Hey…wait a second, this has become a big ol’ love fest in here. This is supposed to be the pit goddammit!!! Go to hell you bastards for making me look up that URL…I hate you fucking pygmy raping nose fuckers…take a flaming leap off a turnip and eat a load of ass-pennies!!!
I walked into a bank a few years ago with a check from my broker that was drawn on an account at that branch. I was getting money for the down payment for our new house, and I had to have a cashier’s check made out to the escrow company. I didn’t have any cash on me, just my driver’s license, and the check from the broker was for the exact amount that I needed for the down payment.
The broker had told me that they had an arrangement with the bank and that I would be able to get my cashier’s check for no charge. (I should mention that my own bank was directly across the street from this other bank.) However, when I told the teller that I needed a cashier’s check, he told me that since I wasn’t a bank customer I was going to have to pay something like $12 for a cashier’s check. I asked to speak to his manager, who said the same thing. So, I smiled at them and said “Fine. Cash it for me.” (The check was for about $26,000.
They decided they could give me a cashier’s check for free.
Goldie
My husband and I bank at USBank. For anyone considering them, one word of advice: Don’t.
When my husband was hired as a permanent employee at his present company, his direct deposit from the temp agency stopped. For some reason, even though the checks were drawn on an account clearly labelled “Payroll Account”, and the company he works for is a major US corporation, some dimbulb put a 10-day hold on it for being an out of state check. The consequence was that several checks, including our rent check, bounced. My husband called the bank’s customer service hotline, spoke with a manager, and explained the situation. She acknowledged the teller’s error, and took the check off hold. When we went to the bank to get a cashier’s check to cover the rent, this little dipshit teller told us that the check was still on hold, that she didn’t know when it would come off hold, picked up a phone, called someone, and proceeded to get a shit-eating grin. Her boyfriend was also standing in front of the counter, making kissy-face at her. She said to the person she was talking to “I know that, but THEY don’t understand that”. (Before you guys flame me, I know that a bank can put a hold on a check for any reason, but most banks don’t put holds on payroll checks, as long as they’re computer-generated. And the customer service person my husband had spoken to acknowledged the mistake.)
Finally, I got into her face, spoke to a manager, and when he sided with his employee, I said “fine.” We went home, and I called the customer service number back with a formal complaint against the unprofessional behavior of this teller. She must have gotten her ass chewed, since she’s been very nice to me since. We went to a different branch, dealt strictly with an account manager, and got our cashier’s check, at the bank’s expense. This same manager has been nothing but polite and respectful the entire time we’ve gone to this branch.
Finally, on the issue of credit unions. I’ve been a member of one for the past four or five years, and the only reason I’m still doing business with them is that I have a car loan through them. I’ve also had problems with them that ended up in court this past March. Yeah, they’re small and they know you, but they can be difficult to deal with if they’re in one state and you’re in another.
Robin
I have an account with Washington Mutual and generally like it. They don’t charge me anything, and they’re pretty convenient. Although they did just change their ATM messages to be super-chatty, like it’s a Friendly Machine, which I find kind of freaky.
But I still have a WM horror story. When I was in Italy in 1999, I was pickpocketed (shocking, I know). I called Visa and had my debit card cancelled, but I was too late: someone had spent $1000 on my card in the 45 minutes it took for me to notice its absence. So back in the US, my dad went to the bank to explain the situation. Important point: I was living in Israel at the time, and had signed my dad over to my account before leaving. Anyway, WM would not accept my dad’s word about what had happened, and insisted upon seeing me in person. My dad patiently (or not, knowing him) explained to them a number of times that I was presently in Italy, and living in Israel, and would not return to the US for several months and that this issue could not wait til then. It took three visits to the bank to convince them to credit my account. Of course, my dad wasn’t so helpful, either, because when they finally sent him a new debit card for me, he didn’t immediately send it to me in Israel. I got back to Jerusalem hoping to see it in my mail, and called him, frantically, about the card, thinking he must not have it yet. He seemed kind of surprised: “Oh, do you want the card?” YES! I can’t access the money in my account without that stupid card and am relying on friends to buy groceries! Send me the card!
You might (or might not) be wondering why I didn’t get an Israeli bank account in eleven months. I tried. Oh, lord, did I try. I have multiple horror stories about the Israeli banking that make the American banking system look like a model of efficience and caring. Example: when I got to Israel, I discovered that my ATM card wouldn’t work, because it had too many digits. And I have no travellers checks (this was stupid and my fault). I had $100 US, which, you’d think, would be enough to last me til I could get some money wired from the US, and get a new ATM card made up. See, but then you’d be wrong. It took two goddamn weeks to get that money wired to me. Two weeks of going to the bank every single day and being told that the lady who dealt with this was out, that the lady who spoke English was out, that the computer system was down after three o’clock, that no, whoever had told me the computer system was down after three was wrong, of course it was up, and did my bank in the US have this code? They needed this code. Oh, it didn’t? Oh, never mind, they didn’t need the code. It makes me frustrated to think about it, even now. Although the bank was located on the campus of the university, it closed for lunch at the same time I had my break from class, and closed for the day about twenty minutes after class was over, so I was constantly missing class as a result, and my teacher hated me.
The day I finally got my money was one of the happier days in my life.
This is the same treatment I’ve always gotten at banks where I didn’t have an account. I avoid banks and tellers for that reason, unless I’m worried the check may be bad, or it’s a lot of dough, like selling a car. (Don’t want buyer’s remorse giving him time to void the check)
But on-line banks are now just as haughty!
My X.com bank sent me an email that "All our overdraft VISA checking accounts will no longer have a $500 credit line.
You may continue to pay them off, but when they reach $0 they will no longer work as credit.)
Sheeit! I was renting a car and had just added money to zero out the overdraft. But my car company was going to run up another charge the next day. So I had to go over there and switch to paying by check, which cost me arriving late at work and catching hell.
To them it’s nothing. To me, two days notice of the change would have save me face at work, at the rental, plus avoided lost pay.
All bankers are liars creeps and userers as far as I’ve ever seen.
Credit unions are not the wonderful thing they once were.
I was originally with OSU(Oregon State University) Federal Credit Union. They were great when I got here. Free money orders, cashier’s checks, and traveller’s checks. They were efficient and friendly.
Then they started charging $3.00 for a money order. Everything became a paid service and they got very rude and treated anyone who had a problem like they were a deadbeat.
They screwed up ATM transactions with such regularity that one wondered if they could count on their account balance.
They would never acknowledge an error and would always say it was either the customer’s fault or the fault of the person the transaction was done with.
We left and went to Washington Mutual. Not a problem thus far, they’ve been friendly, and the money orders are free.
I’ve been with Jax Navy Federal Credit Union for nearly 18 years. If we want a loan for a car or a boat or just a signature loan, it’s instant approval. No ATM fees, unless you make more than 15 ATM withdrawals a month from an account. No fees to call in or use the tellers. No per-check fees or minimum balances.
One time, they neglected to credit a check I’d dropped in the night deposit, leaving me with a bounced check to a local store. Not only did they immediately credit my account when I informed them, they gave me the $25 bad check fee that had to be paid to the store. I was impressed.
They’ve grown phenomenally over the years, but they’re convenient, accessible, helpful, and responsive. Until this thread, I didn’t realize how lucky I am…
I just checked the USPS website to make sure my car payment showed up. It did. (Thank you, God!)
This is a precaution I find myself taking each month when I mail my check in. I send it express mail or return-receipt requested (depending on when I mail it out) to make sure someone signs for it. This is in response to a period last year in which I mailed a check the usual way, and the CU president, no less, claimed it never got there. I KNOW I mailed it out, and I KNOW it got there. (proving it is another story.) This stupid broad used that “missing payment” as justification to re-possess my car. Ironically, the car was taken the day I mailed out my May payment. The CU refused to credit the payment until the mess had been straightened out. (In the trial this past March, I was able to use that against the repo agent) Last fall, I sued the reposession agent and won when the judge ruled that the repo man was an agent of the CU and that the CU and the repo agent did not have the right to repo the car in the first place. The case was appealed and heard in March. We lost that one for lack of proof satisfactory to the court, but it was a Pyrrhic victory for the repo guy, who was forced to pay several thousand dollars in lawyer’s fees, and for the credit union, who was forced to do likewise. Me, I had to pay court costs of around $132. That’s the cheapest $132 I’ve ever had to pay. The CU has left me alone from here on out.
The moral is: Credit unions may be cute and cuddly, but they turn vicious if pissed off.
Robin
A piece of advice, always send large checks/payments via certified/signature mail. A friend of the family’s had trouble one time with a bank that kept claiming that his payment (Usually mailed a good three weeks early) was late, and hitting him with latefees. So he started sending it via cert mail, and when they tried claiming a late payment, he was able to show that they accepted the payment letter ten days before due, they tried it once more and he informed them that if they did it again, he’d take them to court, with all the certified mail stubs, they stopped bothering him.
That’s what I’ve been doing with the Credit Union from Hell for all my correspondence with them. I also sent them a letter that said, in a nutshell, that if they couldn’t produce a green card that I’d signed, they could assume that they didn’t tell me. So far, it’s worked out pretty well. I continue to send a check each month for the car, and they’ve left me alone.
Robin
Amidst all the invective about giant corporate banks, I’d like to commend my own bank. It’s a local community bank, Wyoming County Bank, that has about ten branches here in rural western NY. I have direct deposit and pay virtually no fees. The only things I have ever paid for are having new checks printed and when I once overdrew my account by mistake (they covered the check anyway because as they explained to me “we knew you’d be making a deposit next week.”) I don’t pay basic service charges, check writing fees, ATM fees, teller fees, debit card fees, there’s no minimum balance, and the staff has always been friendly and helpful. I don’t want to sound like I’m gloating, but with all the complaints about banks that aren’t treating their customers right, I thought this one deserves credit for doing so.
Another guy singing out for local banks.
One Valley Bank of Purcellville has taken care of me for years. I know them and they know me. When there’s a problem they take care of me and when they go beyond the bounds of duty I send flowers and candy.
They know the Chanclings name and our dogs names. Arrange loans and accounts with a phone call. Cut me teller checks if I’m short.
It’s just wonderful.
We had a nice community bank in our town in NJ until about a little more than a year ago. Then they were bought out by Richmond County Savings Bank based in NY. They changed bank policy without even notifying us the changes they were making. One of the bitches insisted that’s the way it’s always been and she’s been with them for six years. First, she may have been with them for six years, but I’ve been banking with them for 20 so I think I know how I’ve been doing things with them. Second, with whom was she with? First Savings or Richmond. If she’s been with Ricmond for six years that doesn’t mean squat to me. I’ve been banking with First Savings.
I’m sure it’s purely coincidental that someone is now opening a new community bank and I’ll check them out. I wish them the best.