What's On Your Mind? Regions Bank, Leading Edge Recovery, PODS

A recent trend in banking is automation. Customers are encouraged to perform as many transactions as possible online. Sometimes, that results in frustrating waits when you have to use a teller.

"I waited in line for 25 minutes yesterday at Regions Bank in order to deposit a check into my checking account," said a Humundian, Iowa consumer who asked to remain anonymous. "The line was backed up to the door, yet there were only two tellers to accommodate them. Only once did the bank manager step outsider her office, although it wasn't to help customers. She lefter her office to warm up her lunch."

This trend isn't likely to change anytime soon. With new regulations cutting into bank fees, many in the industry say banks will continue to try and cut costs.

Trailing Edge

Donna, of Richmond, Va., wants to know what her rights are in regard to calls from a debt collecting who is seeking her estranged husband. She said she has been getting calls from Leading Edge Recovery.

"I told him they had the wrong number for the person they were trying to reach and to please take my number off their list," Donna told ConsumerAffairs.com. "They continued asking me to provide info regarding where the subject person could be found and what was happening to his mail and insisting that I answer questions regarding this person. I told them they were harassing me by continuing their interrogation and if they called my number again, I would give their info to my lawyer and hung up."

If the calls continue, Donna may be about to take action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which states, in part, "except as provided in section 804, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector."

Talk to your landlord

Matt, of Calera, Ala., said he was preparing to move, so he called Portable On-Demand Storage (PODS), the company that delivers storage units to your home. You fill them with your belongings and the company returns and takes them to your new place of residence. Matt paid for the service and the POD was delivered. He thought he was all set.

"After a few days I was awakened to the sound of a loud truck," Matt said. "I walked outside to find a PODS employee jacking up the POD readying it for transport. I asked the guy what he was doing, and he replied that he was just doing what he was told."

The driver told Matt he was taking the POD back to the warehouse and he had better remove any of his belongings that were in it. Why? It turns out Matt's landlord didn't like the idea of the POD sitting on his property and had called PODS and ordered them to remove it. The lesson? If you are a renter, discuss any plans for keeping any type of large unit on the property if it isn't allowed in the lease.