Double check when changing any account

Hello, folks.

Regrettably, you have to double check anything you do when it comes to changing services on an account with any business. Especially with a bank!

At the end of November, I changed my monthly banking fees through the CIBC so obviously at the end of December I called in to check my monthly transactions and found that I was overcharged.

I immediately got on the phone with a banking representative to get it checked. The worst part is that when I changed my service, since I had too many debit transactions and I was trying to cut costs, I was on the phone with this representative for 2o minutes so you would expect that the change would be correct.

When I found out that I was charged a different amount at the end of December, I almost freaked but I kept my calm. At least, if caught right away, the problem could be corrected within a few days at the latest.

The answer wasn't very promising as I was told that even if I go to my own bank machine, the CIBC, the transactions get counted with my monthly transactions.

Well, I was pissed. Not because the transactions counted but when I set up the account with the representative at the end of November, I specifically asked her if the transacations at my own branch count as a debit transaction. She told me specifically that only debit transactions from a store or from another bank, are counted as my monthly transactions.

So here I am, pulling out my blackberry every time I make a transaction to record them to ensure I do not go over 25 transactions. Then at the end of the month, I am proud to see that I only had 18 and then to be told that the CIBC bank transactions count!!!

It makes you want to keep your money in that good old mattress so you don't have to worry about bank charges, transaction amounts and a whole lot of hidden fees and charges that banks love to pile on top of customers who are trying to make a living.

Read through the fine print people and make sure you ask every question in the book because you will get slammed for it. Heck, even if you do ask the right questions, in a few days call who ever you set up or change your account with and make sure it was done properly. Luckily, I received a credit but rightly so. Misrepresentation is a bad thing and I wish I took down the representative's name because she is going around spilling the wrong information and I feel sorry for any customer that talks to her about his or her account.

Keep your eyes and ears open.