Burn in Hell, PNC Bank
I’m back from “Orlando”, but more on that later.
I have decided that I must switch banks. Why? Because the folks at PNC Bank are unethical bloodsuckers.
This story starts out with me making a error. I fully acknowledge that my idiocy starts the ball rolling here, but it ends with PNC being a company I no longer want to use for banking. When paying my bills at the end of the month, I forgot to stick a – sign on one of the payments I made when entering it into my spreadsheet. This led to me thinking that I had about $300 more in my checking account than I actually did.
After I pay my bills, I generally transfer all but a little bit of spending money out of the checking account and into the savings account. I mainly did this to keep my money safe, as this way if someone got my debit card or account info or something, there’d just be a small amount of loss to deal with. I suppose it’s also to get that killer interest in my savings account.. that whole 1% per year PNC ‘generously’ gives me. But as it turns out transferring the money doesn’t do anything to make it safer.
PNC has this brilliant “overdraft protection” policy. And by “overdraft protection” policy, I mean “and excuse to be fuckers and steal your money” policy. When ever something goes over your account balance they thoughtfully transfer money from your savings account into your checking account to cover it, and only take $10 of your money for their trouble. I suppose this might make sense for checks. But it makes no sense when it comes to check card purchases and of all things ATM withdrawals. Rather than decline your purchase with the check card, they just happily let it go through, and charge you $10 bucks. No warning in any way. Rather than tell you that there’s no money in your account when using ONE OF THEIR OWN ATMs, the machine just happily whirs away, giving you the requested cash, while taking out $10 bucks on the back end with out letting you know. It’s their OWN ATM for fuck’s sake… I can’t imagine going to a teller and trying to withdraw money and NOT have them tell you that you’re overdrawn, but this is some how OK if you’re using an ATM??
So when I logged into my account today, I noticed about 4 or 5 of these fees and got really angry. I used PNC ATMs 3 times during this period, and not once did they let me know I was overdrawn. I used my card multiple times, and they just happily approved the transactions without batting an eye.
I called their customer ’service’ line and tried to reason with them, spoke with a call center manager, and told them I’d happily pay one overdraft fee, as this did start with my error, but that their failure to notify me of this and allow me to continue to withdraw money through their own ATM would cost them my business unless they refunded the other fees. They flatly refused. The woman even went so far as telling me that I was lying because there’s no way their ATM didn’t tell me about the overdraft. I asked why I would have kept using it, without taking 4 seconds to make an online transfer from savings, if it had warned me. So, to them my business is less valuable than the 30 – 40 dollars they stole from me though their outdated and non-optional overdraft “protection” “service”.
Up until now I had always like PNC Bank, too. What I realize now is that I didn’t like them because of anything they were really doing to keep me happy. It’s just that they were mostly inoffensive and had a good online banking system with a good user interface. It’s not that they were particularly great in anyway. They just didn’t bother me. Now, though, I’m bothered.
The plan is to take my business elsewhere. I’m thinking that one of them new-fangled internet banks might be the way to go. They are still FDIC ensured, many have good ATM arrangements so that you don’t get screwed with lots of fees, and most of them offer at LEAST 3% interest on savings.. and some up to 5%, compared to the 1% I’m getting at PNC, or the .8% I’d get at National City.
So any ideas? Does anyone have experience with some of these online banks?
April 10th, 2007 at 14:50
Banks are like phone companies and computer manufacturers: name any one, and someone will be able to tell you a horror story about them, and someone else will be able to tell you that they’re great. I’ve been using PNC for years and have no beef. I’ve gotten them to cancel overdraft charges for me.
I don’t expect you to forgive PNC– I probably wouldn’t after getting that kind of treatment– but you might also consider kicking this further up the food chain, maybe turboing if need be. If you’d rather just walk, though, don’t be swayed by anecdotal evidence. They’re probably all the same.
April 10th, 2007 at 15:03
Hi. I started a company to make it easier for people to switch banks. We’re testing a Beta of our web-based tool. The software looks at your banking activity to identify direct deposits, automatic debits (when your biller withdraws $ from your account) and online billpay (you send the biller your payment via your bank’s online billpay service) that will need to be moved over to a new bank. The application compiles a PDF with all the instructions and forms you’ll need. You’ll need to upload an account activity file to our website (we give you instructions on how to make the file anonymous before uploading), but it should only take 10-15 minutes. Drop me an email if you’re interested in trying it.
Rob Rubin
April 10th, 2007 at 15:08
PNC can be whores when it comes to dealing with overdraft charges–but, unfortunately, ALL banks are like that…and PNC is one of the *least* offensive. The absolute WORST bank on the planet to deal with, bar none, is National City. Avoid those motherfuckers as though they were both radioactive and covered in ebola. They are complete fucking bastards and should all be shot.
October 31st, 2008 at 16:23
PNC bank takes our hard earned taxpayer’s money that they are suppose to lend and buys the competition! Jancor which is Heartland Building Products Mississippi, Survivor Windows in NJ, Kensington Windows in Pa., Outdoor technologies Mississippi, Infinite Siding Mississippi all shut thier doors and dumped thousands of hard working, tax paying Americans on the street!
I will never do business with this bank ever again!
December 22nd, 2008 at 08:58
OK, PNC Bank has a small footprint. Mostly here in the Northeast. So why do they charge you to withdraw money from your account if you use another banks ATM? I was traveling in Palm Beach, Florida last summer, and called PNC’s customer service to find out where the nearest PNC ATM was. I was told it was in Orlando. When I told her that was over 200 miles away, she said that if I used another banks ATM I would be charged a fee from PNC as well as the other banks $3.00 fee. I asked why would PNC charge their customer a fee when they offered no ATM machines locally. She it was bank policy. I think what she meant was They Can. So I closed my checking, money market account and my home equity line of credit and moved it to a Chase. They are national and do not charge when I use another banks ATM. I hope the $2.00 was worth it PNC….
January 3rd, 2009 at 19:09
My 82year old mother has incurred at least $700 in bank overdraft charges from PNCand this has been ongoing for at lest 6months. I have just found out about her account problem.She has no money when she gets her pension check and SS. they take all her money out and leave her with about $100.I am upset that they did not close her account after seeing a pattern month after month. I hope that they will refund her money this is a elderly women with limited funds to survive.
January 13th, 2009 at 20:43
PNC SUCKS!..they are bloodsuckers..they DO letyou have money that isn’t there…. reps are poorly informed…i complain regularly that i get too many different explanations on how their system of banking works…i had to fight them on an overdraft charge of -$1.17..i was 4hrs past the 10pm deadline/end of the business day and tried to transfer funds to cover that $1.17….well i do have to sleep at some point..or do i wake up hourly to check my acct?…it’s ridiculous..they prey on the regular guy..i do know my basic math and know matter how hard i try to check acct 2-3x daily in some cases..there’s always some bs that comes about…i guess i need to have $100grand or more to be secure with them..not in this life..first thing tomorrow i’m changing my direct deposit back to Commerce/TD bank..the nearest branch is 3hrs away..but i never have this trouble with them..
February 22nd, 2009 at 00:14
banks are all the same, you could have had the same exact experience at any one of them. they all charge fees for overdraft protection and employees at all banks are penalized when they refund fees. that is how bank’s make money, idiots that can’t manage their dda’s
May 21st, 2009 at 13:11
PNC BLOODSUCKERS
OK, I have been depositing my husbands disability check into my checking account for about 6 months.
No problems, he signs it then I sign it.
This month, they decided to reject the check and said it was unpresentable, but not sure why, perhaps because my husbands name was not on the account and they told me they mailed it back to me, that was a week ago.
I mailed 11 checks, they all bounced, and are getting ready to be put through for a second time.
By the time this is all over I am sure PNC will have my viet nam, disabled verterans entire check.
When I spoke to several CSR Reps they all tell me something different and managers have refused to refund the fees.
His little 250.00 stimulus check came in and we had to deposit it to cover the fees and we are still negative.
We added him to the account and told them had we known this we would have done this, however it never has been a problem in the past.
They said this is because of fraud, HEllO — Have we met ? Same last name, SAME ADDRESS, GVT CHECK, History of same amt going into account every month.
PNC has trained its employees to do EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO REJECT DEPOSITS AND TAKE AS MUCH MONEY FROM THE WORKING MAN THAT THEY POSSIBLY CAN, THERE IS ALWAYS SOME BS WITH THEM.
If their employees get dinged for refunding fees, THEN THEY MUST GET gold stars and bonuses for finding ways to screw us too.
This is why people loose their minds and do CRAZY THINGS !!!!!!!!!!
Whom ever YOU ARE ………..MR MAN………. IN YOUR GREY PINNED STRIPED SUITE MAKING THE POLICIES THAT SCREW THE WORKING POOR, I FREAKEN HATE YOU !
Ever hear of the universal laws of retribution? Ever hear of Karma? One day you WILL answer to your maker for how you all have treated the working poor.
May 22nd, 2009 at 08:47
I’ve had the same overdraft nightmares. Burning in hell is too kind of retribution. Fantasizing about grabbing some snot-nosed bureaucratic telephone morally challenged bitch in a sweatshop in Mexico by the collar helps, but it’s rather impractical. The answer? Get the hell out. Go to a local mom and pop place where you can disagree with them personally and make them lose sleep at night. PNC’s “policies” are nothing but wet dreams for them to laugh about at board meetings. The staff of flying monkeys tow the company line; so, there is no help there. Why the hell are we bailing these bloodsuckers out? Economic stimulus packages to buy other banks out? They have overdrafted big time; let them pay their own fees and go down the toilet with the rest of their cronies. The sad part of all of this is that they KNOW IT; and that makes it INTENTIONAL. The current banking system is not the way to handle money equitably. You have to be a big player in the game to exact change, and unfortunately, most of us aren’t.
May 22nd, 2009 at 13:53
Hello everyone! I’m one of the blood suckers you speak of who works at a bank. I work on the phones so I get people that call in complaining about the overdraft fees that you are all complaining about. Let me try to make things a little clearer for you. The best way for you to avoid overdraft fees is to keep an accurate ledger of all the transactions you make. That way you know how much money you have spent and how much you have left to spend. It has been that way ever since the first bank ever opened up. No one knows how much money you have spent better than yourselves! All the situations you are complaining about could have been avoided just by taking the time to keep track of your own receipts and keeping a ledger, it’s that simple. Now, let me explain something else. If you overdraw your account, in other words you spend money from an account and you don’t have the funds available, whose fault is that? The banks? How is the bank suppose to be responsible for you (the person who knows exactly how many checks or purchases they have floating around out there) vs the bank (who has no knowledge of how many checks or purchases you made until someone goes into the branch and submits a merchant receipt or check you wrote them days ago)? Is the bank suppose to be able to tell the future? NO. So, to clarify, you received a fee for spending money that you did not have. It’s the same way with any bank, If you are spending money you do not have because you are not keeping an accurate ledger it is your own fault and you will receive a fee for that, from any bank!
May 24th, 2009 at 20:44
[...] couple of years back I wrote a post about my experiences with PNC and their overdraft fees. I thought the point of a debit card was that you couldn’t overdraw. I was wrong. [...]
June 10th, 2009 at 11:40
This guys is trying to justify.. his job lmao Your right every bank has tricks… but its a deuch bag thing to do on part of the bank not the itty bitty teller .. They definately hold your deposits and your swipes till there is a possibility of an over draft fee.. so when you check your balance it may say 40 dollars so you swipe for that 32 dollar whatever and then 2 days later you have an over draft fee or 3 because they held those other transactions in order to “get you”.. They hussle you and the only thing you can do for yourself is keep track of your money hard especially when you think your bank is helping you do that AND THEY ARE NOT.. but at the end of the day they could care less and Im not going to go grey over this… <3
June 30th, 2009 at 18:15
PNC stands for “PEOPLE with NO CLUE” They would take a nickle from a dying person. I deposited my paycheck drawn on an “out of area” bank through their ATM every month with no problems and the deposit was posted the next day and available, this went on for months. Then one day their ATM was down so I walked into the bank and actually dealt with one of their “jackass” tellers who put a 5 day hold on the deposit. When I told her I had to pay my mortgage and need the funds available she told that was their “policy”. I informed her how I used the ATM without a 5 day hold and she told me “you are lying, the policy is the same” I had her look up my transaction history and she could see that there was never a hold. She told me to leave her window so I went to the desk area to speak to a manager who told “just keep a higher balance and you wouldn’t have this issue” needless to say I was late on paying some bills and got late fees of which PNC told me they do not refund since that was not “their” error. I switched to Chase and never have had this problem again even at the teller window. FUCK YOU PNC – are you trying to make up the money you used to steal National City? Burn in Hell double fold you fuckers and take Jim Rohr with you!
June 30th, 2009 at 19:12
FUCK PNC!!!!!!! I HOPE THEY ALL ROT IN HELL!!!!!!
September 23rd, 2009 at 19:26
I transferred banks and cut up my debit cards. THE FUCKERS ARE DOING THIS PURPOSELY. IT’S EXTORTION BY ANY STANDARD. BURN IN HELL PNC BANK.
Do the obvious. Refuse to pay once you take all your money out. Really…what can they do? Pay money for a lawyer? Notify credit agencies? So what? It’s not one person who needs to do this, but thousands. And, it’s not just PNC. If you’re not getting screwed, you don’t know it, or you lucked out.
September 26th, 2009 at 06:19
pnc sucks they can burn in hell after they fired me.
September 27th, 2009 at 15:00
also the lady who fired ms. walton (cold hearted bitch) can fuck herself at pnc. they are the most worst bank in us
October 8th, 2009 at 15:06
Thanks, Kyle. Well, good buddy, I’m glad you cleared this matter up. I got myself one of them there ledgers. Teller at the bank looked at me kinda funny. She said, “What you gonna do wit dat?” I said, “Dunno.” “But Kyle said if I had one I’d save more money.” She said, “What you talkin’ ’bout, fool?” I said, “Dunno.” She said, “Next!” I tried to write in it, but there weren’t no column for “Pending”. I gave up. I still use the plastic cover to carry my condoms in, though.
November 12th, 2009 at 17:13
PNC BANK is as CROOKED AS THE REST OF THEM
November 14th, 2009 at 11:37
I have had such bad experiences with PNC I just had to vent. I was out of work for a month.
When I finally received my first paycheck after being back at work, the next day I received my disability check. My paycheck was directly deposited and my disability check (NJ State) had to be deposited at a teller. In the meantime, I had a few online bills that were coming through. To make a long story short, a holiday fell in between this 2 day period. The check took 3 days to clear, even though it was a local state check. I was charged four (4) $36 dollar charges on one day. I called them totally in disabelief that they would charge that much money in one day. The rep I spoke to was an absolute A##hole. They did not refund the $144.00. In the meantime, I had over $1000 in my account. The NEXT day they charged me another four (4) $36 dollar overdraft charges. Total overdraft charges ……almost $300.00. I wanted to go to the bank and blow it up. After calling again, they said I should consider myself lucky that they only charged me 4 times in a day, they used to be able to do it more. They told me that some people use state checks as fraud and thats why they take so long to clear. Bullshit. They did refund me 3 of the 8 charges. Wow, lucky me. This bank and everyone in it should be shut down.
November 22nd, 2009 at 19:02
I’m a teller at a local PNC bank. Some basic guidelines: Make sure you have money BEFORE you spend it. I cannot tell you how many customers look over their statements that I print out for them surprised at the number of transactions posted which caused them to go into the negative – but they admit having done each of them. YOU are responsible for your balance. PNC is no different than any other bank in this regard. I do believe that as of next summer, banks will allow you to OPT OUT of having your debit paid, then charging you an OD fee. So for those of you who don’t keep track of your balance, you will then be embarrassed when a waiter or a store clerk says your card won’t go through because there isn’t enough to cover it. Debit cards are really dangerous, please handle with care! Oh, and for the woman who made the deposit over a holiday, the bank can tell you (if you ask) what your deposit schedule is (next business day, three day….). The holiday will cause the deposit to go in a day later than normal, but your debits may not be delayed because of the holiday. But again, it is your responsibility to make sure the money is in the account BEFORE the bills are paid out of it. If your husband signs a check over to you, it doesn’t matter if his name is on the account you are depositing into – he has given you his check and you can do whatever you wish with it. The only reasons the check would not post properly or in a timelywould be if he did not sign it and his name isn’t on your account, the check was postdated (and therefore not valid) or there was a discrepency on the check itself – e.g. the written amount (what the banks actually go by) doesn’t match the numbers printed. Bottom line – it is your responsibility to get it right, and check your account activity online OFTEN! While it is sometimes a bank error which causes you to overdraw, that is not the norm, and once you are in the negative, you will be charged the fee for each activity after that and a fee for leaving your account negative for days at a time. Oh, and by the way, you know it’s dangerous to say that you wanted to go to your bank and “blow it up,” your name is not that confidential.
November 24th, 2009 at 20:50
Cindi, Cindi, Cindi…
If I start with $1000, deposited in cash, then wait a full week for it to “settle in” to a bank account, what is the theoretical limit for the number of possible overdrafts before I run out of time, health, or, the bank runs out of money? I am assuming that I could become an overnight multimillionaire, buy the bank, and enter the Guiness Book of World Records for the most overdrafts for the most money in the shortest time. The competition would be fierce. The banks made $40 billion last year on overdrafts. That could be mine!
Your mentor,
Bernie
November 24th, 2009 at 22:22
We can have a little fun with this now. But, it’s become a dead issue. I think I’ll try putting teaser offers in bank credit card solicitations and see what happens. And, lay off Bernie. Don’t you all want to be rich?
Ponzi
December 8th, 2009 at 10:54
There is NO doubt that the banks are outright crooks! PNC is the worst of the worst and that has become a battle cry for the thousands of people that now know these corporate bastards nationally. Yep… they stagger funds via computer to promote overdraft fees. They probably invented it. The government was supposed to pass a bill to regulate the scumbags, but just like the healthcare lobbyists they must have found a way to get that shot down. I saw a national news story that that is where a major portion of their profits are now coming from! Greed is alive and well in this rotting stink hole called the US. They are making billions doing this! It has become a major component of their practices! Take your money out of PNC and go with a bank with a heart, if you can find one. If you are reading this and considering PNC, DON’T. Their poor reputation go far beyond this blog!
December 10th, 2009 at 15:12
Let me first off say, PNC is the worst bank I have ever delt with, now banking with KNBT. PNC clears checks and debit transactions in any order that will make them money. A debit card transaction took two weeks out of state, to overdraft me 9 times in one day. I have been calling and calling asking to remove overdraft. If I goto use my KNBT card and there is no money there, DENIED, that is way it should work. Not a 2$ transaction for 36$ then a 7 $ transaction for 36$ and 7$ a day for three days until I even knew it was overdrafted. When I checked the day of, online and at atm said I had over 50$. KNBT least puts a hold on auth, PNC ignores them giving you the wrong ammout, with hopes you will overdraft. They are the worst. DO NOT BANK WITH THESE SCUMBAGS
BOYCOTT PNC BANK
January 11th, 2010 at 14:55
Don’t worry, someday, someone will go postal on PNC, it’s just a matter of time.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:55
They are crooked. They are screwing us out of our home by not knowing their asses from a hole in the ground. We are current and just need to refinance to get an ex spouse off a piece of paper. We tried to refinance with Nat. City and 30 days later after us having to call for a status they say “oh, you have fill out PNC paperwork” These stupid idiots knew they were taking over Nat. City when the sent us the original paperwork. But trying to save ourselves we filled out PNC paperwork. Then again we call and we get “oops we dropped the ball, we didn’t get a HUD number in time sorry”. I hope each and every employee of Nat. City and PNC get the pleasure of dealing someone as stupid and crooked as they are. I hope they can use their degrees for toilet paper because that is all it is worth.