# Stupid Goddamn Bank **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2001, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673 "2001-11-16T04:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/1 "2001-11-16T04:31:05Z")
What kind of bank closes at midday on a FRIDAY to celebrate the lamest horse race in the world that absolutely no one ever goes to? I speak of the Traralgon Cup. Meanwhile, I’m completely unaware that the stupid bank is shut, catch a taxi down to it, and discover I’m unable to withdraw the money from my wedding fund to pay for my wedding dress tomorrow morning - the only time the dressmaker is available to do the alterations. She won’t do them until the dress is paid for (fair enough), and I can’t get the money until the bank opens on Monday, because the banks don’t open on Saturday because they’re stuck in the stone age or something. I mean, for crying out loud, they could at least have advertised the fact they weren’t going to be open. Stupid damn bank. I think I’m going to be able to get the money by traveling to the next town, but I have to get Mr Cazzle to knock off early so he can drive me there. It’s times like these I really start thinking about learning to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/2 "2001-11-16T04:57:08Z")
I’d never heard of the Traralgon Cup, but apparently one of the local [unions](http://www.cpsu.org/asic/asic051200.htm) pushed for a half-day, and last year a [public notice](http://www.lvbusinessdirectory.com/LatrobeCity/SpecialEventsCityNews/PublicNotices/14Nov.htm#2) appeared. Any excuse for a half day off, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Defense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Civil\_Defense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Defense)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/3 "2001-11-16T05:10:26Z")
> [@](#): > > and discover I’m unable to withdraw the money from my wedding fund to pay for my wedding dress tomorrow morning Yet another great reason to have a debit card. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/4 "2001-11-16T07:36:09Z")
No ATM cards??? Where the heck do live? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/5 "2001-11-16T11:40:40Z")
No card attached to the account to encourage savings instead of withdrawls - except now I’m done saving! Went to the bank in the neighbouring town. Got the money. Crisis over. Think I’ll picket to ban banks from closing early on Fridays - two and a half days without access to your account sucks. ---
**Author:** ![lenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3bc359/32.png) [@lenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lenin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/6 "2001-11-16T12:01:05Z")
Cazzle, this is why credit and debit cards exist, along with checking accounts. Why would you be paying a tailor with cash? ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/7 "2001-11-16T14:42:44Z")
This was her savings account, so no checks or atm card to prevent her from withdrawing from it. Makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/8 "2001-11-16T16:47:56Z")
I can sympathize **Cazzle**! And I dunno what ATMs are like for everyone else around the world, but at mine, you can only withdraw $300 per day. Depending on the cost of the dress, and taking into consideration that perhaps two withdrawals could have been made, even $600 may not have been enough. It’s an irritation to me to see an institution that closes for every holiday that comes down the pike, and then finds EXTRA reasons to shut down. “Ooh–it says in this history book that George Washington’s first fart happened on this date! We need to take a holiday!” I don’t say that banks don’t do an important job for us–but other than them, and government related facilities, who else gets off so regularly? Even my husband doesn’t get so many days off and he owns part of the company he works for! Anyway, **Cazzle** , glad to see that it all worked out! ---
**Author:** ![babydrln](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@babydrln](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babydrln)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/9 "2001-11-16T17:30:05Z")
Banks and post offices close for EVERYTHING and it annoys the heck outta me too! As far as ATM and debit cards, we only just got them at our bank about two years ago. Talk about living in the Stone Age! They roll up the streets at sundown around here. There are no 24 hr stores anywhere–not even the gas stations. It’s really exasperating! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![ThunderBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThunderBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThunderBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/10 "2001-11-18T13:26:44Z")
I sympathize with you **cazzle**. What I’d love to know is why the simple laws of competition aren’t working for banks. I’ve never heard anyone say that they love their bank, or their bank gives great customer service. Recently, my mortgage bank (M&T) decided to start charging $10 for the service of giving me a statement of account. You know, to list the monthly changes in the bottom line due to interest and deposits, also to list the amount in escros. They won’t give me a statement over the phone, and they won’t give me a statement at the teller window. They have to charge $10 for it. Stupid banks. With savings interest rates so low, I wonder what use there is of depositing your paycheck there anyway. Maybe better off to just put it in a lockbox… but then those are at the bank as well. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/11 "2001-11-18T16:43:24Z")
My bank has decent customer service. They just started charging me more :mad:, and of course they’re trying to take over the world (they just subsumed a smaller bank the other year), but as far as customer service goes they’re usually fairly decent. There’s a branch not too far from my place that’s open on Saturday, and I’ve even been able to get cheques to clear faster by going to my home branch and making puppy eyes at the account specialists. So that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-goddamn-bank/93673/12 "2001-11-18T17:10:22Z")
[staying with the hijack] Posted by Mayflower: > [@](#): > > \*\* “Ooh–it says in this history book that George Washington’s first fart happened on this date! We need to take a holiday!” \*\* I work for a county. Last Monday we had what we laughingly call Veterans Day. I think it used to be Armistice Day and was established, I think, to commemorate the end of World War I, which was **The War to end all Wars**. Anyhoo…the county where I work gave the ‘court personnel’, judges, bailifs, ticket money collectors, i.e., anyone remotely connected to anything remotely court-related, the day off. Whoopie. We, the non-court-related-personnel had to work. Go figure. 😕 [/staying with the hijack] Back to your regularly scheduled rant.