"Sir, you have to 'close' your account"

[DAB]

so today was a big day. i finally, after spending 3 months getting a new bank account set up (checking for geezers!), and all incoming and outgoing payments swapped over, and waiting for March's meager interest payment to post, i finally closed out our old checking and savings accounts.

go online, get the March interest numbers, print out the savings statement, so i have the account number and exact balance, and head to the bank.

wait my turn in the little snake line, and get the next teller. "hi, i want to close this account, a check would be fine." look at ID, get a second teller involved and after a few minutes, i have my check.

now i'm a baller, on paper!

and her final comment: "Sir, you need to go over to one of the managers and 'close' your account." "didn't i just do that?" "well, there might be a day or two of interest that will be credited at the end of the month."

well, based on last month's interest, that might amount to 10 cents, best case scenario. and if you fall below their minimum balance, they ding you $30/month 'service' charge.

tell you what, i consider these accounts closed. i have a check from you for the exact balance, and i wrote another from the checking account for its balance. i'm done here.

if you want to generate a bill, seeking to get $30 from me for a closed account, that you might credit with 10 cents of interest, then i'll be glad to argue with you and tell you to keep the 10 cents, but you are not getting another $30 from me because you say i have to "see the manager". I saw you. that's enough.



and it gets better!

when i got home, i had an email, telling me that my account balance had reached zero. duh. that's the idea.

[Kevin_73]

[Sea Six]

A negative bank account balance that is unpaid on a closed account will show up as a collection on your credit report.

I'd double-check to make sure this doesn't happen.

[DAB]

it's not negative, it's zero. exactly zero. i told her "i want to close my account". i was pretty clear.

if she needs to get the manager involved, that's up to her, not me. they had 2 managers in the little manager pen, both busy, and several folks waiting in the padded chairs for their turn.

if a manager needs to do something, call them over. don't waste my time because you have rules i know nothing about.

[Sea Six]

Are you willing to risk the hit to your credit report if the balance goes negative when the big computer in the sky decides that the account is owed $0.10 ... and it updates the account with both a $0.10 credit and a $30 debit?

A quick phone call towards the end of the month, just to check on things, is much easier than the months-long process of correcting a mistake in your credit report. Multiply that by three since there are three credit agencies.

I know... I've had to go through this myself. Not for precisely the situation you've described, but it was similar enough.

You're probably right. But what have you got to lose if you're wrong, and you do nothing?

Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Black94lt1]

Exactly the type of thing that led me to get away from the big banks and go the the local credit union. Years ago I had a check get lost in the mail, credit card payment that I sent a new check for. When I asked if they would cancel the lost check, sure for $30 they said, or I could close my account. I replied, you'd rather I close my account and take my money elsewhere than cancel a check for me - their answer was yes! I haven't been back since.

[Millenium Vette]

Originally Posted by DAB

they had 2 managers in the little manager pen, both busy, and several folks waiting in the padded chairs for their turn.

Yeah, I'd be all-set with that shit too. I would just check back next month and make sure the closed that bitch out.

[RonC5]

I have an account with Wells Fargo. They bought out what ever bank my Mom had, and she had a dislike for WF. My 2 sisters and I were on her account, and I was executor when she passed. We removed my older sister when she was down for the funeral and I cashed her out. Once we had the death certificate, my younger sister and I went into a WF office with the certificate and removed my Mom's name and my sister's from the account. I thought I would keep the account just because it was a good place to stash car money away from our day to day finances. I never even paid attention to the statements. Seems it dropped under $1K, so it was $30 per month time. I realized that they had already debited me about $90 in charges. So I went in and said I'm done, cash me out and close it. Well, a month later I receive a 7 page statement from WF for the account, balance .01. A penny of accrued interest. WhoooHooo. After a few months of this, I called and said I closed the account, etc. After talking to 3 different people, the answer was I needed to come in with a death cert so they can close the account. I told them I would be in when pigs fly. I had already done that and it was not my problem if their employee did it wrong. So 4 years later, I still get a 7 page statement showing a .01 balance every month. And when it arrives, I always think this is for you Mom.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by RonC5

I have an account with Wells Fargo. They bought out what ever bank my Mom had, and she had a dislike for WF. My 2 sisters and I were on her account, and I was executor when she passed. We removed my older sister when she was down for the funeral and I cashed her out. Once we had the death certificate, my younger sister and I went into a WF office with the certificate and removed my Mom's name and my sister's from the account. I thought I would keep the account just because it was a good place to stash car money away from our day to day finances. I never even paid attention to the statements. Seems it dropped under $1K, so it was $30 per month time. I realized that they had already debited me about $90 in charges. So I went in and said I'm done, cash me out and close it. Well, a month later I receive a 7 page statement from WF for the account, balance .01. A penny of accrued interest. WhoooHooo. After a few months of this, I called and said I closed the account, etc. After talking to 3 different people, the answer was I needed to come in with a death cert so they can close the account. I told them I would be in when pigs fly. I had already done that and it was not my problem if their employee did it wrong. So 4 years later, I still get a 7 page statement showing a .01 balance every month. And when it arrives, I always think this is for you Mom.

i get electronic statements presently....maybe i should change that to paper, and make them waste the postage.

yes, this is WF too. moved to LANB - Los Alamos Nat'l Bank. a local concern. they are friendly.

[MrPeabody]

My mother had a checking account with Bank of America, and I was a signer on the account when she died. It was a no charges account for senior citizens.

I went to the bank, closed the account (only a few hundred dollars) and left there with a check. For five years they sent me (actually her at my address) a statement in the mail that the account had 51 cents in it. I just ignored it until the stopped the free deal for seniors and tried to bill me for charges on the account. Actually, my mother's name was still on the account and they were billing her. A phone call cleared things up and I never heard from them again.

I'm thinking branch managers get some kind of bonus or something based on the number of accounts at their branch. So they have an incentive to keep accounts open even after you close them.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

My mother had a checking account with Bank of America, and I was a signer on the account when she died. It was a no charges account for senior citizens.

I went to the bank, closed the account (only a few hundred dollars) and left there with a check. For five years they sent me (actually her at my address) a statement in the mail that the account had 51 cents in it. I just ignored it until the stopped the free deal for seniors and tried to bill me for charges on the account. Actually, my mother's name was still on the account and they were billing her. A phone call cleared things up and I never heard from them again.

I'm thinking branch managers get some kind of bonus or something based on the number of accounts at their branch. So they have an incentive to keep accounts open even after you close them.

that's how WF got in trouble: opening fictional accounts to meet corporate sales goals.

"open 15 accounts per week!"

"but there are only 10 people in town!"

"if you want your bonus, you'll open those accounts!"

"okey-dokey"

[09CTSV]

Years ago in Virginia, my wife and I had an account at Central Fidelity Bank, before they were bought out. We did something dumb and double deposited a check. Well I wrote a check for some lumber and then went back for some more with another check. We went out to dinner that night and stopped at the ATM and found out the balance was wrong. We transferred funds from Savings to Checking to cover everything and I also quickly called the store where we had bought the material and asked them to hold the check and I would be there when they opened in the AM to pay cash for the purchases. The store was closing for the day and agreed to hold the checks. The next morning when I got to the store some eager manager had sent the checks in for clearing.
Two things happened, we had a large tax refund being deposited in the account and we had done the transfer to cover the checks.The bank passed the two checks through twice before depositing the income tax refund or crediting the savings transfer. They charged us $25 for each time and the store charged another $30 each time. The store understood and waived the fee, the bank stood their ground and would not waive the fee. We explained the money was in the account and they still would not do a damn thing. We promptly closed the accounts and went to Navy Federal Credit Union and have not stepped foot back into a bank since. Nothing but a bunch of organized thieves at the banks.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by DAB

it's not negative, it's zero. exactly zero. i told her "i want to close my account". i was pretty clear.

if she needs to get the manager involved, that's up to her, not me. they had 2 managers in the little manager pen, both busy, and several folks waiting in the padded chairs for their turn.

if a manager needs to do something, call them over. don't waste my time because you have rules i know nothing about.

Do you have the teller's name or a "clerk number" on a receipt? That would be good insurance to CYA

[DAB]

Originally Posted by JRD77VET

Do you have the teller's name or a "clerk number" on a receipt? That would be good insurance to CYA

have the cashier's check stub, and it has the 'operator' ID numbers, both the teller and the head teller (who had to approve the check). so that's something.

7 page statement for 1 cent!

when Mrs. DAB's mom passed away a few years ago, "mom" had never changed her visa account info, it was still listed under "dad's" name (Mrs. DAB's father), who had passed away about 15 years prior. so Mrs. DAB, in closing things out, called Visa to close that account.

"we'll need to speak to the account holder"

"he's dead. he's been dead for about 15 years."

"so sorry to hear this, but we still need to speak with him"

"well, if you do, i'd like to talk to him too."

[JRD77VET]

Penn National Bank had the boat loan when I got divorced in '93. ( filed in '91 but took forever to get it finalized ) I had the court documents stating I got the boat and was responsible for the balance of the loan. I had been paying for it every single month since '91

I showed the paperwork to the notary and it was no problem to change the boat title to my name only.

Penn National Bank flat out refused to follow the court's instruction to change the boat TRAILER title to my name only. Their reasoning was two persons on the note was a better guarantee to be paid even though the other was free and clear according to the courts.

We're talking about a trailer that had a value of $1200 brand new and a used value of $600.

To cover my ass, I wrote a letter to the judge explaining what they said and included copies of the letter I received from them. At the time there was about 6 months left on the note. He told me just to pay it on time and get changed as soon as possible.

It took those idiots four months to get me the title for the boat trailer and after the loan was paid in full.

Penn National was purchased by BB&T and I will NEVER do business with the new owners either. Guilt by association.

[SubZero]

Originally Posted by DAB

when i got home, i had an email, telling me that my account balance had reached zero. duh. that's the idea.

it was warning email telling you that you were below the minimum balance.

[mrvette]

At my CREDIT UNION my wife has an account listed on my money Xfer online....and she obviously has all the access codes.....when I kick off, she goes to the computer and Xfers all the $$$$ over before anyone knows anything.....

simple.....