Regions bank is a bunch of crooks!

[BustemBigBlue 245]

Heres the deal:

Friday morning I make two seperate purchases totaling $13. I had about $30 in my checking account so I figure I'm good. Friday afternoon after work I deposit my check and go buy groceries as I've been doing every Friday afternoon for years. My grocery bill is $55.

Today Im getting ready to pay a bill and I decide to check my account, just out of curiosity, even though im sure I have at least $100 in there. My balance (drumroll)......negative $255.68!

Not only did my paycheck not get deposited, but they ran the $55 grocery debit before the two purchases I made earlier that morning making every purchase I made since friday an overdraft. Thats 9 frickin overdraft fee's in a row. In the past, my debit card would be rejected when I tried to make a purchase without the funds in the bank. Not now. Now they let you make as many purchases as your little heart desires and hit you with a hefty fee for each one.

I've been depositing my paychecks after 2 at this bank on Friday for years and the money has always been available right away. I understand things have changed with the merger and all but a little warning would be nice. And I dont care what anyone says, running that grocery debit first just to overdraw me is crooked as hell! There is no excuse.

/rant

[jdub5793 0]

Heres the deal:

Friday morning I make two seperate purchases totaling $13. I had about $30 in my checking account so I figure I'm good. Friday afternoon after work I deposit my check and go buy groceries as I've been doing every Friday afternoon for years. My grocery bill is $55.

Today Im getting ready to pay a bill and I decide to check my account, just out of curiosity, even though im sure I have at least $100 in there. My balance (drumroll)......negative $255.68!

Not only did my paycheck not get deposited, but they ran the $55 grocery debit before the two purchases I made earlier that morning making every purchase I made since friday an overdraft. Thats 9 frickin overdraft fee's in a row. In the past, my debit card would be rejected when I tried to make a purchase without the funds in the bank. Not now. Now they let you make as many purchases as your little heart desires and hit you with a hefty fee for each one.

I've been depositing my paychecks after 2 at this bank on Friday for years and the money has always been available right away. I understand things have changed with the merger and all but a little warning would be nice. And I dont care what anyone says, running that grocery debit first just to overdraw me is crooked as hell! There is no excuse.

/rant

I've had similar circumstances entirely too many times dealing with Compass. Agreed, crooks.

[lukeduke 8]

I pulled all of my accounts from Regions right after the merger after hearing these stories. I went to a small local bank that is offering a killer deal on checking and money market accounts. The lady at the new bank asked specifically if I was from Regions, they have had a ton of people moving away from Regions. I would probably suggest the same.

There are many more things I could put here, but for the time being I have to withhold.

[BustemBigBlue 245]

What really sucks is there isn't really any other option but Regions in my area.

[BZ770 2]

If you go and talk to your branch manager they should reimburse the OD charges. It also takes 24 hours for a check deposit to post. But your bank should honor any charges pending since you had a deposit pending. I still prefer Regions to Compass.

[Ranger12 53]

What you just described is the exact reason we left Amsouth, before the merger, and now I hear that Regions basically uses Amsouth's policies now.

We have direct deposit on our paychecks, but sometimes we have other deposits. There were a couple of times the funds got a little low, so we would either transfer fund from our savings or take out money from a money market and deposit it. Well, a couple of times, they had ran purchases through that were made after, and I either hours or a day after we made the deposit, thus making us have overdraft fees.

It should not matter if I made a deposit after 2 pm or not, if I walk in that bank and make a deposit or a transfer from savings at 3:45 pm and then make a purchase with my debit card at 8:23 pm that night, that purchase should not get shuffled in front of that deposit. We were told that debit card purchases go in immediately and that is why. I told them that was bs. If my deposit or transfer that is made after 2 pm does not count until the next business day, then they should setup their system that purchases after that same time do not count until the next business day either. They said they could not do that and I called them out because the other bank we used, Redstone Federal does it that way.

Also, during one of those times we over drafted, we actually over drafted on a purchase that was "pending" which gave us an overdraft fee and then when it came through the next day, they charged us another overdraft fee on that same purchase, because we were already over drafted from that purchase when it was pending, not to mention that they still put it ahead of a deposit we had made the previous afternoon.

I can understand that check deposits take a little time to post, but our deposits were a cash deposit once and a transfer from our savings account the other time. Why couldn't those type of deposits post right then? Like you said...crooks!

Now all of our major financial transactions are done with Redstone Federal Credit Union and we have never had an issue with them. Heck, you do not ever even have to worry about huge overdraft fees with them if you have a savings account also, because if you happen to overdraft your checking account, they just automatically transfer the money over to cover it.

[jumbo 0]

I hate Amsouth thats why I left them years ago, I would deposit a check on friday afternoon and it wouldnt post until tuesday, overdrafting purchases all weekend!!!! Just this last week in my gas,beer money account I overdrafted for the first time in years and thats a bunch of wincrimson

[BamaGrad03 0]

Yeah I deposited CASH into my regions account a few weeks ago, and it took 3 days to show up in my account.

But still, they are the last Bham bank standing ...of the once big 4. I have to support my local companies. I don't want another bank to get bought out, taking 2000 more jobs with it.

[AU_tiger_2000 0]

A few years ago Region go nailed for running a scam in the Mobile area. They would hold all deposits and sort all debits from largest to smallest regardless of the time they were posted. By processing the largest debits first and all deposits last they increased the chances of getting to charge overdraft fees.

[DKW 86 8,094]

I was happy with Amsouth myself. Regions, not so much. I had a draft on my account done at least 5 business days ago and it STILL hasnt shown up on my account. Now, it is paid already, but why hasnt the money shown up? Well, Like Compass, I think they are holding the draft so they can see if they can hallucinate an overdraft. I had Compass do the same way back when while in school. They hit me with an overdraft fee first, then processed the funds, overdrafting all the checks that day, about 6-7 and then posted my cash deposit. I left them the next day.

[saniflush 0]

OK....First off and I think SupperClub will back me up here...

Every Monday morning around 9:00 there is a meeting in each bank to come up with ideas of how to screw their customers some more. Once agreed upon it is implemented and those not willing to go inside and raise hell with them about it, will be nickeled and dimed to death.

All that being said remember it was AmSouth that tore down the SaniFreeze.

jackoffs!

[otterinbham 0]

What really sucks is there isn't really any other option but Regions in my area.

Sure there is. Any number of small banks in your area probably offer all the services that Regions does, with more advantageous rates and better personal service. In Birmingham alone, there are a dozen mid-sized banks that outperform any Megabank: Capital South, First Commercial, ServiceFirst, Red Mountain, Union State...and the list goes on and on.

What you have to remember is that all markets, banking included, divide into high-volume or high-service providers. Regions, Compass, and Wachovia all make their money on volume and growth, while customer service decidedly takes a back seat. In fact, I make a pretty good living advising banks on how to rip market share away from the big banks.

You might say it's a personal crusade of mine. Let me tell you my Regions Bank story:

When I started my business, we dutifully opened our business checking account with Regions, chiefly because my partner had his personal account there.

Two years later, my business partner died of cancer, but I was still banking with Regions. During that same period, I had won some larger accounts, one of whom was a small division of BellSouth.

I received payment for a particularly large project, and needed to get the check into the bank for payroll. So I dash out of my downtown office and hurry up to the main office. However, I had forgotten to go to the bathroom before I left. So I'm basically hopping on one foot in the customer line. I mean I needed to GO.

I get to the teller and make my six-figure deposit into my business account. After the teller stamped my deposit slip, I ask to use their restroom.

With that, she says, "I'm sorry, sir, our restrooms are for employees only." Thinking this teller was just stupid, I go over to a CSR and ask him if I can use the restroom. He tells me the same thing.

With that, I just get in an elevator and go upstairs, and find a bathroom on the 3rd floor.

The next day, I came back in with my bookkeeper and closed all my accounts. I moved everything to First Commercial Bank.

Man, I couldn't believe the difference in service. The tellers knew my name, the CSRs knew my business, and always were willing to go the extra mile to make me happy.

That was 12 years ago. My biz account has been with First Commercial to this day.

[CCTAU 3,821]

When you are talking about DDA (direct deposit account) systems, there are options set by the business people that determines the order by which transactions are processed. Back in the 90's, BankSouth changed the order by which they processed which caused many folks to have more over drafts. BankSouth was the last bank in Atlanta to do this. The others were already making money. But with the competition that lies between banks today, many have rolled back this process. Sounds like Amsouth/Regions is taking advantage of their not so well off customers in order to make money. Until the competition heats up between banks in that area, they can legally do what they want. I feel its a crappy practice and was embarrassed when BankSouth did it., Many others were also. It only lasted about a year before the higher ups learned that it probably was not a good idea. Get in touch with the paper and see if they'll do an article on it. Public pressure will drive them back to sanity. I remember an article in the AJC that described what the banks in Atlanta were doing. Soon after that, policies changed.

[AUJarhead 72]

All that being said remember it was AmSouth that tore down the SaniFreeze.

The first month or two after they did that, nobody in Auburn would take an AmSouth check.

I miss the Flush.

[saniflush 0]

I will continue my one man boycott. It won't bring it back but some grudges are fun to carry.

[SupperClub 0]

RamSouth (or at least that's what it should be called, considering it's actually AmSouth bank with the Regions logo, and they aren't afraid to ram one up your arse) is definitely undergoing some changes. I left them in April after spending a few years as a Branch Manager. Saniflush was partly right, the do have weekly meetings on both Monday and Friday, but they aren't to figure out new ways to screw the customer. More or less they will pick a product or two to 'pimp' for the week, and try to sell as many as possible, all on top of their other sales goals. From people I've talked to who still work there, they have over-hauled the previous sales system and are now using AmSouth's (just like every other system), which I'm not familiar with.

I still bank with them, mainly because I still know people who can help me out if I ever need them to. When those people slowly leave, so will my accounts.

[BustemBigBlue 245]

UPDATE:

I called my bank this morning to contest everything and they gave some generic 1-800 number to call. After being put on hold for a half hour the lady gave me some excuse about the merger, refunded $38 of the $155 they stole from me, and asked if there was anything else she could do. I told her she could get me the number of another local bank or credit union because I was canceling my account with regions.

I was so furious when I got off the phone I drove strait to my local regions branch and demanded my money back. To my amazement, it worked. Im still switching banks however, I dont care if I have to drive 20 miles out of my way every friday.

Oh, I asked the lady on the phone why they processed my largest debit first (effectively screwing me) and got some lame excuse that sounded like it was read from a card. We all know the real reason they do this, it's just funny to hear them scramble when you ask.

[Grider 1]

All that being said remember it was AmSouth that tore down the SaniFreeze.

The building Amsouth built there is now empty by the way. They chose to move all the banking functions into the Regions bank about 200 feet away on College St.

I moved my accounts from Regions years ago. And the good lord willing I will never have another account with them for anything.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

Yeah I deposited CASH into my regions account a few weeks ago, and it took 3 days to show up in my account.

But still, they are the last Bham bank standing ...of the once big 4. I have to support my local companies. I don't want another bank to get bought out, taking 2000 more jobs with it.

Gotta support the home team!

[saniflush 0]

All that being said remember it was AmSouth that tore down the SaniFreeze.

The building Amsouth built there is now empty by the way. They chose to move all the banking functions into the Regions bank about 200 feet away on College St.

I moved my accounts from Regions years ago. And the good lord willing I will never have another account with them for anything.

Oh no dey di-int. I wonder if we get the malts to go through those drive through tubes?

[TDAuburn 2]

Yep... Regions screwed me one too many times. I like the logic... since there's not enough money in the account, we'll hit it with an NSF charge, and hey, while the getting is good, let's run it right back through to get another NSF. I left Regions years ago. I'm sure someone has a horror story about Wachovia, but I really like them. Their web site interfaces with Quicken well.

[AUJarhead 72]

All that being said remember it was AmSouth that tore down the SaniFreeze.

The building Amsouth built there is now empty by the way. They chose to move all the banking functions into the Regions bank about 200 feet away on College St.

I moved my accounts from Regions years ago. And the good lord willing I will never have another account with them for anything.

Oh no dey di-int. I wonder if we get the malts to go through those drive through tubes?

Or the grill cheese sandwiches.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

What really sucks is there isn't really any other option but Regions in my area.

Is there credit union?

All of the banks are doing that now. We had automatic draft for a monthly payment that would come in on the 28th of the month without failure. Until one time it came in on the 24th. I believe the bank has software that monitors accounts, looking for insufficiencies and charges accordingly. I posted this theory before and was call a nut job. The banking act was the worst thing that ever happened to this country. Yes, they are all crooks, creating poverty through lending at interest on money that doesn't exist.

Our credit union deposits go in that night or immediately. I have made a deposit in the afternoon and been able to debit on that money within 15 minutes. Don't get me wrong, they are still banks in nature. However, our local police bank there, so it's pretty safe and fair to say the least.

Southtrust (now Wachovia) was the worst. Deposit on Friday and can't to access the funds until Monday. I hate banks.

[Wishbone 0]

Regions bank has screwed me big time with the "largest to smallest" con game they run. They really must have no shame to brazenly steal from their customers.

[keoson7 28]

Little old United bank down here has never given me problems, they will "pay" NSF checks and charge you $25, but only if you haven't made a deposit. Never have they not posted a deposit to NSF me. Regions is Straight up crooks. They wanted $5 to cash checks on their bank.