Got a voice mail message from someone at my bank asking me to call back. Rather than use that number (I halfway smelled a scam), I looked up the branch and called their main number. The person who had called me happened to answer the phone, so it was not a call center employee.
Turns out I had opened my account there in the early 90s and they have a policy of checking in with clients every so often. I live elsewhere now, but have always used them as my main bank. I remarked that it was nice of them to contact me, and we talked a bit about minor tweaks to my accounts I might choose.
Ended the call by saying I looked forward to their next check-in several decades from now.
LOL. If you happen to shop for musical equipment at Sweetwater.com they used to have account managers that would call on a regular basis just to see if your equipment was working as expected and if you needed anything else. I used to know my guys name. . . dang, I forgot it. First time he called it kinda freaked me out. Just a little. Overall. . . I didn’t really care. I’m not really big on close, supportive customer service, unless I’m having a problem, In that case I can take care of the contact.
I have a credit card (with a credit limit of more than $20,000) but no bank accounts at JP Morgan Chase, and periodically receive emails from them encouraging me to sign into the website and provide my income, so they “can evaluate my account for future needs and special offers.” Sell me shit, in other words. I’ve ignored these messages so far.
I’ve bought from SW several times. I’m now looking for a new acoustic guitar since my 50 year old Guild is needing some serious work and I can’t get by without an acoustic while it is out of commission. I started digging into guitar reviews and then looking for what was available at SW while logged into my account. Suspiciously got a call from my guy, Chris, a day or two after I looked at a bunch of guitars. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
I’ve come to the conclusion I can’t buy an acoustic without playing them. So, I need to make a trip to a town that has guitar shops to play and decide. Also, to try to find someone that can work on my Guild.
I know someone who co-signed a car loan for her son in the 1980s. He was, uhhh, not traditionally employed. The last anyone saw of the Cadillac it was being towed away full of bullet holes. Fast forward to about 3 years ago when her daughter (same name as Mom) receives a bill for the loan balance. The loan company had graciously offered her to pay something like $400 to forgive the $10,000 balance. I figured a debt collector recently bought the old loan as part of a package deal and was trying to get someone to pay something.
I don’t think it was Derek. But, this was way back in like, 2003-2004 or so. I haven’t heard from. . . .(still not coming to me) that guy in a couple of years. He was a real person. I expect he’s moved up or on.
Richard Wittington. . . he was my Sweetwater guy for years. I got a call like 2 day after posting this from a new guy. . . still working on remembering his name. . .
My mother is 102 years old, and her bank made her come to the bank in person to confirm that she was still alive, and she was who she said she was. She complied. Perhaps they will call her again in another 102 years.
While I’m automatically inclined against banks making the elderly appear in person, it’s kind of nice to know they want to be sure there’s no one impersonating your mom in order to drain her back account.
Under federal law, if Social Security pays benefits to a dead person, the bank that the SS money was deposited into is liable to pay back SS for any such money out of the bank’s pocket. Lots of folks die then their kids, roommates, etc., don’t tell anyone (including SSA) so the checks keep coming. Which they happily withdraw and spend, sometimes for decades.
The Feds know the fraudulent recipients are hard to find and have no ability to pay back the money. So in their Might Makes Right way of doing things, they simply decreed that banks are on the hook for the shortfall so the taxpayer isn’t.
My late first wife was a banking attorney. We dealt with this regularly. Banks take knowing about deaths very seriously, and the need to disgorge SS funds wrongly paid in is a big part of it.
That’s why they wanted to see the little old lady in the flesh. Not to protect her from fraud, but to protect themselves from her possibly fraudulent family.
I had no idea! That does make more sense. My family members and I have always informed Social Security almost immediately after the deaths of our parents, assuming they’d come after us if we didn’t.
Another problem with the SS system is that the deceased is not entitled to benefits in the month of death. Which is IMO pretty damned chintzy and should be changed. So for the many recipients who live pretty close to the bone, most or all of the SS money of that final month is already spent on rent, meds, food, etc., then the person dies.
Assuming SS is notified timely, that last SS payment is coming back out of the account it was deposited into. And that withdrawal won’t bounce because, as said above, the bank is obligated to make up any shortfall. Which has the handy side effect of making the bank very interested in helping SS find the next of kin or roommate or whoever that might be in a position to repay that money.
Wow! I’m in Canada and my father died a couple of years ago and I have been wrapping up his estate. All his CPP, OAS, and federal pension payments were specifically payable for the month of death. Both CPP and his pension both also quickly paid out a Death Benefit (presumably to help with funeral costs and such). The SS clawback seems very wrong.
It certainly seems cheap, mean-spirited, and unfairly targeting the most vulnerable. Which is fully in keeping with the US’s mores when it comes to social assistance.
The US SS system also has a death benefit. Up to $255 to pay for a funeral & help the survivors deal with other final expenses. It was never a generous amount, but it has not increased since the 1950s and in fact the worst case has declined since then. If interested in the history: Social Security History (ssa.gov)
