Sometimes “Sorry” Isn’t Good Enough
August 19, 2008 by Karen Weideman
Filed under financial matters
My husband and I were out of town for job training last week and on the way home we stopped to get gas. I was floored when my North Carolina State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) debit card did not work. What to do? We had to have gas to get home! Thankfully, we had a credit card in our wallet for emergencies.
We arrived home Saturday morning and I called the 800 number for Raleigh SECU customer service. The rep told me that the $4000 check I had deposited to my account was going to be returned. I had deposited a $4000 check, but was not aware of its status.
I was told that my account was put on watch (basically frozen) because of the check. I asked that my account be unfrozen and the rep told me that only the person who put on the watch could remove it. Of course, I did not accept “no” for an answer and I asked to speak to someone that could do something about it. I was put on hold and within a few minutes she came back and told me that the watch had been lifted.
Monday morning rolled around and I spoke to one of the managers at my local branch. I wanted answers for why my entire account was frozen. I could see freezing the $4000, but not the rest of MY MONEY!!!!
So far, I’ve spoken to one of the branch managers, the teller manager, and the district vice president and I don’t feel that their answers are good enough. I’ve been given reasons about identity theft, making sure the money was there when they went to collect, and “I’m sorry”.
My major issue with all of this is that they just didn’t freeze the $4000. That would have been understandable. But no, they froze my entire account. That money is MINE. I worked hard for it. I saved it. I stretched and pinched during hard times to make it last. And now, all they can offer is “I’m sorry”? I’m all for forgiveness, but I don’t feel like “I’m sorry” is good enough. The vice president said he couldn’t guarantee that this wouldn’t happen again.
I’ve been a member of SECU for more than 15 years and I find this practice absolutely unacceptable. What do you think about this situation?
LRN
I’ve never actually been in that situation, but I imagine that if it did happen to me, I’d likely be seeking another bank. Like you, I can understand if they froze part of the account, or put a block on it so that the balance couldn’t go below that $4000. But if they can’t guarantee it won’t happen again, I’d go shopping. I know credit unions can be great places, but something that inconveniences you to that extent…well, I’d be pretty steamed (and also annoyed at wherever the $4000 check came from too, if it was a bad check - or even more annoyed at the bank if it should have been deposited and gone through)
This has happened to me before. Sucks and banks don’t seem to care that many of us only have one account with decent money in it. We learned to have a backup account, savings, at another bank with a few hundred bucks in it. So sorry this had to happen to you!!!
Sounds like you need to put legs to your money and take your business elsewhere. There are enough banks that won’t do this to you, that threatening to leave may force your bank into a better concession than “sorry.”
If they don’t make a better gesture, then I would say, take your business elsewhere. You are still the customer, and you still have choices. They are not doing you any favors by being your bank. I have fired a bank or two in my time for bad customer service, and I suggest that you use that terminology when you let them go.
“I am firing you for bad customer service.”
Can’t say that it’s happened to me, but I might be shopping at this stage. Banks pretty much figure that they have you locked in– especially when you’ve been there a while– and though it can be a nuisance, it may be best to take you business elsewhere.
I’m kind of on the fence on this. It is horrible when it happens and you are on vacation or in some other dire situation. I was moving across country and my credit card froze my account because of abnormal spending habits. Luckily I had other ways of paying for my gas or I would have been stuck somewhere in Nebraska! However, if someone HAD stolen my car and were fleeing across state lines, I guess I would rather have them freeze my account than just give this “thief” access. I use my debit card constantly and if your situation had happened, I would have been very unhappy and made sure they knew it! I actually try not to use my debit card on trips. I guess I feel people in my home area are more honest? I don’t know… It’s a tough call.
Sydney: I’ve heard of banks putting a hold on your money if you’re out of the country or something like that. They want to make sure that your card hasn’t been stolen. In my case though, we weren’t that far from home and we have travelled all over North Carolina. They were freezing my account to make sure they got their $4,000 back.
I’m sorry that this happened to you. I haven’t had this unpleasant experience. I agree with holding on the $4K, but the whole account is ludicrous. I too am a member of NCSECU and have always LOVED them, but I will keep this in mind next time I have a large transaction to do with their bank.
If it were to protect you, say if your card were stolen, then I would agree with the hold and be glad to know that they were on top of my spending.
But I see no need for them to protect THEMSELVES by putting a hold on your ENTIRE account!
Best of luck getting through to someone who will listen to your concerns! I personally would be heartbroken if I had to leave them on principal.
Sherry: Principle is what I’m looking at here, that’s for sure. They said they wanted to make sure they got their $4K. When questioned about why they didn’t just freeze the $4K, they said they didn’t know the rest of the money would be there tomorrow. I say BULL on that one. I’ve been a member there for over 15 years, I have an excellent credit score, and I’ve had a good savings account there for at least a while too.
I signed up under my mom’s account when I was a teen. My mom has probably been a member there for 30+ years. In fact, I think all of my family has an account there. This is just so wrong!
BTW, we are trying to collect the $4K from the person who wrote the check to us. We were promised $2K on Sunday and $2K on Monday. So far, we haven’t received anything and they have until tomorrow to pay up.
Have you ever heard of pressing charges for “theft by trickery”? I’m seriously considering it.
As the employee of a Credit Union that oversees this, I suppose I understand. Their interest was to mitigate any losses by locking the account down. The reason for the return check would play into their decision making as well. While I sympathize with you predictament, the C U did remove the block once you spoke to them and the account was further reviewed (also that you were able to deposit the check without an extended hold shows proof of your account standing). No system is perfect, but all of us in the C U world do our best to keep our members best interest foremost in our minds. Often efforts to prevent losses to fraud cause problems for account holders, but they are far preferred to the rates that would be charged on loans to cover them, or the lack of interest paid on deposits if losses are high.
Again, I am sorry for the inconveinance. And no, I do not work for SECU, I just work for a Credit Union.
Navy Federal Credit Union!
They have never let me down.
As far as your bank, I’m not really clear on why they held up the $4K check. Maybe it was a red flag for some reason. My bank would prolly red flag my account because they would wonder where the heck I got such a large sum of money. LOL
Kristy: I deposited the check through the ATM and I received a letter from the credit union saying that funds for the check wouldn’t be available for a week. I expected that though. They wanted to make sure the check would clear. But to put a freeze on the rest of my money is unacceptable.
I am guessing they don’t a have a way to just freeze part of an account. It does seem like they should just hold the check for the 4K to clear and your account shouldn’t be frozen. It isn’t like you wrote the bad check. If it was me I would probably just take the sorry, be mad for a day and keep my account at my CU. So now that you know the policy on how they will handle that situation will you move to another bank?
Laura: Actually, they can freeze part of the account. They were supposed to put a hold on the $4000, but instead they put a watch on my account, which freezes all of the funds. I told them they should have only frozen the $4000 because I had plenty of money in the bank. They gave me a lame excuse - They said they weren’t sure if the rest of the funds would be taken out (by me) and then they wouldn’t have money to cover the check. I told them that based upon my credit rating, the amount of money in my account, and the number of years I’ve with them, that they shouldn’t have made such a harsh call.
I asked if they would have frozen someone’s account that had $100,000. They said no, because that person had money to cover the bounced check. Guess what? I do too!!!!
At this point, I’m still uncertain about what I’m going to do.
lol @ Tanyetta
How incredibly frustrating for you! I’m sorry you had to experience this and I would be right there with you demanding better service…especially after being a long-time customer.
CONGRATULATIONS! You have won the Mrs Nespy’s Frugal World Bronze Medal for August 19th. Go to http://mrsnespy.googlepages.com/grabyourmedalhere to get the code to post your medal if you’d like. Thanks for the great writing!
We have deposited large checks before and they always hold them. If we write a large check to someone, they usually call and find out what is going on. But we’ve never encountered the whole account being held. That is pretty ridiculous. I don’t really have any advice but I would go all the way to the top to get some answers and ask to see where there is a policy written about that.
I had a very similar experience with a credit union. The bank - where I now have my accounts - was appalled at how they handled it. That’s why I’m not using a credit union anymore.
I bank at a cu also and they have put a hold on some checks above a certain dollar amount. Last time they put a hold my husband had written me a high dollar check (we have seperate accounts) and they put a 10 day hold on it. I wrote a letter as the check cleared his bank in 2 days. I went straight to the president of the c.u. and he replied and said they will notate my account and lessen the hold to 3 days as long as his account is still local.
If someone goes on a trip out of town they ask that people let them know where so when they see the abnormal spending on the acct, they will not put a hold on it. Have to admit it was great when we were on vacation and they lifted the $xxx daily debt card limit do to the limit.
I love my credit union, much nicer and flexible then the traditional bank I use to use and will never go back!