$5 fee to cash a check? WTF?

[ghost]

A client paid me by check, drawn off a Wachovia Bank business account. I've had it for about a week now, and passing by a Wachovia branch today, I stopped to cash it.

Teller: "May I help you sir?"

Me: "Yes, someone has paid me through an account drawn from this bank and I'd like to cash the check."

Teller: "Do you have any ID?"

[HAND HER DRIVER'S LICENSE]

Teller: "Do you have another ID to back this one up?"

[HAND HER MY UNIVERSITY ID]

Teller: "Thank you very much, Mr. _______ (attempts my name and gets it correct).

Me: "Very good, <small talk here>."

Teller: "Now, I need to let you know that there's a $5 fee for cashing this check."

Me: "$5 fee, for what?"

Teller: "It's drawn off a business account and we charge $5 to cash checks drawn off a business account. If I write you a personal check, there would be no fee."

Me: "But what's the fee for?"

Teller: "To offset the costs of the account."

Me: "Look, I'm not arguing with you here, but what difference would it make in the processing of a check if it was a personal check or a business check? They're both handled the same way."

Teller: [INSERT ROBOTIC ANSWER HERE, USED TO DEFLECT INQUIRIES INTO RIPOFF FEES] You could avoid the fee by simply depositing it into your account.

Me: "I think I'll do that. When someone pays me $300, I want $300, not $295."

Teller: "I understand completely, that's why I mentioned the fee."

Me: [PLEASANTRIES, GOODBYE]


Then I go to my bank and they tell me that they do the same thing. Oh well, I just deposited it as usual for no fees.

What a fucing rip off. A fee to cash a fucing check. Fees, fees, fees.

[mountainman]

Everybody wants a piece.

Nothing new.

[Izzo]

Credit Unions don't typically charge those sorts of fees .....you might consider one.

[minir]

Hi ghost

It has become obscene imho with the Unnecessary Charges being levied by all Institutions it seems to me. People made pay to offset the costs of doing Business for a Company that chose to be in that Business. Sweet deal for them.

I love the ATM's. They eliminate 1/2 the Tellers at the Banks then have the balls to charge for the use of a Machine that is saving them a fortune to start with.

Government with their collective heads in the No Sun Location sit back and allow this thievery. There should be Laws strictly enforcing these types of Surcharges imho. I agree with you 110%

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By the way, Good for You for walking

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regards

minir

[Izzo]

Originally Posted by John

Wachovia AKA Walk-over-ya.

I use Commerce Bank (they rock) and have my credit union account still from when I was a kid.

I'd recommend a credit union vs a bank all day every day ..generally higher return on investments, fees very low to non existent and they are non profit.

[Izzo]

Originally Posted by John

I don't invest within my bank, I keep all my money in tax free municipal money markets w/ Fidelity unless I purchase stocks or other investments through them. You shouldn't be keeping that much free cash in your bank account for the use of generating interest anyway.

Commerce has had lower fees than my credit union (http://www.dexsta.com) so far, including a no fee credit card ( http://tinyurl.com/banq4 )

i was just comparing rate sheets to some other institutions here locally ...more often than not on our CD's our #'s are better than 95% of our competition ... are there expceptions? ..sure ....we offer a no fee Visa ... our auto loan rate are about average ....our mortgage rate our better than some but the drawback here is we don't excrow taxes so that turns some off .... apparently they can't do it by themselves..


we just won some national credit union award for our deposit size .....was impressive ...

[MissTynker2]

I have found that most banks are now operating in this fashion. If I understood your post correctly..the only way to bypass that..is to deposit the check into your own personal account..at no charge..however your own bank may hold the deposit until it has cleared the check writers account. What ever happened to simple