I noticed today that the bank where I hold my checking and one savings account, Wachovia, charged me a service fee of $15. Regular readers may remember that the discount brokerage department of the same corporation charged me a yearly fee last November, but this time the situation was different. According to their rules, I shouldn’t be charged a monthly low balance fee since I also hold (but don’t use) a credit card with them.
I called to find out if there was something I missed. At first the customer service representative, Mark, told me I did not meet the criteria to avoid the monthly fee. I maintained that I had the latest criteria on the computer screen in front of me, displaying the company’s web site, and I did in fact meet the criteria.
He disappeared to check with someone and he discovered that he was reading an old version of the rules. Mark gladly credited the $15 back into the account and “linked” my account to the new rules so I wouldn’t be charged again.
Thanks, Mark! I wonder how many people throughout the world lose money they don’t even know about because they are getting charged service fees when they should not be.
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And more than just because they don’t notice, but a lot of people probably wouldn’t have called because they would have figured it wasn’t worth the hassle for $15. Of course, it is, but a lot of people would have just let it go and lost the $15.
If they let it go, they’d continue to be charged $15 every month. It’s not like it would be just a one time thing. So it’s not that it’s whether it’s worth the hassle of $15, it’s whether it’s worth the hassle of $180 a year.
Oh, I thought it was just a $15 per year charge. Nevermind, then. :)
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