Wachovia is a crook - My email to Wachovia
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About 6 years ago I had the opportunity to move away from the big banks and join with a local Credit Union. I'll never regret that decision, particularly after the nonsense I encountered today. My employer, out of Charlotte, NC gave me an expense check today and asked me to please cash it soon (or deposit it) so since there is only 1 branch of my Credit Union here in Charlotte, I opted to go to a local Wachovia and simply cash the check. My employer's accounts are through Wachovia, so that should have been a simple thing to do. After waiting in the drive through for 10 minutes it was explained to me that the drive through service was only for bank account holders and I would need to come inside to cash the check. That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside. Once inside I did the whole thumb print thing. I handed over my license and was asked again if I had an account. "No, but my employer does and that's a Wachovia check." So then I had to hand over a second form of ID, my Social Security card. Fine. Once that was all settled I was then asked if I understood that there would be a $5.00 fee to cash the check. Are you serious?!? Just because I don't have an account and my employer didn't have a "cash checking agreement" I now have to give up $5.00 of MY OWN MONEY simply so that little waif behind the counter could hand me my $80 and some change. This is an out and out outrage. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This is nothing short of (pardon the pun) "bank robbery". It is amazing how far you banks will go to screw people out of every single nickel and dime you can. Not only will I never, EVER do business with you again, I will actively encourage those people I know NOT to do business with you. That stinking $5.00 (which I did not pay... I will drive across town to my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit) has lost you my respect, my business, and as much bad press for you as I can possibly create. I hope it was worth it. -- modified at 13:26 Thursday 22nd December, 2005
Matt Philmon wrote:
That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside.
But wasn't the check made out to you? It matters not who the check is from. It's who the check is made out to that is important.
Matt Philmon wrote:
...my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit)...
I would hazard a guess that if I were to go to your CU and try and cash a check made out to me, regardless of who it was from, I would run into the same sort of "trouble." This is just standard practice for any bank that I have ever been involved with.
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
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Matt Philmon wrote:
That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside.
But wasn't the check made out to you? It matters not who the check is from. It's who the check is made out to that is important.
Matt Philmon wrote:
...my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit)...
I would hazard a guess that if I were to go to your CU and try and cash a check made out to me, regardless of who it was from, I would run into the same sort of "trouble." This is just standard practice for any bank that I have ever been involved with.
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
Yes, but to charge me $5.00 to cash a check that was issued from the bank I was at? My employer is a customer of the bank, not me, but you're suggesting it's ok, then, for this bank to then charge ME $5.00 to cash the check? Heck, even an ATM machine only charges a buck... if you're using another bank's ATM.
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Matt Philmon wrote:
That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside.
But wasn't the check made out to you? It matters not who the check is from. It's who the check is made out to that is important.
Matt Philmon wrote:
...my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit)...
I would hazard a guess that if I were to go to your CU and try and cash a check made out to me, regardless of who it was from, I would run into the same sort of "trouble." This is just standard practice for any bank that I have ever been involved with.
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
DavidCrow wrote:
I would hazard a guess that if I were to go to your CU and try and cash a check made out to me, regardless of who it was from, I would run into the same sort of "trouble." This is just standard practice for any bank that I have ever been involved with.
If the check were drawn on an account at his CU, they are obligated to honor it. I have cashed checks at the account-holders bank for more than 30 years with no problems and no fees.
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About 6 years ago I had the opportunity to move away from the big banks and join with a local Credit Union. I'll never regret that decision, particularly after the nonsense I encountered today. My employer, out of Charlotte, NC gave me an expense check today and asked me to please cash it soon (or deposit it) so since there is only 1 branch of my Credit Union here in Charlotte, I opted to go to a local Wachovia and simply cash the check. My employer's accounts are through Wachovia, so that should have been a simple thing to do. After waiting in the drive through for 10 minutes it was explained to me that the drive through service was only for bank account holders and I would need to come inside to cash the check. That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside. Once inside I did the whole thumb print thing. I handed over my license and was asked again if I had an account. "No, but my employer does and that's a Wachovia check." So then I had to hand over a second form of ID, my Social Security card. Fine. Once that was all settled I was then asked if I understood that there would be a $5.00 fee to cash the check. Are you serious?!? Just because I don't have an account and my employer didn't have a "cash checking agreement" I now have to give up $5.00 of MY OWN MONEY simply so that little waif behind the counter could hand me my $80 and some change. This is an out and out outrage. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This is nothing short of (pardon the pun) "bank robbery". It is amazing how far you banks will go to screw people out of every single nickel and dime you can. Not only will I never, EVER do business with you again, I will actively encourage those people I know NOT to do business with you. That stinking $5.00 (which I did not pay... I will drive across town to my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit) has lost you my respect, my business, and as much bad press for you as I can possibly create. I hope it was worth it. -- modified at 13:26 Thursday 22nd December, 2005
Banks are legal criminal houses!
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About 6 years ago I had the opportunity to move away from the big banks and join with a local Credit Union. I'll never regret that decision, particularly after the nonsense I encountered today. My employer, out of Charlotte, NC gave me an expense check today and asked me to please cash it soon (or deposit it) so since there is only 1 branch of my Credit Union here in Charlotte, I opted to go to a local Wachovia and simply cash the check. My employer's accounts are through Wachovia, so that should have been a simple thing to do. After waiting in the drive through for 10 minutes it was explained to me that the drive through service was only for bank account holders and I would need to come inside to cash the check. That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside. Once inside I did the whole thumb print thing. I handed over my license and was asked again if I had an account. "No, but my employer does and that's a Wachovia check." So then I had to hand over a second form of ID, my Social Security card. Fine. Once that was all settled I was then asked if I understood that there would be a $5.00 fee to cash the check. Are you serious?!? Just because I don't have an account and my employer didn't have a "cash checking agreement" I now have to give up $5.00 of MY OWN MONEY simply so that little waif behind the counter could hand me my $80 and some change. This is an out and out outrage. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This is nothing short of (pardon the pun) "bank robbery". It is amazing how far you banks will go to screw people out of every single nickel and dime you can. Not only will I never, EVER do business with you again, I will actively encourage those people I know NOT to do business with you. That stinking $5.00 (which I did not pay... I will drive across town to my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit) has lost you my respect, my business, and as much bad press for you as I can possibly create. I hope it was worth it. -- modified at 13:26 Thursday 22nd December, 2005
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Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:
:Grammer Police:
Grammar Spelling Police! :-D
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DavidCrow wrote:
I would hazard a guess that if I were to go to your CU and try and cash a check made out to me, regardless of who it was from, I would run into the same sort of "trouble." This is just standard practice for any bank that I have ever been involved with.
If the check were drawn on an account at his CU, they are obligated to honor it. I have cashed checks at the account-holders bank for more than 30 years with no problems and no fees.
Ed Gadziemski wrote:
If the check were drawn on an account at his CU, they are obligated to honor it.
What do you mean by "honor it?" It did not sound like Wachovia had a problem cashing the check. They just wanted $5 for doing so.
Ed Gadziemski wrote:
I have cashed checks at the account-holders bank for more than 30 years with no problems and no fees.
But are you also an account holder, or do you have some other type of relationship, at said bank?
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
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Matt Philmon wrote:
That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside.
But wasn't the check made out to you? It matters not who the check is from. It's who the check is made out to that is important.
Matt Philmon wrote:
...my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit)...
I would hazard a guess that if I were to go to your CU and try and cash a check made out to me, regardless of who it was from, I would run into the same sort of "trouble." This is just standard practice for any bank that I have ever been involved with.
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
As far as I've known, it's always been the account from which it is drawn. A check is an order by the account holder to the bank which instructs it to pay you. It shouldn't matter who the payee is. If it did, then what happens when I write CASH as the payee, which you're allowed to do and makes the note a bearable instrument (anyone holding the note can cash it).
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Ed Gadziemski wrote:
If the check were drawn on an account at his CU, they are obligated to honor it.
What do you mean by "honor it?" It did not sound like Wachovia had a problem cashing the check. They just wanted $5 for doing so.
Ed Gadziemski wrote:
I have cashed checks at the account-holders bank for more than 30 years with no problems and no fees.
But are you also an account holder, or do you have some other type of relationship, at said bank?
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
DavidCrow wrote:
But are you also an account holder, or do you have some other type of relationship, at said bank?
No, I had no account or relationship with the bank. The most recent time I did this was August of this year. I presented the check at the bank of the person who owed me money and got cash from the teller.
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Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:
:Grammer Police:
Grammar Spelling Police! :-D
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Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:
One in a million chance of that happening. Good catch.
Heh :-)
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Yes, but to charge me $5.00 to cash a check that was issued from the bank I was at? My employer is a customer of the bank, not me, but you're suggesting it's ok, then, for this bank to then charge ME $5.00 to cash the check? Heck, even an ATM machine only charges a buck... if you're using another bank's ATM.
Matt Philmon wrote:
but to charge me $5.00 to cash a check that was issued from the bank I was at?
My bank charges me nothing unless I do something stupid like go overdrawn. Yet, I read that my bank made 40% of its multi-billion pound profit this year from retail banking (i.e. banking services to joe public). I am really curious - Are American banks really that inefficient that they have to levie these charges or are they exceptionally greedy? I've never understood why Americans put up with this. I don't pay for ATMs regardless of the bank. The only ATMs that I know of that charge are in shops and bars and not attached to a bank and I have all but once had the forethought to go to a nearby bank. The only time I pay ATM charges is when I am overseas (and that is probably fair enough, there is a currency conversion going on also). Also, I'm curious as to what the Citizen's Bank's charges are in the US (because they are now a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland) and as an RBS customer I don't pay anything if I'm in credit regardless of the transaction - I can even go in with £100 in pennies (and I have) and I don't get charged so long as I deposit the money into my account. (Which, of course, I can get at seconds later)
My: Blog | Photos "Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." -- Confucius
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As far as I've known, it's always been the account from which it is drawn. A check is an order by the account holder to the bank which instructs it to pay you. It shouldn't matter who the payee is. If it did, then what happens when I write CASH as the payee, which you're allowed to do and makes the note a bearable instrument (anyone holding the note can cash it).
Glenn Dawson wrote:
It shouldn't matter who the payee is.
My bad. I indicated the opposite of what was actually true. If I did not have an account at the bank I was trying to cash the check at, the bank would impose a check-cashing fee. The fee, up to $25, would depend on how much the check was for. If I did have an account at the bank, however, no fee would be imposed.
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
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Matt Philmon wrote:
but to charge me $5.00 to cash a check that was issued from the bank I was at?
My bank charges me nothing unless I do something stupid like go overdrawn. Yet, I read that my bank made 40% of its multi-billion pound profit this year from retail banking (i.e. banking services to joe public). I am really curious - Are American banks really that inefficient that they have to levie these charges or are they exceptionally greedy? I've never understood why Americans put up with this. I don't pay for ATMs regardless of the bank. The only ATMs that I know of that charge are in shops and bars and not attached to a bank and I have all but once had the forethought to go to a nearby bank. The only time I pay ATM charges is when I am overseas (and that is probably fair enough, there is a currency conversion going on also). Also, I'm curious as to what the Citizen's Bank's charges are in the US (because they are now a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland) and as an RBS customer I don't pay anything if I'm in credit regardless of the transaction - I can even go in with £100 in pennies (and I have) and I don't get charged so long as I deposit the money into my account. (Which, of course, I can get at seconds later)
My: Blog | Photos "Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." -- Confucius
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
are they exceptionally greedy?
Many are exceptionally greed and do whatever they think they can get away with. One of my pet peeves is you go in and deposit a large check. The amount of time until they say the funds will be available for you to use is proportional to the size of the check. First, a check should clear in the same amount of time regardless of its size. It's good or it isn't. And in this era of electronic banking, you'd think the check would clear within seconds of the teller running through the electronic scanner while you're standing there. They simply want to use the float for a while. At any given instant there are considerably more assholes than mouths in the universe.
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About 6 years ago I had the opportunity to move away from the big banks and join with a local Credit Union. I'll never regret that decision, particularly after the nonsense I encountered today. My employer, out of Charlotte, NC gave me an expense check today and asked me to please cash it soon (or deposit it) so since there is only 1 branch of my Credit Union here in Charlotte, I opted to go to a local Wachovia and simply cash the check. My employer's accounts are through Wachovia, so that should have been a simple thing to do. After waiting in the drive through for 10 minutes it was explained to me that the drive through service was only for bank account holders and I would need to come inside to cash the check. That was irritating considering that my EMPLOYER has an account and the check was a Wachovia check... but ok, I went inside. Once inside I did the whole thumb print thing. I handed over my license and was asked again if I had an account. "No, but my employer does and that's a Wachovia check." So then I had to hand over a second form of ID, my Social Security card. Fine. Once that was all settled I was then asked if I understood that there would be a $5.00 fee to cash the check. Are you serious?!? Just because I don't have an account and my employer didn't have a "cash checking agreement" I now have to give up $5.00 of MY OWN MONEY simply so that little waif behind the counter could hand me my $80 and some change. This is an out and out outrage. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This is nothing short of (pardon the pun) "bank robbery". It is amazing how far you banks will go to screw people out of every single nickel and dime you can. Not only will I never, EVER do business with you again, I will actively encourage those people I know NOT to do business with you. That stinking $5.00 (which I did not pay... I will drive across town to my Credit Union which will not only not charge me a dime, but will credit my account IMMEDIATELY for the deposit) has lost you my respect, my business, and as much bad press for you as I can possibly create. I hope it was worth it. -- modified at 13:26 Thursday 22nd December, 2005