How long does it take a bank to catch a mistake? (debts, deposit) - debt, loans, credit cards, banks, insurance... - City-Data Forum

strawberrykiki · 07-31-2012, 01:27 PM

I hope this is the appropriate place for this question. Anyway, my bank called me yesterday saying that I owe them 15 dollars. I cashed in a mail in rebate check for 15 dollars 2 months ago. I was doing some other transactions at the same time, so my memory of the day is a little foggy. She said they cashed the check and credited my account with 15 dollars AND gave me 15 dollars in cash. I honestly don't remember, but I do know if I had gotten 15 dollars of cash I would have assumed they didn't also put 15 dollars into my checking account, right?

I have had bank teller friends and my understanding is they must be meticulous about balancing their drawer at the end of the day. It can't be even one cent off. Wouldn't the teller have come up 15 dollars short at the end of his shift? If I gave them $15 dollars and they gave me $30, then at the end of the day they are 15 short. The bank tried to tell me no it wouldn't come up short because the cash and checks are processed separately...this doesn't make any sense to me, nor does her explanation that everything is electronic and processed elsewhere and that's why they took 2 months to catch the error.

If they had caught an error and called me the next day then I would have remembered what happened and I'd have been glad to let them debit out the 15 extra. As it stands I can't even remember it was so long ago, and I feel like it was their mistake in the first place if that did happen and it's their mistake that it took so long to find and they should cover the 15 dollars. When I told her this she said well they just called me because they figured I would be understanding and that I realize everyone makes mistakes. She didn't even apologize for making the mistake in the first place. I'm furious and I'm switching banks tomorrow. Is there something about the way banks operate that I don't understand in this situation? I don't understand the 2 month lapse in catching the error, and I'm honestly skeptical if there was an error in the first place. Thoughts?

pythonis · 07-31-2012, 01:35 PM

Youll never win against a bank. Best to just deposit $15 and save yourself some heartache. However if youre switching banks you could always just not bother with the acct the $15 but a lot of times banks will do credit checks and debts to banks will show up. They wont let you open a new acct until you can show proof that you paid your debt in full.

strawberrykiki · 07-31-2012, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pythonis

Youll never win against a bank. Best to just deposit $15 and save yourself some heartache. However if youre switching banks you could always just not bother with the acct the $15 but a lot of times banks will do credit checks and debts to banks will show up. They wont let you open a new acct until you can show proof that you paid your debt in full.

I'm not going to have a war over 15 dollars, but the whole deal just sounds really sketchy. I don't think it should take such a long time to find a mistake and something about it doesn't add up to me. Plus she was out and out rude on the phone. Even saying she was going to look at the camera to see if I got the cash back. I told her be my guest, but I felt like a criminal. Look at the tape! Fine, but don't threaten me.

berdee · 07-31-2012, 01:44 PM

Ask them for a copy of the deposit receipt. When ever I make a deposit and get cash back out of that deposit the cash back amount always shows up on the receipt.

duster1979 · 07-31-2012, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berdee

Ask them for a copy of the deposit receipt. When ever I make a deposit and get cash back out of that deposit the cash back amount always shows up on the receipt.

It probably wouldn't help in this case. It sounds like they processed it as a deposit but the teller just gave her $15 out of the drawer, so it's unlikely that there's any paper trail.

That's probably why it took so long to find, I imagine they eventually ended up watching the security video to figure out what happened.

strawberrykiki · 07-31-2012, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duster1979

It probably wouldn't help in this case. It sounds like they processed it as a deposit but the teller just gave her $15 out of the drawer, so it's unlikely that there's any paper trail.

That's probably why it took so long to find, I imagine they eventually ended up watching the security video to figure out what happened.

But wouldn't his drawer be 15 dollars short at the end of his shift when he went to balance it?

berdee · 07-31-2012, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duster1979

It probably wouldn't help in this case. It sounds like they processed it as a deposit but the teller just gave her $15 out of the drawer, so it's unlikely that there's any paper trail.

That's probably why it took so long to find, I imagine they eventually ended up watching the security video to figure out what happened.

I agree that the security video, and the tellers balance sheet, will have to be used to resolve it. But, the woman at the bank has already proven to be unprofessional and a liar.. "The bank tried to tell me no it wouldn't come up short because the cash and checks are processed separately". Balancing a drawer at the end of the day has nothing to do with processing the cash and checks. If it were me I would want the receipt as proof of the amounts, time, date and the teller that was used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawberrykiki

But wouldn't his drawer be 15 dollars short at the end of his shift when he went to balance it?

Yes.

duster1979 · 07-31-2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawberrykiki

But wouldn't his drawer be 15 dollars short at the end of his shift when he went to balance it?

Yes, but that's beside the point. What probably happened was that the teller processed the deposit, then had a complete brain fart and pulled $15 out of the drawer and handed it to you. The receipt would only show the deposit, it wouldn't show the $15 cash going out.

katestar · 08-01-2012, 02:47 PM

Never. I had opened an account last year and was supposed to get $125 for opening it after 6 months. The 6 month date was the week before Thanksgiving and I was looking forward to getting that money for the Holiday. They had several "glitches in the system" that week and I didn't get my money. I went to the branch twice, the second time they just said, ok we'll give you the $125 cash today and you won't get the automatic deposit once the system is fixed. Well, I did get the automatic deposit the next week and ended up getting $250 from them. It's been almost a year and I haven't heard anything. I wonder if they'll come back and take it.