Drafting your Bank Account!

[PhreefalN]

I am curious on how many others out there have had problems w/ companies drafting your bank accounts for payments...I recently..well 3 months ago...Hired a trainer at a well known Fitness center...to help me improve my swimming (for distance)..They took the 100 deposit of my visa and said they would draft the account for the next 3 months for the payments...I told them I didn't like that idea..I have been hosed before....So, two days later...I paid everything in full....Well corporate decided to go ahead and draft the payment anyway, a month later........So, long story short...over 20 phone calls and a month and a half later.....the money is about to be credited back...for the fouth time...We will see....Sorry, just had to vent...anyone else out there have problems with automatic drafting of bank accounts......?

Kenny=-)

 

[JessicaDodge]

No problems with automatic drafing but i did have problems with direct deposit once. I had an account at the same back my work banked with so it would be easy. The money would come out of my works account on thursday but not be deposited into mine until tues or wed. one time as late as the following fri. I bounced a lot of checks because I didn't check to make sure the money was in on friday when I paid my bills (firday being payday when the money was supposed to be put in) It was a pain. I still have trouble writing checks 4 years later because I don't know everywhere they bounced to. About 2 months ago I went into sports athority to buy some tennis shoes and they wouldn't accept my check because one had bounced there back then. I still don't know if I have everything cleared up. Just my little horror story.

Jessica

 

[WreckWriter]

I never allow drafting. If they would take a credit card or check, I don't do business there.

Tom

 

[Spectre]

The only thing that comes out of my account is my monthly payment to my IRA and life insurance trust thingy...

 

[Scubaroo]

Funny, I've had money problems at a "well known" fitness centre as well. This particular centre requires both first and last month's membership dues at signup. As an incentive to signup, the trainer/sales guy told me he'd waive the last month's dues if I signed up then. So I agreed. Two weeks later, I'm getting phonecalls from the corporate finance office wanting to know when I was going to pay my outstanding account for the last month's fees! Apparently instead of waiving the fee, the trainer had just entered it as "to be paid". Totally dishonest - he told me it would be waived. This continued for 3 months until someone at the finance office actually cancelled the required payment - on two occasions after complaining they just extended the due date by 30 days instead of cancelling it, even when I gave them the trainer's name and centre and told them to call him up and sort it out. So each month, they would ring up again telling me I owed them money. Most of these people seem to get paid on commissions from the members that they sign up - the standard response whenever I ask a question (regardless of the question!) is "do you think you would benefit from personal trainer sesssions?" No, I just want to know where the dirty towel bin is!

Fitness centres are ripoff centres in my experience. Make sure you get the bank to block access to your account from them, rather than just try to get them to stop taking money and credit it back.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

My wife works for a bank, and she tells the same stories on a regular basis. Some people have to go as far as close the account to get the auto debit stopped.

Good luck.

TwoBit

 

[SDAnderson]

TwoBitTxn once bubbled...
My wife works for a bank, and she tells the same stories on a regular basis. Some people have to go as far as close the account to get the auto debit stopped.

Good luck.

TwoBit

If my bank wouldn't stop an auto-debit with one phone call from me, I would definitely close my account. And then I'd open a new one at a different bank.

Steven

 

[PhreefalN]

The stopping of further drafts, from them was taken care of the day that I saw the first one.....But, it was already too late for that one...and that is the one that I am fighting to get back....After talking to the bank today....Since I am getting nowhere w/ the other company...My bank is going to go straight to them...I am going to let them fight it out now....



Kenny

 

[o2 clean]

My insurance payment is automatically deducted from my bank account every month.

Once they didn't withdrawl the money the day it was due, so I called them on it. After talking to the agent, we agreed I can mail a check out to them instead, and two days later the amount was deducted from my account, and the check still wasn't cashed.

I then put a stop payment on that check ($12.00 to do), and they sent me a memo in the mail saying that since I stopped that check, they were going to bill me another $20.00 on top of my payment next month.

After telling them what had happened, and a bit of arguing with them, they dropped it. Now I give it an extra few days for the money to be withdrawn, and it's always a day late or early.

I personally don't like it.

 

[dblmc]

Wow, that is a bad experience. I have never had trouble with it before. Did you sign the agreement? (They must have an agreement to draft from your account) and if not, did you inform them of that in writing? Sounds like they are playing illegal games.