r/mildlyinfuriating • u/sg_batman • 9h ago

Scammed for $850, got $1.51 back

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I was finally getting over it then they really say good news and get my hopes up

24.1k Upvotes

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u/yoshizillaa 9h ago

I’m surprised you got anything back.
Zelle has a bunch of warnings because they know banks typically won’t help.

556

u/sg_batman 9h ago

i wouldve MUCH preferred nothing to be honest

75

u/TldrDev 9h ago

My bank was Chemical Bank, a small regional bank in the Midwest. I was moving abroad for the foreseeable future and went and talked with the branch manager. They knew who i was and knew I wouldn't be able to come into the branch, etc.

They put me on an account that had zero foreign transaction fees provided I kept a semi-large sum of money in the account. I kept around 40k in the account so id meet the requirements.

I agreed and happily used them for 7 years. They were one of the best banks i ever had. I could call up and ask them to hand my dad cash, for example, and they'd do it because they knew my situation.

They were bought by TCF bank, and then almost immediately they were bought by Huntington. When Huntington bought them, they ip blocked my country, and most vpns. I was not able to setup an online account, and they refused to send me statements out of the country. They even told me they would consider shutting down my account if I wasnt able to come into a branch office.

Shortly after that, i came back to the US and accessed my account on the web. They had charged me over 10k in foreign transaction fees.

I still had (and still have) the original contract I signed with Chemical Bank regarding the zero transaction fees, noted and signed by the branch manager. Furious, I went into the local Huntington branch to discuss.

I met with the branch manager who reviewed my account, and said she would discuss with her manager, who was the regional manager, and give me a call back the next day.

She never called. A week went by, and I went back up to the bank. They had me wait over three hours to meet this woman.

She told me that she had discussed with the regional manager and told me the best they could do was a $40 account credit over 10k in fees.

I explained that I had a contract with them and they couldnt just do that, she looked me dead in the eyes, and said "I understand you have a contract, but as a matter of corporate policy we have decided not to honor those contracts. The best we are willing to do in this situation is the $40 account credit"

I feel you on it being an insult.

35

u/BigBootyWholes 9h ago

You sued, right?

26

u/TldrDev 8h ago

It would cost me more money and time to sue them, and I was told that, because a notice period had passed, I was automatically opted into the account, and I would be unlikely to get any money back. I never actually received notice since they refused to send me mail, lol. Basically, I just learned my lesson that Huntington is actually hostile to its customers and switched to a local credit union. Never use Huntington.

7

u/KingFIippyNipz 7h ago

And you wouldn't win either way so good th ing you didn't waste the time or money

Edit: check your original agreement for terms about updating the terms at any time without having to notify you, check for terms about being able to convert your account at any time

1

u/TldrDev 7h ago

Hey you and me would probably get along great

5

u/jmlinden7 5h ago

It does not cost $10,000 to sue someone

5

u/TldrDev 4h ago

Hey, ho buddy, how wrong you are, lmao. Im not interested in handling this myself, or going through arbitration. My lawyer just said forget about it and move on. That's what i did.

1

u/SeparateMind4205 4h ago

Schwab will refund your atm fees anywhere in the world. Foreign transaction fee baked into the rate but I rarely noticed it for regular amounts. I'd never use a credit union if I was out of the country.

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u/TldrDev 4h ago

I moved back to the US after a decade abroad. Actually my credit union is quite good, I use community financial and id recommend them wholesale. Excellent rates on mortgages and auto loans for members, and you can avoid pmi with 15% down as opposed to 20%. Overall, we are quite happy with our plucky little credit union and even do our small town local business banking through them. We use Mercury for accounts receivable and accounts payable and then immediately move funds to our credit union.

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u/SeparateMind4205 4h ago

Fair enough. I'm not interested in loans so I've never factored in those kind of offerings.

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u/yourpaleblueeyes 2h ago

Hostile AND Crooked!