Getting Your Bank or Lender to Back Down

[Exile]

A few months ago my bank charged me $46 to expedite replacement of a debit card that had been compromised in a case of identity theft. The customer service rep tried to tell that assessment of this "fee" was bank policy. I protested to the branch manager and got the charge reversed. Speaking with or e-mailing a manager often works. But when it doesn't, I have found that the most effective method of registering a complaint and getting positive results is to escalate your grievance in writing on formal stationery and mail it in a formal business envelope to an officer of the company.

Fellow Forum Members, have you ever had a "policy" charge imposed on your bank account or credit card statement that you thought was unfair and which you successfully challenged? How did you go about getting the adjustment?

[humandraydel]

Is this WaMu? I just recently got a credit card from them and noticed this fee in their terms. All I know is if I ever lose my credit card I WILL NOT be paying a fee to replace the card. If they'd rather I not replace it, that's fine with me!

[Fern]

I have had ATM fees waived several times just by calling on the phone to complain. I did the same with a late fee on my credit card, which they said they'd waive cus i'm a "good customer."

[rebeccae55]

This is slightly off subject but I am curious as to why you had to have the card expedited and why you think the bank should pay for it. Why couldn't you just use cash and checks for 10 days or so?

I work at a bank. We use a third party to manufacture cards and PINs. When cards are expedited, they are overnighted. The PIN comes from a separate location and is also overnighted. So at my bank the charge is "REAL". In other words, our bank is just passing what the 3rd parties charge us along to the customer. We only pay to expedite cards when the bank has made an error, like forgetting to order a card in the first place, for example.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that unless the bank caused your identity to be stolen, I don't think they should be responsible for paying to expedite the card. If a customer decides he/she can't wait 10 days to receive a new card the usual way, let the customer pay for the rush.

More to your point, it never hurts to ask for fees to be waived. And if you really think a fee is wrong and the first person you ask says "no", contact someone higher up, all the way to the bank president (obviously this only works in a small bank since it is virtually impossible to talk to the presidents of the big ones).

[neatdesign]

This is slightly off subject but I am curious as to why you had to have the card expedited and why you think the bank should pay for it. Why couldn't you just use cash and checks for 10 days or so?

Perhaps the OP is like a lot of people and never has more than a few bucks of cash on hand at any one time. Plus, if one's bank account is compromised then the checks affiliated with that account become useless because the account number has to change.

A nominal fee ($10-$15) would be reasonable for expedited service, but $46? Although, it could be that the OP is located in the Philippines that the charge is so high.

Don't forget that Visa and MasterCard both offer free emergency card replacement services on many of their cards. If your card is lost or stolen, you should contact the issuer immediately to cancel the card and ask if you are eligible for this service. Credit card companies may not volunteer this information unless you specifically ask for it, because it keeps them from making money off of your misfortune.

~ Jenney

[Exile]

humandreydal, The bank was not WaMu, but it was a bank in California; rebeccae55 and neatdesign, I don't how the identity theft occurred as my debit card was never lost or stolen. But the way the bank handled the matter was total hash from the get-go, such that it took 2 MONTHS before I finally received a replacement card. Believe it or not, my overseas location was only a minor issue in this fiasco.

[ccsraj]

A few months ago my bank charged me $46 to expedite replacement of a debit card that had been compromised in a case of identity theft. The customer service rep tried to tell that assessment of this "fee" was bank policy. I protested to the branch manager and got the charge reversed. Speaking with or e-mailing a manager often works. But when it doesn't, I have found that the most effective method of registering a complaint and getting positive results is to escalate your grievance in writing on formal stationery and mail it in a formal business envelope to an officer of the company.

Fellow Forum Members, have you ever had a "policy" charge imposed on your bank account or credit card statement that you thought was unfair and which you successfully challenged? How did you go about getting the adjustment?

It is a normal act of banks.But it is better to make a complaint of missing card and look for new one which might cost less.

[mekish]

well done! it wouldn't make sense to pay for anything if you've been a victim of identity fraud. If anything, they should pay you fot the distress.

[Dave Rowtree]

All the time with bank charges.

Currently in the UK there is big hoohar with thousands of consumers claiming back bank charges from the banks. It turns out these were always illegal since the charges must be of an "appropriate proportion" and the banks were charging £30 when it cost them £1.50. People are getting thousands of £'s in out of court settlements because the banks don't want the case to get to court and rule against them.

They talk of it a lot in the UK money forum in my sig if you're interested, not sure if US banks have the same laws.

[Exile]

well done! it wouldn't make sense to pay for anything if you've been a victim of identity fraud. If anything, they should pay you fot the distress.

So true! Especially when I can't help but wonder if the i.d. theft was an inside job and the bank can't or won't tell me just how my debit card was compromised in the first place.

[rebeccae55]

So true! Especially when I can't help but wonder if the i.d. theft was an inside job and the bank can't or won't tell me just how my debit card was compromised in the first place.

I think there is some confusion here. From the sound of your posts, identity theft is a misnomer. Identity theft occurs when a criminal uses someone else's identity for personal gain. There is no evidence of that here.

Most likely what happened is a compromised debit card. The person working with you on this at the branch level probably doesn't know the details. But in my experience (6 years as a bank manager), cards are compromised at merchants or in the merchant processing system. For example, around Christmas of last year, millions of debit and credit cars used at TJ Maxx, Marshall's and several other stores in that group were compromised. Another huge breach in security took place at DW Shoe Warehouse. There have been numerous other breaches at smaller merchants. Sometimes they happen at the merchant processor.

That's the reason I took the side of the bank. It costs banks a lot of money to handle these breaches. Letters are sent out, cards and PINs are replaced, staff spend lots of time soothing customer fears. Granted, banks have lots of money but I think it is unreasonable to expect them to expedite a card when the breach was no fault of their own.

Now in your situation, Exile, it certainly sounds like there were some issues you didn't include in your OP that prevented you from receiving your replacement card in a timely manner. I do agree that in your case, the bank should have expedited service at their expense.

In response to another reply:
When the debit card is compromised at a merchant or merchant processor, the checking account is not affected so Exile would have continued to have access to his account by check.

At my bank, as a courtesy to customers, compromised cards stay active with a lower daily limit for shopping ($300 vs. $1500) and no changes in ATM withdrawal limits ($400 daily) until the new card is activated. Our bank has never had to pay up on this. Among my own customers (I can't speak for the whole bank), I've never seen a loss, fraud, or identity theft as a result of a compromised card.

The potential for huge loss is very real, but in my opinion, the whole compromised card thing so far has been an exercise in caution.

We consumers are very protected against this type of loss so as anxiety producing as it is, regulations protect us.

[Exile]

I think there is some confusion here. From the sound of your posts, identity theft is a misnomer. Identity theft occurs when a criminal uses someone else's identity for personal gain. There is no evidence of that here.

Most likely what happened is a compromised debit card. The person working with you on this at the branch level probably doesn't know the details. But in my experience (6 years as a bank manager), cards are compromised at merchants or in the merchant processing system. For example, around Christmas of last year, millions of debit and credit cars used at TJ Maxx, Marshall's and several other stores in that group were compromised. Another huge breach in security took place at DW Shoe Warehouse. There have been numerous other breaches at smaller merchants. Sometimes they happen at the merchant processor.

That's the reason I took the side of the bank. It costs banks a lot of money to handle these breaches. Letters are sent out, cards and PINs are replaced, staff spend lots of time soothing customer fears. Granted, banks have lots of money but I think it is unreasonable to expect them to expedite a card when the breach was no fault of their own.

Now in your situation, Exile, it certainly sounds like there were some issues you didn't include in your OP that prevented you from receiving your replacement card in a timely manner. I do agree that in your case, the bank should have expedited service at their expense.

In response to another reply:
When the debit card is compromised at a merchant or merchant processor, the checking account is not affected so Exile would have continued to have access to his account by check.

At my bank, as a courtesy to customers, compromised cards stay active with a lower daily limit for shopping ($300 vs. $1500) and no changes in ATM withdrawal limits ($400 daily) until the new card is activated. Our bank has never had to pay up on this. Among my own customers (I can't speak for the whole bank), I've never seen a loss, fraud, or identity theft as a result of a compromised card.

The potential for huge loss is very real, but in my opinion, the whole compromised card thing so far has been an exercise in caution.

We consumers are very protected against this type of loss so as anxiety producing as it is, regulations protect us.

Thanks for your helpful and detailed posting, rebeccae55. But the mystery is that I almost never use my debit card for purchases, only to obtain cash at ATM's. The last time that I used my debit card for a purchase was months ago at a DIY Hardware Store here in the Philippines. The attempted fraudulent purchases that triggered cancellation of my card were made months later in California. Inasmuch as I've had possession of my card all along, how could the perp(s) have received and used a new one unless they copped my identity? When making a purchase with a debit card, doesn't the card itself AND I.D. have to be presented. If the card was compromised at DIY or merchant processing, it seems the subsequent unauthorized activity would have occurred in the Philippines.

To save time and I space in my OP, I had to omit many of the details where my bank screwed up. A few were: (1) Failure to notify me of the suspicious activity that shut down my card. I found out the hard way when I tried to get money via an ATM. (2) Failure to properly update my address, although I had communicated this info several times before and after my card was compromised. As a result the first replacement card was sent back to the bank as returned mail.

The bank wouldn't or couldn't explain and /or had no incentive to investigate my inquiry as to how the fraud might have happened because the illegal charges were intercepted before they hit my account, so there was no financial loss to the bank "no harm, no foul". But the violation sure caused me a lot of stress and anxiety.

After the bank finally recorded my address correctly, their vendor supposedly then had a problem generating another replacement card.

Yes, I finally received a new card, but now I always wonder if and when my card will be compromised again.