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'Little guy' takes on a banking giant

Steve Woodin says he racked up about $1,300 in fees when Wachovia held up a deposit. He's not taking that lying down.

By ABHA BHATTARAI
Published October 12, 2006

	[Times photo: Abha Bhattarai]
	Steve Woodin, 38, of Oldsmar passes up no opportunity to get his message out about his gripe with Wachovia Bank. He has put it on his vehicles, in lots of fliers and on the Internet.

OLDSMAR - First came the Web site.

Then the bumper stickers on his three cars.

And after that, 26,000 neon green fliers.

But Steve Woodin says he's not stopping until Wachovia Bank returns $1,298.75.

The problem, the Oldsmar resident says, is quite simple. He deposited two checks at a Wachovia ATM at the beginning of September. Then, not knowing that his checks had been put on hold, he paid bills: mortgage, water, electricity, cable.

Now Woodin, president of Safety Services, is stuck with almost $1,300 in fees from 33 bounced checks and overdrafts.

"It's like Pac-Man," the 38-year-old said. "They just kept chewing away at my balance."

* * *

People have been using the Internet to press consumer complaints for years.

But Woodin has taken his campaign to an unusually high level.

He passes out fliers while he's traveling for business: "at every stop in Sebring, Avon Park, Plant City and New Port Richey."

When he's on jury duty: before, after and during lunch. During a birthday outing for his son: 300 fliers in the Universal Studios parking garage. Sometimes he hires "hit men" - his sons and their Little League friends - to help.

"It's my way of saying I'm not going to lay down and take it," Woodin said. "I want to get the word out and I want to do it legally."

Wachovia spokeswoman Carol Clarke said the company's ATMs notify customers if checks are being held.

"A deposit hold notification appears on the ATM screen, and the customer must agree before they can continue with the deposit," she said.

Woodin said he wasn't notified: "There was never a pop-up screen."

Woodin said his online balance didn't show any holds.

In the six years he's been banking at Wachovia, Woodin said he's always received a letter or phone call when his deposits were being held.

"This time, there was nothing," he said. "How was I supposed to know it'd be any different?"

One night, he sat down and registered a domain name: www.wachoviabank-sucks.com. It cost $20.

(A similar domain name, without "bank" in it, had already been registered.)

His daily entries are peppered with comments about baseball and jury duty, but mostly he writes about David vs. Goliath, right vs. wrong, Woodin vs. Wachovia.

Sept. 11: "I WILL NOT LET THIS GOLIATH STOMP OUT THIS 'LITTLE GUY'! ... I am not going to let this '500 pound gorilla' bring me down."

Sept. 26: "WACHOVIA, when are you going to realize that we can end this little 'project' if you would simply do the right thing?? Is airing your dirty laundry not bothering you?"

Sept. 29: "GOLIATH, watch your back, DAVID is coming for you!"

Woodin updates his blog nearly every day. And the Web site hits roll in. More than 2,000 after distributing 9,000 fliers at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. An extra 1,200 after sticking decals on company cars.

By this week, the site had recorded about 40,000 hits. More than 1,200 from Wachovia's Web domain, Woodin says proudly. Some from Iraq, too.

* * *

His wife, Teresa, thinks he's crazy.

"When he handed me a flier, I just thought, 'Oh gosh, what has he done now?' " she said.

"I just wish I didn't have to drive my 'Wachovia Sucks' truck to church," the 41-year-old said.

Her husband is just glad people are noticing.

"I'm not afraid of being sued, I'm not afraid of attorneys or the court system," Woodin said. "But if I get results this way, I'll know it's because I put pressure on them. That'll be the sweetest victory."

Abha Bhattarai can be reached at (727) 892-2376.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 16:02:07]