BB&T, the worst of the worst!
My experience indicates that BB&T
is the most immoral, cold-hearted bank you could do business with.
They will selfishly rape your bank account of every last
penny you have, and keep coming after you until you've been bled dry.
After that they will continue to dig deeper into your pockets, and when you've
been thoroughly devoured, they'll come after more like a pack of jackals sucking
the marrow out of the bones of a baby gazelle.
The are, in my opinion, the worst
bank around. Here's how they do it:
First, they cater only to people who have huge
accounts.
1) If
you are a typical American living in these desperate times where week-to-week
budgeting has become a way of life, be careful!
I have friends who work in the banking industry. Through conversations
with those people, I already know how clever banks can be when it comes to
making a profit. There is a calculated formula that the accountants at
their corporate offices take into consideration regarding how many people they
already know they will lose. It's called "Customer
Retention." When banks such as BB&T need to boost their profits,
they will purposely clamp down on helping certain people because those people
have little or no value to them.
I really don't appreciate being told I have no value as a customer other than as
someone they can continuously penalize to their advantage. While I did not
record the conversation, I was told point blank that leniencies (having
penalties removed) is their choice, and it's usually something they do for
higher-end (preferred) customers. Well, since those "higher end"
customers already have lots of money, where is the sense in that?!
How does that help the rest of us?
2) BB&T
will not give you a straight answer on how items are posted at night when
they run their "batch."
If you bounce a transaction it may be because of:
a) When you wrote the check, or when you used your BB&T debit
card
b) When it actually posted
Apparently it doesn't matter. They will apply this information however it
best fits so that they can attach $35 fees for being your buddy, and paying off
the incurred debit. I asked them to please stop being "my buddy"
because I'm perfectly capable of going back to a business so that I could say,
"Hey, sorry about that bounced check. Here's the cash."
Yes, it might be a little embarrassing, but so what? It's better than
paying a $35 fee, which I consider a usurious rate (as do our senators in
Washington DC.)
I
was told that they can not remove this "buddy"-like behavior.
That's a load of crap! I've been in the tech industry since before there
were pictures on the Internet, so I'm very educated on what can and can not be
done. I could probably write their scripts in my sleep! Don't lie to
me, BB&T. Stealing from me is bad enough, but do not lie to me.
3) NEVER
trust their online statements under any circumstances! NEVER!
I
made this mistake, and it cost me a small fortune.
On Tuesday, January 19th, 2010, I looked at my online statement throughout the
day up until 11:30 pm. It stated that I had $358 in my account with four
(4) pending transactions that would leave me with $58 left over after everything
was settled. I was fine with that. I trusted BB&T to have valid
and accurate accounting procedures. Lo and behold, on the morning of
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010, I was suddenly $200(+) in debt!
How could that possibly be?! Read on, and
be educated!
4) BB&T
runs their batches so that debits are applied first, and credits go in after
that.
This is a filthy practice, and it's about time that they were brought out
into the open so that we Americans gain a full understanding of what BB&T is
doing to us.
By running debits first, they increase the likelihood that anyone with a tight
budget will bounce a transaction, and they will make money off you. Banks
are traditionally supposed to make a profit by investing the money that
you've honored them with by placing it your account, not by focusing on
how much they can squeeze out of their customers. BB&T does this in
every possible legal way they can.
I mentioned this to one of the managers in a Frederick, Maryland branch.
He said, "Everyone is doing it."
Not true.
5) BB&T
contradicts their own debit-credit batching policy with a neatly hidden rule!
This one is detestable!
As I mentioned, I had four pending transactions in my online statement. I
went to bed feeling that everything was okay, but a fifth transaction
appeared out of nowhere like magic! Was it really there all the
time? It didn't matter, because even if I'd seen it, their 2:00pm cut-off
time made it impossible to do anything about it.
Why is it that they can slip things in after 2:00 pm, but we can not?
Is that in any way fair? No. Plain and simple, you are screwed!
So, my batch ran, and you might think that my $358 might cover most of it (as I
certainly did!), and that the fifth charge would bounce. Hey, if I caused
that, no problem! I'll take a hit when it's my fault, but here's the part
you need to know about: BB&T carefully applies the
largest debit first so that it can gut your account, and that leaves all the
smaller transactions in line to bounce one by one until they rack up as many $35
charges as possible.
This is a fact that they neglect to tell anyone unless asked a specific question
about it. This practice caused me to incur not one, but four $35
fees! I was now out $140 that I couldn't afford in the first place, and
all they said was, "Gee, we're so sorry. It's your fault."
No, it's not my fault. I was never told of this practice, and would you
like to know why? It's because I could have protected myself against them.
6) By the
way, be careful if you need to call their "helpful" customer service
line. You get two calls for free, and then they charge you $2 per
call. It sounds somewhat like being in prison, doesn't it?
My best advice to you is this:
Call Dru at The Columbia Bank at (301)663-3930, and tell her you read this web
page. In fact, tell her Chuck Sanders recommended that you get in touch
with her while you're at it. Let her know that you're sick and tired of
doing business with banks that don't care about you as a human being, and let
her tell you all the fantastic opportunities Columbia has for you such as:
1) The Columbia Bank is a personable bank dedicated to helping their
clients grow.
2) The Columbia Bank applies credits first, and then the debits.
OUTSTANDING!!!!
3) The Columbia Bank batches at 6:00pm so that you have an actual chance
to make necessary deposits.
4) The Columbia Bank has FREE
coin-counting machines for their customers!
5) The Columbia Bank even lets non-customers use the coin counting
machines for a fraction of what BB&T charges.
6) The Columbia Bank doesn't charge you if you use someone else's ATM for
your Columbia account!
7) The Columbia Bank has freshly-brewed Starbucks coffee right in the
lobbies!
8) The Columbia Bank has the friendliest staff I've ever dealt with,
and they truly care about their customers.
9) The Columbia Bank does its batched items in the order they
arrive. Unlike BB&T, they do NOT hit you with the most expensive items
first. This is GREAT!
I could go on and
on about how great the Columbia Bank is, but you get the general idea. All
of this is based on real life experience, and quite a bit of research.
I
have no doubt that BB&T's legal department may one day read all of this, and
may even come after me. That's okay. The only material in this
writing that isn't pure fact is my opinion, and my Freedom of Speech is 100% guaranteed
by our Constitution. All they would do is anger me enough to do even more
research, and then I might create a new, unique web site that would be
completely dedicated to exposing them even further. They're easy targets,
and I hope they go out of business for how they treat people.
As I left my
local branch of BB&T, my final words in a rather crowded lobby were,
"What you're doing here isn't just business. You know damned well
that this country is in a crisis. What you're doing is immoral!"
I believe this with all my heart, too. The flim-flammers and con artists
are always at their busiest when people are desperate.
As always, my
intent with this web site is to enlighten and educate the American public.
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