Truist Bank (formerly BB&T Bank)

I received foreclosure papers today. My property is valued at $937, 000.00
Amount of note is $517, 000.00. I can not believe that my bank will not work with me with this kind of equity. My payment record has been perfect until the economic slowdown. I have had difficulty keeping up with payments, and have tried to get my bank to loan me money against my equity so that my, once very successful company, can survive. Now, like many other Small American companies, I will have to shut my doors leaving yet another American dream of "owning your own business" come to an end. Please help me, if possible, not just become another statistic. Why are the banks not required to help small business owners by loaning money with this type of equity? The banks are just trying to keep the money or in my case make my loan liquid without any regard for their current clients or the future of America.

First of all, I'd like to state that I always accept personal responsibility for my mistakes. The complaint I'm making about BB&T has nothing to do with mistakes I've made such as incurring overdraft fees due to my negligence. It is about BB&T seemingly making new deposit policies intentionally unavailable or unclear to their existing customers. See below for details.

I am absolutely outraged. BB&T changed their deposity policy in, I believe, April 2008. Every BB&T representative I've talked with since has said, "We notified everyone." To which I've replied, "Really? Because I wasn't notified." Their response has been, "We sent everyone a notice in the mail with their statement." To which I, completely stunned, replied, "But BB&T gave me the option to go comepletely paperless quite a while ago. That obviously means that I for some time have not been recieving a statement through the mail. And you're telling me you people ONLY sent out a notice about a new banking policy in paper statements? Why would you do that, knowing some folks took your option of going paperless, unless the object was to try and manipulate your customers?"

Not one representative of BB&T has had a response to this question. Why? Because, as many folks have pointed out both in person and online, BB&T is trying to manipulate their customer base through their deposit policies.

I am taking my business to a credit union come next week. I've put this off because I, like so many of my fellow Americans, work full time and all my bills automatically deduct from my BB&T account and my work check automatically deposits, so it's a lot to deal with. But I'm getting off my butt and switching over to a credit union as soon as it's humanly possible.

The only way we (the Little People) can fight a large corporation's unfair practices is by suing or taking our business elsewhere. I would like to see them stripped of their customer base, and I think that would be a far more effective approach then attempting to sue.

First off, I want to say that over the years I have been with quite a few banks (7 to be exact). And some have been bad, and some good, but none compare to BB&T.

I opened this account 6 months ago because their new branch was close to home, and with gas prices, I figured I would save money by banking closer to home. I opened the account online, which I thought was excellent because it was a real time saver, and a representative called me the next day to let me know my account was funded and official.

The next week I made my first deposit, which was my paycheck from xxxxx. They are not a huge company, but they are big enough that their checks are accepted everywhere without a question. The deposit was accepted, however it was after 2 so it would not be available until Tuesday (Monday night processing). This caught my attention, because I thought everyone was doing all-day-banking now, at least my last two banks had.

From that point, over the next couple of months, I made regular deposits with my checks (payroll and comission) from TM Co. Some checks were for a rather large amount, but no questions were asked, they were accepted and deposited. Now, like everyone, I had a family emergency and my funds ran tight, so I was glad I had linked my savings account to my checking for overdraft protection, or so I thought. BB&T let a charge of 8.00 go through which was a meal bought at McDonalds. For that 8.00, they charged me 35.00 overdraft charge and another 10.00 'processing fee' for moving the money to cover the charge from my savings. So, I was charged 45.00 for an 8.00 charge.

I called BB&T customer service and didn't wait on hold for long, and explained to the rep my problem and that I felt that since I was charged 35.00 for the paid item, I felt the 10.00 was excessive. I was told that this was their normal operating procedure and that it was in the fine print in the agreement I electronically signed when setting up the account. So, I asked them to remove overdraft protection. That way, if I tried to charge something and there wasn't enough money, I would be told the charge was declined; a little embarrassed, but I wouldn't have the pay 45.00. I was shocked to hear that I couldn't un-enroll in overdraft protection.

I shook this bad experience off, which I regret now, but soon incurred four more charges similar for small transactions that BB&T let through. I later found out their policy is to deduct your charges because crediting your account with a deposit, that way they get to collect all their fees.

The final straw was when I went to the Newton Grove branch. Up to this point, I had always used the Smithfield branch. I went it to make my normal deposit from TM Co. and the teller told me she was going to put a 5 day hold on the deposit because I was a NEW ACCOUNT. At this point, I had been with them 5.5 months and had made numerous deposits. I explained this to her, but she refused to let up. I asked for the manager, but she wasn't available at the moment. So, I walked out of there with a 5 business day hold on my paycheck. WTF!

I closed my account, which was an ordeal in itself and went back to my previous bank, KS Bank, which is awesome, especially since they have built a closer branch also.

On a side note, their internet banking is a joke. Every bank I have had to this point using a 3 column reporting feature, Debit, Credit and Balance. That way you know EXACTLY how much money you have. BB&T only has Debit and Credit. So you can't keep track of it as easily, and they are able to charge more fees.

DON'T USE BB&T.

This bank has caused us severe stress due to their severe and unrealistic overdrawn fees. I have been hospitalized recently for 8 weeks; with another hospitalization April thru May of this year (2008). They refuse to listen to me regarding other people helping my disabled husband thru all of this. We have been charged over $1, 000 in fees. This is unfair and an injustice against disabled customers. Husband is legally blind and can't walk. After my return home each time, it took a while before I was able to go online or phone to get banking info. on accounts. This caused bank to go ahead and charge fee upon fee upon fee upon fee. They are now holding money for 11 days - which may cause us to not be able to make house, car, and other expense payments from our bank accounts. We are definitely closing our accounts and going to another bank.

I deposited a check for $2, 000.00 on monday at the ATM. I paid some bills thinking the money was in the bank. I checked my account on line later and seen they was charging me $35.00 for every bill and merchndise I bought. One purchase was from a stamp machine for one .43 cent postage stamp that cost me $35.43. I called the bank and visit two of the branches showing them the online printout of my account showing a deposit was made before anything was bought. I was told the bank has a hold on the check for seven days and I will be getting a letter in the mail, they said I had a out-of-state check. It was written on a local bank down the street from BB&T. They got me for around $500.00 in fees. They gave me back close to $150.00 of it back but thats no help when money is as tight as it is these days. I was told by the branch manager that BB&T is going to get money anyway they can and they won't do any refunding that easy anymore. I'm closing that account as soon as everything I have out is cleared the bank. It's just wrong that banks are out to get us. I also heard that BB&T are in the works of closing, so if anyone reading this has an account there need to get all your money out and put it in a safe bank that will take care of you.

I recently had a talk with a rep from this bank. I had over 150$ worth of overdrafts. I had her explain what happened and she really couldn't. seems that i had charges go through, now I only use my debit card. when your debit card has a charge, the account is supposed to lock this amount of money until the actual posting that evening. I had two charges on hold/pending they were small. Then I deposited some money before noon. I then made a transaction after 3pm. this transaction was for 300$.

Here is the end result. The deposit did not post to the account because it was a check. the 300$ payment i made at 3pm got posted and knocked the other two or three on hold off hold. so that they could be charged overdraft. Now my argument was two fold. one if the funds are on hold and not available, then how did the 300$ charge knock them off, and two if i made a deposit of any kind before 12, then it should post that night before midnight.

They took all the charges off my account. BUT since then, I think my account has been targeted to get it back. I have had over $500 in overdraft fees due to the way they post largest first in the past month.

SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE ###!

I can get timeline reports of the account if a lawyer would like to see them and start a suit.

Let me begin by saying how deeply, deeply sick to my stomach, and how fed up I am in dealing with BB&T in Atlanta! I have been in a construction loan with BB&T since December 2007. It is now October 13, 2008 and my house is still not complete! Please explain to me how a bank can be so deceitful in explaining how a draw is actually dispersed, and how, its possible, to qualify for a loan, get approved for it, and have to fight tooth to nail to get enough funds from the draw to build the house! There idea of a draw schedule is an absolute joke! I was informed in the beginning that, I would have to put up an initial amount to get the project started, then, was also told that, I would receive a larger amount from the draw after the initial ground breaking . Not so! Lets do the math, grading, foundation, and frame package, 30, 000. BB&Ts first draw amount was, 8, 111.00. Now, lets assume we all know how to add. Im not sure about anyones calculations but according to mine, Im negative 21, 889.00! Then, after more work and more labor, the next draw that was given from BB&T was 4, 097.00! And the beat goes on! Meanwhile, I continue to pay the interest, which has gone from 250.00 to almost 800.00 a month. I have repeatedly called upon the manager, Sherry Bell, the VP Wendy Garry and the President of the loan construction dept. Brian to help me in this manner, either with an advance, or more of a draw to cover materials, and labor cost, but after more of the same, the project came to a screeching halt! I was then informed that after the sixth draw, I would start to incur the cost of inspection. However, the funny thing is, Wendy Gary(VP) informed me during the application process that I would only have 6 draws total! If I knew I had to fund the entire project, why in the HELL would I use BB&T for a construction loan! But let me follow with the bigger problem, the arrogant manager! Sherry Bell, who tries to insinuate that my builder is a bad builder because he has a smaller company, or because he doesnt have a two million dollar credit line. In my opinion, that simply means, we how have a discrimination problem. I am simply trying to build a house and move in it, sometime in this millennium, but I can't do that trying to rub two nickels together! I can only hope that someone will contact me on this matter to release the funds without the, quote This is for your protection crap! I AM GOING BANKRUPT TRYING TO BUILD A 200, 000 HOUSE! They have an inspector, they have insurance, and I have a great builder whose only intention is to build a beautiful, quality home! And finally, if something is not going to be done about this matter I will be determined to pursue whatever is necessary, i.e. CNN, legal action, etc. BB&T is the worst bank for a construction loan!

BB&T has caused me alot of problems for the last 3 years. From closing my savings account without calling me to inform me of this, because i didnt have exactly 300.00 in my savings account. To refusing to cash my check because of a negative balance in the account, which I've come to understand.

I'm young, and do tend to spend loosely, but I only spend loosely because BB&T gives me the impression that I have the money, Never fails this has happened to me at last 3 times. I've called the automated voice message system, got my balance, they tell me i have hundreds of dollars. I go spend some money, and the next day or two I make a call and they tell me there's an overdraft. VERY DISSAPOINTED.

TODAY is what really got me upset, I go to the bank to cash my check like i normally do on pay day. Mind you I just cashed my check two weeks ago at this very same bank, they tell me "I am unable due to your balance in your account" so I reply and say " Well, I just checked my account and it stated that I wasnt in the negative. I have X amount of dollars in the account". The teller replies with "Yes, you're right you arent in the negative, but in order for us to cash this check you need to have the same amount of money in your account in order for us to cash the check".

Now. the excuses they used for this is ridiculas.
1)"we've had customers come in with fake payroll checks and by the time we cash it they've already spent the money. - I've been a customer for 3 years and at the same job for 3 years, do you really compare me to a criminal with fraudulant checks?. Fake Payroll checks? Its not my fault you all are too stupid to realize that a check is fake.

2)"well maybe the branches you went to were doing you a favor by cashing your checks, because this is something they arent supposed to be doing"- WHY would a business...a bank for that matter, have new rules and regulations and not share them with the customers? when it effects the customers? and why would you assume it's helping me rather than tell me up front how it is?

3)I asked was there anyone to complain to, over the phone... "No ma'am, you can go online and go to the contact us and send an email"- who's to say this email would get answered?

4) so when i asked them if they would take care of the 70 dollar overdraft that I know will occur tomorrow. they say no... although they are responsible for the overdraft for not cashing my check so that i could deposit the money into my account.

I dont know what to do and if there's something I can do at all, but I will be looking into this situation and the many other situations ive encountered.

I have banked at BB&T for almost 10 years. I have my morgage thru them as well I was until this week a loyal customer that even recommended them after dealing with what your about to read. Not anymore...

First I opened an account with BBT in my name alone I was married but didnt put my wife on the account. After a year or so the local BB&T we used got to know us well, and my wife was able to go in and take money out and use my account WITHOUT her name being on the account. At the time I didnt mind cause our relationship was fine. I also had a credit line attached to my checking as well. I went in and added my wife to the account because when she called in the 800 number she was unable to help maintain my account. No prob so far.. Well 9 years later we get a divorce. I went in to remove her name from the account for my financial saftey because she had created some charges after we split that went on to the credit line. I also told the branch manager to put a comment only I could access the account. Since I was going to deal with my wife about the money, and I was not broke, I had the credit line froze and removed the overdraft connection from my checking account and paid off the credit line. How ever I also found out at this time that the credit line is in my name alone still no one ever asked does her name need to be on it. I thought since it was attached to the checking that was automaticly done when I put her on checking. I was now responsible for her charges on this account completly. Thanks BB&T..

I refinanced my house to get her name off of the loan. My wife had no credit before marrying me. My wife also had no income comming in at all hardly to account for real income however I was told that I was a higher risk being single and my interest rate would be higher. um I even had a very very nice credit report with only 2 late payments in over 15 years all other accounts paid in full. After threating to take the loan else where they lowered my interest down to somthing i agreed to.

While refinancing and using money to put into the house to raise the appraisle I requested to unfreeze my credit line for safety on my checking. The person that froze my credit line accidently closed it instead. "No problem sir just reapply" they say. I got denied for a new credit line, I originally had a 2500.00 credit line i only wanted a 500.00 to be safe. Nope! so I complained the branch manager who called a regional manager who said reapply and Ill make sure it goes thru. Ok I reapply I got denied again this hit my credit report twice.

Well while all this is going on my car breaks down. This causes me to not have a few hundred dollars to pay a loan that the refinance of my house was going to pay off. The BB&T moragage advisor I had told me not to worry about paying it because the refinance was going to pay it off in a few days. Then there was a delay in my refinance from BB&T. I get another hit on my credit line because BB&T took 5 days longer to get everything to go through on my refinance (I think i recall it being due to somone being on vacation). Now I have the first late payment in a long time. Where was this financial institution when I really needed them. The day after I get a late payment hit on my credit report they paid the loan off.

A week later bb&t sent me a coupon for 150 off a morgage loan. Um well thats nice but BB&T even though 7 days had only passed they would not give me the 150 dollars back or a credit. Nice way of really keeping track of your customers this was an insult. I see now that other people that are new to BB&T loans are more imporatant that an existing ones. Well now to the fun part Overdrafts.

I waited a few months later and went back and told BB&T that I do not appreciate being a customer that had a credit line I chose to freeze to protect my financial stability taken from me becuase of someone elses mistake in closing it. I do not like feeling uncomfortable with out a credit line. I also do not want to add more credit cards or go around applying for new ones. Well low and behold I admittingly made a mistake on my checking and yep I get a 35.00 charge on a $5.00 mcdonalds charge. Then come more charges from a few more items. I wound up spending 105.00 on about 40 dollars worth of items. This charge is rediculous. I was able to get the bank to reverse half of this charge however I was treated like a ### in the way the relationship banker told me I should do better at my register. I made a human error, You made me feel small and stupid BB&T by making this comment you think I dont know after dealing with this that I MADE A MISTAKE. I again complained this wouldnt never happened if I had my credit line.

I later got another charge I ignored it I made another mistake. I didnt want to complain over a process I knew about I ignored the charge. About 4 months later I lost my job I used money I had saved and paid my house 4 payments in advance to keep life easy for me. Yep see BB&T I care about my actions towards you still and my responsibilities. However I made another mistake right when I got my new job and over spent my checking again about 20 dollars and got that 35.00 Overdraft fee. Mainly due to high gas rates. I had no option but to get gas to get to my new job. I carry a check into the bank and deposit part of it guess what I walked out of the bank not knowing i was in the negative at the time BB&T chooses to send me a letter 3 days later? I paid two bills and get what more overdraft fees and have not heard anything from my bank. I get my payroll check while this is happening and BB&T has held it giving me 100.00 credit leaving me in the negative by the time the overdraft fees finish and my check goes through Ive lost about 380.00 of my check due to 60.00 worth of charges. Yet my debit card still works with no credit line. Go figure sounds planed to me..

I had a Centura account 10 years ago. If you had no credit line and no money you card was denied when you swiped it. If you had a credit line but no money and chose debit you charge was denied Basically the cards worked better. BB&T says they allow these charges to occur because they say we their customer dont want to be embarrased when purchasing, they think we would rather pay $40.00 for a bacon egg and cheese bagel. I dont remember being asked this.

Heres my suggestion BB&T if your going to allow charges to occur when there is no money and they are going to be this high. Either make one charge per day not per transaction. Or how about hold the charges block future charges on the card after holding the first ones. Conact me and tell me what occuring, Its only a phone call heck it could even be automated. "Danger Wil Robinson your account is in danger" Anything would be nicer. Not a feeling that you are grinning bending me over. Even by putting a instant block on my card to signal me to contact you is better hell this would protect against theft or fraud (hmmm are you really protecting me at all?). Charge a overdraft fee thats a percent of a charge up to 35.00 that would be nicer. Damn I can come up with many more than this...

My husband and I have recently amassed almost $400 in overdraft fees from what we thought was an institution we could trust. How much was actually overdrafted, you might ask? Less than $100. Our other account had well over $100 in it which would have covered those items. Did BB&T think to check our other accounts for the money? No! Did they notify us with a phone call or email to let us know that this cascade of fees was beginning? No!

I called the bank after the initial $70 had been charged over (you're going to love this) $7.00 of overdraft, and I asked them if I could opt out of this so-called Overdraft Protection. That would mean my card would simply be declined if I didn't have the funds in my account. A little embarrassment at the checkout line, but I could deal with that. The woman that I talked to acted like I had just asked HER to pay the overdraft fees. "You can't opt out of overdraft fees!" she told me. Other banks, like the credit union we will soon be joining, allow you to do this, or to link 2 or more accounts to cover any overdrafts. Will BB&T let you do this? Of course not! They'd lose all those nice fees!

And what happens when you know that your account is going to overdraft and you go to your local branch and give them CASH to put in your account? At my previous bank, they would immediately credit your account with this money to prevent unnecessary charges. Does BB&T do this? Absolutely not! Why then they wouldn't be able to charge you hundreds of dollars in fees!

My husband and I trusted this bank with our hard-earned money, and they have failed us. I would never recommend putting any amount of money with this institution.

We recieved a stimulus check for $1200.00 and deposited it in our banks ATM machine. (BB&T) We were then charged $210.00 in overdraft charges in one day because the bank says they can place a hold on the check and only allow $100.00 to be available. We deposited it on Thursday evening. I was told by a bank customer service representative that the funds would not be available until the following Wednesday because Monday was a holiday. We asked two different representatives on Saturday and Sunday to refund the charges with no luck. I emailed and still got no for and answer. We have been with this bank for over 20 years. We have had many loans from them(all paid in full) and had two mortgage loans through them (also paid in full). This is how they show thanks for loyal customers. This was our stimulus check. The only economy getting stimulated in this country is crooked banks and gas stockholders. Consumers don't stand a chance anymore. How sad.

I too had problems with this bank. I am shocked and appalled that any business let alone a bank would conduct business in such a negligent and dishonest manner. I had a small 401k IRA 90 day CD with Equitable Federal Bank before BB&T took them over. My account automatically transferred. I then moved out of state and wanted to rollover the IRA into another account. Getting information from their website was an exercise in frustration. It was always temporarily down, and then calling customer service was equally frustrating. I would get transferred to different people only to finally be hung up on. This happened on 3 different occasions. I finally got information on their procedure for a rollover and had my bank initiate it. It was sent with specific instructions to rollover the CD on the next maturity date. Well, they just went ahead and did the rollover without waiting and charged me an early withdrawal fee of $50. I was furious. Of course subsequent emails and phone calls led nowhere, so my only recourse is to warn the world to stay away from this bank.

I had a loan with BBT for about 3 years now and was told 3 years ago when I first got the loan that there were no penalties for prepayment. As soon as I got the loan down below $25, 000 I noticed a charge for $35. I called the bank and ask what this was about because they had told me they had no penalty for prepayment. They said it was a convenience fee. Convenient for them not for me. After telling them that I was assured there were no penalties for prepayment they insisted it wasn't a penalty. I was told I would be charged a convenience fee of $35 each month because I was now below $25, 000. MAKE ANY SENSE?

I depleted most of my savings account to pay off most of the loan and the remaining $7000 I paid with my credit card which I have a fixed 4.9 interest rate. Less than the interest BB&T had given me. My credit card company, Capital One, has been great. No hidden fees. I will be finished paying them off next month and have cancelled my account at BBT. Stay away from this bank. Very shady characters.

M&t bank does the exact same thing. They manipulate deposits and withdrawals to maximize banking fees. This is so unfair but it is how they make their money. And the worst part is that no one cares because it only affects people who don't have money. Our only recourse is not to use them and this may have an impact. Let's all withdrawal our little money out of the banks and only use them to pay bills. Every spare dime doesn’t leave in the bank and don't use their visas. Let's revolt! I we don't use their visas for purchases then they won't make money off of visa. Or let's all get secured visas instead of bank accounts. This way we can still have the convince of using a credit card without using the banks that have turned against us. We should start a campaign that may hit these small banks that are obviously desperate for our money right in their pocket books. If we don't use them, then they don't exist. These banks make all of their money off of the poor. We are their main business. Most of the bigger banks only allow people with good credit and large amounts of money. The smaller banks, like these, are reliant on the poor with bad credit or no credit. They know we have problem managing so they exploit it and make your problems even worst. It's time to flip it. I am making resolution not to use the banks any more. There are other options and after paying more than 1000 in bank fees to m&t this year, and just switching to bbt and hearing from you that they do the same, I am looking for a secured visa account. My banking days are over. They can take advantage of some other poor chap!

I too have been charged numerous overdraft fees by BB&T. Even though I have a credit card for overdraft protection, I was charged $70 dollars in overdraft fees for $7 dollars worth of purchases, and they said that the reason that they did not pull money from my credit card to cover it was because they can only pull money in $100 increments and I only had $96 available for my balance. So... my question is why can they not pull less than $100 dollars?

Also, they will deduct purchases made immediately from your account, however, deposits are TOTALLY different. IF you deposit a check before the designated time each day, it is not credited until after midnight. If you miss the designated time, it is not deposited until the FOLLOWING business day after midnight. Even when I deposited a check to cover the overdraft fees and bring my balance out of the red, I was charged yet another overdraft fee for an automatic payment that cleared after my check was deposited but before BB&T actually put it into my account. Do not bank with them.

I was also charged overdraft fees on money that should have been credited to my account. I have been with this bank for 10years. Have never had a problem until this past week. I have always deposited my payroll check on Sat. morning and it was credited on Mon. night. This past week I did the same t hing. I checked my balance on Thurs. morning and had a $-411 in my account. I went straight to the bank to see what the problem was. The girl at the bank told us that they had changed their policy on check deposits and they had notified all their customers. I never received any notice. They charged me $350 in overdraft charges the first day, $105 the second day, $140 the third. By that time my direct deposit showed up on my online statement. I also deposited some cash to cover any outstanding debits. I called the phone 24 after leaving the bank and had a $78.00 balance. That should have been sufficient to cover anything that was still out. The next morning I checked my balance again and it was $43.00 with another overdraft fee of $35.00. How can they charge you a overdraft fee if there is a positive balance in your account? I have had it with this bank. They stole $700 of my hard earned money. I wouldn't encourage anyone to use this bank. I have warned everyone of my friends that use this bank.