We’ve all been hit with them before.

You look at your financial statement and are surprised to see some kind of fee you didn’t expect.

The most common culprit is the overdraft fee, in which one withdraws more money than your account contains.

When faced with bank or credit card fees, there are things that you can do to try and get them reversed.

Remember, banks want to keep you as a customer

• Stay calm and collected. No one likes to deal with an unpleasant stress-ball. You want the customer service rep to help you!
• Feign ignorance. This is the approach I take most often. They will often waive the fee if it’s your first time.
• Escalate to manager. The manager will do things that other customer service reps won’t. If the conversation is not going the way you want, ask to speak with their supervisor.

Over the years, I’ve had about 90% success using the above methods.