Consumer complaint received 2020-02-26
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: PA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Non-sufficient funds and associated fees

Complaint:
This is a long and confusing journey but it's started about this time LAST year so XX/XX/2019. Sadly I don't have all of the paperwork from that time or this number would probably be doubled! All in all, in less than a year, it has COST me {$1000.00} excluding some fees with utility companies that I wasn't able to easily locate. The problem begins with my account somehow switching from a free checking account to performance, which up until this all started I was completely unaware of because there was always enough money in the account that I wasn't charged simply for having the account. So for having insufficient funds ( and to make a whole 0.4 % interest on funds ) I get to pay {$15.00} per month and the very first overdraw last year when this first became an issue, was due to PNC taking their precious {$15.00} before something else came out. I feel that I should mention here in the beginning that I am the primary account manager for both myself and my mother 's accounts with PNC. This includes two checking accounts, savings, two revolving credit accounts, mortgage and a credit card. That also means that linked to my checking account, which is the primary spend account, is a checking and savings that combined never have less than {$4500.00} and typically would be over {$6000.00}. They ARE set up as overdraft protection for my account, not that it seems to matter or do any good. 

There have been times that, albeit making a bad situation worse, it has been my own negligence that has caused the overdraft and would warrant the fees valid. However, that is when the revolving credit should prevent an overdraft and that's how I found out that somehow, maybe in my sleep I turned that protection off. Now why in the fluke ( I'm gon na censor myself a lot through this ) would I ever do that?! Why would anyone ever do that? Come to find a letter that I never saw informing me that my overdraft account has been discontinued and can be reinstated after a hold on my account was lifted. So no it never was that I took it off then never turned it back on. This resulted in almost {$500.00} in fees accrued over one weekend during the slow season in my business.This time is typically XXXX through XXXX with some relief around the holidays and during this time can be months where my base expenses are more than my earnings. I know this and know that things can get tight which is why I have and am so thankful for the overdraft protection. 

PNC will always put themselves before anything or anyone else in regards to things being paid, and they have a tendency to decline the utilities or cell phones and cable. This not only is infuriating because it's the billers that charge their own fees for things like returned checks and late payments, but also horrifying because the most recent victim was my gas company which almost lead to my gas being shut off in the dead of winter! Back in XX/XX/XXXX, which is about as far back as the paperwork I have been collecting goes, this happened with my water bill. Everything is on autopay from the mortgage and car payment to utilities to credit cards to my gym membership. I know how forgetful and scatterbrained I can be so it's the only way to ensure the bills will be paid on time. So when they declined the water bill from coming out I was charged a {$36.00} overdraft fee and then a following {$36.00} returned item fee. Being that it is the water which we NEED it tried to collect the money 3 times which led to two {$36.00} overdraft fees and three {$36.00} returned item fees for the same transaction essentially! On the water companies end of things it also cost me three {$20.00} returned check fees, and then a {$12.00} late payment fee because, I was unaware that all the bullspit the previous month had knocked it out of autopay. This has now also happened for the gas company only I can't enroll back in autopay for 6 months because, being this is the time of year with most gas usage, unpaid month and fees and late fees led to an {$840.00} gas bill that I had to make a payment plan for to be paid on a budget over the next 22 months. I also now have a mark on my credit from the returned check fee going into collections which is all thanks to PNC. Another majorly crooked thing they did was in XXXX last year when I was charged almost {$500.00} over a weekend, they made sure to try and take a payment out for the revolving credit that IS AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM, and charged an overdrawn fee AND returned item fee on their own bogus charge! 

Despite there being glaringly obvious problems going on and me attempting to straighten things out or prevent further hemorrhaging, overdrafts continue to happen, the account continues to be some feed performance account and I continue to wonder how many other people go through this and maybe don't even know and just pay it blindly. This time it is not just the slow season for me as for the first time in my adult life I am unemployed, and dealing with family emergencies, which making it very difficult to focus on getting a job quickly. So to add a huge load of stress to the most stressful time I think I've ever encountered, I have my XXXX bank charging me a minimum of {$150.00} in fees every month that I have no income to pay for and that's cause other much more important items to go into default! Also, I again point out that this very thing could be happening to elderly or other young adults or surely the impoverished that PNC is making a mint on! I do honestly believe someone would be wise to look into grounds for a class-action lawsuit against PNC for malicious business practices. As I said earlier I only have paperwork dating back to halloween of last year readily available and that short period of time they still charged me over {$1000.00} to do my banking with them. Also there are some papers that if you work like a detective to piece it together show that I was fumbling on my end to transfer money from other accounts to prevent fees and they STILL did the transactions in an order that charged me fees. Below I will list the fees and charges as well as I can : XX/XX/XXXX {$72.00} Overdrawn for XXXX XXXX  TWICE ( {$530.00} deposited XX/XX/XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX {$72.00} Overdrawn for both XXXX and XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$36.00} Returned item fee on PNC Credit account XX/XX/XXXX {$72.00} Overdrawn and returned item fee for XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$7.00} Continuous overdrawn XX/XX/XXXX {$28.00} Continuous overdrawn for 4 days XX/XX/XXXX {$7.00} Continuous overdrawn XX/XX/XXXX{$36.00} Overdrawn for XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX {$7.00} Continuous overdrawn fee XX/XX/XXXX Checking statement ( XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX ) shows charges and fees THIS PERIOD are {$290.00} total and added to the YTD {$840.00} makes {$1100.00} paid that far in XX/XX/XXXX! XX/XX/XXXX Letter stating Overdraft protection has been discontinued ( received XX/XX/XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX {$30.00} Returned check fee with XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$15.00} Calculated service charge XX/XX/XXXX {$36.00} Overdrawn for XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$15.00} Calculated service charge XX/XX/XXXX {$36.00} Overdrawn for XXXX XXXX ( however {$250.00} transferred XX/XX/XXXX ) Currently XX/XX/XXXX to today : {$15.00} Service fee {$7.00} Continuous overdrawn fee $ XXXXX4 Overdrawn fees $ XXXXX2 Returned item fee for XXXX XXXX and XXXX All in all if you call it a year that's {$1600.00} to bank with PNC and I know I'm leaving out fees from the companies they didn't pay and probably some other miscellaneous charges. I think that would make an entertaining commercial for them, " Bank with PNC, it may cost less than your car insurance if you're a terrible driver! ''

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation