Consumer complaint received 2024-08-01 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Fee problem
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
ISSUE # 1 : Navy Federal Credit Union ( NFCU ) charged our checking account with 11 " returned item fees '' in the amount of {$29.00} for the following five attempted XXXX transactions : XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX in the amount of {$160.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$81.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX to LXXXX in the amount of {$140.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$100.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$15.00} When XXXX reversed the ACH billed to NFCU and paid the charges from our XXXX account on the following dates, NFCU proceeded to access additional returned item fees for those reversed transactions : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX in the amount of {$160.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX in the amount of {$160.00} ( third fee for this transaction ) XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$81.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX. XXXX in the amount of {$140.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX in the amount of {$100.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$15.00} We assert that at least six of these {$29.00} returned item fees should be credited back to our account balance, in the amount of {$170.00}, as there should only be XXXX fee assessed per failed transaction. The repeated assessment of these fees was both unfair and abusive. 

ISSUE # XXXX : The first notice we received of this issue was on XX/XX/XXXX, when we received a collection notice from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX alleging that we owe {$350.00} for a debt from NFCU. While we did move to a new home in XXXX, we had all mail permanently transferred to our new house in the same neighborhood. No changes were made to our phone numbers or email addresses, all of which NFCU was in possession of. Yet, no attempt was made by NFCU to notify us of the repeated returned transactions. Had NFCU properly attempted to reach us, we would have made corrections to our XXXX account to prevent further erroneous attempts to pay for charges from our old NFCU account. Instead, NFCU used this opportunity to continue to assess their unfair and abusive junk fees for the act of simply declining a transaction. 

ISSUE # XXXX : Our account had a positive balance of {$100.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. Rather than making every effort to notify us the problem, NFCU continued to assess additional junk fees in the amount of {$140.00} for the following XXXX transactions that NFCU did not honor : XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$96.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$96.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$26.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$570.00} XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX reversal of XX/XX/XXXX payment to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$26.00} Strangely, NFCU chose not to charge a duplicate returned item fee when the {$570.00} payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX  was reversed by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

ISSUE # XXXX : At some point, NFCU locked us out of our checking and savings accounts as a result of this issue. This meant that, when a collection notice was received nearly two years after the issue began, we were trying to figure out what happened with our hands tied behind our backs. We were unable to access bank statements from that time period ourselves. A manager at the local branch was able to print statements for us from XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX ; but, as you can see from our initial dispute to NFCU, those statements did not provide much detail for us to be able to determine whether the XXXX transactions were valid. It is important to note that we had transferred all of our banking to XXXX many years prior to this incident and XXXX was supposed to be the primary method of payment on our XXXX account. It is also important to note that XXXX has always made every effort to contact us ( e.g., mail, phone, text, AND email ) when there have been issues of fraud or unusual activity involving our accounts with them. NFCU made no such effort to reach us via any of the more modern and reliable methods. 

If NFCU had let us know when our account balance dropped to {$100.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, and NFCU began declining charges and assessing us with {$460.00} in junk fees, all of this could have been avoided. 

Instead, NFCU responded to our dispute and denied our claim with the final insult being that we " benefited from the transaction ( XXXX ). '' While we did receive the items associated with NFCU 's declined transactions, we did so because WE PAID FOR THEM WITH OUR XXXX ACCOUNT, which our XXXX statements clearly reflect. Be assured, we most definitely have not benefited in any way from NFCU 's abuse in the form of " returned item '' junk fees.

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