Overdrawn USA Bank Account

Wagnerman

I am new to the site and hope that this is the correct category for my query.

I had a spell of frequent travel to America. I opened a checking account with one of their large banks so that I could easily draw money for spending whilst there. As my trips to America have now ceased I decided to close the account by drawing the balance down at UK ATMs. I slipped up with the last withdrawal and ended up $8.77 overdrawn. I asked the bank to close the account and they want the money before they can do so. I fully understand this and am happy to comply. The problem is that as a consequence of being overdrawn for less than a day I have become liable to a $34.00 overdraft fee and a $12.00 account service charge. Additionally, for me to send $10.00 to clear the balance my UK bank will charge £4.00 which is very reasonable but the US bank charge $15.00 to receive the money. Consequently by being overdrawn by a trivial amount I am facing having to pay over $70.00 to clear it. So far they have been unwilling to budge. Customer service is woeful. Each time I write someone new looks at it and doesn't bother to read what has gone on before. I just keep getting silly cut and paste responses. The fees are being charged in accordance with their T&C so I have no argument really. I just think it is unfair to have racked up such a large bill for a trivial amount. Most UK banks would have written it off but not this one! Part of me wonders what on earth they can do to collect if I don't pay. I am a pensioner and live in the UK. I doubt I will ever go back to America. I suppose it would affect my credit rating in America but so what? I don't really want to avoid payment as I want to part company with them on good terms. I am happy to pay the amount of overdraft plus the wire transfer fee of $15.00 but the other sums are disproportionate to the amount of overdraft. In real terms it is not a huge amount but I feel it is unfair. I would appreciate views and comments. Many thanks.

concernedSaver

Yeah, it's a bit ridiculous indeed. Unfortunately, I think their fees were all written down in their T&Cs and you can't really blame them for refusing to write off a profit.

Voyager2002

You can send money to that account using Paypal or a service such as xe.com and thus avoid the wire transfer fee.

As you point out, there is not much that they can do to you and they are not going to bother for a sum of less than $100. So it is really up to you: I understand that you would feel bad "stealing" the money from them but are not prepared to pay all the fees they are requesting, so simply pay them whatever you want to pay and then write saying that the matter is closed; you will not reply to any further letters from them and if they want more money from you they will have to come to England to discuss it with you face-to-face.

Cook_County

File a US tax return with the IRS. Pay the IRS using a British credit card. Have the refund you claim on the US tax return direct deposited with the bank. Job done.