Charter One Bank, Brewster, NY - trouble with On Line Bill Paying - payment was missed by bank

# 13 for April 20, 2002

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on April 19, 2002:

From: Damomom [Email User]

RE: Charter One Bank

RE: Charter One Bank, Brewster, NY - trouble with On Line Bill Paying - payment was missed by bank Gentlemen: We have a joint checking account at the Charter One Bank branch in Brewster, NY. We are enrolled in Charter’s On Line Bill Paying. Charter is supposed to make a monthly payment to KeyBank for our home equity loan. We learned just yesterday that Key had never received our payment for February. Charter debited $600.00 from our account on February 15.

When we reconciled our statement on line, Charter indicated that the check was reconciled, and, we assumed, paid. On February 20, our account was charged $85.50 in overdraft fees, even though the check to Key Bank had not been paid. On February 22, we were charged $85.50 again, when the "bounced" checks were redeposited. On February 28, we were charged a $9.00 service fee because our balance had dropped below $100.00 during the month of February. We were charged $85.50 again on March 5, and the $9.00 service fee again on March 30. Both months, the interest on our account should have been higher, since the check from Key was never cleared and all the extra charges were taken out because of Charter’s mistake. We have also paid a late charge and more interest to KeyBank as a result of Charter’s error. We have contacted Charter and they tell me that my account is debited as soon as they attempt to make a payment for me. They state that it is our responsibility to accept that they may not actually get the payment to the payee, and that they have no responsibility to notify us if the payment is not received. They will not work with me in any way other than to offer to credit our account $57.00. Obviously, we am closing the account as soon as we can stop the direct deposit of a salary check and the drafts that come out of the account for insurance payments each month. Is there any way you can help us recover some of our losses? Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Alex Damo Marlene E. Damo Marlene E. Damo