Union Bank Ruined My Wedding

how? did they like come to your wedding and throw your cake across the
room? Did the bank folks steal you tuxedo? Did they leave a
complimentary log in your punchbowl? Maybe they rushed into the
reception with a firehose and soaked everything and everyone? I don't
get it?

Tough crowd in the feedback loop here (per various comments), but they
do raise a number of fair issues. That said, as we've learned so many
times on PlanetFeedback, ill-timed service failures take on an
entirely special meaning, so I can empathize with your frustration.
It's certainly a legitimate issue to raise with the bank, but as some
suggest below, there may be "process requirements" (a by-product of
risk-management against fraud) that could be the culprit here. Best
of luck on your wedding, and as someone noted earlier, the best is yet
to come.

- Pete, Founder, PlanetFeedback

Well for once...a letter where someone's Christmas was not ruined!
Refreshing to say the least.

And just think, once you are married you will have your wife to blame
all of your misfortunes on.

Question for you: was this one of those checks that Citi sends you
when you have a credit card with them, that you can "use any way you
want! Pay off high balance credit cards! Take a vacation!" (etc,
etc.)

Because if it is...I have used those checks before. I used it to pay
off the balance on several smaller cards by writing it out to myself
in the amount of the total. Then I deposited it in the bank. It was
WELL over a week before it "cleared", and the bank explained that the
reason they do this is because they needed to make sure that Citi was
willing to put that amount on my card. They don't know what my credit
limit is, and if my bank were to deposit the $2K+ into my account, I
could spend it, then Citi could turn around and say it exceeded my
credit limit, and then my bank would be SOL for giving me the money.
Get it?

Maybe this isn't the case with you, but if it is, there is your
explaination.

And BTW, I wouldn't say your wedding is ruined. You'll either find
another venue or be able to reschedule for an open date at this one.
As long as you two love each other and will be united in marriage,
there is nothing that will "ruin" this special day. It's not about the
party, it's about who you chose to spend the rest of your life with.
Trust me, I just celebrated my 9th wedding anniversary, and my wedding
was simple. My grandparents were married for 60-something years, and
they eloped!!! They don't even have pictures from their wedding! It's
society (and the folks that make profit off of weddings), that want
you to believe that it's all about the dress, the cake, the hall, and
the video.

This could have been a great letter if not for the dramatics. Lets
face it Citi didnt ruin your wedding, there hasnt even been a wedding
yet. Why even bother mentioning it? Does it really matter why you
needed the money? No.

I agree that in this day and age banks should be able to verify funds
faster. I think it great that you wrote them a letter about the issue
and I really hope they do something to improve the processing time.
Unfortunately the whole "you ruined my wedding" complaint overshadows
the validity of your letter.

Regardless I hope Citi responds to you.

I can empathize with your situation - It sucks that the timing was bad
with the reception hall deadline and your check.

I'm not saying its your fault, but its not uncommon for a check to be
held for over a week for that amount. Especially if it is over 1000,
and especially especially if its a loan check. Banks have to take a
hard line of this kind of stuff - they just have been screwed over too
many times. Not just by customers, but by other banks not clearing up
the funds for them. Its not just Union bank that is causing the delay,
it is Citi Finanical as well.

Please, dont let it ruin your wedding. There are other recpetion
halls, and nothing is going to take that feeling away from you when
you see your future wife come down the isle - Thats the important
part, right?

Good luck securing another reception hall, and the best of luck for
you and your future wife.

You havent even HAD your wedding yet. How did they ruin a wedding that
hasnt happend yet?? All you missed out on was a place to have your
reception.

Michael, Michael, Michael. Union Bank didn't ruin your wedding any
more than, oh, I don't know... the flower girl picking her nose at the
front of the church while you say your vows, or your mother being
difficult with her own mother-in-law, or the bride's sister giving an
impromptu, long-winded speech, or the drunk uncle who will make a
scene halfway because the bartender is reluctant to pour him another
salty dog, or the hammered college buddy who comes back from a "smoke"
break reeking of pot and menthos who hangs on you asking why you had
to go and get married, breaking up the greatest duo since Smith and
Jones (from TV's "Alias Smith and Jones"), or your uncle's 3rd wife
who touches you inappropriately high up on your inner thigh while
telling you the good points of getting that "starter marriage" out of
the way.

All of it caught on DVD for you to cherish every year on your
anniversary.

I've not bothered to read all the other posts, and I'm sure you've
been chastized for this, but why in the heck did you book your
reception hall so late? You usually do that far in advance, deposit
included.

Stop being the victim here dear. It's your ownership, not the banks.
And if you're booking stuff that is available on such short notice,
then I'm sure there were a ton of other banquet options to select
from. It sounds like that's what you were doing considering the
timing.

Again.........you're not the victim here, nor is the bank. Bad timing
on your part. Own it!

Peace!

It generally takes 5-10 business days for a deposited check to clear
depending on where it came from.
So do not blame the bank for your loss.
Did you even ask the people who rent the hall to hold your check
account for a few days so the other check clears? They probably would
have done this for you because they have no problem renting it anyway
as you found out.

You would be pretty silly to move your accounts just because of this.
It was not their fault but if it validates your ego then go ahead.

Michael, take a weekend trip to Vegas to get married. It'll be a lot
less than $2,500. Furthermore, aren't the brides parents supposed to
pay for the wedding?

a week is not at all unreasonable for a check to clear, whether they
were in the same state or not.

See, not ALL banks (esp. one like this that appears to possibly be
local or regional) are members of the Federal Reserve System and may
not have their checks processed by them. Some have other banks
(Chase/Bank One does an enormous competitive business with the Fed for
check clearing/ACH) do it for them and the communication may not be as
fast.

HOWEVER, the real issue here is that the OP gambled and lost. She
assumed that the check would clear in time without knowing the
specifics of the institution or her state regs. I thought they
couldn't hold funds longer than 3 bus. days per Reg. CC, but I could
be wrong (http://www.federalreserve.gov/Pubs/regcc/regcc.htm)

But I personally take issue with the overly dramatized hand wringing
and Penelope Peril-like mentality that this single incident completely
devastated her plans for her wedding.

Bridezilla much?

If at the end of the day, isn't the point that you're marrying the
love of your life? So long as he is there, does it really matter
where the reception is held?

Your complaint is that it took a week for the check to clear, and it's
a valid complaint. If you do follow through and move your accounts to
a bank that has policies about deposited checks you like better, more
power to you.

But you've gotten your valid complaint tangled up with two other
things: an accusation that they lied to you and an expectation that
your wedding is their business. Neither of those is necessary, and
both detract from the power of your argument. Calling them liars is
not going to motivate them to want to make things better with you, and
the whole wedding thing is a big red herring.

Seriously, "I need to be able to withdraw that money so I can make a
deposit for my choice of wedding reception hall"? They don't care why
you want the money. Nor should they. Would you really want a teller
to say to you, "Well, it might have cleared and it might not have.
Tell me, do you have a really good reason for this withdrawal?" And
the "ruined" bit does seem a bit overly dramatic. No matter where you
hold your reception, at the end of the event you're going to be
married to someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.

If you'd stuck to the basics of your complaint, you'd have a more
powerful letter and you wouldn't leave your readers thinking about
what it really does take to ruin a wedding but rather thinking about
how it really should be possible for that check to have cleared more
quickly.

I'm sorry to hear about what happened, but if you needed the cash
quickly, you should have spoken to someone at the bank ahead of time
(I've done that when I've made deposits and I needed the cash
quickly)

It always amazed me that they can take the money out of my account
instantly but then hold deposits for a week.

How frustrating. Have you tried at different date? I am presuming you
are looking at a Saturday. Getting married on a Friday night or a
Sunday that same weekend could be an option for you. Or even moving a
week ahead or a week back. Good luck!

I agree that a week is extreme, and I don't know why they can't make
these things move a bit faster. But I do hope that this wasn't enough
to ruin your wedding.

When I got married we decided on a place that would meet all our
needs. It was perfect, and pretty, and when we went to pay the
deposit we were told that our date had been taken due to a
miscommunication between myself and the owner. They offered to give
us a sizable discount to postpone the wedding one week, but since we
got married on the anniversary of our first date that just didn't seem
like an option. So we shopped around some more, found a beautiful
lake resort with a reception hall and cabins for guests to stay in
(which was actually cheaper, if you can believe it), and I can't
imagine having been married anywhere else. The first law of wedding
planning - don't panic!

Even if all else fails and you have to have the reception somewhere
less desirable, the end result is the same. You will be married, and
that's what counts. Good luck!

Drama queen. Your wedding wasn't ruined by the bank, you ruined it
with your lack of planning. Be glad that oh say maybe a kitchen fire,
doesn't break out in your reception venue on your wedding day like it
did on mine.
You should have put the cheque in much earlier or if you couldn't then
you should have waited to book the space. Or put it on a credit card
(it doesn't have to be yours) and pay it with the money later.
ALL checks take a week to clear. You deposit the cheque (day 1), it is
verified as real by the accepting bank(day 2), then they do what their
banks requires(day 3). They then contact the other bank for the money
(day 4). Bank 2 then verifies the validity of the cheque (day 5) and
then releases funds (day 6)
Somewhere in there is a weekend. This may not be the exact process but
it shows that there is more going on then you think.
It's not an uncommon procedure to take a week. I sgugest that you
familiarize yourself with your new banks cheque cashing policy so that
you aren't caught unexpectedly again.

First of all, how is your wedding ruined? It hasn't even been booked
yet, much less taken place. How do you know that you might not find a
better hall and end up having a fabulous wedding? Did you even try to
call the hall and let them know that you definitely wanted to book and
were waiting on funds to clear? Who knows, they may have worked with
you.

Secondly, you should have asked when you deposited the check when the
funds might be available. If it was after a certain time on Thursday,
the deposit doesn't even start to process until Friday. Nothing is
done on Sauturday and Sunday so expecting it to clear by Monday is
dicey. It doesn't matter that it was a loan check from a bank in the
same state or a personal check from someone across the country. They
all have to be processed.

Just because Union Bank is in the same state as the CitiFinancial you
got the check from, does NOT mean they have the same regional routing
numbers.

Here in Chicago, 2 of the handful of routing prefixes are 0710 and
2710. Close enough, right? But that difference does affect how a
check is routed through the Federal Reserve.

Also, the loan checks from Citi may be based out of a different state
but all branches use checks off that account.

I don't know if any of these scenarios are specifically the case, but
they are possibilities.

You should also have a beef with the venue you were booking with.
Usually if there is more than one interested customer and one has
already expressed interest/puts a hold on the date, the venue usually
calls you to say "I have someone here interested in your date with
cash in hand - do you want the date or not".

I understand your frustration; that does seem like a long time to
clear a check. However, keep in mind that many similar bank loan
checks have been fraudulent over the last few years. I am sure the
bank was taking the appropriate (and now required) measures to ensure
that you were not given a phony check and that the bank that would
have to take the hit did legitimately write the check. Don't blame the
bank for your wedding plans, those were your responsibility. Besides,
if the place you were going to hold the reception at wasn't willing to
wait a day or two more (assuming you actually discussed with them you
were interested in that date) it is not a place you would have wanted
to deal with anyway.

I can feel bad for you, however why the heck did you wait until the
last minute to deposit a loan and have to pay the deposit right after?
You should have planned this better and gotten the loan far in
advance. So in a way I can feel sorry for you however you were not
responsible in this case. Also, they probably needed the check to
clear which is why it took so long, considering it was a significant
amount maybe that is why it showed up that you deposited it but
wouldn't release it to you.

Do you seriously think that just because you have been with a bank for
5 years that they shouldn't take the appropriate measures to make sure
you are not lying to them? Give me a break, PLEASE!!! You can lie
just as much as someone who is just opening an account. Even if I
wanted to feel any kind of sympathy for you right now, I will not just
for the simple fact that you think you are better than anyone else,
and instead of 5 days, it should take only 1 day for you! That's not
how it works. I agree completely with the gentleman who wrote the
first comment, that you do need to learn what the policies are in your
bank. You should feel lucky that they take the measures that they do
to ensure your security. If they hadn't done that, you would be
sitting here writing how they are not careful with your information.
Please take responsibility for yourself, and the place that your
wedding was to take place is not the last place on Earth. Grow up, and
maybe educate yourself on your bank's policies. Good luck!

That's too bad.
You think that they would have been able to do it quicker with
electronic transfers and direct deposit these days...

This is why I hate banks. They need forever to to clear a deposit, but
your withdrawals or the checks you write clear immediately. Then
again, how else would they scam customers out of an overdraft fee?
My bank recently decided to stop clearing deposits on Saturday
(actually Friday after 4:00pm) before Monday, but still clear my
withdrawals on Saturdays. Makes sense, the weekend is when people need
money and if they cleared deposits on Saturday they wouldn't be able
to charge so many fees.

My bank always informs you if there will be a hold on a check you are
depositing. I think it also prints on my receipts. All my banks have
done this, I'm surprised Union bank doesn't!

I agree with you completely. I don't care whether or not you knew the
policy up front. Whether the funds should have been available on
Monday could be debated, but I think they should have been available
on Monday. But two weeks is ridiculous! I hope you follow through on
your threat to take your business elsewhere.

I wonder what would have happened had you asked your bank to cash it?
Can they refuse?

My son deposited a birthday cheque into his account and a hold was put
on it. The next time he had a cheque (which was actually in a bit
larger amount than the first one) he asked to just cash it. He didn't
have any trouble and deposited the cash in the bank machine on his way
out.

That didn't make any sense to me at all, but that's what happened at
the TD Canada Trust bank in our city.

Wow, talk about lack of responsibility. If your going to take out a
loan for a deposit, then you should at least know the policies of the
bank where your putting in the money! If its your normal bank and you
don't even know the deposit policy, then you need to re-think your
financial options. The bank did not ruin your wedding, your lack of
effort and responsibility did.

It won't do any good. All banks can withold a check deposit for
several days.

What I would advise you is that in the future, if there is a specific
check deposit that is of importance, you can speak with a manager and
ask that release of the funds be expedited. With a check such as
yours, my bank most likely would have released the funds after a few
business days.

I wouldn't recommend doing this routinely, but for the rare item in
which time is of the essence, this can be an effective approach.

Have you read the little booklet that comes when you opened your
account. It tells you about deposits and other little policies of
your account.

Although I agree with you about the amount of time, you should have
asked how long the check would take to clear at the time you deposited
it, since it was so important for you to have the funds. If you
discussed it with them, the bank might have been able to do something
to expedite the matter.

I too don't understand how banks justify the length of time it takes
to clear checks/deposits. I think it took less time before
electronic banking even existed. Perhaps they just like to hold onto
the money for as long as possible.

If you're going to take your business elsewhere, you should know that
deposits take 5-7 business days to clear at most other banks as well.
I don't know why, but it's not an uncommon policy.