Bank won't let me access safe deposit box

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m just wondering how common this is, and how others would react.

I’ve made two trips to my bank because I needed to get something out of
my safe deposit box. Both times they couldn’t open the box because their master guard key didn’t work.

My own key works fine; it’s theirs that’s broken.

I’ve been waiting two months, and the problem still hasn’t been corrected.
If they can’t get it fixed, I’ll have to schedule an appointment three weeks in advance
to have the box drilled open.

Anyone else ever run into inconvenience? :mad:

2

I would expect that they forego charging you fees on it while it was inaccessible. But knowing banks, I’m sure they are more than happy to keep ripping you off as long as possible.

3

You’d think the bank would fix their key if that’s the problem since that would affect hundreds if not thousands of customers.

4

You need to escalate to the branch manager level.

5

That’s what I’m wondering; isn’t the same bank master key used (along with the unique customer key) to open each safe deposit box in the branch? So none of their customers can access their safe deposit boxes?

6

Most branches have multiple keys; each will open one section of the vault. Which raises the question, “Did they lose one of the keys, of just use the wrong one?”

7

I would have done this the first time. I’d expect that my box would also be free for the year at this point.

The other possibility is that their lock in box X is damaged. Was something jammed in there, or is there a dead insect inside that’s preventing the key from engaging the lock properly?

8

Thanks, guys. The branch manager is aware of it…he says it’s a unique
situation…they’re very apologetic and embarrassed, blah blah blah.
And I asked him for a free box forever! :slight_smile: He said he can’t guarantee
that, but on a year-to-year basis, he’ll waive the fees. (We’ll see if he does).

They said the guard key won’t turn in the locks of a certain row of
boxes, so they’re not all affected. Two locksmiths/technicians have tried,
and a third one’s coming tomorrow.

9

If it were me, here’s what I would do:
If I had to get in there soon, I would ask to speak with a bank manager and figure out how to get in there today. I’d probably request they drill the lock, at their expense, since it’s their key (or cylinder) that’s not working.

If I had to get in not so soon, or rather, in your case, it’s been three months, I’d call whatever 800 number you have and A)demand a refund for the last 3 months and B)demand they find a way to let me in to by box. I’d would, of course, do this nicely, probably something along the lines of “Hi, I seem to be having a problem with my safety deposit box, for the last few months I they branch manager’s key hasn’t worked and I haven’t been able to get in to it and I’m not sure what to do [let them say what they need to say]. Well, I’d like a refund for the last few months, I’ve gone in every few weeks to and they keep refusing, but is there something that can be done about it? Maybe you could call and see what’s going on or perhaps you could have them drill the lock out or find another manager in the area with a key, but I need to get in there in the next few days” and see what they say to that. If it’s anything other than ‘we’ll take care of it’, I’d tell them that that’s unacceptable and ask them what you’re supposed to do since you need to get in it soon and it’s hardly your fault that that the bank doesn’t have a working key. Then see what they have to say about it.

Also, FTR, I’m working on the assumption that the bank’s key actually doesn’t work and it’s not some other issue like you not having the proper credentials.

Also, check their facebook page (specifically for that branch, if they have one) and see if other people are saying the same thing.

You should also ask them ‘is it just mine that doesn’t work or all of them?’. Regardless, you shouldn’t be prevented from accessing it because their equipment is faulty.

As for scheduling it to get drilled three weeks in advance, I’d ask to speak to the branch manager and push that it’s been three months now that the branch key (not your’s) isn’t working. They’ve known about this for quite a while and have had more than enough time to take care of it and that it needs to get done in the next day or so and remind them that you don’t expect to have to pay for it.

ETA, I see your locksmith comment, personally, I’d call in the afternoon and ask if the locksmith has been there yet. If they have, go down and check it out. If it works, take something out and/or put something it, anything just so it looks like you were doing this for a reason. If this is postponed or they couldn’t fix it, I’d demand it gets drilled and rekeyed and ask that your box gets moved to a different row. Your box shouldn’t be inaccessible for 3 months. I mean, things happen and I can understand a day or two, but 90 days is pushing it. I’d probably also call their 800 number and let them know, if you don’t have a reasonable solution in place by the middle of the day tomorrow.

10

Those are great suggestions, Joey P. Thanks. :slight_smile:

11

When you finally do get in, take your stuff out and substitute a dead fish. Then don’t come back.

12

So, locksmith is coming today, right?
I’d call at about 9:30am and ask when they’ll be there. If they give you a time, call and hour or two after that time just to ‘confirm that it’s fixed’. If (when) they tell you that the locksmith isn’t coming in, I’d call the 800 number or find some kind of regional number and let them know that for the last 3 months you haven’t been able to get into your box, you were told yesterday they were fixing it today but they didn’t AND you have a meeting this afternoon (or monday or next week, whatever) and you have to get in there and finish it up with ‘so, what are you going to do about this, where do we go from here?’

You can report them to, um somewhere, but if you otherwise like the bank, you’ll be burning a bridge, so you might not want to go that route yet. But it still isn’t fair that you can’t access your box so you should push to get them to fix this.

13

In your shoes, on day one I would have insisted that I needed immediate access.

At one time I kept my passport in my box. Wow, that could be messy.

14

And that’s sort of the attitude that I’m suggesting the OP adopt today. This is a bunch of bullshit, I need to get in there now. How they’ve managed to dick an entire row of people around for 3 months, I don’t know (unless it’s only him).
FTR, I would have said, more or less, the same thing on day one, but we’re (here) just finding out about this now.

15

Yes. They should have drilled the lock THAT DAY. Schedule an appointment 3 weeks in advance? WTF? I’d be very concerned about the contents of my safe deposit box.

16

I can understand if the customer loses their key, but when the bank loses it’s own key and an entire row can’t be opened. It should have been fixed within 24 hours. The same day if they caught it early enough in the day.

17

Bring a locksmith to the back with you the next time and send the bill to bank !
Did you look online to see what kind of actions you can take , you have to rights as a bank customer . You should be able to access your deposit box anytime you want during banking hours . I would keep notes on how long this been going on and say you refuse to pay the bank fee when you weren’t able to access your deposit
box then find another bank . I would BS if this was me.

18

“Invest in The Stank of America savings program.” - A. Hoffman

19

There is no reputable locksmith that would take that job without the bank’s permission first. The contents may be your property, but the box is owned by the bank.

20

Sorry for the delay in getting back. They called me today to say they got the master
key duplicated. Now they need a customer whose box was affected to come in and
test it (it won’t be me…too inconvenient at this time). But it sounds like progress
has been made.