I deposited a US postal money order into my checking account. When I went to a grocery store, there were ''no funds'' available. Apparently, the bank treated it like a check, instead of the cash that it is.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
On 2/27/2010, my adult son Daniel and I went to People's Bank, Tellico Plains, Tennessee branch ATM where I used my Suntrust Bank card to request a withdrawal of $40.00. I gave my son $20.00 to pump gas in my vehicle at the Tellico Plains Valley Mart gas station and commented that I hoped we could eat lunch on the remaining $20.00. My first mistake was not checking my ATM receipt at the time my cash was dispensed.
After getting the gas at Valley Mart, we left on a trip to Cleveland, Tennessee. Upon return to my home that evening, I checked my Suntrust account and found to my horror that the ATM had debited, my Suntrust card $141.72 instead of $41.75! I immediately telephoned Suntrust Bank in Maryville, TN and also sent them an email message that the ATM was in error. I was told by Suntrust that my account had to be debited before they could file a dispute against the other bank.
On 3/1/2010, Suntrust debited my account $141.75. I filed a dispute form via FAX with Suntrust and was given a $100.00 credit back to my account on 3/2/2010 and I thought that the case was taken care of. My second mistake was believing that Suntrust Bank could handle the problem with People's Bank, who probably doesn't even own the ATM in their parking lot. The automated ATM teller in fact has a very disturbing and distinct British accent.
Needless to say, I was more than simply annoyed, when on 3/17/2010 my Suntrust account was again debited $100.00, and in my mailbox was a letter dated 10 March 2010 from Suntrust that started that the "ATM owner" had denied my request for credit. "Because Visa Rules and Regulations specifically stipulated the qualifications considered appropriate for bankcard companies to intercede on behalf of their cardholders we have no further recourse."
When is it appropriate for a bank's ATM to erroneously debit a person's account? What is the recourse for that person to recoup their loss due to an electronic malfunction from the one-armed bandit (ATM) in the People's Bank parking lot? My Suntrust account is now in overdraft status of -$72.33, which has caused me extreme distress and annoyance not to mention financial loss once again as the bank is now charging an extra $25.00 overdraft fee.
