"It's not my fault the check was returned, it's NABABNA's."

Yesterday I took a call from a banker who told me his customer was very upset and wanted to speak to a supervisor. This is nothing new, I'm used to this. And then I was introduced to Ms. Ima Victim (IV).

DM: Thank you for holding, Ms. Victim. My name is Dana and I am a supervisor. John explained to me that you are calling about the insufficient funds charge (IFC) on your account?
IV: Yes.
DM: How may I help you with this today?
IV: You charged me twice.
DM: Yes, I am showing that you have had two seperate IFC's on your account.
IV: You can't do that!
DM: I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand. I show that your account became overdrawn and that caused checks to be returned.
IV: I know that. That's not the problem.
DM: Why don't you explain the problem to me?
IV: It's the same check! You're charging me an IFC for the same check! You can't do that.
DM: Ah, I see the situation. I show that check 1234 presented to your account on August 2nd and the funds were not available for it. The check was returned and later presented again on August 8th. The funds were still not available for the check and so it was returned to the merchant a 2nd time. You were assessed an IFC for each item.
IV: It's the same check number! It's illegal for you to charge me twice for the same check!
DM: Unfortunately, that's not the case, Ms. Victim. If a check is presented to your account and returned for insufficent funds, there will be a fee assessed to the account, regardless of the check number.
IV: Well, why did you let it go through again?
DM: Actually, the merchant would have submitted the item for payment, Ms. Victim.
IV: You can't do this! Ever since I started banking with NABABNA, I've had problems. I wouldn't have left Bank of Bank but I moved. You people suck. (Again with the you people)
DM: I'm sorry you've been having problems. Let's take a look at the account. Has everything come through your account for the right dollar amount?
IV: Yes.
DM: When you wrote the check, did you have funds available in your account?
IV: No.
DM: So you wrote the check, knowing you didn't have funds in your account and yet, you don't think you should be charged for the IFC?
IV: No, you're not listening. I should pay one of them but not both because it's the same check number! You can't charge me twice for the same check. I'll only pay one charge.
DM: Actually, charges are not assessed based on check number, they are based on each item. If an item debits your account multiple times and there are not funds available, you can receive either overdraft fees or IFCs.
IV: I'm going to close my account if you don't reverse this charge!
DM: I'm sorry, Ms. Victim, I am unable to reverse the charge, it is not the result of bank error.

So let's review, shall we? I looked at Ms. Victim's account. Yesterday was August 12th. The account was opened on July 5th. Her account had been opened barely a month and she had an item returned not once, but twice. And who's fault was it? Was it Ms. Victim's fault because she wrote a check when she didn't have any money? Of course not. It was NABABNA's fault because we charged her for her error. Evil NABABNA. Scourge of the Seven Seas.

This is what is wrong with our country. You have people who overdraw their account and then blame everyone but themselves. I come across websites everyday where someone is complaining about whatever bank they bank with because they screwed up and the mean old bank wants to charge them for it. Well, hello, people. You made a mistake. Learn to accept the consequences. It's not like we're saying "Hey, everytime you overdraw your account, we are going to have you flogged." You signed an agreement saying you would be responsible. You weren't. End of story.