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Australians are not accepting bank fees lying down, with more than one-third of respondents to a new consumer poll saying they have closed accounts because they were unhappy with the charges. A recent Reader's Digest survey conducted with 400 bank customers nationally found that more than two-thirds believe their bank cannot justify the fees they apply to their accounts. The research also found that banks are failing to communicate clearly to their customers about fees they charge. Almost half of the respondents said their bank had charged them a fee they did not know existed, and 29% claimed the bank charged a fee without telling them. One in three said they did not understand their fees. According to Reader's Digest researcher Diane Kavanagh, fees are the greatest source of irritation for bank customers. "In the past decade, banks have shut more than 2,100 branches and sacked 55,000 staff. Service is deteriorating, yet every time customers turn around there's another fee," she says. "This is enough to drive customers away from banks. More than a quarter of the people we interviewed said they would leave their bank tomorrow if nothing stood in their way." The research also showed that many customers are forced to chase their bank to correct errors that result in a charge to their account. Some 28% of respondents said they had been charged for a mistake made by their bank and, of these, half had to contact their bank more than once before the mistake was fixed.