Consumer complaint received 2019-06-04
Company: TCF NATIONAL BANK
State: MI
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Fee problem

Complaint:
TCF has charged me over {$2300.00} in fees in the past two months for overdraft charges.

The branch manager that I spoke to, said that TCF would have covered the overdrafts without all of those fees if the savings account money would have still been in there. We had an unexpectedly large tax bill this year and in order to pay it we had to basically clear out our savings and checking accounts. The savings account went from a little over {$12000.00} to {$52.00}. The following list show all of the bank fees and the days they were taken from out account for the two months involved. 

XX/XX/XXXX : {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$180.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$37.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$180.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$110.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$180.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$110.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$37.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$180.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$48.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$10.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$140.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$37.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$180.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$180.00} The total for all of the fees was : {$2300.00}. 

I went in to the bank on Saturday, XX/XX/2019 to try to work this out. We have been TCF customers for about 25 years. I explained to her that I have a XXXX condition and I have a major XXXX scheduled in the next week. I told her I have been on pain medication and sick with XXXX. The branch manager briefly looked at my account on her computer and then told me that " for PR '', they could give me {$100.00} back. She explained that the charges for overdrafts changed when our savings account no longer had money in it. When she told me that she could offer the {$100.00} I laughed and then started crying so hard that I had to leave. I feel completely taken advantage of. When I got home, there was an email from the bank saying that they deposited {$100.00} in my account. 

I did not agree to take the {$100.00}. I certainly didn't sign anything. 

I went back to the bank when they opened again on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I again asked for help and the branch manager said again that there was nothing she could do. I asked her what is the next step for me to remedy this and she said I could file a verbal complaint. I said I wanted to do that. I asked for the regional manager 's contact information before I left and I was given a sticky note with his contact information. I told the branch manager that I felt like she tried to take advantage of me by saying I had agreed to take the {$100.00} return for compensation for this.

When I got home I received a call from the regional manager. The branch manager must have called him after I had left the bank. He basically said the same thing she did. They couldn't do anything about it. He said he would be happy to send me some instructions on how to better monitor my bank account. I know how to manage my bank account, but I have been sick and on medication. This is an incredibly difficult time in my life. I was insulted and still not getting any help. 

The regional manager also asked me if I would like to put in a formal verbal complaint and I again said that I did. He was not able to tell me what, if anything would happen next. When I asked him for the name of his supervisor he said he would not give it to me. I asked him several times and he refused to tell me the name of his supervisor. 

I am more than happy to pay a reasonable fee for the overages. I use this service every so often and understand that there are fees but I had NO IDEA that I would be charged {$35.00} per transaction and up to {$180.00} on any one day - which happened multiple times during this period. I view at my statements online and there were no alerts to this issue. I received no emails, no calls, nothing. The fees were buried within the lines of the transaction page which you have to go through multiple pages to see - you can only see about ten transactions on each page at a time. Looking at my transactions, I can't even figure out specifically which transactions were being covered.

I want to pay a fair fee for using the banks ' services. This is NOT a fair fee. It is equivalent to three weeks of our family 's income. It was a mistake on my part - yes, but all things considered {$2300.00} is not a fair bank fee. This is taking advantage of me when I am down and making things harder for my family during this already hard time.

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