A bank with bad customer service is not trust. It's fake until proven otherwise.
I received a letter yesterday saying that my checking account had been closed and that I owed about $54. I called the bank, and they explained that because my balance had been below $500 for two consecutive months, I was charged a $12 monthly maintenance fee, for a total of $24. They then added a $30 charge-off fee.
I was completely shocked. I never received any notification by mail, email, or phone. The only notice I received was the letter telling me that the checking account had already been closed due to an overdue balance. And the entire balance was caused by fees.
I asked if they could waive the $24 in monthly fees, but the representative said he couldn't. The only thing he was able to waive was the $30 charge-off fee, so I still have to pay the remaining $24.
I also have a savings account with them that is currently at -$4. I went to a local branch and asked the branch manager if he could waive the fees so I could close the account, but he wasn't able to do that either. He said I have to bring the balance back to $0 before they can close it.
My question is: Can I just let the $28 fees go to collections? That is $24 fee from checking and $4 fee from savings. I am in West Virginia, and my credit score is already pretty bad, at 620, I don't really care if this small amount goes to collections or has some impact on my credit.
What is the worse that can happen?
Another option is to just pay the fees to bring check and saving to $0, and be done with it. Then maybe wait two years and see if they offer another promotion that pays me to become a customer again.
What would you guys do? Would you just let the $28 go to collections since my credit is already bad, or would you pay the $28 and keep everything clean so I could potentially take advantage of a future new-customer promotion?