BankAtlantic

Refinance # ** started my refinance 9-2-10. I was promised 3 closing dates, that all came and went. I paid money out of my pocket for condo questionnaire, insurance questionnaires. Well, the first lock in closing date passed and they weren't prepared. The second closing date came and they dated the papers wrong, so when my husband and I went to the bank to sign we were told they were void now (both lost time from work then, I also lost time from work, going to my other bank to provide hard copies of emails they had received).

So then the next set of closing papers came and they jacked up the closing costs (for less than 5 days that was not even my fault) and expected us to pay for their mistake. So, I wasted over 3 months jumping through hoops, only to end up losing money out of my pocket and not having a lower refinance rate. The bank said they would waive the $575.00 fee but what about the time I lost, the extra money I laid out and all the stress only to end up with nothing.

I made purchases with my debit card on a Saturday and Sunday, while there was money in my account. On Monday, a check I had sent out was cashed and my account was overdrawn. What the bank did was they listed all my purchases made on Saturday and Sunday as if they were made on Monday and charged me $315 in overdraft fees, nine multiplied by $35.

What they did is list all the Saturday and Sunday transactions as occurring on Monday and list largest to smallest, therefore even though there was money in my account when the purchases were made, they still get to charge me these outrageous fees. Is this even legal? If the purchases are made on Saturday and Sunday and are deducted from my account the moment I make the purchase, why charge these fees? They should only charge for the check that bounced on Monday. When I spoke to the bank, they only agreed to refund me $70.

Unlike other banks, BankAtlantic will not honor, or pay any small amounts of overdrafts that may incur in your checking accounts (debit or credit). A low overdraft amount of $17.00 was not honored in my checking account after a debit came in from their affiliated merchant services provider. BankAtlantic rather waited for the debit to come back into my account many times, so they could penalize my account many times too with associated fees instead of only one fee. Ending situation: ($35.00 X 2 = $70.00) over an amount of $17.00 (not paid), in this particular case, the debit came back two times, and neither they had paid the overdraft in my checking account, and yet they put in place a total of $70.00 in fees.

Would a situation like this be called fair? Could this be a normal fair business scenario? Well, if the bank would have paid the $17.00 overdraft and kept only $35.00 as (one penalty fee), then it can be called a fair business scenario. In my opinion, this situation can be called "stealing money" stealing from people, especially when not honoring low amounts in overdrafts, but rather charging the accounts with repeat penalty fees on a single debit or credit transaction. This is the third time they did it to me. Unfortunately, I cannot close this bank account for now because I have "their affiliated" merchant account setup with recurring monthly transactions from customers.

People, please don't waist your money or time complaining to BankAtlantic. You will be bounced from one desk to another, from one branch manager to another, and in the end, they will tell you that you have to go to the branch where you had originally opened your bank account so they may analyze if your claim can be taken in consideration. What an unfair way of doing business! Good luck to you!

The full funds were to be available on 10/14. However on 10/13, BankAtlantic charged my checking account $325.00 in over draft fees, despite the credit account associated with my account, and the other accounts associated with my checking with funds available. My checking account was debited in such a way to maximize the amount of overdraft fees they could charge. They were willing to credit my account with $70.00.

Unable to meet my financial obligations due to being fleeced of $350, which has been a domino effect. The nonchalant customer service by Andrew **, and customer service manager "Nicky", who refuses to provide her full name or ID #, leaves me no choice but to go through the hassle to change banking institutions.

I wanted to give my two daughters a gift. This day, while watching a Bruce Makowsky special on QVC, I went online when several handbags I liked was shown with installment option. I could not decide right away which one I would buy. Instead, I marked the special handbags online until the show was over. I felt it will be alright since it's not going to be charged until shipped. After I made my decision, I canceled the one's not suitable and QVC responded (online of course) that I will not be charged for the canceled items.

Unfortunately, Bank Atlantic (did not share the same objective) already charged my account for all of the bags and charged a hefty overdraft fees on the debit purchases that exceed the funds in my account. I was not notified of these charges and triggered additional sustained overdraft fees for the days it remained unpaid. Bank Atlantic has no limit to the number of overdraft fees or sustained fees they can charge their depositor's account per day. It was a little too late before I realized what was happening. It cost me economic/financial damage because all my consequent funds deposited for the next two months were all applied to my negative account.

Like a domino effect, I failed to meet my other financial obligations. I feel that Bank Atlantic has systematically abused their power and failed to give their depositor common courtesy to inform them that this activity will trigger a disastrous and monumental financial consequence when the balance of my funds will not cover an impending debit purchase. Unlike in an ATM, I cannot withdraw funds that is not available, but to be charged overdraft fees for purchases you did not actually bought left me at the mercy of the monstrous bank.

Depositors like me are burned with overdraft fees without any fundamental or fair protections. According to Bank Atlantic, even if there was no actual purchase, when the fund is reserved it already triggers the fees. I argued that it has to be paid before they can actually consider my account overdraft. Bank Atlantic told me they don't have to actually pay to consider it overdrawn. Why can't anything be done to stop this overdraft fees, which obviously Bank Atlantic is using to build their revenues to the expense of unwilling depositors?

I am not using the overdraft assistance for an emergency loan because I did not even know it was happening. I don't even want it. I will not continue spending if I don't have the funds. Weeks later, I was at Target and my purchase was rejected. I was surprised because I expected my direct deposit was in a couple of days ago and I was sure I did not spend everything from the previous one. That's when I had contacted the bank and found out I didn't have any money left and even owe the bank more. Consumers, be aware. Avoid overdraft fees by paying with cold cash instead of a debit card. Avoid overdraft fees abuse by your bank. The protection you are seeking by keeping your funds in the safety of a bank account is like giving it away without your blessing.

Bank Atlantic deceptively (in my own ignorant opinion) took my money by charging overdraft fees without letting me know that a debit purchase, which was canceled, can still trigger thousands of dollars in fees. I felt abused for being charge fees for a loan I did not get intentionally or unintentionally. I did not have the money I needed to pay my other financial obligations because Bank Atlantic already decided to pay themselves with my deposits. I have completely lost faith with banks who do not protect their consumers.

Why keep your money in this type of institutions? Might as well just hand your money to thugs and robbers, what's the difference? I did not have the option to hold my hands up or plead mercy? I believe more people and citizen in this great country of ours being robbed blind by great big banks like Bank Atlantic on a regular basis to bolster profit.

I hope the Consumer Protection Agency, House Financial Services Committee and anybody else help lobby for consumer protections and create some type of protection to monitor these abuses by banks, who by the way, were the first to be bailed out by our government. Individuals like me need more protection from apparently innocent but financial monster and abusive institutions.

After QVC made check balances for an item I was interested in purchasing, the Bank charge my account overdraft fees for each and everyone fund check that was made. Even though no actual purchase was made. No payment was made to QVC and yet Bank Atlantic charge my account more than $2500.00 and counting. When I found out that all my fund was gone, I asked for an explanation for the overdraft fees and was told although there was no payment paid to QVC, my account was overdrawn from the balance or fund reserve made when I tried to reserve the item.

And there's no limit to how much the bank can charge. So the bank has taken two months of my money. Even if I did not sign up for the debit card overdraft assistance. Is it legal for the bank to charge a consumer if they did not actually purchase anything? It was just an inquiry from QVC if the funds are available. And from that initial charge which I did not know, they continued to add charges on top every single day until my deposit covered the overdraft balance. How can any bank justify this kind of lynching a customer?