Issue with my bank

[Jen C.]

Dh and I have banked with the same local bank chain (they are local to southeast Michigan, not a national chain), for the past 12 years. Two years ago, my father died, and I became a benficiary of his estate. At that time, I spoke with someone in customer service, explaining the situation, and sharing that I would need to be depositing large checks on a rather frequent basis. Our account was noted, and we have not experienced any problems...until today.

This a.m., I took 2 large checks to deposit. The trust is finally being dissoved, and all distributions are occuring. Securites are going through my trust account with our broker, but the cash accounts issued us personal checks. One chek was for $13,500, and the other check was for $108, 000. They are both local checks. I was told that the smaller check would have a 2 day hold, and the larger check would have an ELEVEN day hold. This seems utterly ridiculous to me! I can understand some sort of hold, but 11 business days is a TON! I would never leave that money in a non-interest bearing ANYTHING for that amount of time. Also, can you believe that the branch manager did not even so much as speak to me directly, offer other higher interest products, or anything? I wasn't expecting the red carpet, but come on! In this economy, a cutomer walks in with 6 figure amounts, and you don't even TALK to them??? Should I go back and tell them to give me the check back, and just present it to the bank of origin? Should I attempt to speak with someone higher up?

Am I right to be this furious? Thoughts??

[Ian]

If it was me, I'd go back in, close out all my accounts, and take my money to the bank across the street.

Any bank that isn't interested in me and my $121,500 is not a bank I'd be doing business with.

[DVC2004]

Call the manager or go see him/her directly. This is an estate account and you already notified themof transactions occurring. Sounds excessive for an 11 day hold. I think sometimes they have new/newer workers who don't look at all the details and just slap holds.

[sonkist32]

Call the manager, but be nice about it. Explain your situation. Being a manager at a bank I can tell you we get turned off when a customer says "I'll just close all my accounts and go elsewhere". It puts a bad taste in my mouth thinking you are better than any other customer that walks in our door. 11 days does seem excessive and is probably just an agressive/new teller that doesn't see the "big picture".

[sonkist32]

also if you bank is a bigger bank they should not need a hold of more than a day or two...most banks/credit unions are now enrolled in "check 21" which electronically clears all checks...they should know in a day or two if it's good or not.

[btharvey]

We ran into the extended dalay with our bank (_the_ largest USA bank), and were told that it is normal for a "consumer" account that deposits a relatively large amount (5-figures can be the starting point), even if on a regular basis.

They didn't so much say it as imply that further actions are taken to discount money laundering, other nefarious connections, and so forth that simply aren't followed then the dollar amount is lower.

by all means inquire as to why ... and demand to speak with the manager. Of course, with our bank, she was no better than anyone else there, and we've since moved on.

But the explanation came from the bank's corporate headquarters.

Just two centavos.

[vicster]

I think banks are just being more cautious because the bogus checks they've received. Maybe they want to make sure the check clears before you can pull out the money and the check ending up being bogus. A lot of strange things happen these days.

[Jen C.]

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. I did call back, after reviewing FDIC guidelines, and inquired as to why the standard $100 was not even released from the deposit. The teller said, "I didn't know you wanted it". Um...ok. She then went on to explain that she had talked further with the manager, and got the hold time reduced by a few days. She still suggested I come in tomorrow and talk to the mgr. that I've worked with in the past~who was not in today.
I can understand and appreciate the need for some sort of hold. The part that bothers me is the simple lack of customer service, both in the explanation, and even in the fact that the mgr. could not even stop by and say hello.

I am not one to "threaten" to go elsewhere, but in this case I really think that I should. Like I mentioned, I hardly expected the red carpet to be rolled out, but I would've appreciated the mgr. coming over and offering a personal explanation as to the hold~since she was the one that put it there. The teller took it to her, came back, and took it to her another time, appealing for a lighter hold because of the locality of the checks as well as sthe trust situation. Just seems like poor business to me.
I really don't feel like anyone bringing them theri money, regardless of whether it is 3 figures, 4 figures, 5 figures, or in this case 6 figures, should be made to feel as though they are Bernie Madoff or something. I will go in tomorrow and speak to the other manager, and let him try to "save the day", but I have to agree with Ian at this point. If they don't show me a big interest, why should I show them big money?

[BigRedDad]

For me, $120k is a lot of money and I would expect some respect if I were going to put it into a bank account. They are going to take my money, invest it else where to make 15%+ on it and only pay me 2%. From that, I would expect and deserve respect. Those eleven days amount to $100. I would not go and through away $100 just because some bank wanted to screw me. Unfortunately, there is probably little you can do at this point. Since they have the check, they probably have already stamped it. Once they clear to your accounts, I would meet with the Bank Manager, discuss the amount you lost because they wanted to put a hold on the checks. If they do not provide some benefit, then ask him to immediately close your accounts and go to a new bank.

[vicster]

My friend's bank would hold her paychecks for longer than necessary before the money was actually in her account. She finally closed her account and they asked her why. When she told them they told her if she worked for a large company they wouldn't hold her paychecks. She works for United Airlines - she asked them if she had to tell them that's a large company. She switched banks.

[diz_girl]

Your problem is that your check wasn't large enough and you're honest. At the local PNC bank no more than 2 miles from my house some guy cashed $25M of checks and got the teller to not put a hold on the money. The next day he wired those $25M to another back. Guess what, the original $25M of checks bounced. Oops.

Anyway, I'd go to the manager, especially if you have some sort of informal arrangement with them. But I agree, 11 days is excessive. They will get the money long before that and possibly earning interest on it. (If I'm wrong about the interest, let me know.)

As far as closing your accounts and taking the money elsewhere, since every other bank pretty much has a similar policy, where else are you going to go? Even my credit union has long holds on larger checks.

[DVC2004]

Also, too- sometimes the bank or branch managers are not made aware of holds. It is usually the teller's call and possibly the teller supervisor's. So give the manager a chance at least- because it will probably be a pretty big hassle to take the account elswehere, especially because it's the estate of a deceased person. That can sometimes be an issue, too. Good luck! I agree though the lack of customer service is apalling. I am noticing it more and more these days- we had an issue this weekend I won't even go into but it was horrendous.

[Katarch]

I've been banking with the same bank for about 20 years and I recently had a similar situation, it was an estate settlement. I deposited two checks one for $1,200 and one for $146,000. They put a 10 day hold on the the small check and a 14 day hold on the larger one. When I spoke to bank manager, she said it's "bank policy" to put hold on large deposits - maybe it's just NJ?

[Jen C.]

Your problem is that your check wasn't large enough and you're honest. At the local PNC bank no more than 2 miles from my house some guy cashed $25M of checks and got the teller to not put a hold on the money. The next day he wired those $25M to another back. Guess what, the original $25M of checks bounced. Oops.

Anyway, I'd go to the manager, especially if you have some sort of informal arrangement with them. But I agree, 11 days is excessive. They will get the money long before that and possibly earning interest on it. (If I'm wrong about the interest, let me know.)

As far as closing your accounts and taking the money elsewhere, since every other bank pretty much has a similar policy, where else are you going to go? Even my credit union has long holds on larger checks.

Again, my issue is not so much with the hold itself, but rather the customer service experienced. If the manager had come over, said hello, and explained the hold, I would've felt better. I do expect holds on large amounts, however, I know when I've spoken with other relatives who have lots of $ with one bank, they get better service then what I got today.

[Magic Smiles]

IMHO, is it really worth the stress you are causing yourself for the sake of 11 days after 2years?

[AHOTE]

Just as a point of reference, I got this info off the FDIC website:

"The Federal Reserve Board allows banking institutions to delay the availability of some deposit types before you can cash checks against the deposits. Generally, the delay can be up to as much as 10 additional banking business days or for 11 total banking business days. Delays can be made for on-us checks and nonlocal checks. Before banking institutions can delay the availability of deposited monies over an extended period of time, the institution must communicate to customers when the funds will be available for check cashing and the reason the availability of the funds is being delayed."

It is however unfortunate that the bank dropped the ball when it came to customer service and I hope your talk with the manager helps straighten things out.

[gueli]

To me its about customer service.

We bank with a Large bank (international), and occasionaly have recieved excellent and sometimes poor customer support.
But when we have troubles, we have delt with one person who now runs the branch office. My DW has known her since she was a teller. I met her when she was an assistant.
When we have trouble, she takes care of it. Usually we do not try to burden her with stuff, but sometimes she gets really annoyed with some of the other customer support- and calls and deals with the phone reps BOSSES.

Now the moral of this- If you aren't getting what you want, or they aren't giving you what you need- that is customer support, than by all means speak to the bank manager. Give them a chance. Even if you are annoyed with the teller- talk to the manager about it. If she is supposed to tell you why it was delayed, than she should have.
In the end, will you get better customer support from a different bank ? You might. But you will not have to deal with that teller.
Good Luck.

[Little Round Bale]

For my two cents Regular folks like us are honest but some folks lay giant plans to cheat people and banks have to be alert to everything. I understand your aggreivation and believe customer service is not what it use to be. But these are tough times.

If you are not happy with the bank move. But check with the new bank and find out what their guidelines are. In this area of the country alot of banks are holding payroll checks because so many companies are struggling.

Good luck

[FaithTrustPixieDust]

I'm a banker, and I can tell you that the 11 day hold did not come out of thin air.

The Federal Reserve dictates how long banks can hold your funds. Depending on the check, the hold should be for 2, 5, 7, or 11 business days. The 11 day hold tells me that the check was over $5,000, and that it was a non-local check you deposited.

It also tells me that you probably got a teller who was new to the bank, or at least new to that branch and was not familiar with you and your situation.

Banks used to be able to call other banks and ask if the check has cleared. If the other bank gave the green light, the teller released the funds. Now all those privacy laws prevent many banks from even confirming that the check has cleared. (unless the executor of the estate, and signer of checks, has given them explicit permission to do so)

I get that the issue at hand is greater than the hold- it sounds like they did not make you feel like a valued customer. There may be a service issue going on, but I'd ask you to give them a second chance. Perhaps it's not that the manager didn't care about you and your business. It's very possible that:

* Half their staff was out with the swine flu
* The teller who took your deposit was borrowed from another branch (in a rougher part of town, where they place holds on EVERYTHING)
*And of course the internal audit people showed up the same day to count every penny of their vault!

[Jen C.]

Well the bank came through~somewhat. Both checks were local, so they lifted the eleven day hold, and went with a seven.

I did share my concerns with the manager, and he was quite sympathetic. Overall, I am happy with the way it turned out. It was a mistake on the part of the teller, because a local check should not have had an 11 day hold. They realized this and corrected it, so all is well that ends well.

Thanks everyone for all of your help with this one!