negotiating bank fees?

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Hi BITOGers,

where you ever able to negotiate/waive down bank fees?

I have to put up a fight with BOA because an account i had for 8+ years dropped under minimum balance.
I don't want to keep any money with them since they don't have any advantages.
 
Most financial institutions I have dealt with will waive a fee once every 6 months if you call them and aren't rude to them about your situation. I have had to do this before with both Chase and BofA, because they charge you a late fee if you pay after 8pm on the due date
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I think my wife complained about paying some fee after our "Platinum" or whatever status slipped when our balance dipped and got it refunded...I don't know how many times that would work, though.
She was actually in a slow process of transferring funds out of there because she was getting a better deal elsewhere, but I think we're back to being super elite status at that bank for whatever reason. She's the CPA and I let her move our common funds as she sees fit (but not my retirement accounts), she shows me the net worth statement every month to show me how we're doing overall.
 
Yes, and it was with the evil big-bank called Chase.

I was on FLMA leave and my paycheck stopped when I ran out of PTO, which didn't take long. But the timing of the direct deposits took me almost all the way to the end of my leave time and helped me to avoid the fee until the last month when I had no more deposit activity. Literally the weekend before I went back to work I received my statement and saw the fee, so I took my FLMA paperwork in to the bank and asked the nice lady if they could waive the fee since I'd be back at work Monday and would start getting deposits and meeting the requirements of the account.

2 minutes later I had a credit on my account for that fee.

Interestingly enough, I've had fees at credit unions, aka the savior for us peons, where they absolutely refused to budge on the fee.
 
Never get hit with fees...PNC for most of our banking and a couple of credit unions for low-rate loans and savings accounts to stay active in their systems.

The one thing I'm tempted to do is call some of my credit card accounts and see about lowering interest rates...I try to minimize balances carried and try to use CCs with zero-interest introductory deals if I see a big expense coming, but sometimes I have to carry a balance and would love to keep interest as low as possible.
 
They absolutely can waive the fee if you call them.

When we bought our house last year Chase hit us with a $35 wire transfer fee???

Even though I pay hundreds of bills online and quickpay people for free? You charge $35 for a wire transfer?

They reimbursed the fee with no haggling, I just asked.

If they refuse to credit the fee I would take my money and close the account in a new York minute.
 
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The personal banker at the banking center (assuming you are close to one) can credit the fee back with some nice explanation.
They will prefer to keep a customer than loose it.
 
Once tried to negotiate down a 24.99% rate on a store credit card (Menard's). Was never late on a payment and have a good credit score. Was flat out told "no".

So, I cancelled it right there. It was nice to be able to buy supplies for bigger projects and charge it all on one card, and it tended to make returns easier... but not at that rate.

I wouldn't fight with BOA's of the world. Find a good credit union that you can join.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Once tried to negotiate down a 24.99% rate on a store credit card (Menard's). Was never late on a payment and have a good credit score. Was flat out told "no".

So, I cancelled it right there. It was nice to be able to buy supplies for bigger projects and charge it all on one card, and it tended to make returns easier... but not at that rate.

I wouldn't fight with BOA's of the world. Find a good credit union that you can join.



Just pay the cc off every month and don't worry about what the interest rate is?
 
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
They absolutely can waive the fee if you call them.

When we bought our house last year Chase hit us with a $35 wire transfer fee???

Even though I pay hundreds of bills online and quickpay people for free? You charge $35 for a wire transfer?

They reimbursed the fee with no haggling, I just asked.

If they refuse to credit the fee I would take my money and close the account in a new York minute.

while your point is basically true, I would like to point out wire transfers are a different situation. You should not expect a wire fee to be waived.
Even multimillion deals expect to see the $25 to $50 wire transfer fee on the statement.
Wire is not the same as billpay or ach or quickdeposit. It is an old school immediate transfer of money that requires human agents on both sides. It is a fee for a service. This is not the same as a penalty fee charged for your mistake.

The bank did this just to finish the deal and so you wouldn't fuss.
The fact that you said you eould close your account shows they were right that you were fussing. An analogy would be like a guy who quits a competant mechanic or autoshop because they no longer give a "free" carwash with each service.
 
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Originally Posted By: pandus13
Hi BITOGers,

where you ever able to negotiate/waive down bank fees?

I have to put up a fight with BOA because an account i had for 8+ years dropped under minimum balance.
I don't want to keep any money with them since they don't have any advantages.


Tell BOA to get lost find a good Credit Union.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Once tried to negotiate down a 24.99% rate on a store credit card (Menard's). Was never late on a payment and have a good credit score. Was flat out told "no".

So, I cancelled it right there....

If my memory serves right, Menards, HomeDepot, Lowes and ABT (Illinois local store), can have deals where for 3,6,12 months you pay 0% interest: I just split the amount/6 or /3 or /12 and it's paid automatically. If not I pay everything at end of month/cycle.

edit: does any of your projects qualifies over $2,500? I think you can bid it at the pro's desk. Those guys may have the authorization power to give you a lower rate also....
 
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Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
Tell BOA to get lost find a good Credit Union.

...After they wave/credit the fee. I just catch it last night they did this for 4 months.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
Chase has already been good to me on fees
Took them 30 seconds to undo some overdraft fees

Yup, they also help me with a credit card snafu.

BOA, headaches for years:
-for the 10 years I had my mortgage with them, I always had problems with the prorated/escrow taxes
-going to a branch didn't solve anything, either for credit cards or mortgage = yeah, right, I'm going to invest with you....
 
Originally Posted By: pandus13
Hi BITOGers,

where you ever able to negotiate/waive down bank fees?

I have to put up a fight with BOA because an account i had for 8+ years dropped under minimum balance.
I don't want to keep any money with them since they don't have any advantages.


This day and age I wonder why people stay with banks that charge fees. There are any number of fee-free, no-balance-required checking accounts out there.
 
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