Catching Flies With Honey

As I have mentioned, we recently got hit by our bank with 3 insufficient funds fees of $25 each, for a total of $75!!! Talk about stupid tax! All because we weren't paying attention.

So, my husband told me I should call the bank and see about getting these charges reversed. Well, I am a big chicken who avoids confrontation whenever possible. So, I asserted that he should be the one to call.

When it comes to our finances my husband and I each have our own individual strengths. I am good at shopping at discount stores, using coupons, getting price adjustments, and returning unwanted items. My husband finds most of these activities tedious and embarrassing. My husband is good at negotiating the best deals on purchases and services. I am horrible at these kinds of activities. In the end I convinced my husband that we were more likely to have a positive outcome if he made the call.

So, my husband made the call. And like the saying "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar", he was very nice and polite. He explained that we have been a customer of the bank for over 20 years and do not have a history of insufficient funds errors. He very nicely requested that the charges be reversed. Our hope was to get at least one of the charges taken away, but to our surprise the bank agreed to reverse all 3 charges! $75 put back into our account!

Now that was a phone call worth making!