Money for Nothing
Oct 11 '00
This would certainly be ideal for any banking customer. Free ATM usage and a totally free checking account. Most places will give you free checking if you get direct deposit, but that is in my Trustco bank review. This review is about the controversy over ATM fees, which I think is a remarkable thing to have here on Epinions, as I don't see how one person's opinion is going to change another person's mind, but I will try to show you why ATM fees are perfectly justified in most cases.
I used to work for Trustco bank at a branch that did not have an ATM. On state and county payday people used to complain constantly about this. I thought it would never happen, but they did eventually put an ATM in. The likely reason was that it would be cheaper than actually having to pay the teller to wait on all these people who wanted to get cash out of their accounts. Naturally if people with accounts from other banks want to use the Trustco machine, they have to pay. This customer is willing (on some level) to pay for the convenience of not having to go to his own bank to get the money out.
This is where people say, I should not have to pay to take my own money out. Well, what is in it for Trustco to give you a service for free? Are they your friend? Have you done them some kind of favor by taking money out of their machine, which requires a Trustco employee to reconcile
the cash taken out at some point? I have seen a case in California, in which a town tried to ban ATM fees. That might have gotten some town council members more votes in the next election, but the fact is they had no power to do it because the banks are regulated by the federal government. Since the banking lobby is much larger than the disgruntled ATM user lobby, fees are not likely to be capped.
Before I submit this opinion, or get disconnected by AOHell for no good reason, I will make my final analogy. When you are going home after work and you need to pick up some milk for the morning, where do you stop to get it? Probably not, the mega-store which can give you the best
price. You stop at the convenience store. You know they are going to charge you for forgetting to get enough milk the last time you went to the mega-store. There is little uproar over this gouging of an extra 50 cents to a dollar.
Some people might counter that argument by saying again that they should not have to pay for their money. Banks are a business like any other. They are a convenience too. If you want to get your paycheck all in cash, and send out your bills with money order, and bypass the bank, you have the freedom to do that. The ATM will tell you right up front that they are charging you. If you are willing to accept that, you have no reason to complain.
If you are getting charged to take money out from your own bank’s ATM, you should find another bank, as that is totally unfair. You bring your business to this bank, they should provide you with this service.
I refuse to pay ATM charges unless it is the most extreme of situations. I went with Trustco, because they have a ton of ATMs which will not charge me for taking my money out. A little planning will avert paying ATM charges. Stop paying for your money, but if you do, stop complaining about it.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
redsox75
|
|
Member: Drew
Location: Troy, NY
Reviews written: 331
Trusted by: 115 members
About Me:
Checking in on occasion, updating my page (for all my fans out there)
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.