That's banking in America in general. In my experience, the moment I needed to avoid having to pay fees (when I didn't have that much money on my bank account) I would get slammed with fees left, right and center. Most of the time I could get rid of the fee by talking to someone at the bank (Wells Fargo), but most people wouldn't do that unless they really needed it.

Now that I have a decent income and a healthy account, I haven't been charge a fee in years.

Basically, if you are poor you get screwed as much as possible.