Most of us have had weird experiences with financial institutions. What's your story?

[MindPilot]

Here's mine

After First Interstate Bank took over San Diego Trust and Savings, I never was able to reconcile my checkbook. So I waited for all my outstanding checks to come in and went into the bank to close all my accounts. As it turned out, the bank's definition of "all" was slightly different than mine. I was unaware they had failed to close the overdraft protection account, a five hundred dollar credit line to guard against bounced checks.

About eighteen months later, I begin receiving dunning letters and phone messages from First Interstate. When I finally got to talk to a real person, I became involved in the most bizarre conversation I've ever had that didn't involve intoxicants. (I'm not making this up!)

FI: "You need to make a payment right away to avoid collection proceedings."

Me: "I'm just curious here. Does it always take you a year and a half to decide some one is late with a payment?"

FI: "What do you mean?"

Me: "I mean I haven't been anywhere near your bank for 18 months. If I failed to make a payment, wouldn't you have notified me oh, say, 17 months ago?"

FI: "But you're only late this month."

Me: "I want to be very clear on this: I have made no deposits, payments, withdrawals or any other transactions with First Interstate since I closed my accounts 18 months ago."

FI: "Well, obviously somebody has been making the payments for you."

Me "Who?"

FI: "I don't know, a family member, or maybe your wife?"

Me: "I'm not married, I live alone, and have no family within a couple of thousand miles of here."

FI: "Well, sir, SOMEBODY is making those payments!"

Me:" So, you're telling me that somebody I don't know is going to a bank I don't do business with, making payments on an account I don't have, and not telling me about it?"

FI: "Yes!"

Turns out the bank's system automatically debited the checking account to pay the overdraft account. If there was no money in the checking account, the system transferred $25 from the overdraft account to the checking account, then made a payment essentially paying itself. What the system DIDN'T do was verify if the checking account it debited actually existed! Finally the overdraft account hit its limit and when it could no longer pay itself, the dunning began.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. That is an amazing story!

Did you get your money back? How could they transfer money to a non-existent account? Didn't you get any statements that showed that the overdraft protection account stilll existed? (Not questioning your story - but if they didn't send out statements showing that account, it's even weirder.)

[MindPilot]

6. That's what is so weird about it -- there was no money

It was a series of automatic transactions against an account that was closed and their system had a flaw that didn't flag that as an exception.

What is really bothersome is--from an accounting standpoint--what happens to that "money" that exists in only half a transaction? It is no surprise there are problems in the banking industry.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. I just got it - it was a credit line, not actual money that you had deposited.

Wow! I can't fathom how a bank could deposit money into non-existent accounts. What if the account still existed, but the NAME on the account was changed by some diabolical embezzling insider?

[Warpy]

2. It's downright Kafkaesque!

which is why I try to keep everything zero frills and check my balances online often enough not to need overdraft protection.

At least you didn't turn up a case of identity theft, something that could ruin a lot of your days and nights over the next few months, just a feedback loop somewhere in the bowels of the bank's computer system.

I hope you managed to clear it up and they never dun you again.

[Echo In Light]

3. Several ys ago after receiving a very healthy workers comp lawsuit settlement...

...I was denied a small loan ($1500 that I wanted to pay off immediately as a way of building credit) at the small town bank we've used for yrs, even after depositing nearly $40,000 into our savings account there. No shit. The yuppie fuck behind the desk cited my lack of credit history and collateral.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Many years ago, I did business with a large bank

that has since been gobbled and shit out by at least 10 other big banks--and I don't remember the name anymore.
I was moving, I reconciled my account and went to close it.
The person behind the window would NOT close it. Stated that it "needed to sit" for a couple of weeks until all the checks cleared.
I told them that my checks were all accounted for and there shouldn't be any further charges, and anyway, if there were, the merchants would most likely prosecute me for writing hot checks.
Long story short, I took all of my money out anyway, no more checks went through.
However, the next billing month rolled around (happened about 10 days later) and they took the fee out.
Since there was no money in the bank, they overdrew my account.
I called and told them that I tried to close it--they said they had no record of it.
I had to clear up the charges now before I could close it.
So, I ignored it (I was only 18 and didn't understand the system).
Anyway, the next billing month comes and there was no money in the bank, they charged me another overdraft fee.
Only this time, they reached into my account and sent back a check that was previously paid and took their fees out of it.
Added ANOTHER overdraft charge to the bank and NOW, one to the merchant.
I contacted the DA about this, he told me they were well within their rights to do this.
Well, fuck me running. I had no idea they could send back a check that was already paid.
Long story short, I ended up paying about an additional $100 bucks (not including time and energy) to fix this mess.

[MindPilot]

8. They "un-paid" a check that had been cleared for over 30 days?

And that's legal?!

Yeah, fuck me runnin' is right.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Yep.

They surely did. I had never heard of such a thing.

[WCIL]

5. My son banked with Bank of America

Two years ago he went on a high school trip to Spain. He did all the right things, alerting them that he would be in Spain and Gibraltar on which dates and was told that everything was fine. Two days into his trip, we got a recorded message at the house saying that his account was suspended due to suspicious activity, and that he needed to contact the bank right away. Of course they wouldn't deal with me, and it took me a long time to locate him to let him know of the situation. When he got in touch with them to tell them that he had alerted them he would be out of the country, their reply was "Oh, you sure did! Sorry about that!". It took them days to activate his debit card again, and he had to borrow from other poor students just to eat.

He closed his debit and savings accounts, and a month or so later he got an overdraft notice from each one. He went to the bank breathing fire only to be told that someone hadn't closed his accounts "all the way". He was being debited for not having a minimum amount in each account. The teller asked him who had closed them for him, and he said "It was you". She said, "Oops! Sorry about that!". They were very concerned about why he was closing his accounts when Bank of America provides such excellent customer service.

Bank of America sucks!

[SidDithers]

10. Canadian banks aren't much better...

My wife and I had been long time customers at the Royal Bank of Canada, somewhere between 15 and 20 years, and had a mortgage, chequing and savings accounts, line of credit and a credit card with them. Time comes up for mortgage renewal, and we're prepared to sign up for another 5 years, on a balance of ~ $140,000. We negotiate and agree on a very competitive interest rate and are getting ready to sign the papers when we're informed of the $250 administrative fee to process the mortgage paperwork. Now, having a friend as a bank manager, I knew that the admin fee is gets waived all the time, especially for existing customers, so I casually mention that we want the $250 fee waived.

"Oh no, sir. I'm afraid we can't do that. We've got orders from head office not to waive any fees"

Hmm. So, I warn them that it's not really the amount, but the principle, and by not waiving the fee, they're going to cause me to shop around. I mean, we're renewing with them. It's not like we're brand new customers with no history.

So, we go away, and get a phone call the next day that they're prepared to cut the fee in half, down to $125.

"That's the best you can do?" I ask.

"Yes, sir."

Later that day, we walked into the Bank of Montreal. Asked them if they wanted us as a new customer, met with the Asst. Manager, and got the same terms on a mortgage, a chequing and a savings account, a credit card, and a secured line of credit - all without any administration fees.

When RBC called the next day to follow up, we told them we'd be in to close our accounts at the end of the month.

"How about if we give you free banking for a year?" they asked. Too little, too late.

The lost out on tens of thousands of dollars in interest, for a measly $125.

Sometimes, I think banks make money in spite of themselves.

Sid

[mnhtnbb]

11. Our story started when our house burned down.

The loan had been sold and the letter telling me where to send the payments was sitting on my desk--which burned up. They had also sent a copy of the letter to the insurance company, so we managed to make
our next payment without being charged a late fee.

That's when the fun started. Of course, we were still responsible for making payments--even though the house was destroyed. The insurance company tried to buy us off with a check that was 2/3 of what we were insured for, which wouldn't begin to pay off the loan. We had to hire a public adjuster to help us fight the insurance company. The PA told us to send the insurance check to the lender and tell them we wanted
the interest only loan payments adjusted, based upon the reduction in the loan.

To find out where I should send it, I called. I got India. They told me where to send the check.
I did. The next month we got a statement showing the check had been received (they'd cashed it) but our loan hadn't been reduced! I called and got India again. I told them the problem and they had no idea
what to do. I asked to talk to someone in the US. They gave me a number. I called and got voice mail.
I left a message. They called back and left me a different number. I called it and got India again!

Damn! I sent an e-mail and got a response telling me to call yet another number. I called it
and was told they wouldn't reduce the loan until it was all paid off. I told them they couldn't do that.
They said, 'yes we can.' I called our real estate attorney and requested her help. She called the lender
and they ignored her call. She wrote them a letter telling them that under NC law, they were required to reduce the loan amount and give us a new payment. They ignored her.

It's now December and our house burned down in August. I'm still making full payments. I decide
to send them a letter saying we're making NO MORE PAYMENTS until they acknowledge our request and adjust
our payment to reflect the huge check they've had from the insurance company. I reiterate that we are
not asking them to accept this as a total payoff; we just want a new payment until we can get the insurance company to pay us what we are owed. I get no response to my letter.

Then I discovered that the NC Commissioner of Banks had regulatory authority over lenders
and I could file a complaint. I did. They sent a letter to the lender asking them to respond
within 10 days with their story. I get a copy of the letter. Several days later I get a phone
call from someone at the lender saying, "gee, we don't know what happened. Of course we're going
to fix this" which the person proceeded to do. By now it's February and they finally adjust our payment, retroactively, and within a couple more weeks the insurance company coughs up the rest of what we're owed
so that the entire loan can be paid off.

At one point I was so frustrated I was ready to tell the insurance company and the lender they could fight
over the burned out house and figure out who was owed what. If I'd done that, though, they probably would
have foreclosed and sold the lot for a lot less than it was worth and we'd have gotten nothing.

What a royal pain.