Before this weekend, I had heard horror stories of bank fee hell - that endless cycle of charges that occur monthly because your balance drops below a minimum - but it had never happened to me. My primary checking account has no minimum.

About a year ago, I decided to open a secondary checking account. The terms were no minimums for a year. I went for it.

Fast forward a year and suddenly in January, there’s a charge for $12 on my statement. No warning… Damn. I completely forgot. So, I hop online and set up a transfer to make sure my account has sufficient funds for next month.

For the next week, I try to transfer money into my account and see my transfer status is “error.” Not sure what that means, I ignore it for another week. Bad move!

February 9, I end up with another $12 charge which takes my balance below $0 - ouch! Guess that means that none of my 5 attempts to transfer money went through - this can’t just be a technical glitch on their site, right? So I call the number listed online.

Apparently because I haven’t used the account in a few months, the bank changed its status to ‘limited’ which means I can’t transfer money into it. Luckily, my customer service rep is extremely helpful, changes my status back to ‘normal’, refunds my Feb $12 charge, and transfers sufficient funds from my other account to make sure my balance is over the minimum. Problem solved… or so I think.

March 9, another $12 charge shows up on my account. This has got to be a mistake. So, I call customer service. This time, my rep isn’t nearly so helpful. She explains that because I was below my minimum balance at the beginning of the cycle - from Feb 9 to Feb 13 when I finally was able to sort things out with the previous customer service rep - I’m required to pay the fee. You’ve got to be kidding! Because the bank wouldn’t let me transfer funds into my account, I’m yet again being penalized… and since I wasn’t expecting yet another charge, it’s taken my back below the minimum balance - setting up yet another $12 charge for next month… No, there’s nothing she can do. Can I close the account? Not over the phone.

Determined to stop bleeding money, I head over to my local branch to close the account before I’m charged the $12 April fee that’s a given at this point. Face-to-face, I explain that I have no choice but to close my account before the next billing cycle. My rep completely understands - he’s seen others who just couldn’t catch up with their monthly service fees. And he’s willing to do what he can to help me keep the account open. Ten minutes later, I walk out of the bank with no minimum checking for another year - and have my March charge refunded!

So, a couple of takeaways here:

1) Make sure you know when the “no minimum” promo ends and have sufficient funds in it ahead of time. Don’t assume your bank will remind you.

2) Understand that minimum = absolute. If you’re under it for even a minute, it’s an excuse for the bank to charge you.

3) While it may be easier to send an email or pick up the phone, talking to someone face-to-face at your local branch will probably end with a more favorable outcome.