Consumer complaint received 2017-07-05
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low — Overdrafts and overdraft fees
Company: BB&T CORPORATION (TX)

My checking and savings accounts were transferred over to BB & T in the beginning of XXXX after the XXXX branch in my town closed. I was assured that all the features of my XXXX account would be transferred to and included with my new BB & T accounts, including overdraft protection. Therefore, I decided to give BB & T a try rather than opening a new account with a local bank. <P/>Until the two overdrafts the subject of this complaint, I had only had one overdraft ( for a small amount ) almost two years prior. When I made the purchases the subject of these two overdrafts, my online account showed that I had the funds available in my account. After the overdrafts, a BB & T representative explained that the balance in my account at the time of my first purchase was being held to go toward the first purchase ( my car payment ) that I initially overdrafted on. Without knowing that there was not enough money in my account for my car payment, I checked my account online to determine whether I had enough money in my account to make a purchase at XXXX. My account online showed that I had plenty of money, so I went forward with the purchase. If I had known that I did n't actually have the money in my account, I could have very easily used a credit card instead of my XXXX card, which deducts directly from my checking account. But again, the account online showed that I had plenty of money available. <P/>When my husband and I called BB & T to inquire about the overdrafts, the representatives were extremely rude and uninterested in our explanations. All they kept telling us was that, unless it was a BB & T error, it is their policy to waive only one overdraft fee every two years and I had used it up already ( almost two years ago ). We explained numerous times that it was a BB & T error because ( 1 ) the online account not showing the correct balance or even the existence of a pending charge ( car payment ), ( 2 ) they held the funds in my account, without changing my balance online, and then sent both charges through with two overdraft fees ( which is obviously a tactic to rack up money on overdraft fees ), and ( 3 ) they did not provide overdraft protection, as promised, when they took over my XXXX account. Again, I would not have continued to do business with BB & T if I had known that I would not be receiving the same overdraft protection that I did with XXXX. The BB & T reps became very defensive and more rude at that point, flatly denying any responsibility without providing any defense or explanation. I began to realize then that it was a waste of my time to try to reason with these people, but they managed to take it a step further when I tried to close my accounts. Their response to that was that I would have to come into one of their branches to close my accounts, knowing full well that the closest BB & T branch is over two hours away from where we live. <P/>All in all, I am shocked that a big bank like this operates so unprofessionally. After a short search online, I realized that I am one of thousands of complaints against this bank and, while there are many complaints similar to mine, there are some that are WAY more outrageous. Something needs to be done about this bank. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated.