Bank of America Manager Mistreated My Wife

I sympathize the loss of your home, but I do have to state the fact
your wife repeating the question "but why?" several times after she
got the answer the FIRST time would annoy ANYONE. They put checks on
hold to protect both the customer and the bank.

Bank of America put a hold on my paycheck drawn from the company
(Walgreens) right across the street from them. The check was only for
$600 and the teller explained to me that there would be about a 7 day
hold on it because I have never cashed a check there before, which I
was frustrated over but understood. I asked the teller if I could
withdraw some money from my account and she explained to me that all I
get was $100 and that it might not even take 7 days which it didn't it
only took 3. even so I didn't throw a fit and storm out like a baby
nor feel "humiliated or embarassed" I GOT OVER IT which is what your
wife should do, get over it. By the way if you opened a new account
somewhere I bet they still held check and probably for longer than
Bank of America was going to.

I'm very sorry you lost your home. But I don't see how Mr. G was rude.
As many have said below, this is standard bank policy. "Because it is
a large check" seems like a good answer to me. It's much more polite
than saying "because we're not taking the risk that this could be a
rubber check and we'll take the hit for 100 grand".

And I'm sorry, but if your wife really kept repeating "But why? But
why? But why?", then I think Mr. G. showed incredible restraint! My
son would do this when he was about 4 and inevitably he'd push me to
my limit and I would break out the old "BECAUSE I SAID SO!!!!"

Imagine the letter you'd be writing if Mr. G had said THAT to your
wife?

and you can't understand why they won't release the funds to you
immediately and without any holding period?

Um, ok.

I mean something she could possibly understand rather than say "that's
how we handle this" and, in the process, denigrate the hell out of the
company who wrote the check. The woman may only have a cursory
relationship with that title company however it's still HER title
company and questioning the integrity of that company indirectly
questions her integrity.

The art of good customer service requires the ability to empathize
with the customer even if the customer is asking you to do something
you either cant or wont do. Which the manager clearly lacks. It also
requires the willingness to bend where you can.

Empathizing, in this case, is as simple as "I understand your
frustration (because you do) and I'm sorry we can't give you immediate
access to your funds. Unfortunately, we generally hold deposits over
$5,000 for up to six business days."

Bending, in this case, is as simple as saying "I will take personal
charge of your situation and I'll do everything I can to get your
check posted to your account as quickly as I can. Please understand it
still may take up to 6 business days to occur but it won't be for lack
of me trying. I'll stay on top of this and I'll call you as soon as
the check is posted to your account".

No, none of this would necessarily change the fact she wasn't going to
get her funds released immediately but it would go a long way toward
treating the customer with some respect instead of beating her over
the head with some rules just because you can. And, in the process, it
very well could have salvaged what appears to be a long term
relationship that now is all but lost. Although, it may not be as the
husband is clearly trying one more time to let the bank know about the
situation - so it's possible, if the bank responds well to this
feedback, they may reconsider pulling their accounts. If, however, the
bank doesn't respond or sends some sterile "that's our policy and
we're sticking to it" then some other bank will gain a new customer.

While he may not have been able to give her an answer she liked any
better, a huge part of customer service is giving the answer in the
right way.

I've been in customer service a long time, and I learned quite quickly
how to deal with difficult, even angry customers, by showing empathy
and concern. It makes a huge difference if the customer believes you
are on their side, and not just "the enemy" siding with non-specific
and poorly explained / understood bank regulations.

"How many other customers have been treated that way?" . . . . I would
venture to guess that every single customer who wanted immediate
access to a $100K check, questioned the bank's policy 5-6 times and
refused to accept the answer.

Just because your wife was told no for an answer does not mean she was
mistreated. Getting angry and taking irrational action just because
you cant have what you want when you want it is childish. And there is
noting rational about closing your account because you have to wait
for a check to clear!
My credit union offers $500 immediately for checks, then the rest has
to clear.

Think as this as protection for both sides - they aren't out any
money, and imagine if your wife got the cash, you spent it, and the
check bounced. You would most likely owe them money, and both parties
would be pretty much screwed over in the end.

I have cheques to my account held if they aren't direct deposit and
are more then $500.

I can imagine why they would want to hold it, it is a large sum of
money and they could be in seriuos trouble if it bounces.

You are making a fuss over a policy that they have to stick to. Sorry,
but you're out of gas.

Every bank I've been in has signs saying that funds deposited may be
held. This isn't a surprise, and with that large an amount I would
expect it.

The manager possibly could have been more polite, but after about the
3rd time your wife asked "why", I'd be hard pressed to be. And that's
from reading your side of the story as she told it to you.

It seems to me that your wife mistreated the manager before he
mistreated (if you can call it that) her. Why would anyone think a
check for $100K would be available immediately? It doesn't matter if
the banks are next door to each other, there are clearing procedures
to go through.

"How dare him talk to my wife like that."

In other words, how dare he tell your wife the way it is, and refuse
to break company policy, right? You're wife asked the same question
several times, of course he's going to get agitated after awhile. I
would, too!

I'm curious - - your wife closed your BofA accounts and walked out
with the $100K check. What did she do with it? If you opened a new
account with a different bank then I'll bet that they put a hold on
the check that is quite possibly longer that BofA because it was a new
account.

How could you be upset over a check being held for several days? In
this day and age, companies are here today and gone tomorrow. My
sister-in-law worked for a company for 11 years. She went to work last
friday and found a note posted on the door saying the company was
closed and they would be mailing the employees their last check.This
was a title company.

And in defense of the bank, 5 day hold on large checks is the norm.
Back in 1999, we had a fire in our garage during the Holiday season(2
days before Christmas), and we received our first check of $5,000 in
mid January of 2000. The bank we used at that time told my husband
they were going to have to hold the check for 30 days. Husband got
very upset because we need to use part of this check for a new washer
and dryer and the check was drawn from a large insurance
company(Farmers).In an effort to calm down the big scary guy(6'4" and
240lbs), they said we could get 1/2 in 15 days. My husband snatched
the check back from the teller, waited for me to get home from work,
and we opened a new account with Wells Fargo, who explained they
needed to place a hold on the check for 5 days but the funds would be
ready after that. The money was in our account in 3 days. I was
happily doing laundry at home(I hate laundrymats!) in a week.Oh and by
the way, the first bank was bought by Wells Fargo last year. No
surprise there.

Mr.G may not have been as pleasnt as he could have been after
explaining he had to hold the check because of the amount it was
issued for, several times in a row(I can't really blame him), but how
did he humiliate your wife? She did this all on her own by not
accepting No for an answer. She was not "Mistreated" by any one except
in her own mind.

Holding large checks is not just to make sure that the entity writing
the check has the money to honor it, but to make sure that the check
is a valid one.

Lots of people out there with fake checks.

There's more than one reason that a check might not clear. Many
swindlers have very honest faces.

Umm, holding large checks for several days is standard operating
procedure at any bank.

Mr. G kept telling your wife that because that's really the only
explanation she's entitled to.

Also, why didn't she write this letter? She was there and you weren't,
after all.

No bank I know of is going to post a large check on the spot and make
the funds available immediately. By my count your wife "why" in one
form or another at least 6 times. Now perhaps Mr. G could have been a
little nicer when delivering the explation multiple times but it
appears your wife refused to accept what he had to say and took the
extreme measure of closing all of her accounts with a bank she had
been a customer of for 35 years.

I realize how angry you are but it appears you weren't a witness to
this enconter and therefore have no right to suggest that the bank
terminate Mr. G over this situation you are describing second hand.

According to the letter, the manager never said the reason for holding
the check was due to bank policy. He only said that it was what they
do with larger checks, the reason being, "These title companies have
millions one day and fold the next". If he had explained that there
was nothing he could do because it was bank policy to hold larger
checks, maybe your wife would have understood and complied instead of
continuing to ask why. I think this could have been avoided if the
manager gave a better explanation, one that your wife might have
accepted more easily, knowing that all customers had to abide by the
same bank policy.

is that your wife would not take no for an answer. She did not like
the answers given to her and kept going on about it. Should the
manager have swallowed his pride and just kept a happy face on? Yes.
Still, this is hardly a unique or outrageous policy.

You are depositing a check, a very large check, they need to make sure
it clears.

she kept asking. Even though Mr. G. said that she was a grown woman,
she was acting like a petulant child, especially when she took her
figurative ball and went home.
I don't know how rude he was. Some people take "No" as disrespect.
Some people take multiple "No"s as humiliation.

When we sold our house, and the check took 5 days to become available
(they told us it could take 2 weeks).

Your wife refused to take "no" for an answer, and the ultimate comment
of "you're a grown woman" reflects the manager couldn't believe she
couldn't accept the answer she was given.

Your wife closed the account, you won't let her set foot there again.
Your relationship with the bank is therefore terminated. If an
apology isn't enough, what more can you expect at this point? You
aren't hoping someone will be fired for explaining bank policy, are
you?

This is a common policy, at least I thought it was. (could be wrong??)
I had a student loan check from Chase for 3,500 dollars that was held
for 4 days. I needed the money right away, so naturally it was a
surprise.

They told me it could be held for five days because of the amount
because they must make sure funds are available. And this was a check
from a nationally known company.

I was not angry, but a bit frustrated at first but I told them that I
understood why it happened.

I think it sounds like the bank manager got frustrated and maybe
annoyed with your wife because she kept asking why, when it had been
explained to her repeatedly. The bank can't really rush these things
through and need to verify funds, even if the bank that issued the
check is well known. It sounds like they were doing what they had to
do according to the law.

My wife, who works for a bank, explained that any check over $5,000
can be deposited but the funds will not be available for 5 business
days. This is a federal regulation. The manager of the bank is only
following federal regulations. He did nothing wrong except perhaps be
rude to your wife. However, she was the one who kept insisting that
the bank disregard regulations and do what she wanted. In that
respect, she was at fault.

While I do not feel as though your wife should be treated rudely, that
is a standard policy at pretty much any bank unless you have enough
funds in your account to cover the check should it bounce, or if you
are cashing the check at the same bank that it was drawn off of. So
unless you already had 100K in your account, any bank would have held
that check for a minimum of 5 business days. They are not going to
risk losing 100K just to make one customer happy. I can see how Mr.
Garza may have gotten annoyed after explaining this several times and
having to listen to your wife say "buy why" repeatedly as you stated
in your letter. I've had conversations like this with my 7 year old
nephew- after a while it gets old and the conversation goes nowhere.