FirstMerit Bank Customer Files Class Action Lawsuit Against FirstMerit Bank Over Overdraft Fees.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against FirstMerit Corporation (“FirstMerit” or “Defendant”) in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron, Ohio (styled Donald and Vickie Stevens of Crestline v. FirstMerit Corporation) alleging, among other things, that FirstMerit unfairly assessed overdraft fees due to the way checking account transactions were posted, according to a class action lawsuit news report.
The FirstMerit Bank overdraft fee class action complaint reportedly alleges, among other things, that FirstMerit re-orders certain transactions in checking accounts to maximize overdraft fees as opposed to posting debit and electronic transactions as they occur during the day.
If You Have Thoughts On The FirstMerit Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit, Share Your Class Action Lawsuit Comments Below.
go get them bastards they got me for hundreds and hundreds of dollars due to re ordering the transactions im glad some one finally is fighting back
Need to have a class action suit for charter one bank, does the same thing. Probably if you investigate all of the banks are doing it and should have to give the money back to customers. Needs to be broadly announced how the people are being screwed out of there money!!!
charter one bank has already been in a class action lawsuit and lost. if you have been a customer of theres , you should have recieved a postcard in the mail stating that your part of the class. but if you diddnt , then its too late to file any claims. the suit has been settled and customers identified in the class will start recieving checks in september. here is the website if you want to see for yourself. http://www.citizensoverdraftsettlement.com
I agree with people on the order of the transactions posted that causes overdraft fees. It has happened to me. costing fees that I should not have had to pay. the money was there for the transaction that I made, I made another that was more than the first and it went first, costing me two overdraft fees insteas of one.
I would not mind being contacted regarding this suit. I have had this problem on several occassions. One time it cost me over 200 dollars!
please add me in on this. Firstmerit cost me over $400 because they took the larger amount out first. that made me go negitive 5 times. i should have only went negitive once. then my paycheck went in the next night and they put the overdraft charges in before my pay went in so i was hit with 6 more fees. so all togather i had to pay $380 in overdraft fees alone. please let me know i could really use that money.
there is a class action suit pending against first merit bank already. if your a customer of theirs and paid over draft fees you will receive a postcard in the mail identifying you as a class member. an attorney told me today that a judge has accepted the class and is awaiting any appeals.
I have been assessed over 2,000 dollars in overdraft fees in just the year of 2010. I would definitely be interested in finding out if this was legal? Thank you so much!
Fifth Third bank got sued for this exact reason, and the class action suit won, and is forcing them to payout money back to people who were assessed fees in the last 8 years. That means I should get my money back.
Towpath Credit Union does the same thing. Re-ordering electronic transactions and holding automatic paycheck deposits days after they receive it electronically from my employer.
I’m considering taking my money out of Fifth Third because they keep dinging my credit reports with their unending credit and debit card offers whether you want them or not.
I would love to be involved in this process. I too, have been victimized by this bank and it’s so-called procedure. They say this is what the customers wants, that they’d rather have their large dollar bills paid first. Bull, they never ask me. I have watched my balance on line, on the phone, at the atm and in side the bank in a matter of minutes from withdraws, and everyone of them has a different balance. they say to go by your own balances that I keep because it should be the most accurate. So I did and still I get overdraft fees because of the reorganizing they do with the checks.. It’s the biggest scam going and should be stop proto.. How can I become invoved in the suit. I vaugly
remember receiving something in the mail about this , saying do nothing if you want to be involved. That this is a class action suit and all customers will be notified of the process. Does my memory serve me corrrectly or am I wishfully thinking? please leave me an e-mail explaining what up. Thank you for getting involved.
I am totally in favor of this. I too have paid this bank hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
I am looking at my bank statement right now and I find it funny that all the transaction I had this past weekend were posted on the 22nd. Thats normal, but what is not normal is the fact that I transferred $400 to my checking from my savings, and THEN withdrew that $400 for myself. They have the withdraw of $400 listed first, followed by my other transactions for the weekend (IN DECENDING ORDER), then they list the transfer. And to top it off I have been assessed 3 overdraft fees. What a bunch of crap!!! And they won’t return my call.
i had my atm card stolen and a bunch of stuff bought with it for wich i had to pay around 300-400 dollars in overdraft fees. amy at the lorain road branch(no longer working there) said that since there was no proof that i didnt buy those items that the responsibility laid on me as the card holder. i asked to see where the charges were to exactly and they didnt want to give them to me on fear i would find the s.o.b and do something to him.so i left and called the main branch acting as though someone overcharged me the other day and found out the store was in tower city. went to the store asked the manager if the camera footage was stored and sure enough it was.went back to first demerit to ask about having them look into the matter (seeing as it would take 1/2 hour at the most) only to be told the money spent would go back into my account but i was still held accountable for the late fees.. thats right they admit i was robbed yet i was still accountable for the late fees he/she had accrued for my account. so i ate the fees and have been taking my checks to the grocery store ever since.ill be that old person who hides money in the floor boards before i give a bank another dime.
Count me in…. i have paid for things with my atm card, I see the transaction on line but then it dissapears the next day……..I forgot about a bill i paid so i listed all my transactions in the order that they used and or bills were paid it amounted to one overdraft of 60.00 but they charged me $187.50 in overdraft fees.When i checked my acount before i went to bed to see if an automatic deposit was there( which it wasnt till after midnight) there was no negative balance,, but in the morning it showed and availible balance of -$60.00 but a balance of $380.oo…… does that make any sense>
I have had the same problem with the re-ordering of transactions. They also post as a hold on the larger transactions after re-ordering and carry that amount until all fees have been charged to the account, then they post the larger amount (as actual completed) to the account after account is in negative status creating a double jeopardy scenerio. The re-odering of posted transactions created one set of overdraft fees, then when they did the actual posting of the largest transaction it created another set of overdraft fees for the same transaction that caused the problem in the first place. I’ve been hit with thousands of dollars of fees in the past few years. Any help would be great!
Every Month First Merit has been charging me overdraft fees.
Example: Today one of my checks went in the Bank which there were only four bills to be paid. When I checked my Account there was four(4) overdraft fee charges there for a total of $116.00. I am living on a fixed income and this has been happening to me every month for the past year or so. I know I have the money in the bank for every check I write so there should not be any overdraft fees. I keep very good track of my little Kibbles and Bits and I can’t afford for the Bank to keep taking my little Kibbles and Bits, I’m having a hard enough time trying to survive as it is without them constantly taking my money. PLEASE tell me what I have to do to be included in this Class Action Lawsuit. PLEASE contack me ASAP.
Thanking You In Advance
Dorothy L. Wright
965 Nome Ave.
Akron, Ohio 44320
P.S. I hope you can get some results so they can stop taking peoples money, we are having a hard enough time trying to survive on our little income as it is. PLEASE TRY TO HELP EVERYONE THAT IS HAVING THESE PROBLEMS WITH FIRST MERIT BANK.
My problem is the same as R a Bigalow.
I would like information on this class action law suit. I went to First Merit to get the forms today and they acted like they didn’t know what I was talking about. They wouldn’t give me any information. Thank you!
sh*t hole bank I’m done with them they nailed my son for over draft fees on a check they put holds on, let have it ! lets boycott this bank! they suck!
First Merit’s overdraft fees are ripping off middle-class people just for the fun of it. I had to cancel my checking account there because of this abusive pattern. I wish the whole corporation goes bankruptcy.
First Merit Painesville in the last two months has gotten 5 friends and family that I know with their overdrafts fees, the overdrafts range from $200.00 to $400.00 per person, the people they prey on are low income,and fixed incomes. Two of us at seperate times and different dates went inside the bank and deposited cash and they put a hold on our money for two bussiness days, and every transaction bounced and we were charged over draft fees. This bank needs to be shut down.
I TOO HAVE BEEN CHEATED BY FIRST MERIT BANK. WAIT UNTIL YOU LOOK AT YOUR STATEMENT FOR THIS MONTH.
I WAS ON VACATION .I NEEDED MONEY I WENT TO A CHASE BANK ATM. I OF COURSE WAS CHARGED A 2.00 FEE.
WHAT I AM OUTRAGED ABOUT IS I WAS BILLED BY IST MERIT.
2.00 FOR USING SOMEONE ELSES TERMINAL. HOW IS THIS LEGAL. I AM CLOSING MY CHECKING ACCOUNTING AND REFINANCING MY MORTGAGE
We recently just got hit with a staggering amount of overdraft fees by FirstMerit for their reordering of transactions, holds on transactions and holds on deposits. Their explanation to us when we inquired was that the government allows them to practice this way and the assistant manager started quoting me government regulation codes. Her suggestion was to not use our debit card at all because no matter what we do “they” will get us. Who the hell is “they” and how do we get involved with this suit. We make decent money and I am tired of being screwed by a bank that we have been with for 10 years.
You should not get overdrafts if you have the money in your account before you spend. It shouldnt matter what order things clear your account. Why should a bank be held responsible for your errors.
Money was in accounts … all of the money! Bank errors … but wont admit it… you must work there… so sorry for you..
They just took over 300 dollars of my social security check yesterday. All over one check they claim came in FIRST … which is a total lie. My landlord even went to bank .. talked to people on phones for us and did everything he could … we even went to bank and asked how much do we need to put it so you dont take any more of our money.. they wouldn’t even tell us. Please stop these banks from stealing peoples lively hood . This is our grocery money and gas money for my husband to get to work. God will get us threw this … please help others . Oh and we got a different checking account with a credit union. I was treated better in the minutes we were there than the 4 years with First Merit.
This week alone, I have been charged EIGHT overdraft fees! I have put in $460 to only have a $100 balance?!?!?
This bank is AWFUL !!! I NEVER had this problem before when it was Midwest Bank. They charge you fees when there is MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT!!!! BS BANK!!!!!
yep them son-of-a-*****es got me more than once too. Rearranging my debits & purchases over the weekend back in May, & just the other day too. So instead of 2 bad purchases which I have no problem paying (except for the BS $34 fee for a $7 purchase; grrr), they rearranged the purchases & nailed me with SEVEN overdrafts instead of 2!!!! I hope they rot in bankers hell for this very shady loophole.
I finally stopped banking with first merit bank because of their ridiculous overdraft fees and how they hold onto checks. One manager had the nerve to tell me that it was legal to hold a check for 3 days before paying. I am now a customer of Chase bank and have not had an overdraft fee for the 18 months I have been with them. In other words, I am saving about 1,000.00 a year by giving First Merit the boot. Next month, I will have paid off my car loan with First Merit. I will NEVER bank with them again.
I stupidly rolled over my 401k into an IRA with First Merit Financial. I read the paper work they gave me. It clearly states that when they receive an electronic transfer or a check on business day 1, they will use the money that night (short term cd I suppose) and the next business day it will go into my account. The roll over check from a very reputable fund was deposited into my IRA retirement account 7 days ago. The money is still not in my account. They’ve held it for 5 business days and 7 days total. So in other words the documents they provide are nothing but lies. Do not trust anything in writing that they may give you.
Yea, well get a load of this! I have been a customer with them since 1996 and in July they charged me 33, yes 33 overdraft fees….and wait it gets better, November 11 overdraft fees, and in December 19…..now that doesn’t even count what they’ve done for the rest of the year. I had a positive balance in my account in July while I was out of town, there was absolutely NOTHING pending and as soon as my unemployment check hit they took the ENTIRE thing for overdraft fees! I’ve never been so sick to my stomach as I have been the last few months over this bank! But the best part is on black friday i called b/c my husband’s check was to be deposited and it didn’t post until 9:30 in the morning, needless to say I missed all of the deals….then the following Thursday when I got paid my husband took money out for lunch and it showed we were negative $90….so I called and the woman told me “yes, your payroll deposit is here, it’s in the warehouse we are behind on manually posting. I’m like, wait, you MANUALLY post the checks?? And my deposit is direct so it should hit at midnight, she said yes ma’am, we deposit manually so your account will show negative, but you have the funds and you won’t be charged any fees even though it may still show negative until we get it posted.” So really??? After all the times I have called and questioned and complained and basically got told how I’m an idiot, it’s true, they are posting any little item to rack up the overdraft fees and the deposit after wards!! I’m furious and really hope they get what they have coming to them. We’ve switched banks to Huntington and the people are nicer and they aren’t out to rape the customers like First Merit!
Yes,something is going on because they just in a matter of a week charged us 5 $35.00 overdraft charges and I don’t know why,I’ve been trying to figure it out and I come up with a positive balance,only thing I can think of is they took one charge and then charged $35.00 to that then a couple of days later they took the same charge and said that came up negative.Something needs to be done.
I have been checking my account waiting for my tax return to get posted. Today I should be recieving 3 direct deppsits. I used my debit card yesterday morning, it was posted that evening on the second, after midnight, 3 am they posted check with the date of
the second because I get a check posted on the 3rd every month. This has happened several times.
Does anyone know if this case is still pending? If so, how do you become part of it? I have fought with First Merit over overdraft fees for a long time. In fact, as of yesterday, they charged me overdraft fees for 7 transactions that occurred over a week ago! There is no reason that it should take First Merit 7+ days to process debit transactions. I even have gone into my branch to make a deposit when it seemed that I was going to be slammed with fees. They told me that if I deposited $25, it would prevent any overdrafts. I made a deposit over that amount and did not use my debit card for 3 days. Then, just hours before my paycheck was directed deposited, they slammed me with 7 overdrafts!
First Merit is a joke. I too have fought with them on many occaisions over these overdraft fees. They have socked me for 20 overdraft fees this month alone and it is only the second month of the year to the tune of $700.00!! I too would like to get in on this lawsuit, someone has to stop these bastards from taking our hard earned money! I also know it gets nowhere trying to question them, depending on the branch you go to, you will get a different answer every time on the same question.
They charged me two $35.00 overdraft fees and I always have a positive balance in my checking account. This morning without notification or reason they closed my account. I tried calling customer service and they quickly became aggressive. I guess being a customer for 20 years doesn’t mean much to them.
How do I join this Class Action?
Please let me know how I join this class action. They CONSTANTLY hold any deposit longer than usual so they can skim my money from me. They pull the money from the bank that I am deposting from —then WITHOLD it from my account for up to 5 days before depositing.
Then, the day it is deposited—-they take ALL of my deposits and debits our PRIOR to adding money into my account.
How do I join the Class Action! I was thinking of closing my account But if I can recover some of the robbery fees I will leave it open. These companies need made accountable for all the gut wrenching feeling that there customers suffer after being robbed by the bank
I agree. I have had my pay roll taken by them two weeks in a row and I haven’t even used my card in over a week! They steal your money and blame you for it! I got a stomach ulcer from the stress of it. I missed work because of no gas money, which means I have even LESS money.
I am currently going through the same hassles. I *have* to have my payroll check directly deposited into my account and because they reorder transactions, I have gotten 14 overdrafts in the last 10 days. I haven’t even spent any money in 6 days… They have taken my last two pay checks completely. I can’t afford to drive to work. I need groceries and clean clothes. Hell, my emergency $20 had to go towards cat food because they wouldn’t understand why they were going hungry… I went and opened a new account at another bank today so that First Merit couldn’t possibly take all of my money this week. They are crooks that steal your money and then blame you for it. If there is any way for me to get my money back (and maybe extra for all the pain they have caused me) I am in.
My wife and I have seperate accounts at first merit and we both have had problems with them re-ordering transactions. I am willing to be part of this class action.
I was just charged $210 for what I know I was in the clear for, I can plainly see on the internet that my debits were reordered and every day they are reordered. My husband’s direct deposit goes in at 12:01 am every other Friday. This Friday morning he went to McDonald’s for breakfast and that debit shows up before his deposit…I’m willing to be in on this, too.
this has been going on for almost two years now and my guess is the law firm may have taken a payoff to just go away and its time for everyone to take this down another avenue, or reinstate another class action suit against them with a different firm. seeing as how the ceo has just gave himself a pay raise last april in spite of all the shareholders, i doubt paul greig got the message from us peasants and i would like my 1,000 or 2 back. either way youve got yet another supporter on this
I too have been taken for lots of dollars due to the way that debits are rearranged and dates changed. I am fighting with a bank manager now and would love to join this fight.
They just hit me with $70 in overdraft fee’s for two checks that cleared after I had already deposited funds to cover them. They held the deposited funds conveniently till after the fact. Switching to First Merit has been one of my most regretted banking decisions ever.
I am (soon to be was) a new customer. 8 overdrafts in 1 week. Finally after 2 trips to the bank and a phone call to Customer Service they at least explained how their system works. Debit card authorization/settlement date and the hunt for overdrafts. Technically the authorization puts funds on hold, but they are technically still in your bank until the funds are actually transferred. Even if you have the money in the account when they transfer it they still charge you 35.00. I have also experienced an auto pay come out on a direct deposit payday where they took the payment before they transacted the deposit in. There is no real disclosure on how they operate, but my last bank did not operate in this manner and the employees of the bank were less than cooperative at explaining. You can tell they know it’s a little dishonest and a bit of a witch hunt on the working poor. If I would have had proper explanation the first time I went in I would have never had a re-occurrence. My actual bank statement never goes negative. I work 2 jobs and I keep track of things with online tools. I hope this lawsuit brings about some changes.
How can I become part of this lawsuit?
I too have experienced the highest to lowest paid and has often accumulated overdraft fees as a result. Also the mobile banking does not update your account accurately, not listing all of your debits, the website is not accurate and debits that I made days before and actually were deducted out of my account at the time of purchase ends up being lumped together with other purchases made sometimes days later and shows the same date as those more current purchases. I get confused, because I believe that the charges have already been deducted when in fact they never were.
When is this expected to be settled. They’re STILL in the practice of reordering transactions. Checked yesterday just to see what the transaction history looked like and it showed the order in which the transactions occurred……this morning, the transaction history is reordered to show the highest debit transaction was posted first, on down to the lowest….which if I were, again, in a situation of low funds, I would have been hit with multiple nsf fees when in fact if left in actual order, there may be only one or two…….the only thing holding me to this bank right know is to make sure I’m included in the suit…….any idea on a timeline for settlement???