Watch your money

 First let me say I abhor being negative. But I feel the need to warn all businesses that they need to play policemen and protect their money. I have been pro business and anti government regulation all my 60 plus years on this planet. No longer, we need more government regulation to stop big business from abusing their power. Big business has been allowed to get to big, by that same government.

I am not naive, I know that a lot of these shenanigans have been going on for a very long time. But the during the last ten years of the bush administration ( I am a republican) it had gotten worse. Special tax breaks, special regulation or lack there of, special interest groups now write most of our country's legislation. I could go on but you get the idea. The new administration is no better.

I am not negative against the future, not short term anyway. Long term I am going to want all my investments hedged against rapid inflation, and high taxes. Five years from now you best have your income sources hedged against high interest rates, rising cost and rising taxes.

Back to big business screwing you. I will use one little example, but it is only the symptom of more to come from every big bank and big business.

Wells Fargo has been my business bank 35 years (that ends in two weeks).They where my bank back long before the bank was Wells Fargo. Here is what transpired, GE Money MTOT is a division of GE credit, They do consumer financing for retail dealers. Some seven years ago we signed up with them to offer their credit to our customers. We never used the service as I thought 20% plus interest was to much and I did not like the payment process they used. In May of this year, GE Money started debiting my bank account for a $25 a month service fee. When I learned of this from my accountant I filed a complaint at Wells Fargo bank (I had to do that in person) the bank gave my money back. The next month same thing again. I called the bank on 8-19-2010 to file a complaint for an unauthorized debt, the bank took the complaint. The bank wants me to pay a fee for a stop payment if I want them to stop fraud on my account.

Today I got a reply: We completed our review of your claim for $25, which involved a ACH transaction that posted on 8-16-2010 and because of the timing are unable to process your request.

This type of transaction involves a corporate trade exchange transaction. The rules of the national automated clearing house association requires Wells Fargo to ensure that a return entry for unauthorized debts to a corporate account be made no later then the second business day following the transaction date.

I was truly a day late.

Wells Fargo was kind enough to give me the phone number to GE. GE said I had agreed to a clause saying they might sometime in the future have such a fee. They claim they sent me a fax about the fee.

So let me see if I have this right? GE (a big business) decides they need more profits so they activate a fee against their customers with out so much as a phone call, yet alone a letter. This unauthorized Debt is taken by Wells Fargo with out any signatures, Wells Fargo will not block the Debt unless you pay them a fee. If you disagree with the fees you have 48 hours to protest or you or out of luck. Wells Fargo takes the side of the NACHA against their customers. Seems they need the association more then your business.

What both of these big businesses did is not illegal, it is however in my opinion immoral, fraudulent as regards my understanding of my relationship with the bank and with GE, it is a deceptive trade practice, disrespectful, greedy, bad business, and it should be illegal.

At the same time that I was making the first complaint at Wells Fargo I discovered my $106 fee the bank charged me for monthly banking service was not being off-set by deposits. Seems the bank changed the rules so that I would need over $700,000 on deposit to eliminate the $106 fee. Wells Fargo is making up their lost revenues on their customers backs in sneaky ways. I am changing banks.

I know these are small amounts of money, I know one can argue that someone on my staff signed the agreement with GE some years ago. One can argue that banks can change their rules anytime without telling you because it is in the small print of your agreement. It does not change the facts, that you best be watching your back because all these big companies are coming to take your money and using every conceivable loop hole and gimmick to do it. You had best check every statement, every invoice and every bill and double check all debts to your checking account.

I have stopped my trash dumpster service over these fees, I am changing banks, I formally dropped GE not that we where using them anyway, I am look for a way to dump ATT over fees and because of the law that allows ATT to third party bill on your phone bill without prove the a bill is owed. I have closed credit card accounts, I have changed cell phone companies over surprise fees. My savings over the next twelve months will be $3,000 to $5,000.

What has happened is that some companies, especially banks, have gotten so big that their customers number in the millions. If a business or bank debts a million customers a fee of say $25, they just made $25,000,000 profit with no cost basis. Those who notice the charges and complain they deal with or refund the money, all others get screwed. If you want to stop them you had best do so with in 48 hours from the time the debt is posted to your account. If you want your banker to help you, there is another fee. Absolutely no one has an incentive to stop the abuse, quite the opposite they can charge you a fee to assist you. Why it is not illegal at all.

These fees last year added up to more then $40 billion dollars nation wide. Some fees where appropriate, most where abuse by big business. I am one small businessman who is fighting back.