Madder than hell and I'm not going to take it anymore
We got our "economic stimulus" check for $1,200 last week, made out to Mr. and Mrs. Walldon since we had filed a joint tax return. Mrs. Walldon and I endorsed the check "for deposit only" to my individual checking account.
I trotted it into PNC bank to deposit it to my account. The teller said it could not be deposited to an individual account, only a joint account, despite the fact that both signatures were on it. She further noted that since we had endorsed it "for deposit only" to the individual account, it could not be deposited to our joint account or anywhere else and was essentially void. At that point, she picked up a rubber stamp marked VOID and was about to stamp the check VOID.
I reached across the counter and grabbed the check from her, pointing out that hundreds of thousands of people don't even have bank accounts and can cash these checks almost anywhere, including Home Depot, for instance.
The teller refused to reconsider, the manager concurred with her decision, and I stormed out of the bank mouthing a few choice words as I went.
The next morning I called the IRS to get a new check issued. After 35 minutes on hold, the IRS representative listened politely to my story, put me on hold so she could talk to her supervisor, and then told me that my bank was utterly in the wrong, and should be willing to deposit the check to any account I indicated as long as both signatures were on the endorsement. The IRS said it couldn't be bothered to issue replacement checks when the check was still perfectly good. That sounded like a reasonable decision to me, considering how totally wacko the bank's position had been. Of course, it left me holding what might be a worthless check. [I had already decided that, if no one would accept it, I would wait six months or so, claim it was lost in the mail, and get the IRS to issue a replacement at that point].
Finally, I decided to take the check to a different branch of PNC bank to deposit it. No problems there. It went right in.
I considered moving my accounts to another bank, but with having five accounts and three safety deposit boxes to move (including Mrs. Walldon's and my mother's), it just seemed like too much trouble.
I trotted it into PNC bank to deposit it to my account. The teller said it could not be deposited to an individual account, only a joint account, despite the fact that both signatures were on it. She further noted that since we had endorsed it "for deposit only" to the individual account, it could not be deposited to our joint account or anywhere else and was essentially void. At that point, she picked up a rubber stamp marked VOID and was about to stamp the check VOID.
I reached across the counter and grabbed the check from her, pointing out that hundreds of thousands of people don't even have bank accounts and can cash these checks almost anywhere, including Home Depot, for instance.
The teller refused to reconsider, the manager concurred with her decision, and I stormed out of the bank mouthing a few choice words as I went.
The next morning I called the IRS to get a new check issued. After 35 minutes on hold, the IRS representative listened politely to my story, put me on hold so she could talk to her supervisor, and then told me that my bank was utterly in the wrong, and should be willing to deposit the check to any account I indicated as long as both signatures were on the endorsement. The IRS said it couldn't be bothered to issue replacement checks when the check was still perfectly good. That sounded like a reasonable decision to me, considering how totally wacko the bank's position had been. Of course, it left me holding what might be a worthless check. [I had already decided that, if no one would accept it, I would wait six months or so, claim it was lost in the mail, and get the IRS to issue a replacement at that point].
Finally, I decided to take the check to a different branch of PNC bank to deposit it. No problems there. It went right in.
I considered moving my accounts to another bank, but with having five accounts and three safety deposit boxes to move (including Mrs. Walldon's and my mother's), it just seemed like too much trouble.
posted by walldon | 3:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home