Holy moly took on a big bank . . . and won!

[Zamboni]

Power to the people!

Long story short, many years ago a big bank, let's call them Smells Cargo, grifted me by not letting me cancel the PMI on my mortgage at the earliest possible date outlined in my loan document. I was so incensed that I actually dug through the pile of closing documents, got my paperwork in order, kept a phone and letter log of correspondence with Smells Cargo, and sent it to a giant class action lawsuit firm. They didn't have something of this type going at that time, but it seemed to me that I probably wasn't the only one being ripped off, so I thought they might be interested. The firm called me up a few days later. I told them it was such peanuts I didn't really care that much, but the lawyer said other people were probably not as lucky as me in terms of thinking of it as peanuts, so I sent them copies of everything I had.

And then I promptly forgot about it.

Now, six year later, I get a check in the mail from Smells Cargo for the money they skimmed off of me for the extra PMI as well as an apology letter. I highly doubt this is a coincidence or that Smells Cargo suddenly grew a conscience. My faith in the legal profession is restored.

Power to the people!

[GreenToTheCore]

This. This is how the general population can help for the greater good: foresight and a little effort.
You probably did help out a lot of other people. 10k karma points to you.

[powskier]

I once had a bank, lets say Bells Margo, that promised me a certain interest rate and terms on a commercial loan and then magically the day before closing 5 weeks later it was  a half point higher and different terms. We went ahead and  closed the deal  to get it done and  then refied as soon as it was advantageous and practical for us with someone else. I hate that bank.
Good on you for tracking them down and making them pay.

[Zamboni]

I always worry about these little "automatic fee" items being where some of the big systematic grifting is happening. Insurance, management fees, retirement fund fees . . . the money gets deducted or charged, it's fairly opaque to me, and most of it is fairly beyond my circle of control, so I just hope that someone is watching over it all. Consumer protection is really important in the areas of banking, insurance, credit, etc.

Once upon a time, I switched employers & transferred "all" of the money from one retirement investment firm to another. Then I get a letter from the old employer's investment company a couple of years later with a "whoops, we shorted you about $50, so it's in your account now." This investment was with a large employer (a state), so I'm guessing someone else caught the systematic graft and they had to go back and make corrections at least for all of the state employees. Basically they reopened an account that I thought was closed with $50 and change in it now, and I haven't worked for the state in a decade. Annoying. Problem is, there's a $50 fee to roll money out . . . which is offensive just in principle in the first place. I'm just letting it ride until I'm 70 now. F*ckers.

Happy to have done my tiny part on this one thing. As momma would say: "you gotta watch 'em."

[DadJokes]

Congrats!

I too once banked with a similar bank, Fails Largo. When I went overseas to visit a nice desert with lots of angry people, I didn't know if I would have internet, so I added my father onto my account as a joint owner. He could then handle any bills that weren't automatic. When my father was unable to pay some of his own bills, due to a fire, Fails Largo took the money out of the account I jointly shared with my father and froze the account. I know any bank probably would have done the same, but I still hold Fails Largo responsible.

[Zamboni]

^That's a drag!

See, this is why I am so skeptical of any industry where someone is basically "holding your money for you." If they decide to take some of it, they just take the money and there is often little you can do about it, because even if it isn't all "very legal and very cool", they now have your money in their possession, so the burden of proof falls on you. 

I don't like to authorize any automatic recurring payments for this reason. I have a few that get billed to credit cards, figuring I can always dispute what it "owed" with the card company. It's easier to dispute an amount that is owed than what is already taken away.