Checking Account Withdrawals and Overdraft Fees

[bigfreak]

first of all i am in ohio. heres the deal. i started out with a whopping amount of $1.36 in my checking account. i recently deposited a couple of checks and then withdrew the same amount of money a couple of days apart. i deposited ($80) the first on a friday night then withdrew the same amount. over the weekend i looked at my account online and it was fine. then the next monday i did the same thing. deposit ($60) then withdrew the same amount. after i withdrew the money i looked at my receipt and saw i was now negative $38. we depsoited $40 back into the account. when i got home that night i looked at my account and it showed that the bank was holding $80. two days later on wednesday morning i looked once again online and the deposits and the withdrawls had cleared. then i looked later in the afternoon and there was an overdraft fee. i had no checks out either.
i have been doing this for a number of years now. this is the first time that i remember them holding any amount of money.
i guess my question is how can they allow me to me withdraw money if it is not available and then charge me an overdraft fee. is this legal?

thank you in advance

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your online account probably would have showed two figures - your actual balance (pending the clearance of the checks) and your available balance (the maximum amount available to you before the checks clear). You withdrew money that was not yet available in your account, and thus suffered an overdraft.

If in fact you have done this in the past without incurring overdraft fees, talk to your bank to see if (a) they've changed their policies and (b) if they'll forgive the fees this time.

[bigfreak]

the bank will not tell me why the first check was held. i have never had them hold a depsoit (besides when the deposit amount is over $100)
i thinks its a joke that they can make it where you are able to withdraw money when it is not available. and also to charge you when it happens. also, i put the money immediately back into the account. i could understand if i had just left the account negative.
i guess its just time to leave us bank.
i saw that i only had $20 or so available balance after i got home on monday after making the second deposit/withdraw.
plain and simple, if the money is not available. it should not be able to be withdrawn.

thank you kind sir for the reply.