As you may recall, Val has a checkered relationship with her bank. And credit card company. And a certain Oklahoma casino. All through no fault of her own, but nonsense on their part. Except maybe the casino. I'll own that one. I knew I was breaking an unwritten rule.
Anyhoo... after a visit to my bank today, I was mad. Not merely mad, but really most sincerely mad! Maybe that's not the best reference to my mood. I'm no wicked witch. Really.
Anyhoo... I went to the bank to deposit money for The Pony. He's had an account there for five years. It's a student account, which has to have an adult name on it, which is ME! Even though The Pony himself is an adult now, he's not all that concerned with updating things. Unlike Genius, who got me out of his financial records toot-sweet!
Anyhoo... I had filled out the deposit slip. The Pony has never had checks or deposit slips, so I used the counter slips which the bank gives out. All they require is the last 4 digits of the account, plus the name(s), and the amount. I listed The Pony first on the name line, then myself, so they'd know I wasn't trying to pull a fast one and deposit in somebody else's account (like they denied me a deposit for Genius).
Anyhoo... I saw that the first two drive-thru lanes were occupied, so I pulled into the empty one on the right side by the alley. All three lanes had the green light on. I put the deposit in the canister, set it back in the tubey alcove, and hit send. Hit send. Hit send. THAT DANG THING DIDN'T WORK! It wouldn't shoot the canister through the tube. All it did was close the clear door and open the clear door. I gave up after the fifth try. I took the money out, and drove around to Lane 2.
While I waited behind two other vehicles, I saw a guy in a white sedan pull into Lane 3. He reached out to push that SEND button (I'm assuming) FIVE TIMES. Then he drove off. Left the premises. I guess his banking issue wasn't all that pressing.
When I got my turn, the canister shot into the tube like champ. The Teller greeted me immediately. I told her I was making that deposit, and wanted two rolls of pennies (my magical elixir doesn't pay correct change for itself, you know). I had included such a note in there, with a dollar.
It only took a few minutes for the canister to shoot back out, containing my receipt and two rolls of pennies. I set the pennies on T-Hoe's console, and tucked the receipt into my purse, and drove off, allowing the line behind me to move forward.
When I got home. I set out the receipt for The Pony. I looked to see if the balance was on there. He had a discrepancy with his time card and his first paycheck, and he might want to see if it had been fixed. I noticed that the bank does NOT put a balance on the printed receipt, unlike our credit union. But I also saw something much more horrifying.
THE MONEY WAS DEPOSITED IN THE WRONG ACCOUNT!
That's right. The Pony's money was deposited in MY account! The account numbers are not even similar. Hick's name is listed first on our account. It is NOT similar to The Pony's name. I guess the Teller just pulled up the last name, and chose the most active account. You know, because why should she actually go by the account that's written on the deposit slip? Maybe she can also decide what AMOUNT to deposit, since they're so free and easy with their rules!
WHY CAN NOBODY DO THEIR FREAKIN' JOB RIGHT THESE DAYS?
As you might imagine, Val was HOT TO TROT! And not in a good way, but in a seething anger kind of way, popularized by my best old ex-teaching buddy Mabel.
The time was 3:45. No time to go back. It's 30 minutes each way, and they close at 4:30. I'm pretty sure they PRETEND to be closed at 4:00. So I opened up HIPPIE to look up the phone number, which is conveniently not on the receipts. HIPPIE is not a fast starter.
I think the gal who answered the phone must have been Teller. She said she remembered, yes, that I was there about an hour previous, and deposited that amount of money. An error? Oh. Well. We'd get that fixed right up, after bringing up the account.
She was polite, in the manner of one who is desperate to appease you, and get you off the phone.
I will be calling the automated line to check on both accounts when I'm done typing this tale. Yes, calling was quicker than driving there again to straighten out the matter. But do I REALLY trust that they did this transaction right over the phone, when they didn't while I was there in (sort-of) person?
It didn't endear me to them any better, considering that while I had to take the time for this, my Burger King Whopper and fries were getting colder by the minute. Okay. It was 86 degrees here. So maybe they didn't actually get cold. But they got luke-cooler than necessary.
Good thing I don't live in Jersey. It would be hard to provide a thumb print over the phone to deposit money in a half-mine account...
Your last line just ruined my comment! Is this a Wells Fargo?
ReplyDeleteNot a Wells Fargo. I don't think we have them around here. I guess our rural thumbs are up to their standards.
DeleteOur bank is also local, not a big name bank. We have three accounts there. A savings, a personal checking and a business checking. They all have different account numbers, as they should. Like you, I wonder why in this age of numbers on deposit slips that they can't seem to do their job! I mean it IS their job to put the money into the correct account! Imagine shopping with your personal debit card, only to find that you have insufficient funds to pay for your purchases because they put the money, ALL of the money in the business account for about 3 months. HeWho runs errands didn't catch it because they just stamp the deposit slip and put it in the drawer for him and it then flutters listlessly through the contents of his truck. I rarely go shopping for myself during the season and that is how we finally noticed it. Very bad for tax purposes, making it look like we made more money in the business than we did. We do pay ourselves since we do the work. I offered to go take care of it, but HeWho says I am too confrontational.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't look at the deposit receipts. Good thing I did this time! The Pony would have been short, and I would have been rolling in dough!
DeleteThey literally have ONE JOB, which is moving around numbers. It doesn't require analysis. There's no gray area. Just match up numbers, and type in numbers correctly.
You are exactly the person who should deal with it! They would remember to be more careful next time, because that would be an unforgettable confrontation.
I think you need to light a fire under The Pony and get him to do the right thing with his account, by transferring it to himself as an adult and get your name off it. And what's all this business about not being able to deposit to another account that isn't yours? That's ridiculous, they (the bank) shouldn't care where you put your money. Maybe they would prefer you use a transfer slip instead of a deposit slip if you are only moving money from one account to another, but if you are depositing cash, they should have no say in it.
ReplyDeleteThe Pony has been working 11-hour days. No time for banking. So I don't mind using my vast amount of FREE time to make an occasional deposit for him. I think he might have to go in person to get me off his account. Genius did.
DeleteI haven't seen a transfer slip. I WASN'T moving money!!! They were, after their error! The Pony had some cash from casino money, which didn't need to be lying around. I thought it would be simple to deposit in his account.
I don't know why they wouldn't take it for Genius that time. I guess maybe it could be a way of laundering money? I don't know how that works, but they're awful questiony if I deposit a lot of cash in my own account. "What did you do, sell a car or something?" To which I say, "Or something."
I have not seen the cannister style deposit since I lived in Trinidad, so this is making me nostalgic. I very rarely even deposit at the bank unless it is a lot of cash, everything is done via my phone. But I am Canadian, and do it a little differently. But I definitely would be annoyed, since his name is the first name you wrote to show whose account it is for, smh.
ReplyDeleteWe do things the old-fashioned way around here! I don't know why they want the name and account number on the deposit slip, if they're not going to use it. Just a last name should be sufficient, if they're going to arbitrarily pick which account to put it in.
DeleteWell at least they are keeping the money in the family. And you don't need the bank teller snooping about how much, where and why you got the dough. I guess Uncle Sam wants to know!
ReplyDeleteYes, it could have gone to some random account, and I'd probably have to prove that cash was mine.
DeleteI think there's a limit where they HAVE to ask about big deposits. And I don't think it's all that big. Otherwise, I don't think my finances should be a topic for small talk. Let's stick to the weather.