[BMW F22]

this is a lil long so bare with me. I just wanted to know your opinion.

I withdrew all the money from my checking with the intention of cancelling it. I dont use checking accounts anymore, only credit. So then this company called Fusion Talk charged me $24.95 for some service which I didnt use. I didnt even know about this until I saw it on the statement. When they charged me for the "Service", they overdrafted my account. Since I have overdraft protection the bank transferred some money over to cover it. This also mean there's a cash advance fee and a finance charge.

SO I called them. It turned out that supposed, I signed up with them 2 years ago. But its been 2 years and I've never seen any charges from them. And out of the blue they just decided to charge me $24.95 And the phone number turned out to be my old cell phone. First of all, why would I sign up with a long distance phone company if I had a cell phone?? I dont call anyone out of state so obviously I didnt need it.

They said they will refund the money within a week or 2. So I waited and nothing happened. I called the bank and nothing came in from them. I thought maybe it's just taking a while and waited another week, still nothin. I called them again today and they said it would take up to 20 days for it to be refunded. I asked if they're gonna pay for the fees the bank charged me and they said to talk with my bank. So I called the bank and was transferred around 4 times. Some lady told me they can reverse the fee and stuff. But when I got transfer they all said they cant do anything about it. This guy said I would have to file a dispute in order to get the fees reversed. I didnt wanna file it as "fraud" because who knows, maybe I did sign up for it 2 years ago but if I did, howcome they didnt charge me anything for 2 years??

The B of A guy told me to call back when FusionTalk have refunded they money so they can reverse the fees for me. It's only $7 which I would have gladly paid for IF I overdrafted it myself. I mean in this case I didnt even know what happened until my statement came home. I might have appeared as "cheaP" to the bank rep but I didnt really care. It's the principle. They were saying they cant do anything about it and I have to pay the fees for somethind I didnt do. Ridiculous!

Sorry guys I just wanted to vent and to also know your opinion of what I did was right. I mean would you have done the same thing if you were in my shoes? Again, it's only $7 but still, why should I pay for something that wasnt my fault.

[deutschmann59]

You shouldn't have to pay for fees that resulted from a overdraft from a charge that you didn't authorize in the first place. First of all, who is Fusion Talk? I've never heard of them. Secondly, how did they get your bank account number and who authorized them to make the charge? Lastly, (just curious) if you have no checking, what do you use to pay off credit card charges?

[timzerofive]

Well, having worked for a bank and some extensive knowledge about these small "long distance" phone companies, I can tell you a couple of things. First, you should continue to call the phone company EVERYDAY until you see the refund in your account. You probably didn't "consciously" sign up with them. These companies use tactics to get you to switch to them unknowingly, but it is odd they're charging you a fee after 2 years. As far as the bank goes, can you tell me where did the overdraft protection came from? Another bank account or a credit card? I just like to know as it might effect you elsewhere. Either way though, I can tell you the bank will probably not refund you the fees and will tell you to have the phone company refund you. Unless you know a friend who works at a bofa then they can probably get it reversed for your easily.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

You shouldn't have to pay for fees that resulted from a overdraft from a charge that you didn't authorize in the first place. First of all, who is Fusion Talk? I've never heard of them. Secondly, how did they get your bank account number and who authorized them to make the charge? Lastly, (just curious) if you have no checking, what do you use to pay off credit card charges?

I usually have money in there. I was gonna cancel the account cus I thought I dont need it anymore. I usually have the money to pay for my bills though. Sometimes my friends pay for it cus they owe me money. I dont wanna ask for it all at once cus money is tight for them too.

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

You probably didn't "consciously" sign up with them. These companies use tactics to get you to switch to them unknowingly...

GoDaddy is great for this. I'm not sure if you use them, but when you buy a domain name, they "automatically" set you up for automatic yearly renewals. You've got to manually change this if you don't want it, and they don't tell you they're doing it. In a way it is convenient, but in other ways, I can't imagine how it's even legal. Every charge should be authorized.

This creates so many problems, like if you don't have the credit card anymore you used to first place the transaction.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

Well, having worked for a bank and some extensive knowledge about these small "long distance" phone companies, I can tell you a couple of things. First, you should continue to call the phone company EVERYDAY until you see the refund in your account. You probably didn't "consciously" sign up with them. These companies use tactics to get you to switch to them unknowingly, but it is odd they're charging you a fee after 2 years. As far as the bank goes, can you tell me where did the overdraft protection came from? Another bank account or a credit card? I just like to know as it might effect you elsewhere. Either way though, I can tell you the bank will probably not refund you the fees and will tell you to have the phone company refund you. Unless you know a friend who works at a bofa then they can probably get it reversed for your easily.

It came from my Bofa CC. I was gonna wait for 10 days and file a dispute before my 60 day time frame run out.

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

I usually have money in there. I was gonna cancel the account cus I thought I dont need it anymore. I usually have the money to pay for my bills though. Sometimes my friends pay for it cus they owe me money. I dont wanna ask for it all at once cus money is tight for them too.

I meant, if you don't have a checking account, and therefore no "checks", then what "instrument" do you use to pay off the CC bills? I guess bill pay could work, but again you still need checking.

[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

I meant, if you don't have a checking account, and therefore no "checks", then what "instrument" do you use to pay off the CC bills? I guess bill pay could work, but again you still need checking.

He sends them envelopes full of pennies

--------------------------------------------------

If it came from your credit card, just make sure you don't just leave it and doesn't pay, it will probably just result in more late fees. But again, my suggestion is to call the company every single day until you see your money. Keep them on your speed dial though, and keep $25 in your account, because there's a 50% change you'll get charge again next month.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

I meant, if you don't have a checking account, and therefore no "checks", then what "instrument" do you use to pay off the CC bills? I guess bill pay could work, but again you still need checking.

I've never used a check before. If I have to pay for a CC bill, I would just pay for it online. As for the checking account, I would have my parents pay for it and give them the money in cash. Because for a while they were charging me a minimum balance fee. I thought there was no such thing but the agent I spoke to confirmed it. Then one day I stumbled upon this agent and he said they shouldnt be charging me for that and so he refunded the money. Thus I still have a checking account. I also havent been using the checking account for a while so I didnt need it.

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

He sends them envelopes full of pennies

...smart a$$!

BMWE90, timzerofive is right. Keep on it and make sure they don't charge you again. Meanwhile, I'll make a mental note to stay away from Talk Fusion.

[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

I've never used a check before. If I have to pay for a CC bill, I would just pay for it online. As for the checking account, I would have my parents pay for it and give them the money in cash. Because for a while they were charging me a minimum balance fee. I thought there was no such thing but the agent I spoke to confirmed it. Then one day I stumbled upon this agent and he said they shouldnt be charging me for that and so he refunded the money. Thus I still have a checking account. I also havent been using the checking account for a while so I didnt need it.

BofA usually does have a minimum balance fee. They only offer free checking with direct deposit. If you pay your credit card bills online, you would STILL need a checking/savings account in order to draw the money out of. So if you were to close those, you wouldn't be able to pay online... unless you're paying your credit card with another credit card. And what do you mean by your parents pay for your checking account? I don't get it.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

BofA usually does have a minimum balance fee. They only offer free checking with direct deposit. If you pay your credit card bills online, you would STILL need a checking/savings account in order to draw the money out of. So if you were to close those, you wouldn't be able to pay online... unless you're paying your credit card with another credit card. And what do you mean by your parents pay for your checking account? I don't get it.

Sharp- I already wrote a note to remind myself to check on it everyday.

Timzerofive- the agent I spoke to said that there's no minimum balance for students. So he refunded the money. I would have my parents pay for the Credit Card bill and I will give them cash. Therefore I dont even need a checking account. The reason I thought about cancelling it was that I didnt use it for a while and didnt wanna get charged all these fees. But I guess everything worked out.

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

Timzerofive- the agent I spoke to said that there's no minimum balance for students. So he refunded the money. I would have my parents pay for the Credit Card bill and I will give them cash. Therefore I dont even need a checking account. The reason I thought about cancelling it was that I didnt use it for a while and didnt wanna get charged all these fees. But I guess everything worked out.

Ok, well that makes sense then

It's not even worth having a checking account, then. Of course, if you ever need to cash checks, most banks will probably require you to have at least one account in order for them to cash it for you.

But if not, then there's no point. I mean interest rates are a joke right now. The best I've seen so far is ING Direct savings, which is 3.8% interest. Even their CDs are pretty good at 4.75%, but then you can't touch the money if you're in a spot. At least with the savings, you've got access whenever you want.

[eleven24]

Your post reminded me of something that happened to me last week - everyone should take note, because it was a scam.

This "customer service rep" calls one morning at my house and talks to my wife. He says he's from T-Mobile & our cellular account is past due. He even gives my wife the cell #, which was correct. He says that it appears that we recently made an electronic payment, but the bank won't release the payment unless T-Mobile has the correct info on hand. My wife tells him that he should talk to me & gives me my work #.

So I get a call at work. Mr. T-Mobile gives me the same explanation about our electronic payment, cites the cell number, and my wife's name (which he just obtained by talking with her). Only problem is that we cancelled T-Mobile 2 years ago and are now with Cingular. When I tell him this, he says "Sir, just this past week we merged with Cingular/AT&T". He then puts me on hold (wonderful music, by the way) while he accesses my account.

While on hold I hop on the net and start searching the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily for reports on a merge. Nada. Nothing. I realize this guy is scamming.

When he comes back I play along. I tell him that I really want to make sure the payment posts on time so my credit rating doesn't suffer, but unfortunately I don't have my banking info on hand. He politely offers to help and asks me for a credit card. I tell him I don't have one with me and he replies with an incredulous "You don't??!". He then asks for my social security number. I tell him I don't know it off the top of my head, but it starts with xxx.

He starts telling ME that I'm not being honest! That's when I lower the boom and ask why there is no news on the merger between T-Mobile & Cingular. A few heated words are exchanged, and I hang up.



Long story short - he was very convincing. Had enough background info on me & my wife that I almost believed him. I figured he was calling about some old T-Mobile bill, but when he said merged with Cingular...

Be warned though - people like this are just rolling the dice hoping someone with a T-Mobile account answers. If this happens, hang up and just call them yourself!

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

Ok, well that makes sense then

It's not even worth having a checking account, then. Of course, if you ever need to cash checks, most banks will probably require you to have at least one account in order for them to cash it for you.

But if not, then there's no point. I mean interest rates are a joke right now. The best I've seen so far is ING Direct savings, which is 3.8% interest. Even their CDs are pretty good at 4.75%, but then you can't touch the money if you're in a spot. At least with the savings, you've got access whenever you want.

it is crazy. The interest rate is affecting everything right now. Low rates for CDs + high rates for loans= WTF is going on???

Thanks to you guys for your opinions.

[deutschmann59]

eleven24, this happened to me as well. How do we know who is calling us? This happened when ATT and Cingular merged. I'm glad you didn't give out any personal information, because I was victim of a phising scam once before, so now I am VERY vigilant.

The guy that called said he was from Cingular, but when he asked for a credit card number, that's when I became suspicious. He never asked for a SS number or anything like that, though. I just told him I wasn't comfortable telling him any of that information over the telephone, and I told him if I had an amount due, then Cinuglar should send me hard copy bill through the mail.

Right after I hung up, I called the 1800 cinugular number to confirm the call because, frankly I was really spooked. But it turned out the call was legit, but really stupid because the whole thing was about something like $5.00 for some kind of reconnect fee, but I wasn't taking any chances. Anyone who reads this, tell everyone you know don't give any info to people who call you.

[DesiInCT]

I have resolved similar issues by complaining to BBB.org, it works very well than trying to directly dealing with the company.

Try it, there are no charges and see how quickly the bank responds.