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“Girl Goes Out,” the Broadway Musical
July 11, 2008
It’s early Friday morning, and this weekend’s setting is Syracuse, NY. Characters include police officers and sweaty athletes. The plot will revolve around sunburn, rest stops, and one girl’s fascination with hotel rooms. And, scene.
I had a crisis with my bank earlier this week, conveniently in the midst of my workday, during which time I learned that a paycheck I had deposited days earlier had magically vanished from my statement. Also conveniently, the customer service line could not tell me what was going on, as it was an issue with the branch I deposited my check at, which was SUPER CONVENIENTLY closed. I had paid off seven bills during this time, and with the invisible paycheck, was running a bank balance of $You are so screwed.
After the crying, anxiety, and pulling out of each of my hairs, my mother calmed me down, and I was temporarily distracted by some laugh-inducing visitors until the next morning when Derrick and I were able to get to the bank.
Turns out that my check was deposited, posted to my account, and then the bank sent it off to Philadelphia or D.C. or wherever checks go to die, and it was lost on the way. Lost. And do you know what the bank’s solution is to losing a processed check?
If we don’t have it, it never existed! Phantom funds, they were! Make sure that girl’s account is promptly emptied of her magical dollars!
That is not ok. It is not ok that I have to travel to another state for work with a negative balance, nor that I was not notified, nor that it will take a few days to give me temporary funds until they are able to “figure out what went wrong.”
Would anyone like to buy me a drink? I’d buy them for myself, but, well…
Categories: Daily
July 11th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Man, what fresh hell. Banks can be so terrible, but I’ve never heard of this - cash and disappear?? How can they possibly make funds that were posted to the account suddenly gone?!
If I were there, I’d happily buy you a drink. But I hope they figure this out for you soon. (And then I hope you change banks, pronto.)
July 11th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Ai yi yi! Banks can wreak havoc like no other.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Only if you put out.
I kid!
July 11th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Oh no! What a bunch of BS. I hope they fix THEIR mistake and make sure it doesn’t screw up your credit.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Jessica - My thoughts exactly.
Chris - Oh no he didn’t!
July 11th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Ooooh Syracuse! Haha, sorry. I started reading your blog last year sometime, but I’m a first time commenter. I’m from Syracuse and just recently packed up and moved to Boston. You know what happens when you pack up and move somewhere? Whenever someone mentions that place you spent the first 21 years of your life, you say “HEY, I’M FROM THERE!!” and then you look stupid. Or maybe that’s just me. ;)
Anyway, I hope everything works out with your bank! I’ve been there. It’s worse than awful!
July 11th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Direct Deposit is the best thing that ever happened to my paydays. You never have to wait for the check to clear and your money is in your account by midnight on your payday.
If you have the option, I suggest it! (Though, it’s probably not what you want to hear right now)
July 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
The company I worked for a long time ago misrouted my direct deposit while I was traveling. I didn’t find out about it until a week later when I came home to SEVEN insufficient fund letters from the bank. My company thoughtfully refunded the check plus all the bank fees (which totaled close to $250), but it took about a week for them to straighten everything out. I thought with direct deposit I’d be safe from the whole “lost check” scenario, but no such luck.
July 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I hate banks! That’s why I leave my money under the bed. Let’s see….I have 3 quarters, 15 pennies, 1 $2 bill, and 2 piles of cat puke….I think I’ll start looking for banks…
July 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Yikes! I feel your pain. Many a nights have been sleepless wondering if my bounced check fees are going to put me right into the poor house! Banks are the devil!
July 11th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
argh I hate banks. When they screw up, it’s all ‘oh well! Whatev!’ but if YOU screw up? It’s all ‘YOU SUCK SO BAD, OMG. Here’s hundreds of dollars in fees! whheee!’ I hope you can get it cleared up soon, what a bummer.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
A couple of years ago, some spam site learned my account number (no idea how!!!), they cleared $50 a month for four months before my bank informed me of the situation. They did not refund the money. Banking sucks..:-(
July 12th, 2008 at 10:28 am
That’s insane. I worked at a credit union and I have never heard of that happening. First of all, you have to micro copy all the checks before you send them out, so they have a copy of it on file, so they know it exsisted. Bastards. You make sure that you don’t pay one penny of any fees. It’s their error, no fees should apply. I agree, change banks soon. If you can, join a credit union.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Sorry to hear about this. Hope things work out!
July 12th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
It’s nice to know stupid things like this happen to other people too! I’m about convinced that banking is becoming a scam. My notion is due, in part, to a)computers; b)unfriendly young people who don’t have any social graces whatsoever; c)the bank won’t take the blame because they’ve been screwed so many times by people like you and me; d)even if it’s not your fault, it’s your fault!
July 12th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Do you need me to make a few phone calls?
I would be angry. Lay down the LAW.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:43 am
I’ve had so many problems with PNC. I left them after a series of poor customer service experiences. Go to a smaller bank, at least they will know your name before you deposit!
July 13th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Well, I hope someone bought you a drink.. sounds like you needed one! I can’t believe how ridiculously bad your bank handled that. I hope everything gets worked out soon. :)
July 13th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
http://normanhuelsman.com/blog/?p=300
“Why wouldn’t you attend pod camp?”
Okay I don’t know why, but finding this in my googlereader recommendations list made me smile…and that’s a big accomplishment as of lately (break up, wah wahhhh).
July 14th, 2008 at 10:08 am
*passes a whiskey shot*
That is one shitty bank, I have to say. My bank once lost $500 I deposited in CASH, then apologized profusely when I called them and found it within two hours. I didn’t even have the deposit slip. It is NOT unreasonable to expect that kind of service from a bank, so you might want to consider switching to someone else.
Good luck with that, though. Unexpected banking problems suck hardcore.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Bleh, that is super sucky. I’d buy you a drink if I lived closer.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
BASTARDS!
Not acceptable. NOT. ACCEPTABLE.
I am so sorry :(