Here's a testimonial from a guy I know personally. We'll just call him Joel.
I used to live in Columbia, Missouri, where I dealt with a bank I won't name. Although I sometimes wrote a hot check, I always kept an eye on my checking account balance. In one instance, I noticed that the bank had taken out about $75 worth of overdraft charges for checks that bounced when I actually had money in the account. It was clearly a bank error, which the bank refused to admit. I fought and fought with them, trying to get the charge removed, but they wouldn't budge.
The time came when life led me to move out of the state, so I went to the bank one last time. When they again refused to let me out of the charges, I just decided to pay the money that I didn't owe so I could close my account. When I got to my destination, five states and 24 hours away, I tried to open a new checking account. This is when I learned that my previous bank had posted my name on ChexSystems' blacklist. How embarrassing!! I called the bank, who told me I was on the database because I owed money. I made the mistake of screaming and cussing about how I had paid the charges I didn't owe, and that I had to open a checking account at my new home. They told me they would take me off the list...
The next couple of days, I tried opening a new account again, but to no avail. The banks I was talking to said that ChexSystems told them I had written too many bad checks at my old bank. Apparently, my cussing and screaming did nothing but irritate my previous bank, who had changed my blacklist status to something worse than it was before. I also found out that if I failed to convince the bank itself to remove me from the list, then I would be on it for five full years.
To make a long story short, I am still on the ChexSystems database, I still don't have a checking account, and it is an absolute nightmare. I have to use my little brother's checking account just to cash my payroll checks. It's also done a number on my credit rating. I can't even buy a car in this state. My advice to everyone: stay away from any bank that utilizes ChexSystems.
Thanks for listening,
Joel
Wow, great story. Thanks, Joel!