Bad, bad banking ways
For anyone in the Virginia area who uses Fauquier Bank, here's a fun little story for you:
I opened an account with Fauquier partially because I needed a new bank and partially because my friend worked there at the time. I like how, years down the line, you find out everything you thought about the bank was a pack of lies.
Here are the lies they told me, point blank, which relate to this little situation:
1. That I didn't have overdraft protection. When I first got my account, I made sure that they in no way had or applied overdraft protection to my account. For three, maybe four years, up until last week, I never had an occassion to test it out.
2. Purchases I make by debit card never go through unless I have the amount to cover it in your account.
3. Purchases made by card are counted immediately.
Not two months ago I was told the last two straight from a teller. Still, I keep pretty good track of where my money is going and never tested those things out.
Cut to last week. The first time I have overdrawn my account. It came by check - my gas bill. Clearly I miscalculated somewhere. I accept full responsibility for that one charge, and told the bank so.
What I don't accept is that, though I specifically told them I did not want overdraft protection on my account, they applied it anyway. And so, as per some rule I expect they might have made up just now, if you have overdrawn your account, YOU ARE STILL ABLE TO PULL MONEY FROM AN ATM as well as use your card indescriminantly.
I called the bank very politely to get this settled, because the situation seemed a little unbelievable to me. I was stunned to receive very rude continual accusations that if I had "just used the register" none of this would have happened.
Um, excuse me? What gives you the right to assume that I don't write down what I purchased and when? One miscalculation does not mean that I don't keep up with what I buy, or that you have the right to be rude to me about it.
Additionally, "just keeping a register" does NOT solve the problem of them showing that I had money in my account TWO DAYS after I had overdrawn and allowing me to withdraw more funds. That was their miscalculation, not mine.
But after who knows how long on the phone with the branch manager, who I will be decent enough not to name by name, trying to be as reasonable as I can, I got nowhere. In fact, not only did I get nowhere trying to be reasonable, the branch manager did her best to be as insulting as she could be. I wonder if that was to try to provoke a reaction so that she could justify the crap she was trying to feed me. If I were simply a jerk, she could probably justify stealing any amount of money from me in the name of charges.
In any case, after some time hitting my head against a brick wall and being insulted over and over, I decided that if they could not treat me with respect, I could simply leave. So I will be closing my account, if not today, then as soon as the bills I paid by check go through.
Which is such a shame. Prior to this I actually quite liked this bank. But if, at the very first problem you have, they feel the need to be rude, insulting and completely unwilling to work with you, I don't feel the need to say.
Which is too bad for them, really, because I may finally be in position to really start saving, and isn't that what they want, for your money to stay in the account so that they can play with it?
Actually, they could probably care less, either way. I'm small potatoes. I get by paycheck to paycheck and haven't been able to save a lot in the past.
Wouldn't it be fun, though, if I'd gotten a windfall - something REALLY big and something they'd like to keep - just before I closed my account due to their horrible customer service? I think it would be fun.
(I don't have violent revenge fantasies, just ones where people come to the realization that they messed up big time. I do think I'd love to see the look on that branch manager's face if that happened. That would make me happy, as awful as I am for that.)
So, anyway, to anyone considering using Fauquier Bank, a warning. Make sure - over and over - that you do not have overdraft protection unless you want it. Also realize that they have no customer service whatsoever, and so if you have even one problem, you will be the one who pays for it, and you will likely receive nothing but insults if you try to resolve the problem.
The only thing I can say for them is that they haven't outright stolen money from my account, the way that BB&T did. In that debacle, I lost over $800 in a little over a month (two months?) when funds started disappearing. Come to think of it, they tried to blame that on me miscalculating as well. Oops, I thought my paycheck said $800, but it was actually $400. Really? They must have thought I was a total idiot. Funny how I never "misplaced" money prior to that incident or since.
I am now looking for another bank.
But I am seriously tempted to forget it, buy a prepaid credit card, and be done with all banks altogether.
Actually, that's not a half-bad idea.
I opened an account with Fauquier partially because I needed a new bank and partially because my friend worked there at the time. I like how, years down the line, you find out everything you thought about the bank was a pack of lies.
Here are the lies they told me, point blank, which relate to this little situation:
1. That I didn't have overdraft protection. When I first got my account, I made sure that they in no way had or applied overdraft protection to my account. For three, maybe four years, up until last week, I never had an occassion to test it out.
2. Purchases I make by debit card never go through unless I have the amount to cover it in your account.
3. Purchases made by card are counted immediately.
Not two months ago I was told the last two straight from a teller. Still, I keep pretty good track of where my money is going and never tested those things out.
Cut to last week. The first time I have overdrawn my account. It came by check - my gas bill. Clearly I miscalculated somewhere. I accept full responsibility for that one charge, and told the bank so.
What I don't accept is that, though I specifically told them I did not want overdraft protection on my account, they applied it anyway. And so, as per some rule I expect they might have made up just now, if you have overdrawn your account, YOU ARE STILL ABLE TO PULL MONEY FROM AN ATM as well as use your card indescriminantly.
I called the bank very politely to get this settled, because the situation seemed a little unbelievable to me. I was stunned to receive very rude continual accusations that if I had "just used the register" none of this would have happened.
Um, excuse me? What gives you the right to assume that I don't write down what I purchased and when? One miscalculation does not mean that I don't keep up with what I buy, or that you have the right to be rude to me about it.
Additionally, "just keeping a register" does NOT solve the problem of them showing that I had money in my account TWO DAYS after I had overdrawn and allowing me to withdraw more funds. That was their miscalculation, not mine.
But after who knows how long on the phone with the branch manager, who I will be decent enough not to name by name, trying to be as reasonable as I can, I got nowhere. In fact, not only did I get nowhere trying to be reasonable, the branch manager did her best to be as insulting as she could be. I wonder if that was to try to provoke a reaction so that she could justify the crap she was trying to feed me. If I were simply a jerk, she could probably justify stealing any amount of money from me in the name of charges.
In any case, after some time hitting my head against a brick wall and being insulted over and over, I decided that if they could not treat me with respect, I could simply leave. So I will be closing my account, if not today, then as soon as the bills I paid by check go through.
Which is such a shame. Prior to this I actually quite liked this bank. But if, at the very first problem you have, they feel the need to be rude, insulting and completely unwilling to work with you, I don't feel the need to say.
Which is too bad for them, really, because I may finally be in position to really start saving, and isn't that what they want, for your money to stay in the account so that they can play with it?
Actually, they could probably care less, either way. I'm small potatoes. I get by paycheck to paycheck and haven't been able to save a lot in the past.
Wouldn't it be fun, though, if I'd gotten a windfall - something REALLY big and something they'd like to keep - just before I closed my account due to their horrible customer service? I think it would be fun.
(I don't have violent revenge fantasies, just ones where people come to the realization that they messed up big time. I do think I'd love to see the look on that branch manager's face if that happened. That would make me happy, as awful as I am for that.)
So, anyway, to anyone considering using Fauquier Bank, a warning. Make sure - over and over - that you do not have overdraft protection unless you want it. Also realize that they have no customer service whatsoever, and so if you have even one problem, you will be the one who pays for it, and you will likely receive nothing but insults if you try to resolve the problem.
The only thing I can say for them is that they haven't outright stolen money from my account, the way that BB&T did. In that debacle, I lost over $800 in a little over a month (two months?) when funds started disappearing. Come to think of it, they tried to blame that on me miscalculating as well. Oops, I thought my paycheck said $800, but it was actually $400. Really? They must have thought I was a total idiot. Funny how I never "misplaced" money prior to that incident or since.
I am now looking for another bank.
But I am seriously tempted to forget it, buy a prepaid credit card, and be done with all banks altogether.
Actually, that's not a half-bad idea.