on my own. Not only that, but I have asked NFCU for assistance in attempting to resolve my financial situation through a loan or guidance, and I get denied. 

From my perspective, the VA is solely to blame for my current situation, so maybe they are not supposed to help me. And maybe my complaint about these fees is moot due to the notion they are not violating their written policy, but it's technically not written they can waive or not waive these fees. I remember them waiving up to XXXX of dollars in fees at once, but I can not find that transaction anymore. The density of confusion has weighed on me for too long, and this is no longer working. I feel that the inconsistent use of overdraft fees has negatively impacted my mental health in a profound way.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief