Chase Bank Can Suck it

I’m unemployed. Usually this doesn’t mean much because I’m freelance on commercials and have many weeks with no work. But I haven’t worked since December and it’s really annoying, at best. But that’s not the problem today. The problem today is J.P. Morgan Chase bank.
Or, as I affectionately call them, the devil. I get that we’re in an economic recession, which by the way, means nothing to me. I’m always in some sort of economic recession only everyone’s in my situation now and it’s not as lonely here. But “the devil” keeps taking what little money I do have. I understand banking practices and know it’s a system built on years of careful honing of greed and avarice. Not a wall to break down overnight, but when you don’t have any money, it becomes that much apparent.
In the last few months I’ve paid Chase over $600 in overdraft fees. That’s with the credit card that’s supposed to pay for those fees which charges 27% or so right now. I transferred my last CD into my checking account to cover some bills and it seems the more money I put in the more money they take out. Now, I’m not going to say I’m all that great with the account balancing business, but I’ve been attempting to be precise about it lately. I use chase.com to monitor my purchases and have been frugal and cognizant of my purchases to the last penny. Some automatic deductions do still throw me for a loop, like the gym and my non-Chase savings account, but I usually keep up.
But today was the breaking point. I’d walked around with $10 in my pocket all weekend to ensure all transactions were covered and still got charged. Online the payments were pending and deducted from my available balance, I made a deposit 2 days ago and today, they’ve taken $105 in fees.
I was furious. I called and was told I’d already gotten my yearly courtesy refund and I refused to take that as the final decision and spoke to a manager. She explained to me while yelling over my yelling that I need to make some changes in my life and some sacrifices. WHAT? I then went on to rail about no job, no money and giving one-fourth of my money to Chase every week. I lowered my voice, apologized for my tone chalking it up to frustration and requested another refund. I informed the manager that I was going to request a refund every time I believed I was in the right. I told her that even if they didn’t give it to me, I was going to ask for one when the time between the bank charging me overdraft fees, a merchant presenting a receipt, and a check clearing was a matter of hours because none of these things are in my control. I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do as much as I can short of having a combined balance of $5000. That’s just not in the cards for me right now. I wish it were because it’s very expensive not having any money.
Eventually, we wore each other down. She gave me back most of my money and I changed my account to one that doesn’t charge a service fee and fits my current needs better. What I learned was that in these “tough economic times” it’s expected that people will give up and be too embarrassed, ashamed and frustrated to stand up for themselves financially. Especially to a bank. That’s what they’re counting on. So don’t give up. Keep calling and asking for what you want. They can only say no and everyone’s not going to say no. Chase has enough money. I can’t afford to keep it afloat and neither can a lot of people. We have to stand up for ourselves and not be embarrassed about not having the money we used to have. Hell, the banks had to ask for money they didn’t earn. I’m just asking to hold on to the little money I have.