Overdraft

One morning, I went to the bank. I knew I only had ₤5.49 left in my bank account. I know that the cheque I banked in yesterday have not cleared. But it as worth a try. I keyed in ₤20. And to my surprise, it the machine spit out ₤20. I took the money and my card and requested for a receipt. I checked the receipt, I had a balance of ₤11,135.49 in overdraft.
I immediately put my card back in the machine to check my balance again. What was stated really made my eyes popped.

Overdraft - ₤11,150.00
Balance Overdraft - ₤11,135.49
Last withdrawal- ₤20.00

Hmm, so it means that I have an overdraft of ₤11,000.00???!!! I didn't inform the bank, instead I went home to discuss with my housemates. They told me they have an overdraft of ₤1,150.00 We're all in our 3rd year of studies, which meant, someone in the bank did a mistake by adding an extra 0 in my overdraft facility.

I contemplated on whether to inform the bank. Thinking back, I knew I should have done it immediately, as at the end of the day, te overdraft has to be paid off upon starting work. And paid off 3 years after I graduate.

Instead, I bought a futon, a telly, festival and concert tickets, partied with my house mates and obviously some new clothes nd accessories....

After a month, I got scared. Ignoring my housemates advice, I went into the bank. Told them their mistake. Sat down (with a cup of tea- the bank manager was that nice), informed them that I should not have that much overdraft, and yes, I should not have spent unnecessarily. They were very calm and admitted their mistake. They made a deal with me. (At this point, I spent about ₤1500.00 from the overdraft), which is ₤350 more than the actual overdraft. Instead of asking back the ₤350 (which I obviously didnt have) immediately, they agreed to give me ₤1500.00 overdraft instead of the normal ₤1,150.00.

Luckily, I managed to sell off the futon and the telly, and after I graduated, I managed to get some money from the extra hours I put in for my part time work. Paid off the whole overdraft before I even started my career.

I was living on the edge for the last few months just to pay off the unnecessary purchase I did when I realised the bank made a mistake. My advice is, when you know the bank made a mistake, be sure to tell them earlier, and not use the money which you have to pay back in the end anyway. And if you think about it, I actually spent the whole of my "actual" overdraft facility within a month! How scary is that?!!!