FraudulentCharges.com

Washington Mutual refuses to refund overdraft fees

Many banking customers find that banks refuse to credit overdraft fees, even when legit proof the item was an error (not the all important banking error) can be shown. The following comes from a Wamu customer in Florida:
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Dear Fraudulent Charges.com

My story is just an example of how rediculous bank overdraft fees have become. I use another bank other than Wamu for my personal banking, but have a Wamu account that handles some online business transactions.

The account hadn’t been used in approx 30 days and the balance was very low, this checking account had $4.79 available with no pending transactions recently. I woke up and checked my email on 4/27 and noticed Godaddy had billed me for two transactions which were set to auto renew.

If this were renewing a domain, then I’d understand paying the overdraft fees on transactions which overdrafted my account. The issue is that in January I listed 2 domains for sale with Godaddy’s aftermarket for 90 days and each sold. Now two months later, I was billed for relisting these names for sale with Godaddy…yet I already sold them with Godaddy and of course have no way to sell them any longer. Every domain in my account (over 100) were not set to auto renew.

I emailed Godaddy on 4/27 explaining that I didnt own those domains any longer and wanted to be refunded for the two transactions. The said no problem and worked quickly to get things fixed. On 4/28, one of the transactions posted back to the bank account. (Godaddy is a great company, they always have really good customer service). I am told the second will post tomorrow. I then email Wamu and explained that I was billed for something that I shouldnt of been and I’d like to know their process for returning these overdraft fees. (I’ve never called to have a fee removed with them) I have emails from Godaddy apologizing for the debit, letting me know each refund was processed, and explaining what may of happened. This isnt just a typical auto renew with Godaddy, something happened and they arent exactly sure why I was debited at all.  All of this is on paper and could be shown very easily.  I thought, maybe I’ll have to show proof that this wasnt correct, so I was just asking Wamu what to do….

Here is the email response from Wamu.

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Dear Customer:

Thanks for contacting WaMu, now a part of Chase!

We apologize for any inconvenience.

We understand these fees can be costly. When a merchant has made an error or resolved a situation on your behalf, they’re the appropriate party to refund any related fees to you.

WaMu takes responsibility for bank errors and will work with customers to resolve issues arising from those errors. Your concern has been researched, and as no bank error was found, the fee can’t be refunded.

If you believe there is additional information we should consider, please send a secure message through wamu.com detailing your request, or call us toll-free at 800.788.7000. We are available from 7 am to 9 pm.

Sincerely,

Geetha K
Customer Service Representative
WaMu, now backed by the strength of JPMorgan Chase

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Basically a cheerful little letter, saying fees suck but nothing can be done and I need to ask Godaddy to pay the $68 in overdrafts so Wamu can  still get their money.  Just for fun, already knowing what they’d say I called Godaddy and asked if they’d refund me for the  overdraft fees I was charged for these “unexplained” charges that were refunded.

 Godaddy claims they are not required to pay back these fees and would not do so.  So it looks like  Godaddy and Wamu wont be paying them and I will.

If a company charges you for anything that incurs bank fees and within 48 hours the charges are refunded and letters can be provided showing this,  a bank should refund fees in this case. Maybe this isnt a “banking error” on Wamu’s end, but its definately a banking error on mine. This is an example where if I had $40 in the account instead of $4…the overdrafts wouldnt happen and the refunds would of cleared themself. In my case, having less than $30 caused $68 in fees for something I didnt even purchase. Didnt swipe the card or write a check, didnt do anything at all, just happened and I got screwed.

Friday,  I’m going into the branch with my paperwork and either getting these fees removed or paying them off and closing the account.

- Dave